This article is about the American football season in the United States. For the Gaelic football season in Ireland, see 2010 National Football League (Ireland).
Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots, was named NFL MVP for the 2010 season. In Super Bowl XLV, the league's championship game played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers to win their fourth Super Bowl, spoiling the Steelers' chance for a seventh title.[2] This season also marked the first full-length season in which a team with a losing record made the playoffs, when the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West with a 7–9 record. One week later, the Seahawks dethroned the defending champion New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round, to become the first ever sub-.500 playoff team to win a postseason game.
Labor issues
NFL owners voted in 2008 to opt out of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) as of the end of the 2010 season. (The vote was 23 in favor, 9 against; the extension measure needed 24 to pass, which would have set the CBA to expire after the 2012 season). Since a new CBA was not reached with the NFLPA, 2010 was an uncapped season,[4] meaning that there was no salary cap or salary floor between which teams had to operate.[5] Also, the uncapped season limited unrestricted free agency only to players with at least six years of experience, as opposed to four under a capped season.[5] The final eight teams alive in the 2009–10 NFL playoffs (Arizona, Dallas, Minnesota and New Orleans in the NFC; and Baltimore, Indianapolis, the New York Jets and San Diego in the AFC) were restricted in the free agents they could sign.[5]
The issue of a CBA continued into the 2011 NFL season, affecting most of the off-season.
The following notable trades were made during the 2010 league year:
March 5: Arizona traded WR Anquan Boldin to Baltimore in exchange for Baltimore's third- and fourth-round selections in the 2010 NFL draft;[6]
March 5: San Diego traded CB Antonio Cromartie to the N.Y. Jets in exchange for the Jets' second-round selection in 2011;[7]
March 6: N.Y. Jets traded S Kerry Rhodes to Arizona in exchange for Arizona's fourth-round selection in 2010 and seventh-round selection in 2011;[8]
March 8: Atlanta traded CB Chris Houston to Detroit in exchange for a sixth-round selection in 2010 and conditional seventh-round selection in 2011;[9]
March 14: Cleveland traded DE Kamerion Wimbley to Oakland in exchange for a third-round selection in 2010;[10]
March 14: Cleveland traded QB Brady Quinn to Denver in exchange for RB Peyton Hillis and a sixth-round selection in 2011;[11]
March 16: Seattle traded DE Darryl Tapp to Philadelphia in exchange for DE Chris Clemons and a fourth-round selection in 2010;[12]
March 17: San Diego traded QB Charlie Whitehurst to Seattle in return for a swap of second-round selections in 2010;[13]
April 2: Philadelphia traded CB Sheldon Brown and LB Chris Gocong to Cleveland in exchange for DE Alex Hall and fourth- and fifth-round selections in 2010;[14]
April 4: Philadelphia traded QB Donovan McNabb to Washington in exchange for a second-round selection in 2010 and conditional third- or fourth-round selection in 2011;[15]
April 4: Pittsburgh traded CB Bryant McFadden to Arizona in exchange for a swap of fifth and sixth-round selections in 2010;
April 5: Seattle traded G Rob Sims and a seventh-round selection to Detroit in exchange for DE Robert Henderson and a fifth-round selection in 2010;[16]
April 12: Pittsburgh traded WR Santonio Holmes to N.Y. Jets in exchange for a fifth-round selection in 2010;[17]
April 14: Denver traded WR Brandon Marshall to Miami in exchange for Miami's second-round selections in 2010 and 2011;[18]
April 16: Miami traded Ted Ginn Jr. to San Francisco in exchange for a fifth-round selection;[19]
April 19: in a three-way trade, Denver traded TE Tony Scheffler to Detroit, Detroit traded LB Ernie Sims to Philadelphia, Philadelphia sent its fifth-round selection in 2010 to Denver and Denver sent its seventh-round selection to Detroit;[20]
April 20: Tampa Bay traded QB Byron Leftwich to Pittsburgh in exchange for a seventh-round selection in 2010;[21]
April 21: St. Louis traded DT Adam Carriker to Washington in exchange for fifth- and seventh-round selections;[22]
April 24: Washington traded QB Jason Campbell to Oakland in exchange for a fourth-round selection in 2012;[23]
April 24: Tennessee traded RB LenDale White and DE Kevin Vickerson to Seattle in exchange for a fourth-round selection and swap of sixth-round selections in 2010;[24]
April 24: Oakland traded LB Kirk Morrison to Jacksonville in exchange for a swap of fourth- and fifth-round selections;[25]
September 15: New England traded RB Laurence Maroney and a sixth-round selection in 2011 to Denver in exchange for a fourth-round selection;[30]
October 5: Buffalo traded RB Marshawn Lynch to Seattle in exchange for a fourth-round selection in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012;[31]
October 6: New England traded WR Randy Moss and a seventh-round selection in 2012 to Minnesota in exchange for a third-round selection in 2011 and a seventh-round selection in 2012;[32]
October 11: Seattle traded WR Deion Branch to New England in exchange for a fourth-round selection in 2011;[33]
October 19: Kansas City traded DE Alex Magee to Tampa Bay in exchange for a fifth-round selection in 2011.[34]
The league's 75th annual selection meeting, more commonly known as the NFL Draft, took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City from April 22–24, the first time that the draft was held over three days instead of the usual two.[35] In the draft with the first overall pick, the St. Louis Rams chose quarterback Sam Bradford from the University of Oklahoma.
