1990 NFL season

The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League. To increase revenue, the league changed the regular season so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 10 teams to 12 teams by adding another wild card from each conference, thus adding two more contests to the postseason schedule; this number remains in use now.

This was also the first full season for Paul Tagliabue as the Commissioner, after taking over from Pete Rozelle midway through the previous season.

ABC was given the rights to televise the two additional playoff games. Meanwhile, Turner's TNT network started to broadcast Sunday night games for the first half of the season.

On October 8, the league announced that the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award would be named the Pete Rozelle Trophy. The season ended with Super Bowl XXV when the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills.

Late in the season, with the Gulf War looming closer, the NFL announced that starting in Week 16 (and continuing until Super Bowl XXV), the league would add American flag decals to the back of the helmet. The flag would return on a permanent basis in 2001 following the September 11 attacks.

1956 NFL season

The 1956 NFL season was the 37th regular season of the National Football League. CBS became the first network to televise some regular season games across the nation. Meanwhile, the league started to use a natural leather ball with white end stripes, instead of the white ball with black stripes, for night games.

The season ended when the New York Giants crushed the Chicago Bears in the NFL Championship Game, 47–7.

Major rule changes

Conference races

The Lions and the Cardinals had both finished 1955 poorly, 3–9 and 4–7–1, but both got off to fast starts in 1956. Both ended up finishing second in the Conference races.

The Chicago Cardinals got off to their best start ever, going 4–0, until the Redskins beat them 17–14 on October 28. At the midway point, they and the Giants had 5–1 records. In the Western Conference, the Detroit Lions roared to a 6–0 start. In Week Seven (November 11), the Giants pulled ahead with a 23–10 win over the Cards. In Washington, the Lions finally lost. Trapped on his own 1-yard line, Yale Lary took a safety in order to get a free kick. That, and Sam Baker's field goal, gave the Redskins an 18–10 lead to put the game out of reach, and the Lions lost 18–17. The Bears, who had dropped their opener at Baltimore, 28–21, beat Green Bay 38–14 for their sixth straight game, matching Detroit's 6–1 record.

1973 NFL season

The 1973 NFL season was the 54th regular season of the National Football League. The season featured O.J. Simpson becoming the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in one season. Buffalo moved their home games into Rich Stadium. After playing their first two home games at Yankee Stadium, the New York Giants played the rest of their home games at the Yale Bowl. The season ended with Super Bowl VIII when the Miami Dolphins repeated as league champions by defeating the Minnesota Vikings.

Major rule changes

Jersey numbering system

1948 NFL season

The 1948 NFL season was the 29th regular season of the National Football League. During the season, Halfback Fred Gehrke painted horns on the Los Angeles Rams' helmets, making the first modern helmet emblem in pro football. The last regular season game played on Wednesday until the 2012 season happened on September 22, 1948 between Detroit and Los Angeles. The season ended when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL Championship Game.

The 1948 season featured the highest per-game, per-team scoring in NFL history, with the average team scoring 23.2 points per game. This record stood for 65 years until 2013.

Major rule changes