2008 NFL season

The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."

Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the Arizona Cardinals and winning their NFL-record sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Conversely, the Detroit Lions became the first NFL team with a winless season since the strike-shortened 1982 NFL season, finishing their season 0–16. For the first time since the NFL expanded to the sixteen-game season in 1978, three teams won two or fewer games: the Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the St. Louis Rams. Previously two teams won two or fewer games in 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1992, and 2001. Also, for the first time since the 1985 Denver Broncos, a team finishing with an 11–5 record missed the playoffs. Also, for the first time, two divisions (the NFC East and the NFC South) had no team finish with a losing record.

The regular season began on September 4 with the defending Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants defeating the Washington Redskins.

Draft

The 2008 NFL Draft was held from April 26 to 27, 2008 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. With the first pick, the Miami Dolphins selected offensive tackle Jake Long from the University of Michigan.

New referees

Gerald Austin and Larry Nemmers retired. Carl Cheffers and Alberto Riveron were promoted to referee. Ron Blum also retired from line judge position.

Rule changes

The following rule changes were passed at the league's annual owners’ meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, during the week of March 31:
*One defensive player will be allowed to wear a radio similar to the one worn by the quarterback to communicate with the coaching staff on the field.
*The "force-out" rule on catches made near the sidelines has been eliminated. A receiver now must come down with the ball and both feet in bounds for a pass to be ruled complete; previously, passes would be ruled complete if the receiver was pushed by a defender while in the air and the official judged that he would have come down in bounds had he not been pushed. However, if a receiver is wrapped up in mid-air by a defender and carried out of bounds before both feet touch the ground, the official can still rule the play a completion.
*The 5-yard incidental grabbing of the face mask penalty has been eliminated; incidental contact will not result in a penalty, though intentional grabbing of the face mask will remain a 15-yard personal foul.
*Teams that win the opening coin toss now have the option to defer the decision until the start of the second half, the same as in college and Canadian football.
*Field goal attempts that bounce off the goal post are now reviewable under instant replay. This change followed a decision during the previous season during a Browns-Ravens game when Phil Dawson’s game-tying field goal hit an upright and then the curved support behind the crossbar, and then again went over the crossbar to land in front of the goal post.
*Legal forward hand offs that touch the ground and attempted snaps when the ball hits the ground before the quarterback touches it are now considered fumbles; previously, forward hand offs were treated as incomplete passes, while a snap that hit the ground before the quarterback touched it was a 5-yard illegal procedure penalty.

Preseason

In preseason games, the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was played August 3 between the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins, which aired on NBC. Washington won the game, 30–16. Other preseason highlights included the first game of the Toronto Series, which was played August 14 between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Toronto's Rogers Centre. The Bills won that game, 24–21.

Regular season

Formula

Based on the NFL's scheduling formula, the intraconference and interconference matchups for 2008 were:

Opening Weekend

The annual NFL Kickoff Game to start the season took place on September 4 and featured the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants winning over their division rivals, the Washington, at Giants Stadium by a score of 16–7. The game's kickoff was ninety minutes earlier than previous years, at 7 p.m. EDT, because of a time conflict with the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Other featured games during the opening week included the NBC Sunday Night Football game between the Chicago and the Indianapolis (the first regular season game at Lucas Oil Stadium and a rematch of Super Bowl XLI), in which the Kyle Orton-led Bears upset the Colts 29–13. In addition, there were two Monday Night Football contests, both division rivalries, as part of the now annual doubleheader: The Minnesota at the Green Bay (the Packers’ first Monday night game without Brett Favre since 1992) in which Aaron Rodgers helped the Packers win, 24–19, and the Denver at the Oakland, where Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal led the Broncos in beating the Raiders, 41–14. Also, New England quarterback Tom Brady suffered a season-ending injury against the Kansas City.

Flexible scheduling

The 2008 season also was the third season of the use of the "flexible scheduling" for Sunday games starting with Week 11.

As had happened in 2007, a team played on consecutive Sunday nights due to a game being moved into the Sunday night time slot. The originally scheduled New York Giants-Dallas game on December 14 was followed by a flexed December 21 home game for the Giants against the Carolina; the Giants-Panthers game was flexed because it carried serious playoff implications, as the winner would clinch the NFC's top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. This was the second of three flexed games, with a December 7 interconference matchup between the Baltimore and Washington. The league filled the open spot on December 28 with a game between the Denver and San Diego with major playoff implications, as the winner of that game would win the AFC West and earn a home game in the playoffs while the loser would be eliminated.

International play

This was the second consecutive season that the league played at least one regular season game outside the United States as part of the NFL International Series. The contest between the San Diego and the New Orleans