Officiating changes
Mike Pereira resigned as the league's Vice President of Officiating. He had led the NFL's officiating since 2001. Carl Johnson was named as Pereira's successor.
The following rule changes were passed at the league's annual owners meeting in March:
The overtime procedure for postseason games has changed. Instead of a straight sudden death period in which the first team to score by any method wins, the game will not immediately end if the team that receives the ball first scores a field goal on its first possession (the game will still end they score a touchdown or if the defense scores a touchdown or safety).[36] Instead, the other team gets a possession. If the second team on offense then scores a touchdown, it is declared the winner. If the score is tied after both teams had a possession, the game is played under sudden death. These changes were passed in response to recent statistics that show that since 1994, teams that win the coin toss have won overtime 59.8 percent of the time, and won 34.4 percent of the time on the first possession on a field goal.[36] In May, the league decided against applying these overtime rule changes to regular season games as well,[37] although this was adopted two years later.
The definition of a "defenseless receiver" (in which a receiver cannot be hit in the head or neck area by an opponent who launches himself and makes contact with his helmet, shoulder, or forearm) will now apply to every defenseless player.[38]
A play will now immediately be whistled dead if a ball carrier's helmet is removed.[38]
The position of the umpire has been moved from behind the defensive linebackers (except in the last two minutes of the first half, the last five minutes of the second half/overtime, and anytime the offense is inside the defense's five-yard-line) to the offensive backfield opposite the throwing arm of the quarterback in order to reduce the numerous times that the official has been run over during plays.[39]
During field goal and extra point attempts, defenders cannot line up directly across from the long snapper.[39]
Dead ball 15-yard personal fouls that are committed on the final play of either the second or fourth quarters will be assessed on the second half or overtime kickoff, respectively. Previously, such penalties during those situations were not enforced.[39]
Punt returners who make a fair catch signal but then muff the ball are entitled the opportunity to catch the ball before it hits the ground without interference. If there is interference during such a scenario, the receiving team is awarded the ball at the spot of the foul, but no penalty yardage is assessed.[39]
The 2009 temporary modification[40] to the rules regarding balls in play that strike an object such as a video board or a guide wire has been made permanent.[39] Prior to 2009, only the down was replayed. The 2009 modification added resetting the game clock to the time when the original play was snapped.[40]
The replay system will now also be allowed to cover whether there was some sort of interference with the ball during a play.[39]
If the clock is stopped in the final minute of either half for a replay review, but would not have stopped without the review, there will be a 10-second runoff (similar to when the offensive team commits a penalty inside of one minute in order to preserve time). As with any other 10-second runoff, either team may take a time-out in lieu of the runoff.[39]
Crowd noise
The NFL relaxed all rules regarding crowd noise, citing the need to increase the in-stadium experience to lure more fans to attend games. In addition, the league cited the advances in the coach-to-quarterback radio communications, and more visiting teams using silent snap counts as an alternative to overcome crowd noise.[41]
The NFL's rules to "legislate the fans", and help visiting offensive players hear the snap count, have been controversial from the start. In one notorious example, then-Cincinnati Bengals head coach Sam Wyche and then-quarterback Boomer Esiason "protested" the crowd noise rules during a 1989 nationally televised preseason game against the New Orleans Saints by constantly complaining to the referee about the loud crowd noise inside the Superdome.[42]
The league will still allow stadiums to post visual noise meters and other scoreboard messages to incite fans to make noise, but they must cease when the play clock is down to 15 seconds. However, home teams are still prohibited from pumping in artificial crowd noise.[41]
Crackdown on illegal hits
After several violent hits throughout the NFL made the news in Week 3, the league announced that it would consider suspending players for illegal hits, such as helmet-to-helmet hits or other blows to the head.[43] (Previously, players could only be fined for such hits.) The league also instructed all officials and referees to have an even higher level of attention toward flagrant hits.[44] Game officials were also instructed to err on the side of safety, and throw flags even when in doubt.[45]
The crackdown has been controversial. Many defensive players have complained that the league is being too strict in their interpretation of what constitutes an "illegal hit", and that it forces them to behave significantly differently from how they were taught to play the game.[43][44] Another concern is the league's instructions to game officials to err on the side of caution, since questionable calls late in close games significantly affect their outcome. However, the medical community has supported the move, believing that it will help reduce concussions and other head injuries.[44]
The league did not end up suspending any players for violent or illegal hits, however several players were fined for these types of hits within the first few weeks of the crackdown.
