| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 7 – December 31, 2006 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | January 6, 2007 |
| AFC Champions | Indianapolis Colts |
| NFC Champions | Chicago Bears |
| Super Bowl XLI | |
| Date | February 4, 2007 |
| Site | Dolphin Stadium,Miami Gardens, Florida |
| Champions | Indianapolis Colts |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 10, 2007 (2007-02-10) |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
The2006 NFL season was the 87thregular season of theNational Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006.
The season began with the reigningSuper Bowl XL championPittsburgh Steelers defeating theMiami Dolphins in theNFL Kickoff game.
The NFL title was eventually won by theIndianapolis Colts, when they defeated theChicago Bears 29–17 inSuper Bowl XLI atDolphin Stadium atMiami Gardens, Florida on February 4, 2007.
On March 20, 2006,Paul Tagliabue announced his plans to retire as NFL commissioner. During an NFL meeting inNorthbrook, Illinois, on August 8, league team owners selectedRoger Goodell, the NFL's then-current chief operating officer, as the new commissioner. Tagliabue continued to serve as commissioner until Goodell officially replaced him on Friday September 1.
Tagliabue became NFL commissioner on October 26, 1989. During his tenure, the league added four new teams; saw four franchises move (including two franchises—the Rams and Raiders—fromLos Angeles, the second-largest television market in the United States); the construction of seventeen new stadiums; began its own in-house television specialty cable network, the NFL Network; greatly increased television rights fees with its broadcasters, including the addition of theFox network andits NFL programming; and maintained labor peace with theplayers' union.
The2006 NFL draft was held from April 29 to 30, 2006, atNew York City'sRadio City Music Hall. With the first pick, theHouston Texans selected defensive endMario Williams fromNorth Carolina State University.
Bernie Kukar andTom White retired.Jerome Boger andGene Steratore were promoted to referee.
The 2006 season marked the debut of new officiating uniforms which are supposed to be more comfortable for officials to wear in extreme weather over the oldpolyester uniforms. The uniforms were designed byReebok using a proprietary material technology to keep officials both warm and dry during the winter months of the season. On the shirt, the position and number are removed from the front pocket and the lettering and numbers on the back side were black-on-white and are smaller print and the sleeve shows the uniform number. Officials also wore full-length black pants with white stripe during the winter months to stay warm, which was criticized by media. Also, a black stripe was added to each side of the white knickers. This was the first major design overhaul since 1979, when the position name was added to the shirt, but later abbreviated in 1982.
For the first time sinceSuper Bowl IV at the conclusion of the1969 season, the official NFL game ball was known as "The Duke" in honor ofWellington Mara, whose family owns theNew York Giants. SonJohn is the current CEO of the team. The NFL first used "The Duke" ball in honor of ownerTim Mara (Wellington's father) made a deal withWilson Sporting Goods to become the league's official supplier of game balls, a relationship that continued into its sixty-fifth year in 2006.[2]
"The Duke" ball was discontinued after the 1970AFL–NFL merger, and the merged league began using a different standardized ball made by Wilson. The only other time that "The Duke" ball name was used was during the two"Thanksgiving Classic" games in2004.
One side of the new 2006 "Duke" football featured the NFL shield logo in gold, the words "The Duke", and the NFL commissioner's signature. The obverse side has a small NFL logo above the needle bladder hole, the conference names between the hole, and the words "National Football League" in gold. As per the custom, specially branded balls were used for the first week of the 2006 season (the "Opening Kickoff") as well as for theThanksgiving Day, conference championships, Super Bowl XLI and Pro Bowl games.
Lamar Hunt died inDallas, Texas on December 13 from complications fromprostate cancer at the age of 74. He is credited with challenging the NFL with the formation of theAmerican Football League, which led to the subsequentmerger of the two leagues.
