2016 NFL season

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 defending Super Bowl 50 champion Denver defeating Carolina 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 New England defeating Atlanta.

For the first time since the Houston Oilers relocated to Tennessee in ,The Oilers received approval to relocate to Nashville, Tennessee in 1997, but elected to play at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis for one season while the Nashville venue now known as Nissan Stadium was under construction. an NFL team relocated to another state, as the former St. Louis Rams moved out of St. Louis, Missouri and returned to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, its home from 1946 to 1994. For the first time since the 2003 NFL season, neither of the previous season's Super Bowl participants made the playoffs.

The 2016 season also was the last season for the San Diego Chargers after playing in San Diego for 56 years before their return to the city of Los Angeles for 2017, where the franchise was based in for their first season in 1960.

Player movements and retirements

The 2016 NFL league year began on March 9, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. ET. On March 7 clubs started to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who became unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their 2015 contracts two days later. On March 9, clubs exercised options for 2016 on players who have option clauses in their 2015 contracts, submitted qualifying offers to their restricted free agents with expiring contracts and to whom desire to retain a Right of Refusal/Compensation, submitted a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2015 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued season of free agent credit, and teams were required to be under the salary cap, using the "Top-51" definition (in which the 51 highest-paid players on the team's payroll must have a collective salary cap hit below the actual cap). All 2015 players contracts expired and trading period for 2016 begin.

Free agency

A total of 496 players were eligible for some form of free agency at the beginning of the free agency period. In addition, a number of highly paid players were released after the start of the league year to allow their teams to regain space under the salary cap. Among the notable players who changed teams via free agency were:

*Quarterbacks Robert Griffin III (Washington to Cleveland) and Brock Osweiler (Denver to Houston)
*Running backs Matt Forte (Chicago to New York Jets), Chris Ivory (New York Jets to Jacksonville) Lamar Miller (Miami to Houston), and Alfred Morris (Washington to Dallas)
*Wide receivers Travis Benjamin (Cleveland to San Diego), Marvin Jones (Cincinnati to Detroit), Rishard Matthews (Miami to Tennessee), and Mohamed Sanu (Cincinnati to Atlanta)
*Tight ends Coby Fleener (Indianapolis to New Orleans) and Benjamin Watson (New Orleans to Baltimore)
*Offensive linemen Alex Boone (San Francisco to Minnesota), Alex Mack (Cleveland to Atlanta), Russell Okung (Seattle to Denver), Kelechi Osemele (Baltimore to Oakland), Mitchell Schwartz (Cleveland to Kansas City), Donald Stephenson (Kansas City to Denver),
*Defensive linemen Damon Harrison (New York Jets to New York Giants) Malik Jackson (Denver to Jacksonville), Brandon Mebane (Seattle to San Diego), and Olivier Vernon (Miami to New York Giants)
*Linebackers Demario Davis (New York Jets to Cleveland), Bruce Irvin (Seattle to Oakland), and Danny Trevathan (Denver to Chicago)
*Defensive backs Prince Amukamara (New York Giants to Jacksonville), Tashaun Gipson (Cleveland to Jacksonville), Casey Hayward (Green Bay to San Diego), Janoris Jenkins (Los Angeles to New York Giants), Rodney McLeod (Los Angeles to Philadelphia), Josh Norman (Carolina to Washington), Sean Smith (Kansas City to Oakland), and Eric Weddle (San Diego to Baltimore)

Trades

* March 9: Philadelphia traded CB Byron Maxwell, LB Kiko Alonso, and a 2016 first round pick to Miami in exchange for a 2016 first round draft pick.
* March 9: Philadelphia traded RB DeMarco Murray along with a 2016 fourth round pick to the Tennessee in exchange for a 2016 fourth round pick.
* March 11: Philadelphia traded QB Mark Sanchez to Denver in exchange for a conditional 2017 seventh-round draft pick.
* March 15: New England traded DE Chandler Jones to Arizona in exchange for G Jonathan Cooper and a 2016 second round pick.
* March 16: Chicago traded TE Martellus Bennett along with a 2016 sixth round pick to New England in exchange for a 2016 fourth round pick.
* April 9: Denver traded OT Ryan Clady and a 2016 seventh round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for a 2016 fifth round pick.
*August 16: Tennessee traded WR Dorial Green-Beckham to Philadelphia in exchange for G Dennis Kelly.
* September 3: Philadelphia traded QB Sam Bradford to Minnesota for a 2017 first round pick and conditional 2018 fourth round pick.
* October 31: the New England traded LB Jamie Collins, Sr. to Cleveland for a conditional 2017 third round pick.