2010 deaths
Gaines Adams: Having played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears, Adams died on January 17, 2010.
George Blanda: A member of the Oakland Raiders 1967 AFL championship team, Blanda died after a "short illness" on September 27, 2010.[48] He was 83 years old.[49] A moment of silence was held in Blanda's honor prior to the start of the September 27, 2010, game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, from Soldier Field.[50]
The 2010 regular season was the first year that the league used a modified version of the scheduling formula that was first introduced in 2002, in which all teams play each other at least once every four years, and play in every other team's stadium at least once every eight years (notwithstanding the regular season games played overseas as part of the NFL International Series). Under the original 2002 formula, since the pairings were strictly based on alphabetical order, those teams scheduled to play the entire AFC West had to travel to both Oakland and San Diego in the same season, while those teams playing the entire NFC West had to make their way to both San Francisco and Seattle.[58] In 2008, New England and the New York Jets each had to make cross-country trips to all four of the aforementioned West Coast teams. In an effort to relieve east coast teams from having to travel to the West Coast multiple times during the same season, teams will only have to visit one West Coast team (AFC West or NFC West), plus one western team from the same division closer to the Midwest, under the 2010 modified formula. Specifically, those teams traveling to Oakland (Las Vegas since 2020) will also play at Denver, while those playing at San Diego (Los Angeles since 2017) will also play at Kansas City. For teams scheduled to play the NFC West, those traveling to San Francisco will also go to Arizona, while those scheduled to play in Seattle will then go to St. Louis (this became moot in 2016 when the Rams returned to Los Angeles).[58][59][60]
For the 2010 season, the intraconference and interconference matchups are:
The entire 2010 regular-season schedule was unveiled at 7:00pm EDT on Tuesday, April 20. Additionally, schedule release shows aired on both the NFL Network and as a SportsCenter special on ESPN2.[61]
Opening weekend
St. Louis against home to Carolina in Week 8 of the season, on October 31, 2010
The NFL Kickoff Game, the first game of the season, took place on Thursday, September 9, starting at 8:35pm EDT, with the Super Bowl XLIV champion New Orleans Saints hosting the Minnesota Vikings, in a rematch of the 2009NFC Championship Game, with New Orleans winning. Like in previous years, the opening week's prime-time games were expected to be announced at the NFL's annual owners meetings in late March, but that wasn't the case this year, with the schedule announced on April 20.[62]
The 2010 season featured one International game, played at Wembley Stadium in London.[64] The teams for this game were confirmed on January 15, 2010, with the San Francisco 49ers playing host to the Denver Broncos on October 31, at 1:00pm EDT (5:00pm GMT),[65] with San Francisco winning.
