2012 NFL season

In 2005, the NFL and NFL Referees Association agreed to a contract that would last through the 2011 season. In 2011, the officials' union had planned to use a contract clause to reopen negotiations a year early, but this failed to occur due to the 2011 NFL lockout.[1]

By June 2012, the league and the officials' union had not yet come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, thus failing to resolve the labor dispute. The main issues between the union and the league were changes to the retirement plan, salaries, and personnel. On June 4, 2012, the NFL announced it would begin hiring replacement officials.[1][2][3]

On September 26, 2012, an agreement was reached to end the lockout after increasing criticism of the NFL and the performance of the replacement officials.[4][5] The contentious nature of the replacement officials' decision at the end of the Green Bay Packers–Seattle Seahawks game two days earlier was widely considered to have been the tipping point that finally led to an agreement.[6] NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the game "may have pushed the parties further along" in negotiations.[7]

The 2012 NFL League year and trading period began at 4pm EST on March 13 2012, which marked the start of the league's free agency period. The per-team salary cap was set at US$120,600,000, marginally increased from US$120,000,000 the previous year.[8]

Bill Vinovich returned to the field as a substitute referee, working several games during the season. He was originally promoted to referee in 2004, but had to leave the field in 2007 because of a heart condition. During his recovery, he served as a replay official.

The following rule changes have been approved by the competition committee for the 2012 season:

• The Replay Booth can initiate replay reviews on turnover plays at any time during the game, similar to a change made in the 2011 season regarding booth reviews on scoring plays outside of the final 2:00 of the game or in overtime. The penalty for throwing a challenge flag immediately after such "unchallengable" plays was also modified: in addition to the 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Replay Booth will automatically rule that the call will stand without initiating a replay review.[17][18] This part of the rule was repealed prior to the 2013 season.
• Instant Replay is also expanded to include the following situations
  • A Ruling of "runner out of Bounds" when there is a Fumble and a recovery following that fumble
  • A Ruling of "incomplete Forward Pass" when there is a Backward Pass and a recovery following the backward pass[19]
• The overtime rules in the playoffs (adopted for the 2010 season) would be extended to the pre-season and regular season. Instead of a straight sudden death, the game will not immediately end if the team that receives the ball first scores a field goal on its first possession (they can still win the game if they score a touchdown and the game will end if the defense scores a safety). Instead, the other team gets a possession. If the second team on offense then scores a touchdown, it is declared the winner. If the score is tied after both teams had a possession, whether both teams kicked a field goal or neither team scored, then it goes to sudden death. If the score remains tied at the end of overtime, the game ends in a tie.
  • The first regular season game that the new overtime rules were used was a Week 1 contest between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota took the opening kickoff of overtime and scored on a field goal, then stopped Jacksonville on fourth down.
  • The first regular season game where both teams scored a field goal on their respective first possessions of overtime was the Week 11 game between the Jaguars and the Houston Texans. The Texans then won the game, becoming the first NFL team to score twice in overtime under the new format.
• The penalty for 12 men on the field (not in the huddle) is changed from a live-ball foul to a dead-ball foul, with the whistle being blown if the defense has 12 men on the field and the "snap is imminent".
• Adding anyone who is subject to a crack-back block to the list of defenseless players.[20]
• Last names on uniforms can now include generational suffixes such as Roman numerals (in the case of Robert Griffin III), Junior (Jr.), and Senior (Sr.) designations.[21]
• Officials no longer could wear white knickers with their uniforms. The full length black pants with a white stripe down the side, worn for cold weather games since 2006, became mandatory for all games.

Within each conference, the four division winners and the two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then receive a bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.

There were a total of 11,651 points scored during the 2012 NFL regular season. The average points scored among all the teams in the NFL was 22.8 points per game.

The New England Patriots had the highest point differential, scoring an average of 14.1 points more than their opponents. The Kansas City Chiefs had the lowest point differential scoring an average of 13.4 points less than their opponents.