Notable retirements

* DE Jared Allen – Five-time Pro Bowler and four-time first-team AP All Pro. Allen played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, and Carolina Panthers during his 12-year career.
* RB Arian Foster – Four-time Pro Bowler and three-time AP All Pro (two first-team, one second-team). Foster played for the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins during his eight-year career.
* RB Marshawn Lynch – Five-time Pro Bowler, two time AP All Pro (one first-team, one second-team), and Super Bowl XLVIII champion. Lynch played for the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks during his nine-year career. Prior to the season, Lynch came out of retirement, signing with the Oakland Raiders.
* WR Calvin Johnson – Six-time Pro Bowler and four-time AP All Pro (three first-team, one second-team). Johnson played his entire nine-year career for the Detroit Lions.
* QB Peyton Manning – Fourteen-time Pro Bowler, 10-time AP All Pro (seven first-team, three second-team), first overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft, five-time NFL MVP (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2013), two-time Offensive Player of the Year (2004 and 2013), 2005 Walter Payton Man of the Year, 2012 Comeback Player of the year, two-time Super Bowl champion ( XLI and 50), and Super Bowl XLI MVP. Manning played for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos during his 18-year career.
* S Charles Woodson – Nine-time Pro Bowler, eight-time AP All Pro (four first-team, four second-team), Defensive Player of the Year, and Super Bowl XLV champion. Woodson shares the record for most career defensive touchdowns, with 13. He played for the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers during his 18-year career.

Draft

The 2016 NFL Draft was held between April 28 − April 30, 2016 in Chicago. By way of a trade with the Tennessee Titans, the Los Angeles Rams held the first overall pick and selected QB Jared Goff.

Rule changes

The following rule changes were approved for the 2016 NFL season at the owners' meeting on March 22:

* Allowing the offensive and defensive play callers on the coaching staffs to use the coach-to-player communication system regardless of whether they are on the field or in the coaches' booth.
* Permanently adopting the extra-point rules enacted in the 2015 NFL season. Extra point kicks will be from the 15 yard line, and defenses can return blocked PAT's, fumbles or interceptions on two-point tries for a two-point defensive conversion.
* Outlaw all chop blocks anywhere on the field. Previously, the chop block was legal when an offensive lineman chops a defensive player "while the defensive player is physically engaged above the waist by the blocking attempt of another offensive teammate".
* Expand the definition of a " horse-collar tackle" to include tackles where a player is grabbed by the jersey at or above the name plate and dragged to the ground.
* Making the act of calling time-out when not permitted to do so subject to a delay-of-game penalty (5 yards).
* Changing from a five-yard penalty to a loss of down when a receiver goes out of bounds and comes back in to illegally touch a forward pass.
* Eliminating multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul committed after a change of possession.
* The umpire will now line up in the offensive backfield directly across from the referee at all times in the game, ending the practice of the umpire moving behind the defensive line when the offense is inside the five-yard line or in the final 2:00 of the first half & the final 5:00 of the second half.

The following changes were approved for only the 2016 NFL season at the owners' meeting on March 23. Both were subject to become permanent rules or scrapped for 2017.
* Moving the touchback spot after kickoffs and other free kicks to the 25-yard line, similar to the NCAA rule adopted in the 2012 season (a touchback after a turnover or punt will still be placed on the 20-yard line). The goal for this rule change is to decrease the number of kickoff returns: kick returners may be more reluctant to bring the ball out from the end zone because of the greater risk of being tackled before reaching the 25-yard line. NFL officials concede that this may in fact increase kickoff returns because kickers may instead attempt to pin returners inside the 10-yard line. This rule was made permanent in 2018.
* Players committing two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the same game will be automatically ejected from the game. This was in response to New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. committing three personal fouls in one game against the Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman without being ejected. This change is being referred to as the "Odell Beckham Rule". NFL officials, however, clarify that this new rule would not have ejected Beckham since he committed personal fouls and not unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

The following changes to instant replay rules were approved for the 2016 NFL season at the owners' meeting on May 24:
*Refining what is a reviewable play, including the following:
**Plays involving possession.
**Plays involving touching of either the ball or the ground.
**Plays governed by the goal line.
**Plays governed by the boundary lines.
**Plays governed by the line of scrimmage.
**Plays governed by the line to gain (1st down).
**Number of players on the field at the snap.
**Game administration (which includes correct application of the playing rules, proper down, spot of the foul for penalty application, and game clock status (running clock, not running clock, end of period)

Additional rule updates made for the 2016 season include:
*Banning players from wearing hoodies under their uniform shirts. This was adopted in response to Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones using that style in the 2015 season, which hid his name plate under the hood.
*Banning any coaches except for the head coach from entering the field of play, and then only to check on an injured player. This was in response to the incident involving Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter and several Cincinnati Bengals players, especially Adam Jones, during the 2015–16 NFL playoffs.
*If the coin does not flip (as it did during the 2015–16 NFL Playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals), during the pre-game or pre-OT toss, the Referee can re-toss the coin using the captain's original call.
*Practice squads can now have up to four players with two seasons of experience, an increase from the two players allowed the previous two years.
*Injury reports will no longer include the "probable" designation. The league had discouraged using the designation for anything beyond minor injuries after 2005 (in a game in which Michael Vick, listed as probable on the injury report, also was listed as inactive), to the point where almost all of the players who were being listed as probable ultimately played. The "questionable" category will now be broadened to include any injury that could possibly prevent a player from entering the game, while the "doubtful" category will likewise be generalized to include any player who is more likely to not play than play. Prior to 2016, each designation represented the approximate odds of the player seeing any playing time: 75 percent for probable, 50 percent for questionable and 25 percent for doubtful.

2016 deaths

The following people associated with the NFL (or AFL) died in 2016.

