2001 NFL season
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 9, 2001 – January 7, 2002 |
| In the wake of the September 11 attacks, a number of games were re-scheduled. | |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | January 12, 2002 |
| AFC Champions | New England Patriots |
| NFC Champions | St. Louis Rams |
| Super Bowl XXXVI | |
| Date | February 3, 2002 |
| Site | Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Champions | New England Patriots |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 9, 2002 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the NFL's week 2 games (September 16 and 17) were postponed and rescheduled to the weekend of January 6 and 7. In order to retain the full playoff format, all playoff games, including Super Bowl XXXVI, were rescheduled one week later. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl, defeating the St. Louis Rams 20–17 at the Louisiana Superdome.
Contents
1 Details
2 Major rule changes
3 Uniform and stadium changes
4 Coaching changes
5 Final regular season standings
5.1 Tiebreakers
6 Playoffs
7 Milestones
8 Statistical leaders
8.1 Team
8.2 Individual
9 Awards
10 Draft
11 Coaches
11.1 American Football Conference
11.2 National Football Conference
12 References
13 Further reading
14 External links
Details
Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day. With Super Bowls XXXVI-XXXVII already scheduled for fixed dates, the league initially decided to eliminate the Super Bowl bye weeks for 2001 and 2002 to adjust.
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the games originally scheduled for September 16 and 17 were postponed and rescheduled to the weekend of January 6 and 7. In order to retain the full playoff format, all playoff games, including the Super Bowl, were rescheduled one week later. The season-ending Pro Bowl was also moved to one week later. This was the last season in which each conference had three divisions, as the conferences would be realigned to four divisions for the 2002 NFL season.
Canceling the games scheduled for September 16 and 17 was considered and rejected since it would have canceled a home game for about half the teams (15 of 31). It would have also resulted in an unequal number of games played: September 16 and 17 was to have been a bye for the San Diego Chargers, so that team would still have played 16 games that season and each of the other teams would have played only 15 games (the Chargers ultimately finished 5–11, making any competitive advantages to playing an extra game moot).
New England at Carolina in week 17, January 6, 2002
As a result of rescheduling Week 2 as Week 17, the Pittsburgh Steelers ended up not playing a home game for the entire month of September (their only home game during that month was originally scheduled for September 16). The ESPN Sunday Night Football game for that week was also changed. It was originally scheduled to be Cleveland at Pittsburgh, but it was replaced with Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, which was seen as a more interesting matchup (it was the only night game the Browns had on the schedule, whereas the Steelers had a few others; so 2000 and 2001 marked the first back-to-back seasons for the Browns without a primetime game since 1974 to 1976; the Browns would finally play in Heinz Field at night in 2003). Ironically, the Eagles and Buccaneers would both rest their starters that night, and would meet one week later in the playoffs. In recognition of this, when NBC began airing Sunday Night Football in 2006, there would be no game initially scheduled for Weeks 11 to 17 – a game initially scheduled in the afternoon would be moved to the primetime slot, without stripping any teams of a primetime appearance. This way of “flexible scheduling” would not be utilized at all in 2007, and since 2008, it is only utilized in the final week.
The games that eventually made up Week 17 marked the latest regular season games to be played during what is traditionally defined as the "NFL season" (under the current format, the regular season cannot end later than January 3 in any given year).
Another scheduling change took place in October, when the Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders game was moved from October 21 to 7 to accommodate a possible Oakland Athletics home playoff game on the 21st (the start of Major League Baseball’s postseason was also delayed by the 9/11 attacks due to rescheduling of a week’s worth of games). The rescheduling ended up being unnecessary as the Athletics would not make it past the Division Series round.
This was the only NFL season where every jersey had a patch to remember those who died on 9/11, while the New York Jets and New York Giants wore a patch to remember the firefighters who died.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXXVI when the New England Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams.
Major rule changes
- Fumble recoveries will be awarded at the spot of the recovery, not where the player’s momentum carries him. This change was passed in response to two regular season games in 2000, Atlanta Falcons–Carolina Panthers[1] and Oakland Raiders–Seattle Seahawks,[2] in which a safety was awarded when a defensive player’s momentum in recovering a fumble carried him into his own end zone.