• Jason Hanson set the record for most consecutive seasons with one team. He has been the kicker for the Detroit Lions for 21 seasons.[58]
• Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens broke Rod Woodson's record for interception return yardage in a week one game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He is now the all-time leader in interception return yards with 1,541.[59]
• Robert Griffin III became the only player in NFL history to pass for 300+ yards and 2 touchdowns without throwing an interception in his first start.[59]
• David Akers tied the NFL record for longest field goal (63 yards).[60]
• Peyton Manning joined Dan Marino and Brett Favre as the only players to throw at least 400 touchdowns.[61]
• Week 1 set a record for being the highest scoring opening week in NFL history. The new record of 791 points is 3 points higher than the 2002 record. Five teams scored more than 40 points, also the most in NFL history.[62]
• NFL sets record with 20 teams at 1–1.[63]
• Drew Brees' record streak of consecutive games with 300 plus yards passing ended at 9 games in a week 3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. His streak began in week 10 of the 2011 season.[64][65]
• Danny Amendola of the St. Louis Rams had 12 receptions in the first half of the week two game vs. Washington to tie the NFL record for most receptions in the first half set by the Indianapolis Colts' Reggie Wayne in 2007.[66]
• The Tennessee Titans scored a record five touchdowns of 60-plus yards in one game (1 punt return, 2 pass plays, 1 kickoff return, 1 fumble return) against the Detroit Lions in week 3.[67][68]
• The week 3 game between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens produced an NFL record 13 first downs via penalties. Of the 13, New England was awarded 8 and Baltimore 5.[69]
• In week 4, Rams rookie kicker Greg Zuerlein became the first player in league history to make kicks from 50-plus and 60-plus yards in the same game.[70]
• Drew Brees' record of 48 consecutive games with a touchdown pass in week 5 vs. San Diego (the first team Brees played for) broke Johnny Unitas' record that had stood since 1960.[71] The streak ended at 54 games in week thirteen against the Atlanta Falcons.[72][73]
• Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs set a new record by intercepting a pass for a touchdown in both Week 4 and Week 5. They became the first pair of teammates in NFL history to each return an interception for a touchdown in consecutive games.[74]
• In week five the San Francisco 49ers became the first team in NFL history with 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing vs. the Buffalo Bills.[75]
• Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans ran for an 83-yard touchdown in the first quarter of the Titans' win over the Buffalo Bills to become the first player in NFL history with four 80-plus yard touchdown runs in a career.[76]
• The Kansas City Chiefs set a record of seven consecutive games without holding a lead, previously set by the 1929 Buffalo Bisons.[77]
• Week 8: New England gained over 350 yards of total offense for the 17th straight game, breaking an NFL record set by the Rams in 1999–2000.[78]
• By allowing 530 yards by the Broncos in week eight, the New Orleans Saints became the first team to allow 400-plus yards in seven games in a row since 1950, which is as far back as STATS LLC can search its NFL database.[79] Record ended at ten games through week 11.[80]
• In week 8, Jason Witten of the Cowboys caught 18 passes against the Giants. This set a new NFL record for catches in a game by a tight end, and was the third most in a single game by any player in NFL history.[81]
• Through week eight Peyton Manning has increased his record of most regular season games with 300 plus yards passing to 68 games.[82]
• Andrew Luck broke the NFL's single-game rookie record when he threw for 433 yards to lead the Indianapolis Colts past the Miami Dolphins.[83]
• Chicago became the first team in NFL history to record a touchdown pass, a touchdown run, an interception return for a touchdown, and a blocked kick/punt for a score in the same quarter in their week 9 game against the Tennessee Titans.[84]
• Charles Tillman became the first player in the NFL to force four fumbles in one game since the stat became tracked in 1991.[84]
• Doug Martin became the first player in league history to record touchdown runs of 70-plus, 65-plus, and 45-plus yards in a single game.[85] He joined Denver's Mike Anderson as the only players in league history with at least 250 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a game.[86]
• Jacoby Jones of the Ravens became the first player in league history with two career kickoff returns of at least 105 yards. He returned one for 108 yards against Dallas; he followed it up a few weeks later when he returned one for 105 yards against Oakland, simultaneously tying the record for longest kickoff return on the former return.[87][88]
• Andrew Luck set the rookie record with six games of at least 300 yards passing.[89]
• Leon Washington of the Seahawks returned a kickoff for a touchdown for the eighth time to tie the NFL career record.[90]
• Calvin Johnson of the Lions broke the NFL season receiving yards record against the Falcons on December 22.[91]
• Blair Walsh broke the NFL single season record for most field goals made in a season of over 50 yards on December 23 against the Texans.[92]
• Placekicker Kai Forbath of the Redskins set a new NFL record with 17 consecutive field goals to start a career.[93]
• Andrew Luck broke the rookie record for passing yards in a season on December 23.[94]
• Jason Witten broke the NFL single season record for catches by a tight end on December 23.[95]
• Adrian Peterson became the seventh player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season by rushing for 199 yards in Week 17, bringing his season total to 2,097 rushing yards. This also brings him just nine yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson's record set in 1984 and gives him the all-time second best single season record for rushing yards.[96]
• Russell Wilson tied Peyton Manning's rookie record for touchdown passes in a single season with 26.[97]
• The New England Patriots gained an NFL record 444 first downs.[98]
• The 2012 regular season set the NFL record for total points scored in a season with 11,651; the 22.8 points-per-game for each team is also the highest since the AFL-NFL merger.[99]
• The Minnesota Vikings set the NFL record for most playoff losses with 27.
• The Minnesota Vikings broke the NFL record for most road playoff losses with 16.
• The New England Patriots tied the St. Louis Rams' record set from 1999–2001 for the most consecutive seasons scoring 500 or more points with three.
• Robert Griffin III set a passer rating of 102.4, to break Ben Roethlisberger's record for the highest rating by a rookie.
• Most home playoff games won: 20, San Francisco 49ers
• Colin Kaepernick set record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game, with 181 yards.[100]
• Tom Brady set the record for most playoff games won with 17.[101]
• Most conference championship games played starting quarterback (tie): 7, Tom Brady
• Russell Wilson set a rookie record for passing yards in a playoff game : 385.
• Joe Flacco tied Joe Montana's record for most touchdown passes (11) without an interception in a postseason