;Dennis Green
Dennis Green died July 21. Green was named the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 1992, becoming the second full-time black head coach in NFL history (Art Shell, who had been hired for the Los Angeles Raiders three years prior, was the first). Green spent ten years coaching the Vikings, eight of them being playoff seasons, but never made it to the Super Bowl. He then took over the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006, to much less success, most infamously in the Monday Night Meltdown, in which he let off a tirade after losing a game. Green had also spent time as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers and as a broadcast commentator. Green was 67.

;Buddy Ryan

James "Buddy" Ryan died June 28. Ryan, a head coach and defensive coordinator who served with six NFL teams over the course of his career, was credited with inventing the 46 defense. His contributions to the game were considered crucial to helping the New York Jets secure an upset win in Super Bowl III and played a key role in the Chicago Bears' rout in Super Bowl XX. His sons, Rex and Rob, were both coaches with the Buffalo Bills at the time (a team the elder Ryan turned down a coaching offer from in the early years of his career). Ryan was 85.

;Other notable deaths

Regular season

The 2016 regular season featured 256 games which were played out over a seventeen-week schedule beginning on Thursday, September 8, 2016. Each of the league's 32 teams played a 16-game schedule, with one bye week for each team scheduled between weeks 4–13. The slate also featured games on Monday night. There were games played on Thursday, including the National Football League Kickoff game in prime time on September 8 and games on Thanksgiving Day. The regular season concluded with a full slate of 16 games on Sunday, January 1, 2017, all of which were intra-divisional matchups, as it has been since .

;Scheduling formula
Under the NFL's current scheduling formula, each team played each of the other three teams in its own division twice. In addition, a team played against all four teams in one other division from each conference. The final two games on a team's schedule were against the two teams in the team's own conference in the two divisions the team was not set to play which finished the previous season in the same rank in their division (e.g. the team which finished first in its division the previous season played each other team in its conference that also finished first in its respective division). The pre-set division pairings for 2016 were:

The complete 2016 schedule was released on April 14, 2016. Highlights of the 2016 schedule included:
*NFL Kickoff Game: The 2016 season began with the Kickoff Game on September 8. The 2015 champion Denver hosted and defeated the Carolina in a rematch of Super Bowl 50, marking the first time since the Kickoff game was established that it was a rematch of the previous Super Bowl, and the first such meeting of both Super Bowl participants during the first week of the next season since the 1970 season (when the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs held a rematch of Super Bowl IV to kick off the new post-merger era). The Broncos debuted Trevor Siemian as their new starting quarterback; Siemian had been the Broncos' third-string quarterback and ascended to the starting position after Peyton Manning, their starting quarterback for the 2012 through 2015 seasons, retired following Super Bowl 50, and second-stringer Brock Osweiler left as a free agent for the Houston Texans.
* International Series: Four games were played internationally this season. Three of the games were played in London, England and the fourth was played in Mexico City, Mexico. The Jacksonville played host to and defeated the Indianapolis on October 2 at Wembley Stadium, marking the fourth of at least eight consecutive years in which the Jaguars hosted a game in London. On October 23, in the first NFL game at Twickenham Stadium also in London, the Los Angeles hosted and were defeated by the New York Giants. The Cincinnati played host to and tied with the Washington on October 30 at Wembley Stadium in London. Finally, on Monday, November 21, the Oakland hosted and defeated the Houston at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, in the first '' Monday night'' game to be played outside of the United States and the second regular-season contest to be held in Mexico (the first being the 2005 Fútbol Americano contest.)
* Thanksgiving Day games: As has been the case since 2006, three games were played on Thursday, November 24, 2016. The Detroit hosted and defeated the Minnesota, the Dallas hosted and defeated the Washington, and the evening game, the first Thanksgiving game to feature teams from the AFC since 2013, featured the Indianapolis hosting and being defeated by the Pittsburgh.
* Christmas games: Christmas Day, December 25, fell on a Sunday in 2016. The Sunday afternoon games were moved to Saturday, Christmas Eve, and joined by a '' Thursday Night Special'' game between the Cincinnati at the Houston. Two nationally-televised games were played on Christmas Day; a late-afternoon ''Thursday Night Special'' game was played between the Baltimore and Pittsburgh, while ''Sunday Night Football'' was played between the Denver and Kansas City.

In-season scheduling changes

*Pro Football Hall of Fame Game: The 2016 edition of the preseason Hall of Fame Game, between the Green Bay and the Indianapolis, was canceled due to unsafe playing conditions at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, caused by the use of improper paints applied to the field to create the Hall of Fame logo and other markings.
* Week 8: The Green Bay–Atlanta game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET, was switched to 4:25 p.m. ET in place of the originally-scheduled Arizona– Carolina game, which was originally scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET (both games still on Fox).
* Week 12: The Kansas City–Denver game, originally scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS, was flexed into the 8:30 p.m. ET slot on NBC's Sunday Night Football, in place of the originally-scheduled New England– New York Jets game, which was moved to 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS.
* Week 14: The New Orleans–Tampa Bay game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET, was switched to 4:25 p.m. ET, still on Fox. The Bears– Lions game was "cross-flexed" from Fox to CBS, still at 1:00 p.m. ET.
* Week 15: The Tampa Bay–Dallas game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Fox, was flexed into the 8:30 p.m. ET slot on NBC's Sunday Night Football, in place of the originally-scheduled Pittsburgh–Cincinnati game, which was moved to 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
* Week 16: The Tampa Bay–New Orleans game, originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Fox, was switched to 4:25 p.m. ET (still on Fox).
* Week 17: The Green Bay–Detroit game, which was originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Fox, was selected for the final 8:30 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football game, which for the second consecutive season decided the NFC North division champion. Also, the New Orleans–Atlanta game and the New York Giants–Washington game were moved from 1:00 p.m. ET to 4:25 p.m. ET, with both games still on Fox.

