The 1993 NFL season was the 74th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). It was the only season in league history where all NFL teams were originally scheduled to play their 16-game schedule over a span of 18 weeks and did so (the league again played 16 games over 18 weeks in , but this was caused by the postponement of a week of games due to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, where all of the Week 2 scheduled games were moved to an 18th week and the entire postseason was delayed by 7 days before starting). After the success of expanding the regular season to a period of 17 weeks in 1990, the league hoped this new schedule would generate even more revenue. This was also done to avoid scheduling playoff games on January 1 and competing with college football bowl games. The NFL's teams, however, felt that having two weeks off during the regular season was too disruptive for their weekly routines, and thus the regular season reverted to 17 weeks immediately after the season ended. 2021 marked the first season where an 18-week schedule would include 17 regular-season games.

On March 1, 1993, the current free agent system was introduced to the league, replacing the Plan B system instituted in 1989.

The season ended with Super Bowl XXVIII when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 30–13 for the second consecutive season at the Georgia Dome. This remains the only time both Super Bowl participants have been the same in successive seasons. The Cowboys became the first team to win a Super Bowl after losing their first two regular season games. This game also marked the fourth consecutive Super Bowl loss by the Bills, who remain the only team to reach four straight Super Bowls.

Player movement

Transactions

  • On April 6, 1993, Reggie White was signed by the Green Bay Packers and agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth $17 million.
  • June 9: The Kansas City Chiefs signed Los Angeles Raiders running back Marcus Allen.

Trades

  • March 17, 1993: The Cincinnati Bengals traded Boomer Esiason to the New York Jets.
  • April 20, 1993: Joe Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and signed a $10 million contract over three years.
  • August 17: The Chicago Bears trade John Roper and Markus Paul to the Dallas Cowboys
  • August 20: The Minnesota Vikings trade quarterback Rich Gannon to Washington.
  • October 12: The Atlanta Falcons trade running back Eric Dickerson and cornerback Bruce Pickens to the Green Bay Packers.
  • October 19: The Pittsburgh Steelers traded running back Tim Worley to the Chicago Bears.

Preseason

American Bowl

A series of NFL pre-season exhibition games were held at four varying sites outside the United States, with three in Europe and one in Japan.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

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! Date !! Winning team !! Score!! Losing team !! Score !! Stadium !! City

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| August 1|| New Orleans Saints || 28 || Philadelphia Eagles || 16 || Tokyo Dome || Tokyo

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| August 1|| San Francisco 49ers || 21 || Pittsburgh Steelers || 14 || Estadi Olímpic || Barcelona

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| August 7 || Minnesota Vikings || 20 || Buffalo Bills || 6 || Olympiastadion || Berlin

|-

| August 8|| Dallas Cowboys || 13 || Detroit Lions || 13 || Wembley Stadium || London

|-

|}

Regular season

Scheduling formula

{| border=0 style="margin: 0 0 0 1.5;"

|-valign="top"

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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Inter-conference<br/>

AFC East vs NFC East<br/>

AFC Central vs NFC West<br/>

AFC West vs NFC Central<br/>

| style="padding-left:40px;" |

|}

Highlights of the 1993 season included:

  • Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 25, featuring Chicago at Detroit and Miami at Dallas, with Chicago and Miami winning.

Final standings

Tiebreakers

  • Buffalo was the top AFC playoff seed based on head-to-head victory over Houston (1–0).
  • Denver was the second AFC Wild Card ahead of Pittsburgh and Miami, based on better conference record (8–4 to Steelers' 7–5 to Dolphins' 6–6).
  • Pittsburgh was the third AFC Wild Card based on head-to-head victory over Miami (1–0).
  • San Francisco was the second NFC playoff seed based on head-to-head victory over Detroit (1–0).
  • Minnesota finished ahead of Green Bay in the NFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).

Playoffs

Awards

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"

|Most Valuable Player||Emmitt Smith, running back, Dallas

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|Coach of the Year||Dan Reeves, NY Giants

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|Offensive Player of the Year||Jerry Rice, wide receiver, San Francisco

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|Defensive Player of the Year||Rod Woodson, cornerback, Pittsburgh

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|Offensive Rookie of the Year||Jerome Bettis, running back, LA Rams

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|Defensive Rookie of the Year||Dana Stubblefield, defensive tackle, San Francisco

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|NFL Comeback Player of the Year||Marcus Allen, running back, Kansas City

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|NFL Man of the Year||Derrick Thomas, linebacker, Kansas City

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|Super Bowl Most Valuable Player||Emmitt Smith, running back, Dallas

|}

Coaching changes

  • Chicago Bears: Dave Wannstedt replaced the fired Mike Ditka.
  • Denver Broncos: Wade Phillips replaced the fired Dan Reeves.
  • New England Patriots: Bill Parcells replaced the fired Dick MacPherson.
  • New York Giants: Dan Reeves replaced the fired Ray Handley.
  • Washington Redskins: Richie Petitbon became head coach after Joe Gibbs retired.

Uniform changes

  • The New England Patriots introduced new uniforms, changing their primary color from red to royal blue, and their white helmets and pants to silver. They also replaced the "Pat Patriot" helmet logo with the later-coined "Flying Elvis", a gray face of a minuteman that fans felt resembled the profile of a young Elvis Presley.

Television

This was the fourth and final year under the NFL's broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, NBC, TNT, and ESPN.<!--Do not link directly to NFL on ESPN, as it currently redirects to Monday Night Football--> ABC, CBS, and NBC continued to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, the AFC package, respectively. Sunday night games aired on TNT during the first half of the season, and ESPN during the second half of the season. When new four-year contracts were signed in December 1993, CBS lost their rights to broadcasting NFC games to the then-seven-year old Fox Network, which had just started its own sports division. This ended a 37-year association with the NFL for CBS, although it would be restarted in 1998.

Jim Lampley became the new host of NBC's NFL Live!, replacing Bob Costas who would still contribute in a limited role. Mike Ditka also joined NFL Live! as an analyst, while O. J. Simpson became a regular on-site reporter. This would be Simpson's last season as an NFL broadcaster before being charged with murder in Summer 1994.

  • Football Outsiders 1993 DVOA Ratings and Commentary

References

  • NFL Record and Fact Book ()
  • NFL History 1991–2000 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
  • Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League ()
  • 1993 NFL season at Pro Football Reference