• Nike became the official uniform provider for the NFL, succeeding Reebok, which had a decade-long partnership in that capacity. On April 3, Nike unveiled the new uniforms for all 32 teams.[154][155] Cosmetically, the new jerseys did not show drastic differences save for the aforementioned changes to the Seattle Seahawks' uniforms.[156]
• The Carolina Panthers unveiled an updated logo and word mark in late January 2012,[157] though it has been reported that the actual uniforms will not be altered at the present time.[158]
• The Denver Broncos switched their primary home jersey color from navy blue to orange. The orange jerseys that served as the team's alternate colored jersey from 2002–2011 became the primary home jersey, while the navy blue jerseys that served as the team's primary home jersey from 1997–2011 switched to the alternate designation. The change was made due to overwhelming popularity with fans, who clamored for the team to return to wearing orange at home, which was the team's predominant home jersey color from 1962–1996.[159]
• The Houston Texans celebrated 10 years as a franchise by wearing an anniversary patch throughout the season.[160]
• The Jacksonville Jaguars switched their primary home jersey color from teal to black, beginning with their Week 5 (October 7, 2012) game against the Chicago Bears.[161]
• The Kansas City Chiefs debuted captains' patches to their uniforms for the first time in the Week 10 (November 12, 2012) game against Pittsburgh. The patches would remain through the rest of the season but were removed in 2013.
• The Pittsburgh Steelers unveiled a new throwback uniform in April 2012, which was worn in games against the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens.[162] The uniforms, based on the 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates (the predecessors to the Steelers), feature broad black and Aztec gold horizontal stripes across the jerseys and socks, reminiscent of bumblebees and prison uniforms.[163]
• The Seattle Seahawks replaced Seahawk blue with College Navy as the color of their primary uniforms. Their new uniforms consist of a navy blue jersey as their primary home jersey, a white jersey as their primary away jersey, and a wolf grey jersey as an alternate. The Seahawks have three pairs of pants: navy blue with action green feather trim, white with navy blue feather trim, and wolf grey with navy blue feather trim. Each pair of pants, as well as the collar of the jerseys, feature 12 feathers, in honor of the fans, who refer to themselves as the '12th Man'. The Seahawks also tweaked their logo, by changing the lower left stripe from light blue to grey.[164]
• The Washington Redskins wore throwback uniforms to celebrate their 80th anniversary[165][166] in their game against the Panthers.[167]
• The Baltimore Ravens dedicated their season to former owner and founder Art Modell, who died on September 6, 2012.[168] On Week 1, all team members wore an "Art" decal on their helmets, and for the rest of their season, they wore an "Art" patch on the left side of their jerseys.
• During the 2012 Pro Bowl, Nike debuted new team color specific cleats and new team specific Vapor Jet gloves. Similar to gloves worn at the collegiate level, the Vapor Jet gloves feature individual team colors and team logos on the glove palms.[169][170]
• The Carolina Panthers' new jersey has the phrase "KEEP POUNDING" inside the collar which commemorates former Panther Sam Mills' battle with cancer.
• Nike's new jerseys also introduced what the company calls a "body-contoured fit".[171] However, several players, primarily heavier players such as offensive linemen, reported that the new, tighter-fitting uniforms made them "look fat".[171]
• Introduced in Week 5 after the end of the referee lockout, the new referee uniform used the NFL's "Orbit" font that the league uses in its branding and marketing.[172]
• During Weeks 14 and 15, all teams wore a commemorative patch celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[173]