Regular season standings

Division

Conference

Postseason

The 2016 playoffs began on the weekend of January 7–8, 2017 with the Wild Card playoff round. The four winners of these playoff games visited the top two seeded teams in each conference in the Divisional round games, which were played on the weekend of January 14–15, 2017. The winners of those games advanced to the Conference championship games, which will be held on January 22, 2017. The 2017 Pro Bowl was held at the recently renovated Camping World Stadium (the former Citrus Bowl stadium) in Orlando, Florida on January 29, 2017 and aired on ESPN. Super Bowl LI was held on February 5, 2017 at NRG Stadium in Houston on Fox.

Playoffs bracket

Notable events

Deflategate

On April 25, 2016, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension for the 2016 regular season related to Deflategate; Brady dropped his appeal shortly thereafter and declined to take his case to the Supreme Court.

National anthem protests

In 2016, several professional athletes protested the United States national anthem. The protests began in the NFL, when San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the anthem, as opposed to the tradition of standing, before a preseason game.

Records, milestones, and notable statistics

;Week 1
* Cam Newton scored his 44th career rushing touchdown, surpassing Steve Young for the most career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in NFL history. Newton, who had scored a passing touchdown in the first quarter, also surpassed Young for the most career games with both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown by a quarterback in NFL history, with 32.
* Drew Brees tied Peyton Manning for the most 400-yard passing games in a career (17 overall, regular season and postseason combined) by a quarterback.
;Week 4
* Frank Gore surpassed Marshall Faulk for 10th place on the NFL's all-time rushing yards list.
* Matt Ryan (American football), Matt Ryan and Julio Jones became the first passer/receiver duo in NFL history with 500+ passing yards and 300+ receiving yards in a game.
* Matthew Stafford broke the NFL record previously held by Dan Marino for most passing yards in a player’s first 100 games, with 27,174.

;Week 5
* Bill Belichick won his 250th career game (including the post-season). He became the fourth head coach to reach this mark joining Don Shula, George Halas and Tom Landry .

;Week 6
* Dak Prescott broke the NFL record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception to start a career, a record previously held by Tom Brady with 162 passes. He ran his streak to 176 pass attempts before throwing his first interception.
* Tom Brady became the fourth player in NFL history to record 5,000 career pass completions, joining Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees.
* Drew Brees set an NFL record for the most regular season 400-yard passing games in a career with 15. Brees also became the sixth player to record 50,000 passing yards with one team.

;Week 7
* Jay Ajayi became the fourth player in NFL history to rush for at least 200 yards in consecutive games, joining O. J. Simpson (who accomplished the feat twice), Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams.
* Adam Vinatieri set a new NFL record for most consecutive regular season field-goals made with 43, breaking the record that was held by Mike Vanderjagt. His streak ended at 44 after a miss in Week 11.
* Matt Ryan (American football), Matt Ryan set an NFL record for the most consecutive games with at least 200 passing yards, with 46.

;Week 8
* The Washington–Cincinnati game ended in a 27–27 tie. It was the first time an International Series game had ended in a tie (and the first such game to have gone into overtime). It also was the first time since 1997 NFL season, 1997 where two games ended in a tie in the same season.
* The 2016 Oakland Raiders season, Oakland Raiders were penalized 23 times for 200 yards, setting a new NFL record for the most penalties against a team in a single game.

;Week 9
* The San Francisco 49ers set an NFL record for allowing an opponent's running back to run for 100 or more yards in seven consecutive games.

;Week 10
* Stefon Diggs became the first player in NFL history to have at least 13 catches in consecutive games.
* For the first time in NFL history, two different games on the same day, the Dallas–Pittsburgh matchup and the 2016 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle–New England matchup, involved at least seven different lead changes.

;Week 11
* A single-day record twelve point after touchdown attempts were missed, including three in domed stadiums.
* The Dallas Cowboys gained 417 total net yards, marking the team's eighth consecutive game with at least 400 yards, tied for the longest single-season streak in NFL history (2007 New England Patriots season, 2007 New England Patriots and 2013 Denver Broncos season, 2013 Denver Broncos).
* Steve Smith Sr. reached 1,000 catches, becoming the 14th player in NFL history to reach this mark.

;Week 12
*Tom Brady joined Peyton Manning as the second starting quarterback in NFL history to record 200 combined regular season and postseason wins. The Patriots' victory made them the first former American Football League franchise to record 500 all-time victories, including playoffs. Brady also became only the fifth quarterback to record 60,000 regular season passing yards, joining Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Drew Brees and Dan Marino.

;Week 13
*Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning's record of most career wins by a quarterback (regular season and playoffs) in NFL history with his 201st win.
* Larry Fitzgerald became the youngest player in NFL history (33 years, 95 days) to reach 1,100 career catches.

