The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League.
Defending Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears shared the league's best record with the Giants at 14–2, with the Giants claiming the spot in the NFC by tiebreakers. In the AFC, the Cleveland Browns earned home-field advantage with a record of 12–4, and they hosted the New York Jets in round one of the AFC playoffs. The Jets had started the season at 10–1 before losing their final five contests. The game went to double OT, with the Browns finally prevailing 23–20. The following Sunday, John Elway and the Denver Broncos defeated the Browns by an identical score in a game known for The Drive, where Elway drove his team 98 yards to send the game to overtime to win. The Giants would defeat their rival Washington Redskins in the NFC title game, blanking them 17–0 to advance to their first Super Bowl. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos 39–20 at the Rose Bowl to win their first league title in 30 years.
Regular season | |
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Duration | September 7 – December 22, 1986 |
Playoffs | |
Start date | December 28, 1986 |
AFC Champions | Denver Broncos |
NFC Champions | New York Giants |
Super Bowl XXI | |
Date | January 25, 1987 |
Site | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California |
Champions | New York Giants |
Pro Bowl | |
Date | February 1, 1987 |
Site | Aloha Stadium |
The 1986 NFL Draft was held from April 29 to 30, 1986 at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected runningback Bo Jackson from Auburn University.
Dick Hantak was promoted to referee after serving eight seasons as a back judge (the position title was changed to field judge in 1998). Fred Silva was then assigned as a swing official instead of his own crew after suffering a heart attack in the offseason. Chuck Heberling was scheduled to be an instant replay official, but was asked to remain on the field following Silva's heart attack. Herberling earned assignment to the AFC championship.
A series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States, the only American Bowl game in 1986 was held at London's Wembley Stadium.
Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score | Stadium | City |
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August 3, 1986 | Chicago Bears | 17 | Dallas Cowboys | 6 | Wembley Stadium | London |
Inter-conference |
Highlights of the 1986 season included:
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Jan 4 – Mile High Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
3 | New England | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
Dec 28 – Giants Stadium | Jan 11 – Cleveland Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Denver | 22 | ||||||||||||||||
AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
5 | Kansas City | 15 | 2 | Denver | 23* | |||||||||||||
Jan 3 – Cleveland Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
4 | NY Jets | 35 | 1 | Cleveland | 20 | |||||||||||||
AFC Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
4 | NY Jets | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
Jan 25 – Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
1 | Cleveland | 23** | ||||||||||||||||
Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
Wild Card playoffs | A2 | Denver | 20 | |||||||||||||||
Jan 3 – Soldier Field | ||||||||||||||||||
N1 | NY Giants | 39 | ||||||||||||||||
Super Bowl XXI | ||||||||||||||||||
4 | Washington | 27 | ||||||||||||||||
Dec 28 – RFK Memorial Stadium | Jan 11 – Giants Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Chicago | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
5 | LA Rams | 7 | 4 | Washington | 0 | |||||||||||||
Jan 4 – Giants Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
4 | Washington | 19 | 1 | NY Giants | 17 | |||||||||||||
NFC Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
3 | San Francisco | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | NY Giants | 49 | ||||||||||||||||
The following players set all-time records during the season:
Most passes completed, season | Dan Marino, Miami (378) |
Most pass attempts, season | Dan Marino, Miami (623) |
Points scored | Miami Dolphins (430) |
Total yards gained | Cincinnati Bengals (6,490) |
Yards rushing | Chicago Bears (2,700) |
Yards passing | Miami Dolphins (4,779) |
Fewest points allowed | Chicago Bears (187) |
Fewest total yards allowed | Chicago Bears (4,130) |
Fewest rushing yards allowed | New York Giants (1,284) |
Fewest passing yards allowed | St. Louis Cardinals (2,637) |
Most Valuable Player | Lawrence Taylor, linebacker, New York Giants |
Coach of the Year | Bill Parcells, New York Giants |
Offensive Player of the Year | Eric Dickerson, running back, Los Angeles Rams |
Defensive Player of the Year | Lawrence Taylor, linebacker, New York Giants |
Offensive Rookie of the Year | Rueben Mayes, running back, New Orleans Saints |
Defensive Rookie of the Year | Leslie O'Neal, defensive end, San Diego Chargers |
NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Joe Montana, quarterback, San Francisco 49ers, Tommy Kramer, quarterback, Minnesota Vikings (co-winners) |
Man of the Year | Reggie Williams, linebacker, Cincinnati Bengals |
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Phil Simms, quarterback, New York Giants |
This was the fifth and final year under the league's broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. This was the last season that games remained only on broadcast television, as the league would sign a deal with the cable channel ESPN to broadcast a series of Sunday night games starting in 1987.
ABC opted to go to a two-man booth, dropping Joe Namath and O. J. Simpson, moving Frank Gifford to its sole color commentator, and having Al Michaels serve as the new play-by-announcer. Gifford would once again call the play-by-play during those weeks when Michaels was busy calling the Major League Baseball playoffs, and Lynn Swann or Simpson would fill-in.
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