2013 NFL season
The 2013 NFL season was the 94th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 48th of the Super Bowl era. The season saw the Seattle Seahawks capture the first championship in the franchise's 38 years in the league with a lopsided victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, the league's championship game. The Super Bowl was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, February 2, 2014. It was the first Super Bowl hosted by New Jersey and the first to be held outdoors in a cold weather environment. The Seahawks scored 12 seconds into the game and led the rest of the way on the back of their Legion of Boom defense.
This article is about the American football season in the United States. For the Gaelic football season in Ireland, see 2013 National Football League (Ireland).Regular season
September 5 – December 29, 2013
January 4, 2014
February 2, 2014
January 26, 2014
Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was named the regular season's Most Valuable Player (MVP) by the voters of the Associated Press (AP) for a record fifth time after compiling passing stats including regular-season records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. Manning also was named the Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career. Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly earned Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Scoring reached historic levels throughout the league in 2013. As a whole, the league set records for total points scored, points scored per game, and touchdowns and field goals scored. The Broncos set a new standard for team scoring in the regular season with 606 points. Ten other teams each scored over 400 points, the greatest number to surpass that benchmark in a single year.
The regular season got underway on Thursday, September 5, 2013, with the Broncos hosting the defending Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens in the annual kickoff game. The game presaged the Broncos' historic offensive production with a strong performance by Peyton Manning in which he tied a league record in throwing seven touchdown passes and led the Broncos to a win. The game was the start of a disappointing season for the Ravens in which they would finish out of the playoffs with an 8–8 record, thus ensuring there would be no repeat Super Bowl winner for a record-tying ninth straight season. The regular season wrapped up on Sunday night, December 29.
The playoffs began with the wild card round which took place the first weekend of January 2014. The league's propensity for scoring did not abate in the post-season, as exemplified by the Indianapolis Colts' wild come-from-behind victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs' opening game. The Conference Championship games featured the top seeded teams in each conference, the Seahawks in the NFC and the Broncos in the American Football Conference (AFC), hosting the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots respectively. Both home teams prevailed to set up just the second Super Bowl matchup of No. 1 seeds in the past 20 seasons.
Officiating changes[edit]
Dean Blandino was named as the league's new Vice President of Officiating, succeeding Carl Johnson.[19] Referee Alberto Riveron was then promoted to the league's Senior Director of Officiating, a newly created position as a second-in-command under Blandino.[20] Bill Vinovich, who worked the previous season as a substitute referee, was then assigned to head Riveron's former on-field officiating crew.
Preseason[edit]
Training camps for the 2013 season opened in late July. The Buccaneers camp was the first to open with rookies reporting on July 17. The Cowboys were the first to open camp to veteran players on July 20. All teams were in camp by July 27.[29]
Prior to the start of the regular season, each team played at least four preseason exhibition games. The preseason schedule got underway with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Sunday, August 4. The Hall of Fame game is a traditional part of the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend celebrating new Hall of Fame members. It was played at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio, which is located adjacent to the Hall of Fame building. In the game, which was televised nationally on NBC, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins 24–20.[30] The 2013 Hall of Fame class of Larry Allen, Cris Carter, Curley Culp, Jonathan Ogden, Bill Parcells, Dave Robinson and Warren Sapp was honored during the game.[31] The 65-game preseason schedule concluded on Thursday, August 29.[32]
The 2013 season saw a number of league records set, most notably:
Several teams made changes to their uniforms or logos prior to the 2013 season:
Due to a new recommendation that a player should use the same helmet for all games, several teams were forced to make changes in their plans to use alternate and throwback jerseys, including the following:
U.S. television coverage[edit]
This was the eighth and final year of the television contracts with CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN before the new nine-year contracts began in 2014. CBS and Fox continued to carry the Sunday afternoon AFC and NFC packages, respectively. NBC carried Sunday Night Football, the kickoff game, and the prime-time Thanksgiving game; and ESPN aired seventeen Monday Night games in sixteen weeks.[296]