| Regular season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | September 4[1] – December 28, 2008 |
| Playoffs | |
| Start date | January 3, 2009 |
| AFC Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| NFC Champions | Arizona Cardinals |
| Super Bowl XLIII | |
| Date | February 1, 2009[2] |
| Site | Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida |
| Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Pro Bowl | |
| Date | February 8, 2009 |
| Site | Aloha Stadium |
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League (NFL), 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,[2] 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 — the defending AFC champion New England Patriots.
The regular season began on September 4 with the defending Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants defeating the Washington Redskins.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
KickoffGamewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "NFL.com: Future Super Bowl sites". NFL.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved December 25, 2007.