Colts

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Browns

Oilers

Steelers

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

Seahawks

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AFC teams: West, Central, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Cardinals

Redskins

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Buccaneers

Falcons

Rams

Saints

49ers

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NFC teams: West, Central, East

The1993 NFL season was the 74thregular season of theNational 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 in2001, but this was caused by the postponement of a week of games due to theSeptember 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 in1990, the league hoped this new schedule would generate even more revenue. This was also done to avoid scheduling playoff games onJanuary 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 currentfree agent system was introduced to the league, replacing the Plan B system instituted in 1989.^[1][2]

The season ended withSuper Bowl XXVIII when theDallas Cowboys defeated theBuffalo Bills 30–13 for the second consecutive season at theGeorgia 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.

• On April 6, 1993, Reggie White was signed by theGreen Bay Packers and agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth $17 million.^[3]
• June 9: The Kansas City Chiefs signed Los Angeles Raiders running backMarcus Allen.^[4]

• March 17, 1993: The Cincinnati Bengals traded Boomer Esiason to the New York Jets.^[5]
• April 20, 1993: Joe Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs and signed a $10 million contract over three years.^[6]
• August 17: The Chicago Bears tradeJohn Roper and Markus Paul to the Dallas Cowboys^[7]
• August 20: The Minnesota Vikings trade quarterbackRich Gannon to Washington.^[7]
• August 24: The Denver Broncos trade wide receiverVance Johnson to the Minnesota Vikings^[7]
• August 26: The Phoenix Cardinals traded wide receiverErnie Jones to the Los Angeles Rams.^[7]
• August 30: The Atlanta Falcons traded punter Tim Kalal to the Green Bay Packers.^[7]
• August 30: The Kansas City Chiefs trade running backBarry Word to the Minnesota Vikings.^[7]
• August 30: The Kansas City Chiefs trade guardRich Baldinger to the New England Patriots.^[7]
• October 5: The Los Angeles Rams trade tight end Jim Price to the Dallas Cowboys.^[8]
• October 12: The Atlanta Falcons trade running backEric Dickerson and cornerbackBruce Pickens to the Green Bay Packers.^[8]
• October 13: The Los Angeles Raiders trade special teams playerElvis Patterson to the Dallas Cowboys,^[8] along with a seventh round pick (#216-Toddrick McIntosh), in exchange for a fifth round (#159-Roosevelt Patterson) and a seventh round draft choice (#217-Rob Holmberg).^[9]
• October 19: The Pittsburgh Steelers traded running backTim Worley to the Chicago Bears.^[8]

The1993 NFL draft was held from April 25 to 26, 1993, atNew York City'sMarriott Marquis. With the first pick, theNew England Patriots selectedquarterbackDrew Bledsoe fromWashington State University.

Ron Blum, a line judge from 1985 to 1992 who officiatedSuper Bowl XXIV andSuper Bowl XXVI at that position, was promoted to referee to replacePat Haggerty, who retired after the 1992 season. In 28 seasons in the NFL, Haggerty was selected as the referee forSuper Bowl XIII in 1979,XVI in 1982, andXIX in 1985.

• The Play Clock (the time limit the offensive team has to snap the ball between plays) was reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds (the time interval after time outs and other administrative stoppages remained 25 seconds).
• Ineligible receiver down field prior to a forward pass foul was added.
• The passer could now legally throw a pass away, without any offensive player having a chance to catch the ball, as long as they are out of the pocket and the ball lands beyond the line of scrimmage.
• The player taking a snap from the center, upon receiving the ball, can immediately throw the football directly into the ground (i.e.spike) to stop the game clock.
• The NFL added an extra (second) bye week into the season for each team. The extra bye week was removed in 1994.^[10]

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

Date	Winning team	Score	Losing team	Score	Stadium	City
August 1	New Orleans Saints	28	Philadelphia Eagles	16	Tokyo Dome	Tokyo
August 1	San Francisco 49ers	21	Pittsburgh Steelers	14	Estadi Olímpic	Barcelona
August 7	Minnesota Vikings	20	Buffalo Bills	6	Olympiastadion	Berlin
August 8	Dallas Cowboys	13	Detroit Lions	13	Wembley Stadium	London

Highlights of the 1993 season included:

• Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 25, featuring Chicago atDetroit and Miami atDallas, with Chicago and Miami winning.

• 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).

* Indicatesovertime victory

• Chicago Bears:Dave Wannstedt replaced the firedMike Ditka.
• Denver Broncos:Wade Phillips replaced the firedDan Reeves.
• New England Patriots:Bill Parcells replaced the firedDick MacPherson.
• New York Giants:Dan Reeves replaced the firedRay Handley.
• Washington Redskins:Richie Petitbon became head coach afterJoe Gibbs retired.

• TheNew 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 youngElvis Presley.

This was the fourth and final year under the NFL's broadcast contracts withABC,CBS,NBC,TNT, andESPN. ABC, CBS, and NBC continued to televiseMonday 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 oldFox 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'sNFL Live!, replacingBob Costas who would still contribute in a limited role.Mike Ditka also joinedNFL Live! as an analyst, whileO. J. Simpson became a regular on-site reporter. This would be Simpson's last season as an NFL broadcaster beforebeing charged with murder in Summer 1994.^[11]

• Football Outsiders 1993 DVOA Ratings and Commentary

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• NFL History 1991–2000Archived August 23, 2006, at theWayback Machine (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
• 1993 NFL season at Pro Football Reference

• NFL seasons
• 1993 NFL season
• 1993 in American football

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