;Week 14
* Matthew Stafford recorded his eighth fourth quarter comeback win of the season, surpassing the previous record held by Peyton Manning, who led the Indianapolis Colts to seven fourth quarter comeback wins during the 2009 season.
* Anquan Boldin moved past Andre Johnson for tenth on the List of National Football League receiving yards leaders, NFL's all-time receptions list.

;Week 15
* The New England Patriots clinched their eighth consecutive AFC East title. They surpassed the Los Angeles Rams, who won the NFC West division title every year from 1973 Los Angeles Rams season, 1973 to 1979 Los Angeles Rams season, 1979, for the most consecutive division titles won by any franchise in NFL history.

;Week 16
* The Pittsburgh Steelers recorded the 600th regular-season victory in franchise history, joining the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and New York Giants as the only teams in NFL history to reach this mark.
* Bill Belichick won his 200th career regular-season game as head coach of the New England Patriots. Belichick became the fifth coach to reach 200 regular-season wins with one team, joining George Halas, Don Shula, Tom Landry and Curly Lambeau.
* Matt Ryan (American football), Matt Ryan threw a touchdown pass to his 13th different receiver of the season, an NFL record.

;Week 17
* Matthew Stafford surpassed 30,000 career passing yards in his 109th game, surpassing Dan Marino and Kurt Warner for the fastest quarterback to reach that mark.
* Sam Bradford achieved a 71.6 completion percentage, surpassing Drew Brees for the record for List of National Football League annual pass completion percentage leaders, highest completion percentage in a season.

Postseason

;Division Round
* The Patriots advanced to their sixth consecutive AFC Championship Game, surpassing the 1973 Oakland Raiders season, 1973–1977 Oakland Raiders season, 1977 Oakland Raiders for the most consecutive appearances in a conference championship game in history.
* Chris Boswell made a postseason record six field goals.
* Dak Prescott became the first rookie to throw three touchdown passes in a postseason game in the Super Bowl era.
* Dion Lewis became the first player in NFL history to score a rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdown in a playoff game.

;Super Bowl LI
* Super Bowl LI marked an NFL record seventh Super Bowl appearance for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick as a QB-head coach duo.
* Super Bowl LI also marked the New England Patriots' ninth Super Bowl appearance, breaking a record shared with the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
* The Patriots accumulated 37 Down (gridiron football), first downs in the game, an NFL postseason record.
* Tom Brady's 43 pass completions, 62 pass attempts, and 466 passing yards all set new single game Super Bowl records.
* For the first time in NFL history, the Super Bowl went into overtime.
* After trailing 28–3, the Patriots won the game, 34–28, completing the largest comeback win in both team history and Super Bowl history.
* The Atlanta Falcons became the first losing team in Super Bowl history to return an interception for a touchdown; teams returning an interception for a touchdown in the Super Bowl had been a perfect 12–0.

Regular season statistical leaders

Awards

Individual season awards

The 6th Annual NFL Honors, saluting the best players and plays from 2016 season, was held at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston, Texas on February 4, 2017.

All-Pro team

The following players were named First Team All-Pro by the Associated Press:

Players of the week/month

The following were named the top performers during the 2016 season:

Head coach/front office personnel changes

Head coach

Offseason

In-season

Front office

Offseason

Stadiums

Atlanta Falcons

The 2016 Atlanta Falcons season, Atlanta Falcons played their 25th and final season at the Georgia Dome, with the team's new home field, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, opened in .

Minnesota Vikings

The 2016 Minnesota Vikings season, Minnesota Vikings played their first season at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. Construction on the team's new home field in downtown Minneapolis wrapped up at the start of the 2016 season. The new stadium was built on the site of the Vikings' former home, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which was demolished after the season.

Relocation of the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles

The league scheduled a vote on whether to relocate one or two of its existing franchises to the Los Angeles metropolitan area on January 12, 2016. The league set a relocation fee of $550 million for any team that was approved to relocate. On January 4, three teams filed to relocate to Los Angeles: the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and the St. Louis Rams, all three of which had previously resided in the city at various points in their history. Despite the Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities recommending the Raiders' and Chargers' joint proposal for a Carson Stadium, stadium in Carson, California, on January 12, the league approved the Rams' proposal to relocate to Inglewood, California, Inglewood after three ballots and gave the Chargers the option to share the Rams' stadium if they so chose. In the first two rounds of voting, Inglewood led Carson 21–11 and 20–12 respectively; by the third ballot, the Rams proposal had received effectively unanimous support from the other owners, with the final vote reaching 30–2 (the Raiders and Chargers themselves casting the lone opposing votes). The 2016 Los Angeles Rams season, Rams played the first four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, while their SoFi Stadium, new stadium was built in Inglewood. The Rams had previously played at the Coliseum during their first stint in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1979.

Rams bid for Los Angeles

The Rams and the St. Louis CVC (Convention & Visitors Commission) began negotiating deals to get the Rams' home stadium, The Dome at America's Center (then known as Edward Jones Dome), into the top 25 percent of stadiums in the league (i.e., top eight teams of the thirty-two NFL teams in reference to luxury boxes, amenities and overall fan experience). Under the terms of the lease agreement, the St. Louis CVC was required to make modifications to the Edward Jones Dome in 2005. However, then-owner, Georgia Frontiere, waived the provision in exchange for cash that served as a penalty for the city's noncompliance. The City of St. Louis, in subsequent years, made changes to the score board and increased the natural lighting by replacing panels with windows, although the overall feel remained dark. The minor renovations which totaled about $70 million did not bring the stadium within the specifications required under the lease agreement.

