1997 NFL season
The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The Oilers relocated from Houston, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee. The newly renamed Tennessee Oilers played their home games during this season at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee while construction of a new stadium in Nashville started. Houston would rejoin the NFL with the expansion Texans in 2002.
| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | August 31 – December 22, 1997 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | December 27, 1997 |
| AFC Champions | Denver Broncos |
| NFC Champions | Green Bay Packers |
| Super Bowl XXXII | |
| Date | January 25, 1998 |
| Site | Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California |
| Champions | Denver Broncos |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 1, 1998 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
This would be the only season between 1989 and 2002 in which a game ended in a tie, and the last season where two occurred in the same season until 2016.
Due to Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, the Chicago Bears–Miami Dolphins game at Pro Player Stadium was delayed one day to Monday, October 27.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXXII when the Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 31–24 at Qualcomm Stadium. This broke the National Football Conference (NFC)'s streak of thirteen consecutive Super Bowl victories, the last American Football Conference (AFC) win having been the Los Angeles Raiders defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.