- Taunting rules and roughing the passer will be strictly enforced.
Uniform and stadium changes
New Orleans Saints – Replaced their gold pants with black pants.
Pittsburgh Steelers – New stadium: Heinz Field.
San Diego Chargers – White pants with road uniforms.
Denver Broncos – New stadium: Invesco Field.
St. Louis Rams – New font for uniform numbers.
Philadelphia Eagles – New hard turf field, due to a cancelled preseason game scheduled against the Baltimore Ravens in which then Ravens’ coach Brian Billick told officials of the NFL that he refused to have his team play on a slippery and bouncy turf field which he deemed unsafe.
Coaching changes
Buffalo Bills – Gregg Williams; replaced Wade Phillips, who was fired following the 2000 season
Cleveland Browns – Butch Davis; replaced Chris Palmer, who was fired following the 2000 season
Detroit Lions – Marty Mornhinweg; replaced interim head coach Gary Moeller, who replaced Bobby Ross who resigned during the 2000 season.
Kansas City Chiefs – Dick Vermeil; replaced Gunther Cunningham, who was fired following the 2000 season
New York Jets – Herman Edwards; replaced Al Groh, who resigned to become the head coach of the University of Virginia.
Washington Redskins – Marty Schottenheimer; replaced interim head coach Terry Robiskie who replaced Norv Turner, who was fired during the 2000 season
Final regular season standings
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Tiebreakers
- New England finished ahead of Miami in the AFC East based on better division record (6–2 to Dolphins’ 5–3).
- Cleveland finished ahead of Tennessee in the AFC Central based on better division record (5–5 to Titans’ 3–7).
- Jacksonville finished ahead of Cincinnati in the AFC Central based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- N.Y. Giants finished ahead of Arizona in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep (2–0).
- New Orleans finished ahead of Atlanta in the NFC West based on better division record (4–4 to Falcons’ 3–5).
- Baltimore was the second AFC Wild Card based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Jets’ 2–2).
- Green Bay was the first NFC Wild Card based on better conference record (9–3 to 49ers’ 8–4).
Playoffs
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Jan. 12 – Veterans Stadium | | Jan. 19 – Soldier Field | | | | | | |||||||||||
| 6 | Tampa Bay | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 33 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 31 | | | Jan. 27 – Edward Jones Dome | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Chicago | 19 | | |||||||||||||||
NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 13 – Lambeau Field | 3 | Philadelphia | 24 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 20 – The Dome at America's Center | ||||||||||||||||||
| | 1 | St. Louis | 29 | | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Francisco | 15 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Green Bay | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Green Bay | 25 | | Feb. 3 – Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | St. Louis | 45 | | |||||||||||||||
Wild card playoffs | | |||||||||||||||||
Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 12 – Network Associates Coliseum | N1 | St. Louis | 17 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 19 – Foxboro Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| | A2 | New England | 20 | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | NY Jets | 24 | Super Bowl XXXVI | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Oakland | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Oakland | 38 | | | Jan. 27 – Heinz Field | |||||||||||||
| 2 | New England | 16* | | |||||||||||||||
AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan. 13 – Pro Player Stadium | 2 | New England | 24 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan. 20 – Heinz Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| | 1 | Pittsburgh | 17 | | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Baltimore | 20 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Baltimore | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Miami | 3 | | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Pittsburgh | 27 | | |||||||||||||||
* Indicates overtime victory
Milestones
The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:
| Record | Player/Team | Previous Record Holder[3] |
|---|---|---|
Most Sacks, Season* | Michael Strahan, New York Giants (22.5) | Mark Gastineau, New York Jets, 1984 (22.0) |
Most Consecutive Games Lost, Season | Carolina (15) | Tied by 4 teams (14) |
* – Sack statistics have only been compiled since 1982.