The entire Week 17 schedule, played on January 2, consisted solely of divisional contests, in an attempt to increase competition after several cases over the last few seasons of playoff-bound teams resting their regular starters and playing their reserves. This has continued since then.[68]
By way of flexible scheduling, three game times were changed in Week 16: The Minnesota–Philadelphia game, originally scheduled for 1:00pm EST on Fox, was flexed into the 8:20pm time slot on NBC's Sunday Night Football. The originally-scheduled NBC Sunday Night game between the San Diego–Cincinnati was changed to a 4:05pm EST kickoff on CBS. The Seattle–Tampa Bay game was moved from 1:00pm to 4:15pm EST.[72]
The Minnesota-Philadelphia game was then postponed to Tuesday, December 28 at 8pm due to public safety concerns resulting from an anticipated snowstorm in Philadelphia, even though no snow had fallen at the time of the postponement. The resulting game was the first Tuesday NFL game since 1946.[73]
By way of flexible scheduling, the following Week 17 games were changed: The St. Louis-Seattle game, originally scheduled at 4:15pm EST, was moved onto Sunday Night Football. Also, the Jacksonville-Houston, Tennessee-Indianapolis, Chicago-Green Bay, Dallas-Philadelphia and New York Giants-Washington matches were all rescheduled from 1:00pm to the 4:15pm slot.[74] Except for Cowboys-Eagles, all these games carried playoff implications. (Per its flexible scheduling rules for Week 17, the league had to commit to move these games a full six days in advance before the aforementioned Week 16 Vikings-Eagles game eventually played out on that Tuesday night. Had Philadelphia won that game instead of Minnesota, they would have still been in contention for a first round playoff bye.[75])
1 2 Pittsburgh clinched the AFC North title instead of Baltimore based on division record (5–1 to Baltimore's 4–2).
1 2 Indianapolis clinched the AFC No. 3 seed instead of Kansas City based on a head-to-head victory.
1 2 Jacksonville finished ahead of Oakland based on head-to-head victory.
1 2 Houston finished ahead of Tennessee in the AFC South based on division record (3–3 to Tennessee's 2–4).
1 2 3 Denver finished ahead of Buffalo and Cincinnati based on strength of victory.
1 2 Buffalo finished ahead of Cincinnati based on head-to-head victory.
↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.
1 2 Philadelphia clinched the NFC East title based on a head-to-head sweep over the NY Giants.
1 2 Seattle clinched the NFC West title instead of St. Louis based on division record (4–2 to St. Louis' 3–3).
1 2 3 Green Bay clinched the NFC No. 6 seed based on better strength of victory (.475) than the NY Giants (.400) and Tampa Bay (.344).
1 2 3 4 5 Detroit and Minnesota finished ahead of San Francisco, Dallas and Washington based on conference record (5–7 to 4–8).
1 2 Detroit finished ahead of Minnesota in the NFC North based on division record (2–4 to Minnesota's 1–5).
1 2 San Francisco finished ahead of Dallas based on record versus common opponents (2–3 versus Dallas’ 1–4 against Philadelphia, New Orleans, Green Bay and Arizona).
1 2 Dallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on division record (3–3 to Washington's 2–4).
↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.
The 2010–11 NFL playoff tournament began January 8–9, 2011 with wild card weekend. Following that, the divisional playoffs set the matchups for the NFC Championship Game, to be played at 3:00pm EST on January 23, and the AFC Championship Game, to be played at 6:30pm EST.
The annual Pro Bowl had previously been played in Hawaii for 30 consecutive seasons from 1980 to 2009.[80] However, the NFL and State of Hawaiʻi officials only agreed to a two-year deal to hold the Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium in 2011 and 2012.[80] This gives the option of playing the Pro Bowl in Hawaiʻi on a rotational basis with the mainland, so it both maintains the traditional ties of holding it on the islands and providing accessibility to fans when played in the contiguous 48 states.[80]
Super Bowl XLV, was held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 6, 2011, and was the NFL's final event of the 2010 season.
Within each conference, the four division winners and the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 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 the wild-card playoffs or wild-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 a first-round bye. In the second round, the divisional 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 the Super 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.[81]
Starting with Super Bowl XLV, the template of all Super Bowl logos will virtually remain the same. The only differences from year to year will be the stadium backdrop and the Roman numerals for the game as well as colors of the area. For Super Bowl XLV, Cowboys Stadium is featured and "XLV" signifying the forty-fifth Super Bowl game.[82]
The NFL also introduced new Lamar Hunt and George Halas trophies for the AFC and NFC Championship games. The trophies were changed from a brown base with an 'A' or 'N' on top of it surrounded by players layered on a frieze upon a wall, to silver trophies in the make of a football.[82] Additionally, both the NFC and AFC logos were revamped and recolored to reflect the current shield adopted two years earlier and with four stars running down the inside on both logos top to bottom from left to right instead of the six surrounding the AFC and three down the side of the NFC logo as each conference has four divisions. In addition, all event and playoff logos have undergone a complete makeover in a new logo system.[83]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first team since the merger to start 10 rookies and still complete a winning season (10–6). However, the Buccaneers missed the playoffs.[86]
Jauron was fired after nine games into the 2009 season after compiling a 24–33 (.421) record, including a 3–6 record at the time of his firing, in 3½ years. Fewell, the Bills' defensive coordinator, was the interim head coach for the rest of the season and went 3–4 (.429) in that capacity; he was hired to be defensive coordinator for the New York Giants January 14. Jauron was hired as defensive backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Gailey, whom previously served as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 1998–1999 and Georgia Tech from 2002 to 2007, was last seen in the NFL as the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coordinator before Todd Haley fired him prior to the 2009 regular season, and was named the new Bills coach on January 19; he was recommended to the Bills by former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, whom Gailey served under from 1994 to 1997.