At 3 a.m. on January 1, 2007,Denver BroncoscornerbackDarrent Williams was shot and killed in Denver, within hours after the last regular season game against the San Francisco 49ers. Less than two months later, on February 24, 2007, Broncos running backDamien Nash collapsed and died after a charity basketball game at a high school. Both players died at the age of 24.
Based on theNFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups for 2006 were:
Intraconference
Interconference
This was the first season that the NFL used a "flexible-scheduling" for the last few weeks of the season, allowing the league flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night, in order to feature the current hottest, streaking teams. This was implemented to prevent games featuring losing teams from airing during primetime late in the season, while at the same time allowing NBC to rake in more money off the higher ratings from surprise, playoff-potential teams that more fans would enjoy watching.
Under the flexible-scheduling system, all Sunday games in the affected weeks tentatively had the start times of 1:00 p.m.ET/10:00 a.m.PT, except those played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, which will have a tentative start time of 4:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. PT (or 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT if it is on the doubleheader network). On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league moved one game to theSunday Night Football slot, and possibly one or more 1 p.m. slotted games to the 4:05/4:15 p.m. slots. During the last week of the season, the league could reschedule games as late as six days before the contests so that all of the television networks will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications.
Week 10: TheChicago–New York Giants game was flexed intoSunday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC and theNew Orleans–Pittsburgh game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET onFox.
Week 11: TheSan Diego–Denver game was flexed intoSNF and theIndianapolis–Dallas game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET onCBS.
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14: The New Orleans–Dallas game was flexed intoSNF and theBuffalo–New York Jets game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS.
Week 15: TheKansas City–San Diego game was flexed intoSNF and the Philadelphia–New York Giants game was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
Week 17:
Beginning in 2006, a primetime game on Thanksgiving night would air between two random teams other than theDetroit Lions,Dallas Cowboys, and the teams who played them earlier in the day. It aired onNFL Network until2012, whenNBC took over.
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Within each conference, the four division winners and the top twonon-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners areseeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–6. 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 thewild-card playoffs orwild-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 received afirst-round bye. In the second round, thedivisional 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 met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although theSuper Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.[4]
| Seed | AFC | NFC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Chargers (West winner) | Chicago Bears (North winner) |
| 2 | Baltimore Ravens (North winner) | New Orleans Saints (South winner) |
| 3 | Indianapolis Colts (South winner) | Philadelphia Eagles (East winner) |
| 4 | New England Patriots (East winner) | Seattle Seahawks (West winner) |
| 5 | New York Jets (wild card) | Dallas Cowboys (wild card) |
| 6 | Kansas City Chiefs (wild card) | New York Giants (wild card) |
| Jan 7 –Gillette Stadium | Jan 14 –Qualcomm Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | NY Jets | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | New England | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | New England | 37 | Jan 21 – RCA Dome | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | San Diego | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 6 –RCA Dome | 4 | New England | 34 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan 13 –M&T Bank Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Indianapolis | 38 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Kansas City | 8 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Indianapolis | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Indianapolis | 23 | Feb 4 –Dolphin Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Baltimore | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wild Card playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 7 –Lincoln Financial Field | A3 | Indianapolis | 29 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan 13 –Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Chicago | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | NY Giants | 20 | Super Bowl XLI | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 23 | Jan 21 – Soldier Field | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | New Orleans | 27 | ||||||||||||||||
| NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 6 –Qwest Field | 2 | New Orleans | 14 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan 14 –Soldier Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Chicago | 39 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Dallas | 20 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Seattle | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Seattle | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Chicago | 27* | ||||||||||||||||
The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the regular season:
| Record | Player/team | Date/opponent | Previous record holder[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most points scored, career | Morten Andersen, Atlanta | December 16 vs. Dallas | Gary Anderson, 1982–2004 (2,434) |
| Most field goals, career | Morten Andersen, Atlanta | December 24 vs. Carolina | Gary Anderson, 1982–2004 (538) |
| Most passes completed, career | Brett Favre, Green Bay | December 17 vs. Detroit | Dan Marino, 1983–1999 (4,967) |
| Most touchdowns, season | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (31) | December 10 vs. Denver | Shaun Alexander, Seattle, 2005 (28) |
| Most rushing touchdowns, season | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (28) | December 10 vs. Denver | Shaun Alexander, 2005 Priest Holmes, 2003 (27) |
| Most points scored, season | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (186) | December 17 vs. Kansas City | Paul Hornung, 1960 (176) |
| Most rushing attempts, season | Larry Johnson, Kansas City (416) | December 31 vs. Jacksonville | Jamal Anderson, Atlanta, 1998 (410) |
| Most kick returns for a touchdown, season | Devin Hester, Chicago (5; 3 punts and 2 kickoffs) | December 11 at St. Louis | Tied by 9 players (4) |
| Points scored | San Diego Chargers (492) |
| Total yards gained | New Orleans Saints (6,264) |
| Yards rushing | Atlanta Falcons (2,939) |
| Yards passing | New Orleans Saints (4,503) |
| Fewest points allowed | Baltimore Ravens (201) |
| Fewest total yards allowed | Baltimore Ravens (4,225) |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | Minnesota Vikings (985) |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | Oakland Raiders (2,413) |
| Scoring | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (186 points) |
| Touchdowns | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (31 TDs) |
| Most field goals made | Robbie Gould, Chicago andJeff Wilkins, St. Louis (32 FGs) |
| Rushing | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (1,815 yards) |
| Passer rating | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (101.0 rating) |
| Passing touchdowns | Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (31 TDs) |
| Passing yards | Drew Brees, New Orleans (4,418 yards) |
| Pass receptions | Andre Johnson, Houston (103 catches) |
| Pass receiving yards | Chad Johnson, Cincinnati (1,369 yards) |
| Punt returns | Adam "Pacman" Jones, Tennessee (12.9 average yards) |
| Kickoff returns | Justin Miller, New York Jets (28.3 average yards) |
| Interceptions | Asante Samuel, New England andChamp Bailey, Denver (10) |
| Punting | Mat McBriar, Dallas (48.2 average yards) |
| Sacks | Shawne Merriman, San Diego (17) |
| Most Valuable Player | LaDainian Tomlinson, running back,San Diego Chargers | |
| Coach of the Year | Sean Payton,New Orleans Saints | |
| Offensive Player of the Year | LaDainian Tomlinson, running back, San Diego Chargers | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Jason Taylor, defensive end,Miami Dolphins | |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Vince Young, quarterback,Tennessee Titans | |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | DeMeco Ryans, linebacker,Houston Texans | |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Chad Pennington, quarterback,New York Jets | |
| Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year | LaDainian Tomlinson, running back, San Diego Chargers and | Drew Brees, quarterback,New Orleans Saints |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Peyton Manning, quarterback,Indianapolis Colts |
| Offense | |
|---|---|
| Quarterback | Drew Brees, New Orleans |
