1990 NFL season
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 9 – December 31, 1990 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | January 5, 1991 |
| AFC Champions | Buffalo Bills |
| NFC Champions | New York Giants |
| Super Bowl XXV | |
| Date | January 27, 1991 |
| Site | Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida |
| Champions | New York Giants |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 3, 1991 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
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. During four out of the five previous seasons, at least one team with a 10-6 record missed the playoffs, including the 11-5 Denver Broncos in 1985; meanwhile, the 10-6 San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XXIII, leading for calls to expand the playoff format to ensure that 10-6 teams could compete for a Super Bowl win. Ironically, the first ever sixth-seeded playoff team would not have a 10-6 record, but instead, the New Orleans Saints, with a paltry 8-8 record, took the new playoff spot.
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 20-19 at Tampa Stadium. This would be the first Super Bowl loss for Buffalo. They would lose the next three Super Bowls as well.
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