On February 1, 2013, a three-person arbitral tribunal selected to preside over the arbitration process found that the Edward Jones Dome was not in the top 25% of all NFL venues as required under the terms of the lease agreement between the Rams and the CVC. The tribunal further found that the estimated $700 million in proposed renovations by the Rams was not unreasonable given the terms of the lease agreement. Finally, the city of St. Louis was ordered to pay the Rams attorneys' fees which totaled a reported $2 million.

Publicly, city, county and state officials expressed no interest in providing further funding to the Edward Jones Dome in light of those entities, as well as taxpayers, continuing to owe approximately $300 million more on that facility. As such, if a resolution was not reached by the end of the 2014–2015 NFL season and the City of St. Louis remained non-compliant in its obligations under the lease agreement, the Rams were free to nullify their lease and relocate.

On January 31, 2014, both the ''Los Angeles Times'' and the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' reported that Rams owner Stan Kroenke had purchased 60 acres of land adjacent to the The Forum (Inglewood, California), Forum in Inglewood, California. It was, by the most conservative estimates, sufficient land on which an NFL-sized stadium may be constructed. The purchase price was rumored to have been between US$90–100 million. Commissioner Roger Goodell represented that Kroenke informed the league of the purchase. As an NFL owner, any purchase of land in which a potential stadium could be built must be disclosed to the league. This development further fueled rumors that the Rams intended to return its management and football operations to Southern California. The land was initially targeted for a Walmart Supercenter but Walmart could not get the necessary permits to build the center. Kroenke is married to Ann Walton Kroenke who is a member of the Walton family and many of Kroenke's real estate deals have involved Walmart properties. On January 5, 2015, The Los Angeles Times reported that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and Stockbridge Capital Group were partnering up to develop a new NFL stadium on property owned by Kroenke. The project included a stadium of up to 80,000 seats and a performance venue of 6,000 seats while reconfiguring the previously approved Hollywood Park plan for up to 890,000 square feet of retail, 780,000 square feet of office space, 2,500 new residential units, a 300-room hotel and 25 acres of public parks, playgrounds, open space and pedestrian and bicycle access. In lieu of this the city of St. Louis responded on January 9, 2015, by unveiling an National Car Rental Field, outdoor, open air, riverfront stadium that could have accommodated the Rams and an MLS team with the hope that the NFL bylaws would force them to stay. On February 24, 2015, the Inglewood City Council approved the stadium and the initiative with construction on the stadium planned to begin in December 2015. On December 21, 2015, Construction was officially underway at the Hollywood Park site for the stadium. On January 4, 2016, after St. Louis finished last in per-game attendance for the 2015 season, the team filed a relocation application to relocate to Los Angeles and released a statement on their website.

On January 12, 2016, the NFL owners approved the SoFi Stadium, Inglewood proposal and the Rams' relocation by a 30–2 vote; the Rams relocated almost immediately thereafter.

Raiders and Chargers failed stadium bid

On February 19, 2015, the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers announced plans for a privately financed $1.7 billion Carson Stadium, stadium that the two teams would build in Carson, California if they were to move to the Los Angeles market. Such a move would have marked a return to the nation's second-largest market for both teams; the Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 while the Chargers called Los Angeles home for their inaugural season in the American Football League. The Chargers were the only NFL team to play in Southern California at the time (until the Rams moved to Los Angeles in 2016), with San Diego being a distance from Los Angeles, and the Chargers counted Los Angeles as a secondary market. The Chargers had been looking to replace Qualcomm Stadium (which, like the Oakland Coliseum opened in the late 1960s) since San Diego Chargers stadium proposals, at least 2003, and had an annual out clause in which it could move in exchange for paying a fine to the city of San Diego for its remaining years on its lease. The Raiders, meanwhile, had been operating on year-to-year leases with Oakland Coliseum, the stadium it has shared with the Oakland Athletics for most of its time in Oakland, California, since the last long-term lease on that stadium ended in 2013.

Due to both television contracts and NFL bylaws, had both of the Chargers–Raiders rivalry, longstanding division rivals moved to Los Angeles, one of the teams would have been required to move to the NFC West, something that Mark Davis volunteered the Raiders to be willing to do. The Raiders moving to the National Football Conference would have been considered ironic seeing that Davis's father Al Davis was a staunch opponent of the NFL during its rivalry and eventual AFL–NFL merger, merger with the AFL. If such a scenario had happened, a NFC West team would have had to take their spot in the AFC West. The early rumor was that the Seattle Seahawks, who played in the AFC West from 1977 to 2001, would have been the favorite to have switched conferences with the Raiders. However, that team's 49ers–Seahawks rivalry, then growing rivalry with the San Francisco 49ers had pointed to either the Arizona Cardinals or the then-St. Louis Rams switching conferences to take the Raiders' spot in the AFC West. Had the Rams stayed in St. Louis, switching them to the AFC would have allowed for a yearly home-and-home with the cross-state Kansas City Chiefs. As a portion of the Rams' 2016 schedule was already set because of their International Series appearance, the league could not realign until at least 2017.