Zorn, who was first hired to be offensive coordinator but had never been a head coach before being given the coaching reins, went out to a 6–2 start in the first half of 2008, but fell dramatically afterwards, and in his two seasons went 12–20 (.375) as the Redskins coach before being relieved of his duties following the completion of the 2009 season.
On January 5, 2010, Shanahan, the former Super Bowl-winning head coach of Denver Broncos from 1995 to 2008, was hired as the Redskins' new coach. Zorn was hired January 30, 2010, to be the quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens.
Mora was fired after compiling a 5–11 (.313) record in his only season as head coach as the Seahawks lost the last four games of the 2009 season, being outscored 123–37. Mora wouldn't hold another coaching position until 2012, when he was hired as the head coach of UCLA and 10 years later, the UConn Huskies, both teams in the collegiate level.
Carroll had spent the past eight years as the head coach of USC, having won a share of the 2003 and the outright 2004 national championships; however, many of Carroll's achievements at USC may be stricken from the record books due to improprieties involving Reggie Bush. He had previously been the head coach of the New York Jets in 1994 and New England Patriots from 1997 to 1999, with a career 33–31 record.
Phillips, son of former NFL head coach Bum Phillips, was fired on November 8 following a 45–7 Week 9 loss against the Green Bay Packers. Garrett was their offensive coordinator and head-coach in waiting prior to being promoted. Phillips later was hired by the Houston Texans as their defensive coordinator. Garrett was named the full-time head coach January 6, four days after the season ended.
Childress was fired on November 22 following a Week 11 loss against the Green Bay Packers, 31–3. The Vikings entered week 12 with a 3–7 record, second-to-last in the NFC North. Childress also faced controversy by releasing Randy Moss without the approval of owner Zygi Wilf and lost control over the locker room.[90] Frazier was given position full-time prior to the Vikings' regular season finale in Detroit.
McDaniels was fired on December 5, following a 10–6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13. After a 6–0 start in the 2009 season, the Broncos lost 17 of their next 22 games, and became subject to a videotaping scandal.[91]
Singletary was fired on December 26, following a 25–17 loss to the St. Louis Rams in Week 16, which officially eliminated the 49ers from playoff contention. Heavily favored to win the NFC West, the 49ers instead started the 2010 season with an 0–5 record. Singletary also faced controversy by switching between starting quarterbacks Alex Smith and Troy Smith at least three different times during the season,[92] and unsuccessfully trying to mold the team like the 1985 Chicago Bears.[93]
Stadiums
New Meadowlands StadiumArrowhead Stadium after renovations.
Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs since 1972, underwent a two-year $375 million renovation project which was completed and unveiled in July 2010. The stadium hosted the second game of the Monday Night Football opening weekend doubleheader when the Chiefs played the San Diego Chargers.
M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, installed FieldTurf prior to the 2010 season. The field had been Sportexe Momentum Turf since 2002 and grass before that.
