The season ended with Super Bowl XXVII when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 52–17 at the Rose Bowl. This would be the third of the Bills' four consecutive Super Bowl losses; as of 2023, no other team has ever lost more than two Super Bowls in a row. Buffalo joined the Miami Dolphins of the early 1970s as the second team to reach three straight Super Bowls (the New England Patriots of the late 2010s became the third).
Kemp's son, Alex, became an NFL official in 2014 and was promoted to referee in 2018.
Major rule changes
The NFL ceases to use the instant replay system that was in effect since the 1986 NFL season to review questionable on-field calls, due to many reviews taking up long periods of time. Instant replay would not return to the league until a more comprehensive instant replay review system with time limits was introduced in the 1999 NFL season.
To reduce injuries, any offensive player who is lined up in the backfield before the snap cannot chop block a defensive player who is already engaged above the waist by another offensive player.
Mel Branch: A starter for the Dallas Texans for the 1962 AFL Championship Game, Branch was also a charter member of the Miami Dolphins in 1966. He died on April 21, 1992
Jerome Brown: A two-time All-Pro with the Philadelphia Eagles, Brown died on June 25, 1992, at the age of 27, following an automobile accident in Brooksville, Florida, in which both he and his 12-year-old nephew were killed when Brown lost control of his ZR1 Chevrolet Corvette at high speed and crashed into a palm tree. Brown was buried in his hometown of Brooksville.[7]
Shane Curry: A selection of the Indianapolis Colts in the 1991 NFL draft, Curry was shot and killed outside a Cincinnati nightclub during an argument over a blocked vehicle on May 4, 1992.[8][9]
Mike Wise: Was a backup for the Raiders before being released after a fight instigated by a teammate, and had serious injuries which made it impossible for him to resume his career. Committed suicide at his home in California.
Thanksgiving: Two games were played on Thursday, November 26, featuring Houston at Detroit and the New York Giants at Dallas, with Houston and Dallas winning.
Week 16: The San Diego Chargers became the first (as of 2022 the only) team to start 0-4 and made the playoffs and they achieve that feat by beating the Los Angeles Raiders. The Chargers won the AFC West championship the next week with a road win vs. the Seattle Seahawks.
Final standings
There was an unusual deviation between good teams and bad teams in the NFL in 1992. Only one team, the Denver Broncos; finished with eight wins and eight losses, nine teams had at least 11 wins, and eight teams had at least 11 losses. Only six teams had between seven, eight or nine wins in 1992.
Pittsburgh was the top AFC playoff seed, and Miami was the second AFC playoff seed ahead of San Diego, based on conference record (10–2 to Dolphins' 9–3 to Chargers' 9–5).
Miami finished ahead of Buffalo in the AFC East based on better conference record (9–3 to Bills' 7–5).
Houston was the second AFC Wild Card based on head-to-head victory over Kansas City (1–0).
Washington was the third NFC Wild Card based on better conference record than Green Bay (7–5 to Packers' 6–6).
Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago and Detroit in the NFC Central based on better conference record (5–9 to Bears' 4–8 and Lions' 3–9).
Atlanta finished ahead of L.A. Rams in the NFC West based on better record against common opponents (5–7 to Rams' 4–8).
Indianapolis Colts: Ted Marchibroda was named the permanent replacement, after Ron Meyer was fired after five games in 1991 and Rick Venturi served as interim for the final 11 games. Marchibroda had previously served as head coach of the Colts (then based in Baltimore) from 1975 to 1979.
This was the third year under the league's four-year broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, NBC, TNT, and ESPN. ABC, CBS, and NBC continued to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. Sunday night games aired on TNT during the first half of the season, and ESPN during the second half of the season. With Bill Walsh leaving NBC to become head coach of the Stanford Cardinal college football team, Bob Trumpy was named to replace him as the network's lead color commentator, alongside Dick Enberg. Gary Bender replaced Skip Caray as TNT's play-by-play announcer.[11]
