2006 NFL season

2006 National Football League season
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
National Football League seasons  < 2005 2007 >

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006.

The NFL title was eventually won by the Indianapolis Colts, when they defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on February 4.

Flexible-scheduling

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 of 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 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, except those played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, which will have a tentative start time of 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT (or 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT if it is a doubleheader weekend). On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league moved one game to the primetime slot, and possibly one or more 1 p.m. slotted games to the 4 p.m. slots. During the last week of the season, the league could re-schedule 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.

Television

This was the first season that NBC held the rights to televise Sunday Night Football, becoming the beneficiaries by negotiating the new flexible-scheduling system.^[1] ESPN became the new home of Monday Night Football, replacing sister network American Broadcasting Company, who chose to opt out of broadcasting league games.^[1] Meanwhile, CBS and Fox renewed their television contracts to the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference packages, respectively.^[2]

Coaching changes

• Buffalo Bills – Dick Jauron; replaced Mike Mularkey, who resigned after the 2005 season
• Detroit Lions – Rod Marinelli; replaced interim head coach Dick Jauron who replaced Steve Mariucci who was fired following Thanksgiving Day during the 2005 season.
• Green Bay Packers – Mike McCarthy; replaced Mike Sherman
• Houston Texans – Gary Kubiak; replaced Dom Capers
• Kansas City Chiefs – Herman Edwards; replaced Dick Vermeil who retired following the 2005 season
• Minnesota Vikings – Brad Childress; replaced Mike Tice
• New Orleans Saints – Sean Payton; replaced Jim Haslett
• New York Jets – Eric Mangini; replaced Herman Edwards
• Oakland Raiders – Art Shell; replaced Norv Turner
• St. Louis Rams – Scott Linehan; replaced interim head coach Joe Vitt who replaced Mike Martz who was not allowed to coach due to health problems during the 2005 season.

Final regular season standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Clinched playoff seeds are marked in parentheses and shaded in green. No ties occurred this year.

Tiebreakers

Source: 2007 NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 978-1-933821-85-6)

• ^a Cincinnati finished ahead of Pittsburgh in the AFC North based on division record (4–2 to 3–3).
• ^b Tennessee finished ahead of Jacksonville in the AFC South based on division record (4–2 to 2–4).
• ^c Kansas City finished ahead of Denver in the AFC West based on division record (4–2 to 3–3).
• ^d Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed based on their head-to-head victory over New England (Week 9).
• ^e New Orleans clinched the NFC #2 seed based on their head-to-head victory over Philadelphia (Week 6).
• ^f N.Y. Giants clinched the NFC #6 seed based on better strength of victory than Green Bay (.422 to .383), while Carolina and St. Louis both were eliminated from playoff contention because the N.Y. Giants and Green Bay had better conference records (7–5 to 6–6).

Playoffs

Playoff seeds
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)
For details on the NFL playoff format, see National Football League playoffs#Current playoff system.

Bracket

	Jan. 7 – Gillette Stadium					Jan. 14 – Qualcomm Stadium
	5	N.Y. 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	N.Y. 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*

* Indicates overtime victory

Pro Bowl

• 2007 Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii: AFC 31, NFC 28

News and notes

Major rule changes

• End zone celebrations became more restricted. Players cannot celebrate by using any type of prop, or do any act in which they are on the ground. Players may still spike, spin the ball, or dunk it over the goal posts. Dancing in the end zone is also permitted as long as it is not a prolonged or group celebration. The Lambeau Leap, though, is still legal.^[3]
• Defenders were prohibited from hitting a passer in the knee or below unless they are blocked into him. This rule was enacted in response to the previous season's injuries to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Brian Griese.
• Down-by-contact calls could now be reviewed by instant replay to determine if a player fumbled the ball before he was down, and who recovered it. Previously, these plays could not be reversed once officials blew the whistle.
• The "horse-collar tackle" rule enacted during the previous 2005 season was expanded. Players are now prohibited from tackling a ball carrier from the rear by tugging inside his jersey. Previously, it was only illegal if the tackler's hand got inside the player's shoulder pads.
• To reduce injuries, defensive players cannot line up directly over the long snapper during field goal and extra point attempts.

Officials' uniform makeover

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 old polyester uniforms. The uniforms were designed by Reebok 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 and internet board posters. This was the first major design overhaul since 1979, when the position name was added to the shirt, but later abbreviated in 1982.

New NFL commissioner

On March 20, 2006, Paul Tagliabue announced his plans to retire as NFL commissioner. During an NFL meeting in Northbrook, Illinois, on August 8, league team owners selected Roger 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 has added four new teams; saw four franchises move (including two franchises—the Rams and Raiders—from Los Angeles, the second-largest television market in the U.S.); the construction of seventeen new stadiums; began its own in-house television specialty cable network, the NFL Network; has greatly increased television rights fees with its broadcasters, including the addition of the Fox network and its NFL programming; and has maintained labor peace with the players' union.

Return of "The Duke" football

For the first time since Super Bowl IV at the conclusion of the 1969 season, the official NFL game ball was known as "The Duke" in honor of Wellington Mara, whose family owns the New York Giants. Son John is the current CEO of the team. The NFL first used "The Duke" ball in honor of Mara in 1941 after then-Chicago Bears owner George Halas and then-Giants owner Tim Mara (Wellington's father) made a deal with Wilson Sporting Goods to become the league's official supplier of game balls, a relationship that continued into its sixty-fifth year in 2006.^[4]

"The Duke" ball was discontinued after the 1970 AFL-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 in 2004.

