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2007 NFL season

The 2007 NFL season was the 88th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).

This article is about the American football season in the United States. For the Gaelic football season in Ireland, see 2007 National Football League (Ireland).

Regular season

September 6 – December 30, 2007

January 5, 2008

New England Patriots

New York Giants

February 3, 2008

University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

New York Giants

February 10, 2008

Aloha Stadium

Regular-season play was held from September 6 to December 30. The campaign kicked off with the defending Super Bowl XLI champion Indianapolis Colts defeating the New Orleans Saints in the NFL Kickoff Game.


The New England Patriots became the first team to complete the regular season undefeated since the league expanded to a 16-game regular season in 1978. Four weeks after the playoffs began on January 5, 2008, the Patriots' bid for a perfect season was dashed when they lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, the league championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 3.


For the first time, two divisions (the NFC East and the AFC South) had no team finish with a losing record.[note 1]

Draft[edit]

The 2007 NFL Draft was held from April 28 to 29, 2007 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. With the first pick, the Oakland Raiders selected quarterback JaMarcus Russell from Louisiana State University.

New referee[edit]

John Parry was promoted to referee, replacing Bill Vinovich, who was forced to resign due to a heart condition. Vinovich would then serve as a replay official from 2007 to 2011. He would later be given a clean bill of health and return to the field as a referee in 2012.

The system, used since the 1999 season, was finally made a permanent officiating tool.[1] Previously, it was renewed on a biennial basis.

instant replay

The system has also been upgraded to use . However, the systems at Texas Stadium (Dallas Cowboys), RCA Dome (Indianapolis Colts), and Giants Stadium (New York Giants and Jets) did not receive the HDTV updates since those stadiums were scheduled to be (and since have been) replaced in the forthcoming years.[2] One reason that the technology was improved was that fans with high-definition televisions at home were having better views on replays than the officials and according to Dean Blandino, the NFL's instant replay director "that could have bit us in the rear if we continued [with the old system]." In addition, the amount of time allotted for the referee to review a play was reduced from 90 seconds to one minute.[3]

high-definition technology

After a play is over, players who spike the ball in the field of play, other than in the , will receive a 5-yard delay of game penalty.[3]

end zone

Forward passes that unintentionally hit an offensive lineman before an eligible receiver will no longer be an illegal touching penalty, but deliberate actions are still penalized.

[3]

Roughing-the-passer penalties will not be called on a defender engaged with a quarterback who simply extends his arms and shoves the passer to the ground.

[3]

During situations where crowd noise becomes too loud that it prevents the offensive team from hearing its signals, the offense can no longer ask the referee to reset the play clock.

[3]

It is necessary to have the ball touch the pylon or break the plane above the pylon to count as a touchdown. Previously, a player just had to have some portion of his body over the goal line or pylon to count a touchdown.

[4]

A completed catch is now when a receiver gets two feet down and has control of the ball. Previously, a receiver had to make "a football move" in addition to having control of the ball for a reception.

[5]

Players will be subject to a fine from the league for playing with an unbuckled chin strap. Officials will not penalize for chin strap violations during a game.

[5]

The following rule changes were passed at the league's annual owners meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, during the week of March 25–28:

Preseason[edit]

The Hall of Fame Game was played in Canton, Ohio, on Sunday August 5, 2007, with the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Saints by a score of 20–7;[6] the game was televised by the NFL Network, replacing NBC, who had been previously scheduled to broadcast the China Bowl exhibition game from Beijing, China on August 8, 2007, between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks at Workers Stadium. However, with all efforts being put into the London regular season game, plans for the game were postponed (then later cancelled completely) as Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The –Buffalo game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, was flexed into NBC Sunday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET, replacing the Chicago–Seattle game, which was moved to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.

New England

The –Detroit game, originally scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET, was flexed to 1:00 p.m. ET on Fox.

New York Giants

The –New York Jets game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET, was flexed to 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.

Pittsburgh

The –Dallas game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET, was flexed to 4:15 p.m. ET on Fox.

Washington

New England Patriots defensive end, died on May 28, at the age of 24, drowned.[19]

Marquise Hill

The NFL set an all-time attendance record in 2007, with the league's 32 stadiums attracting 17,345,205 paying customers during the regular season. Average per-game attendance was 67,755.

[22]

The ESPN Monday Night Football game between the unbeaten New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens on December 3 drew the highest basic cable rating in history, with over 17.5 million viewers, beating the premiere of 's High School Musical 2, which set the previous record on August 17. The previous high-water mark was a MNF telecast between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys on October 23, 2006, which drew over 16 million viewers.