| Running back | LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Larry Johnson, Kansas City |
| Fullback | Lorenzo Neal, San Diego |
| Wide receiver | Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Chad Johnson, Cincinnati |
| Tight end | Antonio Gates, San Diego |
| Offensive tackle | Willie Anderson, Cincinnati Jammal Brown, New Orleans |
| Offensive guard | Alan Faneca, Pittsburgh Shawn Andrews, Philadelphia |
| Center | Olin Kreutz, Chicago |
| Defense | |
|---|---|
| Defensive end | Jason Taylor, Miami Julius Peppers, Carolina |
| Defensive tackle | Jamal Williams, San Diego Kevin Williams, Minnesota |
| Outside linebacker | Shawne Merriman, San Diego Adalius Thomas, Baltimore |
| Inside linebacker | Brian Urlacher, Chicago Zach Thomas, Miami |
| Cornerback | Champ Bailey, Denver Rashean Mathis, Jacksonville |
| Safety | Brian Dawkins, Philadelphia Ed Reed, Baltimore |
| Special teams | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kicker | Robbie Gould, Chicago | ||||
| Punter | Brian Moorman, Buffalo | ||||
| Kick returner | Devin Hester, Chicago | ||||
| Team | Departing coach | Interim coach | Incoming coach | Reason for leaving | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | Mike Mularkey | Dick Jauron | Resigned | On January 12, 2006, Mularkey resigned as head coach of the Bills, citing a disagreement in the direction of the organization, who had recently hired new management, including ex-coachMarv Levy.[8] After a strenuous interview process, Levy hired Jauron, former Detroit Lions interim head coach, as his replacement. | |
| Detroit Lions | Steve Mariucci | Dick Jauron | Rod Marinelli | Fired | Mariucci was fired after a27–7 blowout loss on national television onThanksgiving Day. Marinelli had been theTampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line coach for the past six seasons and assistant head coach for the past four. |
| Green Bay Packers | Mike Sherman | Mike McCarthy | Sherman was fired by the Packers on January 2, 2006, after leading the Packers to a4–12 record in 2005. The team immediately started interviewing for a replacement.[9] McCarthy was interviewed by Packers general managerTed Thompson on January 8, 2006, and was offered the head coaching position three days later.[10] | ||
| Houston Texans | Dom Capers | Gary Kubiak | Kubiak, theDenver Broncos offensive coordinator, was named the second head coach in Texans history on January 26, 2006. | ||
| Kansas City Chiefs | Dick Vermeil | Herm Edwards | Retired | Edwards was acquired from theNew York Jets for a fourth-rounddraft pick. | |
| Minnesota Vikings | Mike Tice | Brad Childress | Fired | Tice's contract was allowed to expire after the last game of the 2005 season on January 1, 2006. Childress was thePhiladelphia Eagles offensive coordinator from 2002–2005, although he never called plays for the Eagles, as that responsibility was taken by head coachAndy Reid. | |
| New Orleans Saints | Jim Haslett | Sean Payton | Payton was the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator for theDallas Cowboys. | ||
| New York Jets | Herm Edwards | Eric Mangini | Traded | Mangini, 35, became the youngest head coach in the NFL when he was hired by the New York Jets on January 17, 2006, to replace Herm Edwards. | |
| Oakland Raiders | Norv Turner | Art Shell | Fired | Shell, who had been working as the senior vice president of football operations and development for theleague, had not been a head coach since the Raiders fired him after the 1994 season. | |
| St. Louis Rams | Mike Martz | Joe Vitt | Scott Linehan | On October 10, 2005, Martz took a leave of absence from the Rams to treat a persistent bacterial infection in his heart. This led to assistant head coachJoe Vitt becoming the interim coach for the rest of the season. Martz was given medical clearance to coach the Rams' last regular season game, onNew Year's Day 2006; however, team management refused to let him do so, and Martz was fired the day after the season's conclusion.[11] | |
| Team | 2005 office holder | Reason for leaving | 2006 replacement | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | Tom Donahoe | Fired | Marv Levy | On January 5, 2006, Bills ownerRalph Wilson enlisted Levy, at the age of 80, to act asgeneral manager andvice presidentof football operations for the Buffalo Bills. | |
| Houston Texans | Charley Casserly | Resigned | Rick Smith | Charley Casserly left the organization following the2006 NFL draft. Smith was the director of pro personnel for theDenver Broncos. | |
