| Year: | 1986 |
| Nflchampion: | New York Giants |
| Regular Season: | September 7 – December 22, 1986 |
| Playoffs Start: | December 28, 1986 |
| Afcchampion: | Denver Broncos |
| Nfcchampion: | New York Giants |
| Sb Name: | XXI |
| Sb Date: | January 25, 1987 |
| Sb Site: | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California |
| Pb Date: | February 1, 1987 |
The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. Defending Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears shared the league's best record with the Giants at 14–2, with the Giants claiming the spot in the NFC by tiebreakers. In the AFC, the Cleveland Browns earned home-field advantage with a record of 12–4, and they hosted the New York Jets in round one of the AFC playoffs. The Jets had started the season at 10–1 before losing their final five contests. The game went to double OT, with the Browns finally prevailing 23–20. The following Sunday, John Elway and the Denver Broncos defeated the Browns by an identical score in a game known for The Drive, where Elway drove his team 98 yards to send the game to overtime to win. The Giants would defeat their rival Washington Redskins in the NFC title game, blanking them 17–0 to advance to their first Super Bowl. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos 39–20 at the Rose Bowl to win their first league title in 30 years.
The 1986 NFL draft was held from April 29 to 30, 1986, at New York City's Marriott Marquis. With the first pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected runningback Bo Jackson from Auburn University.
Dick Hantak was promoted to referee after serving eight seasons as a back judge (the position title was changed to field judge in 1998). Fred Silva was then assigned as a swing official instead of his own crew after suffering a heart attack in the offseason. Chuck Heberling was scheduled to be an instant replay official but was asked to remain on the field following Silva's heart attack. Herberling earned assignment to the AFC championship.
A series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States, the only American Bowl game in 1986 was held at London's Wembley Stadium.
| Inter-conference AFC East vs NFC West AFC Central vs NFC Central AFC West vs NFC East |
Highlights of the 1986 season included:
Two games were played on Thursday, November 27, featuring Green Bay at Detroit and Seattle at Dallas, with Green Bay and Seattle winning.
See main article: 1986–87 NFL playoffs.
The following players set all-time records during the season:
| Most passes completed, season | Dan Marino, Miami (378) | |
| Most pass attempts, season | Dan Marino, Miami (623) |
| Points scored | Miami Dolphins (430) | |
| Total yards gained | Cincinnati Bengals (6,490) | |
| Yards rushing | Chicago Bears (2,700) | |
| Yards passing | Miami Dolphins (4,779) | |
| Fewest points allowed | Chicago Bears (187) | |
| Fewest total yards allowed | Chicago Bears (4,130) | |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | New York Giants (1,284) | |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | St. Louis Cardinals (2,637) |
| Most Valuable Player | Lawrence Taylor, linebacker, New York Giants | |
| Coach of the Year | Bill Parcells, New York Giants | |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Eric Dickerson, running back, Los Angeles Rams | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Lawrence Taylor, linebacker, New York Giants | |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Rueben Mayes, running back, New Orleans Saints | |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Leslie O'Neal, defensive end, San Diego Chargers | |
| NFL Comeback Player of the Year | Joe Montana, quarterback, San Francisco 49ers, Tommy Kramer, quarterback, Minnesota Vikings (co-winners) | |
| Man of the Year | Reggie Williams, linebacker, Cincinnati Bengals | |
| Super Bowl Most Valuable Player | Phil Simms, quarterback, New York Giants |
Jerry Glanville began his first full season as head coach after taking over for Hugh Campbell, who was fired after 14 games in 1985.
Bud Grant stepped down and was replaced by Jerry Burns, who became a professional head coach for the first time, and a head coach at any level for the first time since coaching the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1961 to 1965.
Jim Mora, who went 48–13–1 as coach of the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars of the United States Football League, became the new Saints head coach. Bum Phillips resigned after 12 games in 1985. Wade Phillips, his son and the team's defensive coordinator, served as interim for the last four games.
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan was hired as the Eagles' new head coach. Marion Campbell was fired before the final game of the 1985 season; Fred Bruney as interim for that last game.
Jim Hanifan was fired and replaced by Gene Stallings, a Dallas Cowboys assistant from 1972 to 1985, and head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies from 1965 to 1971.
Hank Bullough was fired after 9 games into the season. Marv Levy was named as Bullough's replacement. Levy, the former head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs (1978–1982) and the USFL's Chicago Blitz (1984), was out of coaching since his stint with the Blitz when the Bills hired him. Levy went on to lead the Bills through 1997, with four consecutive Super Bowl appearances from 1990 to 1993.
Rod Dowhower was fired after the Colts lost their first 13 games. Former SMU and New England Patriots coach Ron Meyer was named as replacement, and promptly led the team to three straight victories to finish 3–13. He coached the Colts until he was fired midway through the 1991 season.
Don Coryell left after a 1–7 start. Al Saunders finished out the season and remained in the position through 1988.
This was the fifth and final year under the league's broadcast contracts with ABC, CBS, and NBC to televise Monday Night Football, the NFC package, and the AFC package, respectively. This was the last season that games remained only on broadcast television, as the league would sign a deal with the cable channel ESPN to broadcast a series of Sunday night games starting in 1987.[3]
ABC opted to go to a two-man booth, dropping Joe Namath and O. J. Simpson, moving Frank Gifford to its sole color commentator, and having Al Michaels serve as the new play-by-announcer. Gifford would once again call the play-by-play during those weeks when Michaels was busy calling the Major League Baseball playoffs, and Lynn Swann or Simpson would fill-in.