Statistical leaders
Team
| Points scored | St. Louis Rams (503) |
| Total yards gained | St. Louis Rams (6,930) |
| Yards rushing | Pittsburgh Steelers (2,774) |
| Yards passing | St. Louis Rams (4,903) |
| Fewest points allowed | Chicago Bears (203) |
| Fewest total yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (4,504) |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | Pittsburgh Steelers (1,195) |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | Dallas Cowboys (3,019) |
Individual
| Scoring | Marshall Faulk, St. Louis (128 points) |
| Touchdowns | Marshall Faulk, St. Louis (21 TDs) |
| Most field goals made | Jason Elam, Denver (31 FGs) |
| Rushing | Priest Holmes, Kansas City (1,555 yards) |
| Passing | Kurt Warner, St. Louis (101.4 rating) |
| Passing touchdowns | Kurt Warner, St. Louis (36 TDs) |
| Pass receiving | Rod Smith, Denver (113 catches) |
| Pass receiving yards | David Boston, Arizona (1,598) |
| Punt returns | Troy Brown, New England (14.2 average yards) |
| Kickoff returns | Ronney Jenkins, San Diego (26.6 average yards) |
| Interceptions | Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay and Anthony Henry, Cleveland (10) |
| Punting | Todd Sauerbrun, Carolina (47.5 average yards) |
| Sacks | Michael Strahan, New York Giants (22.5) |
Awards
| Most Valuable Player | Kurt Warner, Quarterback, St. Louis |
| Coach of the Year | Dick Jauron, Chicago |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Marshall Faulk, Running back, St. Louis |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Michael Strahan, Defensive End, New York Giants |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Anthony Thomas, Running Back, Chicago |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Kendrell Bell, Linebacker, Pittsburgh |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Garrison Hearst, Running Back, San Francisco |
| Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year | Jerome Bettis, Running Back, Pittsburgh |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Tom Brady, Quarterback, New England |
Draft
The 2001 NFL Draft was held from April 21 to 22, 2001 at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. With the first pick, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Michael Vick from Virginia Tech.
Coaches
American Football Conference
Baltimore Ravens: Brian Billick
Buffalo Bills: Gregg Williams
Cincinnati Bengals: Dick LeBeau
Cleveland Browns: Butch Davis
Denver Broncos: Mike Shanahan
Indianapolis Colts: Jim Mora
Jacksonville Jaguars: Tom Coughlin
Kansas City Chiefs: Dick Vermeil
Miami Dolphins: Dave Wannstedt
New England Patriots: Bill Belichick
New York Jets: Herm Edwards
Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden
Pittsburgh Steelers: Bill Cowher
San Diego Chargers: Mike Riley
Seattle Seahawks: Mike Holmgren
Tennessee Titans: Jeff Fisher
National Football Conference
Arizona Cardinals: Dave McGinnis
Atlanta Falcons: Dan Reeves
Carolina Panthers: George Seifert
Chicago Bears: Dick Jauron
Dallas Cowboys: Dave Campo
Detroit Lions: Marty Mornhinweg
Green Bay Packers: Mike Sherman
Minnesota Vikings: Dennis Green (15 games) and Mike Tice (1 game)
New Orleans Saints: Jim Haslett
New York Giants: Jim Fassel
Philadelphia Eagles: Andy Reid
San Francisco 49ers: Steve Mariucci
St. Louis Rams: Mike Martz
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tony Dungy
Washington Redskins: Marty Schottenheimer
References
^ "Panthers' Seifert confused by call". September 18, 2000. Archived from the original on October 17, 2000. Retrieved December 28, 2009..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground: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 abackground: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 abackground: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-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground: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-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ Bush, David (December 17, 2000). "Bizarre Play Stuns Raiders". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
^ "Records". 2005 NFL Record and Fact Book. NFL. 2005. ISBN 978-1-932994-36-0.
Further reading
NFL Record and Fact Book (
ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
NFL History 2001– (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)
External links
Football Outsiders 2001 DVOA Ratings and Commentary- Pro Football Reference.com – 2001