| Minnesota Vikings | Rob Brzezinski | Front office overhaul | Fran Foley | Rick Spielman | Fran Foley had been hired as vice president of player personnel andde facto general manager on January 26, 2006. Foley was fired on May 3rd, 2006, just three months into his tenure and mere days following the2006 NFL draft. Rick Spielman was hired in the same role on May 30, 2006. Spielman is part of the "Triangle of Authority" with Vikings' ownerZygi Wilf and head coachBrad Childress working together to make decisions. |
| New York Jets | Terry Bradway | Resigned | Mike Tannenbaum | Tannenbaum was previously the team's assistant general manager & director of pro personnel. | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Andy Reid(GM de facto) | Replaced | Tom Heckert Jr. | Heckert was promoted from vice president of pro personnel to general manager. Despite Heckert's new title, head coach Andy Reid still serves as executive vice president of football operations and has the final say in football matters. | |
| St. Louis Rams | Charley Armey | Retired | Jay Zygmunt | Zygmunt also retains his position of President of Football Operations. | |
Through week 11 of the season, all NFL games had been sold out, and for the 24th time, all blackout restrictions had been lifted.[12] The streak was ended by the Jacksonville at Buffalo game in Week 12.[13]
This was the first season thatNBC held the rights to televiseSunday Night Football, becoming the beneficiaries by negotiating the new flexible-scheduling system (it also marked NBC's return to carrying NFL games for the first time since the end of the 1997 season).[14] ESPN became the new home ofMonday Night Football.[14]Disney-owned corporate siblingABC had lost millions of dollars on televisingMNF during the late 1990s and 2000s despite generating high ratings, and with the NFL wanting Sunday night to be the new night for its marquee game, ABC preferred to protect itsDesperate Housewives franchise rather than move thecomedy-drama show to another night.[15][16] By September 2006, ABC began using theESPN on ABC brand after ABC Sports was fully integrated into ESPN (ABC would not air NFL games again, whether exclusive or a simulcast from ESPN, until they began simulcasting a Wild Card playoff game in 2016, and began simulcasting selectMNF games in 2020).[17] Meanwhile,CBS andFox renewed their television contracts to the AFC and the NFC packages, respectively.[18] ESPN's new deal was for eight seasons through 2013, while the new agreements with NBC, CBS, and Fox were initially for six seasons through 2011.[14][18]
Initially, NBC was able to hire color commentatorJohn Madden,MNF lead producer Fred Gaudelli, andMNF director Drew Esocoff from ABC. However, play-by-play announcerAl Michaels remained under contract with ABC/ESPN, and plans were originally for him to be teamed withJoe Theismann, who would be coming over fromESPN Sunday Night Football.[19] In February 2006, the two networks' parent companies,The Walt Disney Company andNBCUniversal, agreed to a multi-asset trade that, among others, allowed Michaels to sign with NBC, while Disney took ownership of the intellectual property ofOswald the Lucky Rabbit (a cartoon character developed byWalt Disney himself in the 1920s) from NBCUniversal.[20] ESPN then opted to go withMike Tirico on play-by-play, and Theismann andTony Kornheiser as analysts.[21]
For its new pregame showFootball Night in America, NBC gained the exclusive rights from ESPN'sNFL Primetime to show extensive highlights of Sunday afternoon games prior toSunday Night Football. ESPN responded by moving its show to Mondays.Bob Costas became the host ofFootball Night in America, whileCris Collinsworth,Jerome Bettis, andSterling Sharpe became its studio analysts.
The league-ownedNFL Network was given an eight-game package, consisting of fiveThursday Night Football games and three Saturday game that began airing from Thanksgiving to the end of the regular season. The NFL Network hiredHBO Sports'Bryant Gumbel as play-by-play announcer, NBC's Collinsworth as the color commentator for the Thursday telecasts, andDick Vermeil replacing Collinsworth for Saturday telecasts.
James Brown moved from Fox to CBS, replacingGreg Gumbel as host ofThe NFL Today. Gumbel then replacedDick Enberg as CBS's #2 play-by-play announcer, and Enberg was demoted to #3.
Fox announced thatJoe Buck would replace Brown as lead host onFox NFL Sunday. Because Buck was already serving as Fox's lead play-by-play announcer, the pregame show was primarily broadcast from the site where Buck was calling the game, andCurt Menefee hosted the halftime and postgame segments. Menefee substituted for Buck as the full-time host when Buck was calling theMajor League Baseball playoffs.
Beginning this season and continuing until2013; CBS would not use sideline reporters for regular season coverage.
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