On October 23, 2015, Mark Fabiani, Chargers spokesperson confirmed that the team planned to officially notify the NFL about its intentions to relocate to Los Angeles in January during the timetable when teams can request to relocate.
On January 4, 2016, both teams filed relocation applications for relocation to Los Angeles. On January 12, 2016, the NFL voted to allow the Rams move to Los Angeles and the Inglewood proposal, effectively rejecting and killing the Carson proposal. The Chargers were then given the option to join the Rams in Inglewood in 2017, with the Raiders having the option in 2018 if the Chargers declined; the Chargers announced on January 29 that they would remain in San Diego for the 2016 season as negotiations continued, but that if negotiations ultimately failed, they had reached an agreement in principle with the Rams to join them in Los Angeles once the Inglewood stadium was complete. The Raiders reached an agreement on another one-year lease extension with Oakland Coliseum on February 11, 2016, keeping the team in Oakland for one more season.

The Raiders, having previously explored San Antonio, Texas as a potential relocation site in 2014, moved on to other potential relocation sites after the rejection of the Carson proposal, focusing on a stadium plan in the vicinity of Las Vegas, Nevada. On August 25, 2016, the Raiders applied for a trademark for the "Las Vegas Raiders" and unveiled artist renditions of the proposed Las Vegas stadium, given the tentative title "Allegiant Stadium, Raiders Stadium."

Naming rights agreements

Buffalo Bills

On August 13, the Buffalo Bills and Pegula Sports and Entertainment reached an agreement to sell the naming rights to New Era Field, their stadium to the locally based New Era Cap Company, a major headwear supplier to all of the major North American sports leagues. The stadium had previously been known as Rich Stadium from its opening in 1973, then as Ralph Wilson Stadium since 1998. The sale of naming rights came as somewhat of a surprise, as previous owner Ralph Wilson was firmly against selling the naming rights to the stadium and there were few companies in Western New York believed to have the money to pay the naming rights fee for an NFL stadium.

Miami Dolphins

Canadian-based financial services company Sun Life Financial had held the naming rights to the Miami Dolphins' stadium since , a deal which expired in the offseason. The team already announced that it was not going to renew the license. On August 16, 2016, it was reported that Hard Rock Cafe purchased the naming rights to the stadium, with the venue to be renamed Hard Rock Stadium.

Oakland Raiders

On April 2, the O.co Coliseum, home of the Oakland Raiders, reverted to its previous identity as the Oakland Alameda Coliseum. Online retailer Overstock.com held the naming rights to the Raiders' home field since , but opted out of the naming rights agreement, though it will continue to maintain its corporate sponsorship with the Athletics. The Raiders' home field has undergone numerous name changes in its history, including Network Associates Coliseum (1998–2004) and McAfee Coliseum (2004–2008).

Field surface changes

Baltimore Ravens

On December 2, 2015, the Baltimore Ravens announced a change in the surface at M&T Bank Stadium from their previous Shaw Sportexe Momentum 51 artificial turf to natural Bermuda grass for the first time since the 2001 season, by player preference for a natural surface. The field was replaced beginning on February 4, 2016, timed to be installed by the start of the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse, Johns Hopkins lacrosse season.

New uniforms and patches

After a trial run in 2015, the NFL Color Rush program returned for 2016 with all 32 NFL teams required to participate. To prevent issues with color blindness from the previous season, the NFL is scheduled match-ups and where color blindness would not be an issue. The Color Rush games were during the ''Thursday Night Football'' contests.

* The 2016 San Francisco 49ers season, San Francisco 49ers wore a patch to commemorate their 70th season.
* The 2016 New Orleans Saints season, New Orleans Saints wore a patch to commemorate their 50th season.
* The New York Giants wore white pants instead of gray for their primary home jerseys.
* The 2016 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles Rams joined the handful of teams (such as the Cowboys and the Dolphins) that primarily wear their white jerseys at home. The change comes as a nod to the team's Fearsome Foursome (American football), Fearsome Foursome era (they will play in the Los Angeles Coliseum, same stadium as those teams) and to accommodate the warmer climate of Los Angeles. The uniform itself will remain the same as it was in the last years in St. Louis.
* The Miami Dolphins wore aqua for some of their home games in 2016 that include daytime.
* The 2016 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh Steelers retired their 1934 throwback uniforms after the 2016 season. The Steelers wore them for the last time on October 9, 2016 against the New York Jets.
* The 2016 Atlanta Falcons season, Atlanta Falcons wore 1966 throwback uniforms against the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers. The throwback uniforms are an altered version of the ones used from 2009–2012.
* The 2016 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins wore burgundy pants with their white jerseys for the first time in five years, and temporarily place gray facemasks on their helmets when wearing the 1937 throwback uniforms.

