Mixing
1995 NFL season
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 3 – December 25, 1995 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | December 30, 1995 |
| AFC Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| NFC Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| Super Bowl XXX | |
| Date | January 28, 1996 |
| Site | Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona |
| Champions | Dallas Cowboys |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 4, 1996 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
The 1995 NFL season was the 76th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 30 teams with the addition of the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The two expansion teams were slotted into the two remaining divisions that previously had only four teams (while the other four had five teams): the AFC Central (Jaguars) and the NFC West (Panthers).
Meanwhile, the two teams in Los Angeles relocated to other cities: the Rams transferred to St. Louis (but would return to Los Angeles in 2016) and the Raiders moved back to Oakland. During the course of the season it emerged that the Cleveland Browns would relocate to Baltimore for the 1996 season. The Raiders’ move was not announced until after the schedule had been announced, which resulted in a problem in the third week of the season when both the Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers had games scheduled to air on NBC which ended up overlapping each other. The Raiders game was rescheduled for 10:00 AM PDT in case they were to relocate and NBC was given the doubleheader so that both Bay Area teams had their games televised locally.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXX, when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27–17 at the Sun Devil Stadium. They became the first team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in four years. This season was legendary Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula’s last season as coach.
Contents
1 Major rule changes
2 Final regular season standings
2.1 Tiebreakers
3 Playoffs
4 Coaching changes
4.1 In-season
5 Statistical leaders
5.1 Team
5.2 Individual
6 Milestones
7 Awards
8 Draft
9 Coaches
9.1 American Football Conference
9.2 National Football Conference
10 External links
11 References
Major rule changes
- An eligible receiver forced out of bounds by a defensive player may return to the field and automatically become eligible to legally be the first player to touch a forward pass.
- Quarterbacks may now receive communications from the bench from a small radio receiver in their helmets, partly repealing a rule that had been in force since 1956.
Final regular season standings
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Tiebreakers
- Indianapolis finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- San Diego was the first AFC Wild Card based on head-to-head victory over Indianapolis (1–0).
- Cincinnati finished ahead of Houston in the AFC Central based on better division record (4–4 to Oilers’ 3–5).
- Seattle finished ahead of Denver and Oakland in the AFC West based on best head-to-head record (3–1 to Broncos’ 2–2 and Raiders’ 1–3).
- Denver finished ahead of Oakland in the AFC West based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- Philadelphia was the first NFC Wild Card ahead of Detroit based on better conference record (9–3 to Lions’ 7–5).
- San Francisco was the second NFC playoff seed ahead of Green Bay based on better conference record (8–4 to Packers’ 7–5).
- Atlanta was the third NFC Wild Card ahead of Chicago based on better record against common opponents (4–2 to Bears’ 3–3).
- St. Louis finished ahead of Carolina and New Orleans in the NFC West based on best head-to-head record (3–1 to Panthers’ 1–3 and Saints’ 2–2).
- Carolina finished ahead of New Orleans in the NFC West based on better conference record (4–8 to 3–9).
Playoffs
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Dec. 31 – Lambeau Field | | Jan. 6 – 3Com Park | | | | | | |||||||||||
| 6 | Atlanta | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Green Bay | 27 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Green Bay | 37 | | | Jan. 14 – Texas Stadium | |||||||||||||
| 2 | San Francisco | 17 | | |||||||||||||||
NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dec. 30 – Veterans Stadium | 3 | Green Bay | 27 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 7 – Texas Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| | 1 | Dallas | 38 | | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Detroit | 37 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Philadelphia | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Philadelphia | 58 | | Jan. 28 – Sun Devil Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Dallas | 30 | | |||||||||||||||
Wild card playoffs | | |||||||||||||||||
Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dec. 31 – Jack Murphy Stadium | N1 | Dallas | 27 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 7 – Arrowhead Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| | A2 | Pittsburgh | 17 | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Indianapolis | 35 | Super Bowl XXX | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Indianapolis | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | San Diego | 20 | | | Jan. 14 – Three Rivers Stadium | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Kansas City | 7 | | |||||||||||||||
AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dec. 30 – Rich Stadium | 5 | Indianapolis | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 6 – Three Rivers Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| | 2 | Pittsburgh | 20 | | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Miami | 22 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Buffalo | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Buffalo | 37 | | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Pittsburgh | 40 | | |||||||||||||||
Coaching changes
Denver Broncos: Mike Shanahan replaced the fired Wade Phillips
Carolina Panthers: Dom Capers became this expansion team's first head coach.
Houston Oilers: Jeff Fisher became the permanent head coach. Fisher served as interim for the final six games of 1994 after Jack Pardee was fired.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Tom Coughlin became this expansion team's first head coach.
Oakland Raiders: Mike White replaced the fired Art Shell for the Raiders' first season since returning to Oakland.
Philadelphia Eagles: Ray Rhodes replaced the fired Rich Kotite.
New York Jets: Rich Kotite replaced the fired Pete Carroll.
Seattle Seahawks: Dennis Erickson replaced the fired Tom Flores.