This was the seventh season under the television contracts with the league's television partners. On December 14, 2011, the NFL announced that it had extended all of its broadcasting contracts through 2022. There were some changes to the contracts, with the most immediate change in 2012 being the Thanksgiving night game being promoted from NFL Network's Thursday Night Football package to NBC's Sunday Night Football package.[174] CBS continued to primarily televise AFC afternoon away games, Fox airing NFC afternoon away games, and ESPN broadcasting Monday Night Football games.

ESPN made a cut to its Monday Night Football broadcasts, removing Ron Jaworski from the broadcast booth and moving to a two-man announcing crew; Mike Tirico will continue on play-by-play while Jon Gruden continues as the sole color commentator.[175] One year prior, the network had switched from two sideline reporters to one.

The 2013 Pro Bowl was televised by NBC; although the game was normally assigned to the Super Bowl's broadcaster, CBS declined.[176]

The NFL authorized a new rule loosening the league's blackout restrictions during the 2012 offseason. For the first time in NFL history, the new rule no longer requires a stadium to be sold out to televise a game; instead, teams were allowed to set a benchmark anywhere from 85 to 100 percent of the stadium's non-premium seats. Any seats sold beyond that benchmark will be subject to heavier revenue sharing.[177] Four clubs opted to set the lower TV threshold: the Miami Dolphins, the Minnesota Vikings, the Oakland Raiders, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[178] At least four other teams expressly refused to lower their threshold; one case, that of the Buffalo Bills, was particularly controversial, as Buffalo congressman Brian Higgins had lobbied for the loosening of the blackout restrictions only for the Bills to rebuff his efforts, saying such a move would threaten the team's revenue.[179][180]

Specific references

General references

• Zimmer, John; Marini, Matt, eds. (2013). Official 2013 National Football League Record & Fact Book (PDF). New York: National Football League. ISBN 978-1-603-20980-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.