Media

Broadcast rights

This was the third season under the league's broadcast contracts with its television partners. This included "cross-flexing" (switching) Sunday afternoon games between CBS and NFL on Fox, Fox before or during the season, regardless of whether the visiting team is in the AFC (which CBS normally airs) or the NFC (which is normally carried by Fox). NFL on NBC, NBC continued to air ''NBC Sunday Night Football, Sunday Night Football'', the annual National Football League Kickoff game, Kickoff game, and the primetime Thanksgiving game. ESPN continued airing ''Monday Night Football'' and the Pro Bowl. During the postseason, NFL on ABC, ABC simulcasted one AFC Wild Card game with ESPN. One NFC Wild Card game was broadcast on NBC. Coverage of the AFC playoff games was split between CBS and NBC, while the remainder of the NFC playoff games was broadcast by Fox. CBS had exclusive coverage of the AFC Championship Game. Fox had exclusive coverage of the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LI.

Flexible scheduling

A change to the flexible scheduling rule takes effect for the 2016 season: in week 17, any game can be flexed into ''Sunday Night Football'', regardless of how many times a team had been featured on a primetime game that season. This change can, theoretically, allow a game with playoff implications in the final week of the season to be moved to primetime for greater prominence. As in 2015, the NFL will continue the "suspension" of its blackout (broadcasting), blackout policy, meaning that all games will be broadcast in their home markets regardless of ticket sales; Goodell stated that the league needed to continue investigating the impact of removing the blackout rules before such a change is made permanent.

''Thursday Night Football''

The league's contract with CBS for ''Thursday Night Football'' expired after the 2015 season and was placed back up for bids. On February 1, 2016, the NFL announced that ''Thursday Night Football'' would be shared between CBS, NBC, and NFL Network for the 2016 season. CBS and NBC will each air five games, which will be simulcast by NFL Network, along with an additional eight games exclusively on NFL Network, the production of which will be split between the two networks. Commissioner Roger Goodell that the league was "thrilled to add NBC to the ''Thursday Night Football'' mix, a trusted partner with a proven track record of success broadcasting NFL football in primetime, and look forward to expanding with a digital partner for what will be a unique tri-cast on broadcast, cable and digital platforms." On April 5, 2016, it was announced that Twitter had acquired non-exclusive worldwide digital streaming rights to the 10 broadcast television TNF games, including to mobile devices (this is the first time any NFL games have been made available to mobile devices not subscribed to Verizon Wireless, whose NFL Mobile app holds exclusive rights to all other games). This partnership will also include content for Twitter's live streaming service Periscope (app), Periscope, such as behind-the-scenes access.

Internet streaming for International Series

After 2015's Bills–Jaguars International Series contest was a modest success, the league was initially expected to make all three of the 2016 London games exclusive to the Internet. Yahoo! Screen, which carried the 2015 contest, shut down in January 2016; the bidders on the three games (which may or may not go to the same broadcaster) included YouTube and Apple TV, both of which bid on the 2015 game but were passed up in favor of Yahoo!'s bid. Ultimately, the league decided not to make the International Series games Web-exclusive, instead focusing its efforts on the ''Thursday Night Football'' partnership with Twitter.

Personnel changes

Mike Tirico, the lead play-by-play announcer for ''Monday Night Football'', announced his departure from ESPN on May 9, 2016; he joins NBC, where he was originally designated to lead the network's broadcast team for ''Thursday Night Football'' telecasts. Replacing Tirico on ''MNF'' is Sean McDonough. The move was initially reported in April but not confirmed until the next month. However, shortly before the start of the regular season, the league exercised a clause in its television contract with NBC demanding that any broadcast team that calls ''Sunday Night Football'' also call ''Thursday Night Football'' as well, effectively forcing Al Michaels to call both packages unless he and Tirico also split Sundays (this was the scenario that was ultimately chosen; on most weeks when Michaels calls a Thursday game, Tirico will call Sundays). Tirico eventually got his chance the next season, when NBC announced he would replace Michaels after the NFL waived its broadcast team clause.

Tirico’s colleague at ESPN, Heather Cox, was also hired by NBC as their sideline reporter for ''Thursday Night Football'', after Michele Tafoya opted out to spend more time with family, and to focus on SNF.

This is also the final season Chris Berman serves as a studio analyst for ESPN's NFL programming; Berman has been with ESPN since the network's inception in 1979.

This would also end up being Phil Simms' last season as lead color commentator for the NFL on CBS. Tony Romo, who would retire at the end of this season, would replace Simms as lead color commentator on CBS. Simms will join The NFL Today next season.

This would also lead to Tony Gonzalez and Bart Scott, leaving The NFL Today. Gonzalez will now be on Fox NFL Kickoff. Replacing Gonzalez and Scott will be Simms and Nate Burleson, who comes over from NFL Network's football morning talk show, Good Morning Football, although he will remain with the show.

This would also be the last season for Solomon Wilcots at CBS. James Lofton from NFL on Westwood One Sports, Westwood One, will replace Wilcots next season.

Meanwhile, at Fox, this would be the last season for John Lynch (American football), John Lynch, who would leave to be the next general manager of the San Francisco 49ers. Replacing Lynch next season, would be Charles Davis (defensive back), Charles Davis who would move up from the #4 team at Fox to join Kevin Burkhardt.

Television viewers and ratings

Most watched regular season games

*DH = doubleheader; SNF = NBC Sunday Night Football

*Note – Late DH matchups listed in table are the matchups that were shown to the largest percentage of the market.

Notes

References

External links

Complete schedule for all teams

{{NFL seasons

2016 National Football League season,
National Football League seasons, 2016