2013 NFL season

The regular season got underway on Thursday, September 5, 2013, with the Broncos hosting the defending Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens in the annual kickoff game.

The league's propensity for scoring did not abate in the post-season, as exemplified by the Indianapolis Colts' wild come-from-behind victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs' opening game.

These players were Brandon Albert (Chiefs), Jairus Byrd (Bills), Ryan Clady (Broncos), Michael Johnson (Bengals), Pat McAfee (Colts), Henry Melton (Bears), Anthony Spencer (Cowboys) and Randy Starks (Dolphins).

[30] The 2013 Hall of Fame class of Larry Allen, Cris Carter, Curley Culp, Jonathan Ogden, Bill Parcells, Dave Robinson and Warren Sapp was honored during the game.

The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders played an unusual late night game in the season's fifth week on October 6.

The evening game featured the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens hosting their AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:30 pm EST.

The weekend's first game on Saturday featured the Colts staging the second biggest comeback in playoff history to defeat the Chiefs by a score of 45–44.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton committed three second-half turnovers which led to the Chargers scoring 20 unanswered points to overcome a 7–10 halftime deficit.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who eschewed sleeves and gloves despite the chilly conditions, passed for 227 yards and rushed for 98 more to lead the 49ers to victory in a back-and-forth game.

[70] The victory allowed the Patriots to reach the AFC Championship game for the third straight year as well as the eighth time with Brady and head coach Bill Belichick.

[69] Belichick moved into a second-place tie with Don Shula on the all-time postseason head coaching wins list, one victory behind Tom Landry.

The game was referred to by many as Manning-Brady XV as it was the fifteenth meeting (the fourth in the playoffs) of the two starting quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

The last of these was a pass intended for Michael Crabtree in the endzone which was intercepted by Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith off a deflection by cornerback Richard Sherman with just 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

[83] The game was played on February 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York City and was televised in the U.S. by Fox with kickoff at 6:32 pm EST.

The ball traveled into the endzone where it was covered by Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno who was touched down for a safety with just 12 seconds of game time elapsed.

Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith, who scored on a 69-yard interception return plus had a fumble recovery and tallied 10 tackles, was named the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP).

The league had raised doubts about the future of the exhibition due to concerns over the game's competitiveness in recent years,[89] but on March 20, it was announced that the 2014 Pro Bowl would indeed take place, receiving a one-year reprieve.

[90] Some NFL-related events that made headlines throughout 2013 include: A nationwide poll conducted by Harris Interactive in December 2013 concluded that pro football is the favorite sport of Americans.

Freeman had been considered one of the league's best young quarterbacks after leading the Bucs to a 10–6 record in 2010, but he clashed with head coach Greg Schiano (who took over in 2012) and was benched earlier in the year.

[102] Three Buccaneers players – kicker Lawrence Tynes, guard Carl Nicks and cornerback Johnthan Banks – were diagnosed with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections during the season.

[103] The potentially deadly strain of staph had been encountered by other NFL teams including the Washington Redskins, St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns in previous seasons.

[105] The Falcons even took the step of bringing in a hazardous materials crew to disinfect the visitor's locker room after the Bucs' visited Atlanta in week seven.

[107][108] The league's official investigation into the matter concluded that Martin and other Dolphins employees had been subjected to a "pattern of harassment" at the hands of Incognito as well as fellow linemen John Jerry and Mike Pouncey.

Griffin had undergone knee surgery after being injured the previous season in which he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after being selected second overall in the 2012 draft.

[111] Russell Wilson the second-year quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Seahawks led all NFL players in terms of total licensed product sales (jerseys, T-shirts, figurines, photos, etc.)

[237] Kelly had spent the previous four seasons as head coach at the University of Oregon where he had developed a reputation as an offensive innovator in leading the team to four straight BCS bowl games.

Prior to his five-year stint in Atlanta where he served as director of college scouting from 2008 through 2011, Caldwell has also worked for the Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts.

[269] Smith was replaced as GM by 40-year-old Tom Telesco who had been the vice president of football operations for the Indianapolis Colts' with whom he had worked for the past 15 years.

This was also the final season in which the San Francisco 49ers played their home games at Candlestick Park, as the team moved into the newly built Levi's Stadium located in Santa Clara, California, for 2014.

[278] Several teams made changes to their uniforms or logos prior to the 2013 season: Due to a new recommendation that a player should use the same helmet for all games, several teams were forced to make changes in their plans to use alternate and throwback jerseys, including the following: This was the eighth and final year of the television contracts with CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN before the new nine-year contracts began in 2014.