Disney Channel

Most points scored: , 589

New England

Fewest points scored: , 219

San Francisco

Most total offensive yards: New England, 6,580

Fewest total offensive yards: San Francisco, 3,797

Most total passing yards: New England, 4,731

Fewest total passing yards: San Francisco, 2,320

Most rushing yards: , 2,634

Minnesota

Fewest rushing yards: , 1,248

Kansas City

Stadiums[edit]

The 2007 season was the last in the RCA Dome for the Indianapolis Colts, who had played there since 1984. The franchise moved to the new Lucas Oil Stadium in time for the 2008 season, located directly across the street. The dome would be demolished, and an extension to the Indiana Convention Center would replace the stadium.


Alltel Stadium reverts to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium after Alltel declines to renew the naming rights of the Jacksonville Jaguars's home.

This was the final season in which the classic NFL Shield logo, which had not changed since 1980, was used. An updated version first seen on August 31 in was put into use starting with the 2008 NFL Draft in April.[37] The new logo design features eight stars (one for each division) instead of the current 25 stars, the football now resembles that on the top of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, given to the Super Bowl champion and the lettering and point has been updated and modified to that of the league's current typeface for other logos.

USA Today

Teams that have permanent captains are allowed to wear a "C" patch (similar to those in ) on their right shoulder. The patch is in team colors with four stars under the "C." A gold star is placed on a bar below the "C" signaling how many years (with a maximum of four years) that player has been captain. The Pittsburgh Steelers—who were using up two patches as it was for the season with their own logo (which was already part of the standard uniforms) and the team's 75th anniversary logo—and Oakland Raiders elected not to use the "C" patch.

ice hockey

The San Diego Chargers introduced new uniforms featuring white helmets, navy face masks, and revamped gold lightning bolts. A powder blue third jersey was also introduced.

San Francisco 49ers coach and Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio each wore suits on the sidelines for all of the teams' home games to honor Nolan's father, former 49ers and Saints coach Dick Nolan. In 2006, both coaches were allowed to wear a suit on the sidelines for a maximum of two home games. Del Rio did not wear a suit in the September 16 game against the Falcons due to the extreme heat in Jacksonville that day. Nolan wore a suit at the Meadowlands against the Giants on October 21.

Mike Nolan

The Washington Redskins celebrated their 75th anniversary season (the franchise having been founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves), and wore -styled uniforms against the New York Giants on September 23. The Philadelphia Eagles and their cross-state rival Pittsburgh Steelers also celebrated their respective 75th seasons, having been founded in 1933. The Eagles wore replicas of their inaugural season uniforms against the Detroit Lions on September 23, while the Steelers wore 1960 uniforms against the Buffalo Bills on September 16 and did so again when the Baltimore Ravens visited on November 5.

Vince Lombardi

Throwback uniforms were not just limited to team anniversary celebrations. The Cleveland Browns wore their 1957 throwbacks in a game against the Houston Texans on November 25, the Minnesota Vikings wore 1970s uniforms against the Green Bay Packers on September 30 (in the same game that passed Dan Marino for most touchdown passes in NFL history), while the Jets honored their historic predecessors on October 14 against the Eagles and, in a rare instance, wore them in a road game at Miami December 2 by wearing the New York Titans' 1960 through 1962 uniforms. The team did not become the Jets until 1963. The Cowboys wore their 1960 uniforms on November 29 against the Packers, and the Bills wore their 1960s throwbacks at home against Dallas October 7 and against Miami December 9.

Brett Favre

The 49ers also honored the late Bill Walsh, coach of their wins in , XIX, and XXIII by wearing throwback uniforms from the 1980s in their opener on September 10 against the Arizona Cardinals. Mike Nolan had been considering wearing the 1980s uniforms for the entire season to honor Walsh's memory. The retro uniforms were worn again on November 18 against the Seahawks. In addition, all season long, the team wore a black football-shaped decal on their helmets with the initials "BW" in white.

Super Bowls XVI

The Kansas City Chiefs honored their late former owner and team founder by wearing special American Football League logo patches on their jerseys with the letters "LH" emblazoned inside the logo's football. Originally meant to be a one-season tribute, the Chiefs announced that as of the 2008 NFL season, the patch will be a permanent fixture on the jerseys, joining the Chicago Bears (for George Halas) and Cleveland Browns (for Al Lerner) for such memorial patches.

Lamar Hunt

Football Outsiders 2007 DVOA Ratings