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 the Thanksgiving Day, conference championships, Super Bowl XLI and Pro Bowl games.

Unprecedented sell-outs

Through week 11 of the season, all NFL games had been sold out, and for the 24th time, all blackout restrictions had been lifted.^[5] The streak was ended by the Jacksonville at Buffalo game in Week 12.^[6]

Saints go home

The New Orleans Saints returned to their home at the Louisiana Superdome in Week Three. The Saints played home games during the 2005 NFL Season in San Antonio, TX, Baton Rouge, LA, and East Rutherford, NJ, due to the damage to the Superdome caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Saints finished the regular season 10–6, clinched a 1st Round Bye, and beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. The Chicago Bears defeated the Saints in the NFC Championship, 39–14.

Game highlights on iTunes

Starting September 18, fans were able to download highlights of their teams' games through Apple's iTunes Store. Each video costs US$1.99 each but fans have the chance of buying a "Follow Your Team season ticket" which brings every game of that team to the fan for $24.99.^[5]

Also available will be NFL GameDay, the NFL Network's comprehensive Sunday night review which features post-game reactions and game analysis, all for $1.99 a show or $19.99 for the full season.

Death of Lamar Hunt

Lamar Hunt died in Dallas, Texas on December 13 from complications from prostate cancer at the age of 74. He is credited with challenging the NFL with the formation of the American Football League, which led to the subsequent merger of the two leagues.

Death of two Broncos

At 3 a.m. on January 1, 2007, Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in Denver, within hours after the last regular season game against the San Francisco 49ers. Less than two months after, on February 24, 2007, Broncos running back Damien Nash collapsed and died after a charity basketball game at a high school. Both players died at the age of 24.

Milestones

The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the regular season:

Record	Player/Team	Date/Opponent	Previous Record Holder[7]
Most Points, 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 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)

Regular season statistical leaders

Team

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)

Individual

Scoring	LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (186 points)
Touchdowns	LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego (31 TDs)
Most field goals made	Robbie Gould, Chicago and Jeff 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 and Champ Bailey, Denver (10)
Punting	Mat McBriar, Dallas (48.2 average yards)
Sacks	Shawne Merriman, San Diego (17)

Awards

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

---

All-Pro Team

Special teams
Kicker	Robbie Gould, Chicago
Punter	Brian Moorman, Buffalo
Kick returner	Devin Hester, Chicago

Team Superlatives

Offense

• Most points scored: San Diego, 492
• Fewest points scored: Oakland, 168
• Most total offensive yards: New Orleans, 6,264
• Fewest total offensive yards: Oakland, 3,939
• Most total passing yards: New Orleans, 4,503
• Fewest total passing yards: Atlanta, 2,371
• Most rushing yards: Atlanta, 2,939
• Fewest rushing yards: Detroit, 1,129

^[8]

Defense

• Fewest points allowed: Baltimore, 201
• Most points allowed: San Francisco, 412
• Fewest total yards allowed: Baltimore, 4,225
• Most total yards allowed: Tennessee, 5,915
• Fewest passing yards allowed: Oakland, 2,413
• Most passing yards allowed: Cincinnati / Minnesota (tie), 3,818
• Fewest rushing yards allowed: Minnesota, 985
• Most rushing yards allowed: Indianapolis, 2,768

^[9]

External links

• Football Outsiders 2006 DVOA Rankings

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "NFL announces new prime-time TV packages". NFL.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2005. Retrieved December 13, 2005. 
2. ↑ "NFL to remain on broadcast TV". NFL.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2005. Retrieved December 13, 2005. 
3. ↑ Expert: Simple celebration rule – stay on your feet – NFL – MSNBC.com
4. ↑ Michael Eisen – Story – 3.27 "The Duke" is Back – Giants.com
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 All games sold out for 11th consecutive week at the Wayback Machine (archived November 25, 2006)
6. ↑ "In depth: Frustration in Buffalo shows how NFL's television policies irking fan base". USA Today. November 26, 2006. Retrieved November 27, 2006. 
7. ↑ "NFL.com – NFL Record and Fact Book". Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007. 
8. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 2006 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
9. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 2006 NFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics

• 2006 NFL Schedule (Last accessed April 6, 2006)
• NFL curtails end-zone celebrations from NFL.com, March 29, 2006 (Last accessed March 29, 2006)
• Process of game-time decisions will eliminate TV duds, create chaos by Michael Hiestand, USA Today, April 5, 2006 (Last accessed November 6, 2006)

2006 NFL season AFC East North South West East North South West NFC Buffalo Baltimore Houston Denver Dallas Chicago Atlanta Arizona Miami Cincinnati Indianapolis Kansas City NY Giants Detroit Carolina St. Louis New England Cleveland Jacksonville Oakland Philadelphia Green Bay New Orleans San Francisco NY Jets Pittsburgh Tennessee San Diego Washington Minnesota Tampa Bay Seattle 2006 NFL Draft NFL Playoffs Pro Bowl Super Bowl XLI

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