St. Louis Rams: Rich Brooks replaced the fired Chuck Knox for the Rams's first season in St. Louis.
In-season
Buffalo Bills: Elijah Pitts served as interim for three games while Marv Levy recovered from prostate cancer surgery.
Statistical leaders
Team
| Points scored | San Francisco 49ers (457) |
| Total yards gained | Detroit Lions (6,113) |
| Yards rushing | Kansas City Chiefs (2,222) |
| Yards passing | San Francisco 49ers (4,608) |
| Fewest points allowed | Kansas City Chiefs (241) |
| Fewest total yards allowed | San Francisco 49ers (4,398) |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | San Francisco 49ers (1,061) |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | New York Jets (2,740) |
Individual
| Scoring | Emmitt Smith, Dallas (150 points) |
| Touchdowns | Emmitt Smith, Dallas (25 TDs) |
| Most field goals made | Norm Johnson, Pittsburgh (34 FGs) |
| Rushing | Emmitt Smith, Dallas (1,773 yards) |
| Passing | Jim Harbaugh, Indianapolis (100.7 rating) |
| Passing touchdowns | Brett Favre, Green Bay (38 TDs) |
| Pass receiving | Herman Moore, Detroit (123 catches) |
| Pass receiving yards | Jerry Rice, San Francisco (1,848) |
| Punt returns | David Palmer, Minnesota (13.2 average yards) |
| Kickoff returns | Ron Carpenter, New York Jets (27.7 average yards) |
| Interceptions | Orlando Thomas, Minnesota (9) |
| Punting | Rick Tuten, Seattle (45.0 average yards) |
| Sacks | Bryce Paup, Buffalo (17.5) |
The 1995 season produced four of the top eleven highest single-season totals for receiving yards. The top two receiving yard totals of all time – Jerry Rice's 1,848 & Isaac Bruce's 1,781 – were recorded in 1995. Detroit Lions receiver Herman Moore gained 1,686 yards (6th highest all time) and Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin gained 1,603 yards (11th most in NFL history).
Milestones
The following players set all-time records during the season:
| Most Touchdowns, season | Emmitt Smith, Dallas (25) |
| Most Passing Attempts, career | Dan Marino, Miami (6,531 at the end of the season) |
| Most Passes Completed, career | Dan Marino, Miami (3,913 at the end of the season) |
| Most Passing Yards, career | Dan Marino, Miami (48,841 at the end of the season) |
| Most Touchdown Passes, career | Dan Marino, Miami (352 at the end of the season) |
| Most Pass Receptions, career | Jerry Rice, San Francisco (942 at the end of the season) |
| Most Pass Receiving Yards Gained, career | Jerry Rice, San Francisco (15,123 at the end of the season) |
Awards
| Most Valuable Player | Brett Favre, Quarterback, Green Bay |
| Coach of the Year | Ray Rhodes, Philadelphia |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Brett Favre, Quarterback, Green Bay |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Bryce Paup, Linebacker, Buffalo |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Curtis Martin, Running Back, New England |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Hugh Douglas, Defensive End, New York Jets |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Jim Harbaugh, Quarterback, Indianapolis and Garrison Hearst, Running Back, Arizona |
| NFL Man of the Year Award | Boomer Esiason, Quarterback, NY Jets |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Larry Brown, Cornerback, Dallas |
Draft
The 1995 NFL Draft was held from April 22 to 23, 1995 at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the Cincinnati Bengals selected running back Ki-Jana Carter from Penn State University.
Coaches
American Football Conference
Buffalo Bills: Marv Levy
Cincinnati Bengals: Dave Shula
Cleveland Browns: Bill Belichick
Denver Broncos: Mike Shanahan
Houston Oilers: Jeff Fisher
Indianapolis Colts: Ted Marchibroda
Jacksonville Jaguars: Tom Coughlin
Kansas City Chiefs: Marty Schottenheimer
Miami Dolphins: Don Shula
New England Patriots: Bill Parcells
New York Jets: Rich Kotite
Oakland Raiders: Mike White
Pittsburgh Steelers: Bill Cowher
San Diego Chargers: Bobby Ross
Seattle Seahawks: Dennis Erickson
National Football Conference
Arizona Cardinals: Buddy Ryan
Atlanta Falcons: June Jones
Carolina Panthers: Dom Capers
Chicago Bears: Dave Wannstedt
Dallas Cowboys: Barry Switzer
Detroit Lions: Wayne Fontes
Green Bay Packers: Mike Holmgren
Minnesota Vikings: Dennis Green
New Orleans Saints: Jim Mora
New York Giants: Dan Reeves
Philadelphia Eagles: Ray Rhodes
San Francisco 49ers: George Seifert
St. Louis Rams: Rich Brooks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Sam Wyche
Washington Redskins: Norv Turner
External links
- Football Outsiders 1995 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
- Football Outsiders 1995 team offense stats
- Football Outsiders 1995 team defense stats
- Football Outsiders 1995 special teams stats
References
NFL Record and Fact Book (.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
NFL History 1991–2000 (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (
ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
Steelers Fever – History of NFL Rules (Last accessed October 17, 2005)
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