Prior to Week 14, the inflatable roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Vikings, buckled and tore as a result of heavy snowfall in Minneapolis, spilling snow onto Mall of America field and rendering the stadium unusable for the remainder of the Vikings' season.[94] The Vikings' scheduled home game against the New York Giants was moved to Detroit's Ford Field and postponed to a 7:20pm EST kickoff on Monday. Though stadium workers were initially "optimistic" that the roof could be repaired before the Vikings faced the Chicago Bears on December 20,[95] stadium officials determined that such a repair was not possible in that time frame and the game was moved to TCF Bank Stadium.[96][97]
Two stadiums received new naming rights: On January 20, LandShark Stadium, the home field of the Miami Dolphins, was renamed Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins' home field, originally named Joe Robbie Stadium from 1987 to 1996, has undergone several name changes in its history, including Pro Player Stadium (1996–2005), Dolphin Stadium (2006–2009), and most recently, LandShark Stadium.[98] On July 27, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, the home field of the Jacksonville Jaguars, was renamed EverBank Field.[99]
Uniforms
In the 2010 season, the Washington Redskins were the only team who made a major change to their main uniforms, wearing gold pants with their burgundy jerseys, and except for a game against the Packers, wore them for home games instead of their white jerseys and red pants. The white pants were not abandoned entirely, and were worn together with the burgundy jerseys for the two away games (and one home game) in which their opponent wore white at home. This was made possible with a sleeve modification, in which the broad yellow and white stripes were severely shrunken on an elastic band (same for white jerseys) so that when wearing the gold pants, the team also wore the retro style socks that had a different stripe pattern matching the sleeves of the day, so there is no longer a stripe design conflict.
The Green Bay Packers became the first team to officially unveil a third uniform for 2010, a throwback uniform based on their 1929 uniforms when they won their first NFL championship. The throwbacks are as accurate as possible while complying with current NFL guidelines, with a brown modern-shell helmet in place of the leather helmets of 1929, along with blue jerseys and gold circles with the jersey numbers nested within the circles, and brown pants. Like throwbacks worn in recent seasons by the San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and the archrival Minnesota Vikings, these throwbacks will be a permanent addition to the Packers uniforms, unlike throwbacks worn by the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers that were intended as one-time deals but made permanent, as well as several one-shot throwbacks in recent years. The new Packers throwbacks replace the previous throwbacks (which comprised the current helmets with the "G" logo and stripes removed, white jerseys with plain green lettering, and tan pants) worn sporadically since the early 2000s (decade).
Also going the throwback route were the Chicago Bears, who harkened back to the Sid Luckman era with a 1940s set, replacing the pumpkin orange third jerseys, and the Indianapolis Colts, who will wear 1955 throwbacks as well. Since the Colts only have two colors, they only have previously worn a throwback jersey once in their history, in 2004. The difference between the 2004 throwback and the 2010 throwback is the helmet color, which reverses the 2004 scheme.
The Arizona Cardinals, who were the only team to not wear a third jersey in any form since the NFL allowed third jerseys in 2002, unveiled a black third jersey to be worn in 2010.
The Philadelphia Eagles have adopted their 1960 championship uniforms that were worn September 12 against the Packers, the team they beat to win their last championship in celebration of the 50th anniversary of that game.
The Tennessee Titans returned to using navy blue jerseys as their third jersey, after a one-year hiatus in which they wore light blue Houston Oilers throwback jerseys in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the American Football League, but did not wear them for any game in 2010.
The Pittsburgh Steelers wore their throwbacks against the Cleveland Browns on October 17 and against the New England Patriots on November 14.[100]
The Seattle Seahawks have retired the neon green uniform worn for one game in 2009 against Chicago, which was in turn an offshoot from an April Fools' Day joke written about by Uni Watch founder Paul Lukas that year.[101]
This is the fifth season under the television contracts with the league's television partners: CBS (all AFC Sunday afternoon away games and one Thanksgiving game), Fox (all NFC Sunday afternoon away games and one Thanksgiving game), NBC (17 Sunday night games and the kickoff game), ESPN (17 Monday night games over sixteen weeks), NFL Network (eight late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights, including one Thanksgiving game), and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package. These contracts ran through at least 2013.
In national radio, this is the second year on Westwood One's most recent contract extension. The network also agreed to a four-year extension on December 23, 2010.
Nielsen Ratings for the fall 2010 television season have shown viewership increases of up to 10 percent for most of the NFL's broadcast partners; eighteen of the twenty most watched television broadcasts of the season have so far been NFL games.[102]
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The 2016 NFL season was the 97th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 51st of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 8, 2016, with the defending Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos defeating the Carolina Panthers in the NFL Kickoff Game in a rematch of the Super Bowl. The season concluded with Super Bowl LI, the league's championship game on February 5, 2017, at NRG Stadium in Houston with the New England Patriots defeating the Atlanta Falcons. For the first time since the 2003 NFL season, neither of the previous season's Super Bowl participants made the playoffs.
