Referee Jack Vest, the referee for Super Bowl II, the 1969 AFL championship game and 1971 AFC championship game, was killed in a June motorcycle accident. Chuck Heberling was promoted from line judge to fill the vacancy and kept Vest's crew intact. Heberling's line judge vacancy was filled by Red Cashion, who was promoted to referee in 1976 and worked in the league through 1996, earning assignment to Super Bowl XX and Super Bowl XXX.
Major rule changes
The inbounds lines or hashmarks were moved closer to the center of the field, to from the sidelines. Since the season, they had been from the sideline . The hashmarks are now apart, cutting down on severe angles for short field goal attempts, and nearly eliminating the short-side fields for the offence.
*With the hashmarks now the same width as the goalposts, a team punting from inside its 15-yard line could snap the ball from a spot even with the marked field numbers instead of the hashmarks to avoid the punt hitting the goalpost.
If a legal receiver goes out of bounds, either accidentally or forced out, and returns to touch or catch the pass in bounds, the penalty is a loss of down.
If a punt or missed field goal crosses the receivers' goal line, a member of the receiving team may advance the ball into the field of play. Previously, the ball was dead when a scrimmage kick crossed the goal line and the receivers were awarded an automatic touchback.
Tie games, previously ignored in computing of winning percentage, were made equal to a half-game win and a half-game loss.
This was the first season third-down conversions were recorded as an official statistic.
Division races
From through, there were three divisions in each conference. The winners of each division, and a fourth "wild card" team based on the best non-division winner, qualified for the playoffs. The tiebreaker rules were changed to start with head-to-head competition, followed by division records, common opponents records, and conference play.
National Football Conference
American Football Conference
Final standings
Playoffs
Awards
Coaching changes
Offseason
Buffalo Bills: After finishing with a 1–13 record in 1971, Harvey Johnson was reassigned to the teams's scouting department. Lou Saban then was named as Johnson's replacement, beginning his second stint after serving as the Bills head coach from 1962 to 1965.
Denver Broncos: John Ralston joined the Broncos as head coach. Lou Saban left the team after a 2–6–1 start in 1971. Offensive line coachJerry Smith served as interim for the remaining five games.
The Denver Broncos discontinued wearing orange pants with their white jerseys as they had done from 1968-71. The orange pants returned in 1978 and '79.
The Detroit Lions added outlines to the jersey numbers
The Houston Oilers switched from silver to blue helmets. They also discontinued their silver pants in favor of white pants for their blue jerseys, and blue pants for their white jerseys.
The Washington Redskins switched from gold to burgundy helmets, and from the "R" helmet logo to the Native American head logo.