The 2018 NFL season was the 99th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 53rd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 6, 2018, with the NFL Kickoff Game with the defending Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia Eagles defeating the Atlanta Falcons. The season concluded with Super Bowl LIII, the league's championship game, on February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, in which the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams for their sixth Super Bowl championship and their third title in five years.
The 2017 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 57th in the National Football League (NFL), and their fourth under head coach Mike Zimmer. With the team's home stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium, scheduled to host Super Bowl LII at the end of the season, the Vikings attempted to make history as the first team to play the Super Bowl on their home field; in recording their best regular season record since 1998, they clinched a first-round bye for the first time since 2009 and became the eighth team in the Super Bowl era to qualify for the playoffs in a season in which their stadium hosted the Super Bowl. They defeated the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round 29–24 on a walk-off play referred to as the "Minneapolis Miracle", but lost 38–7 to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.
The 2019 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 59th in the National Football League (NFL), their fourth playing home games at U.S. Bank Stadium and their sixth under head coach Mike Zimmer. They improved on their 8–7–1 campaign from 2018 with a Week 14 win over the Detroit Lions, and returned to the playoffs following a one-year absence after the Los Angeles Rams lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16. That week, the Vikings were eliminated from contention for the NFC North division title, losing 23–10 to the Green Bay Packers. They defeated the New Orleans Saints 26–20 in overtime in the Wild Card round but lost 27–10 to the eventual NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
The 2019 season was the Philadelphia Eagles' 87th in the National Football League (NFL) and fourth under head coach Doug Pederson. The Eagles acquired many key players, including wide receiver DeSean Jackson, running back Jordan Howard and defensive tackle Malik Jackson. With these offseason moves, the Eagles were listed as Super Bowl contenders. However, inconsistent play aided by injuries on both sides of the ball plagued the Eagles early in the year. Despite a 5–7 start, the Eagles won their last four games against divisional opponents and matched their 9–7 record from 2018. The Eagles clinched the NFC East division title, but were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round by a score of 17–9.
The 2019 season was the Seattle Seahawks' 44th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 10th under head coach Pete Carroll. It marked their first full season since 1996 without longtime owner Paul Allen, who had died during the 2018 season.
The 2020 season was the Seattle Seahawks' 45th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 11th season under head coach Pete Carroll. With a win over the Washington Football Team in Week 15, the Seahawks made the playoffs for the third consecutive year. With a Week 17 win over the San Francisco 49ers, they improved upon their 11–5 record from the previous season. For the first time in franchise history, the Seahawks started 5–0. After a Week 16 win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Seahawks clinched the NFC West title for the first time since 2016.
The 2021 NFL season was the 102nd season of the National Football League (NFL). The season was the first to feature a 17-game regular season schedule as the league expanded the season from 16 games. The regular season started on September 9, 2021, with defending Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay defeating Dallas in the NFL Kickoff Game. The regular season ended on January 9, 2022. The playoffs started on January 15 and concluded with Super Bowl LVI, the league's championship game, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on February 13, with the Los Angeles Rams defeating Cincinnati.
The 2021 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 61st in the National Football League (NFL), their sixth playing home games at U.S. Bank Stadium and their eighth and final under head coach Mike Zimmer. They were eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight season following a Week 17 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The day after the team's last game of the season, the Vikings fired Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman.
The 2022 season was the Philadelphia Eagles' 90th in the National Football League (NFL), their 20th playing home games at Lincoln Financial Field, their second under head coach Nick Sirianni, and seventh under general manager Howie Roseman since he returned to the position. The Eagles started 8–0 for the first time in franchise history, before their winning streak was snapped with a 32–21 upset loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 10. They improved on their 9–8 record from last year after a 40–33 victory over the Green Bay Packers in Week 12. With a 48–22 road win over the division rival New York Giants in Week 14, the Eagles clinched their second straight playoff berth, and their fifth in six seasons. After a 25–20 road win over the Chicago Bears in Week 15, the Eagles matched their franchise-best 13–1 start in the 2004 season and secured their third 13-win season win in franchise history, after 2004 and 2017. With a 22–16 win over the Giants in Week 18, the Eagles won the NFC East for the first time since 2019, and clinched the NFC's #1 seed for the first time since 2017. The Eagles also reached 14 regular season wins, a franchise record.
The 2023 season was the Philadelphia Eagles' 91st season in the National Football League (NFL) and their third under head coach Nick Sirianni. The Eagles entered the season as defending NFC champions.
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