2018 American Football Season

The 2018 American football season was a defining year characterized by record-breaking offensive fireworks, the rise of a new generation of star quarterbacks, and defensive brilliance on the grandest stages. Both the professional and collegiate levels witnessed historic milestones that shaped the trajectory of the sport for years to come.

The NFL: A New Era of Offense and a Defensive Super Bowl

The 2018 NFL season saw an explosion of offensive innovation, led predominantly by the Kansas City Chiefs and their first-year starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. However, the season culminated in a championship game that defied all expectations by becoming a defensive masterpiece.

• Patrick Mahomes’ MVP Campaign: In his first full season as a starter, the 23-year-old Mahomes won the NFL MVP award after putting together one of the most spectacular campaigns in quarterback history. He threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, mesmerizing fans with no-look passes and cross-body throws. He became the youngest MVP since Dan Marino in 1984.
• Defensive Dominance: Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald cemented his legacy by winning his second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award, dominating the interior line like few before him.
• Super Bowl LIII: Despite a regular season defined by high-scoring shootouts, Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, Georgia, became the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in NFL history. The New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13–3. It was a defensive standoff where neither team scored a touchdown in the first three quarters.
• Super Bowl MVP: Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman earned MVP honors by catching 10 passes for 141 yards, helping secure the sixth and final championship of the legendary Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era in New England.

College Football: Clemson’s Perfection and Murray’s Heisman

The 2018 collegiate season was similarly historic, featuring an elite class of quarterbacks and a decisive shift in the sport’s balance of power.

• The Heisman Trophy: Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray took home the Heisman Trophy, capping off an incredible year where he threw for over 4,000 yards and rushed for nearly 900. Murray became the first player to win the Heisman immediately replacing the previous year’s winner (Baker Mayfield). Adding to his lore, Murray had already been drafted ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB Draft.
• The College Football Playoff: The 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship featured a highly anticipated matchup between the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 2 Clemson Tigers.
• A Historic Blowout: Led by head coach Dabo Swinney and true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Clemson stunned defending champion Alabama with a decisive 44–16 victory. With this win, the Clemson Tigers became the first team in the modern College Football Playoff era to finish with a flawless 15–0 record.

More 2018 Gridiron Milestone Moments

Beyond the final scores, the 2018 season featured significant cultural and historical milestones for the game:

• The Sean McVay Effect: At just 33 years old, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay took his team to the Super Bowl and won the NFL Coach of the Year award. His innovative play-calling and rapid success spawned a league-wide trend of teams rushing to hire young, offensive-minded coaches.
• The Rise of True Freshmen: Trevor Lawrence’s performance on the national stage shattered the notion that true freshmen quarterbacks couldn’t lead a team to college football’s promised land, paving the way for future programs to trust younger signal-callers.
• Comeback Player of the Year: Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck won Comeback Player of the Year after returning from a severe shoulder injury to throw for over 4,500 yards and 39 touchdowns, leading the Colts back to the playoffs in what would tragically be his final NFL season before a shock retirement.

A Deep Dive into 2018 Football History and Highlights

• January 1, 2018 – The 104th Rose Bowl Game was a scheduled College Football Playoff Semifinal and featured the Georgia Bulldogs against the Oklahoma Sooners. In a wild, back-and-forth matchup, Oklahoma jumped out to an early halftime lead before Georgia rallied to force the first overtime in Rose Bowl history. Georgia ultimately secured a thrilling victory after Lorenzo Carter blocked a Sooners field goal in the second overtime, paving the way for Sony Michel to score the game-winning touchdown. Winning 54–48, the Bulldogs sealed the victory in what became the highest-scoring Rose Bowl game ever played.
• January 6, 2018 – Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota threw a touchdown pass to himself! In one of the craziest play sequences, the Titans had the ball at the Kansas City Chiefs’ 6-yard line, facing third-and-goal, per Ringer.com. Mariota dropped back and scrambled around a bit, then saw daylight left. As he approached the line of scrimmage, he launched a pass towards the end zone, but a defender, KC’s  Darrell Revis,  batted the ball, which went back to Marcus, and he caught it and dove to the pylon for a TD. It was important, too, as it helped the team secure a 22-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Mariota was the second NFL quarterback in history to have done so. The other was Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson in 1997, who also caught his own pass on a third-and-goal and scored against the Panthers.
• January 6, 2018 – The Oakland Raiders formally announced that Jon Gruden would return as their head coach, per ESPN.com. It had been nearly a decade since Gruden’s first stint as the Raiders coach, from 2009 through the 2017 season, and he was broadcasting on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
• January 8, 2018 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – The College Football National Championship hosted two strong SEC foes. #4 Alabama faced #3 Georgia for all of the marbles. The website CollegeFootballPlayoff.com covers all the action. The Bulldogs dominated play in the first half and led 13-0 at the break. Tide Coach Nick Saban, though, had a secret weapon. Saban turned the game over to his backup true freshman quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. Tua was remarkable as he steered the offense and led the team on a 20-point comeback over two quarters to force overtime. The freshman QB became the game’s MVP, tossing three touchdowns, including the game-winning pass to freshman wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Alabama rolled over Georgia, 26-23, to claim its 5th title in 9 years.
• January 14, 2018 – The Minneapolis Miracle occurred when Vikings Receiver Stefon Diggs hauled in an improbable pass to steal victory from the New Orleans Saints in an NFL Divisional Playoff.

The Minneapolis Miracle: The Walk-Off That Stunned the Football World

• January 21, 2018 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia – The Philadelphia Eagles crushed the hopes of the Minnesota Vikings, 38-7, in the NFC Championship game.
• January 21, 2018, at the AFC Championship, played at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough. Mass. The New England Patriots edged out the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-20.
• January 28, 2018 – Orlando, Florida – AFC beats NFC, 24-23 at the NFL Pro Bowl. The game’s Most Valuable Players were the tight end of the Tennessee Titans, Delanie Walker, and on the defensive side of the ball, it was Von Miller, the outside linebacker of the Denver Broncos.
• February 4, 2018 – US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis – Super Bowl LII produced a stunning upset as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33. Led by backup-turned-hero Nick Foles, the Eagles executed the “Philly Special” and a gutsy late drive to secure the franchise’s first Super Bowl title. The MVP of the game was Foles after outdueling Tom Brady in a high-scoring thriller.
• March 17, 2018 – Kirk Cousins to the Vikings: In a landmark move, the Minnesota Vikings officially signed Kirk Cousins to the NFL’s first-ever fully guaranteed multi-year contract ($84 million over three years).
• April 26, 2018 – Another good-looking batch of quarterback prospects was on hand for the 2018 NFL Draft. The Cleveland Browns used the first overall pick to choose Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. It was the first time in history that four signal callers were taken in the top 10 selections. Perhaps the best one, Lamar Jackson, went late in the 1st round.
• May 3, 2018 – Payday! High Water Mark Set! Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan becomes the NFL’s first $30 million per season player after agreeing to a $150 million contract extension for five years. The Falcons signal-caller, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, became the highest-paid player in League history, for at least a little while. At that time, Ryan had been in four Pro Bowls and had tossed for over 41000 yards and 260 TDs.
• July 17, 2018 – NFL distributes record revenue: Reports estimate the league generated $14 billion in 2017, resulting in a $255 million payout to each of the 32 franchises.
• September 4, 2018 – Nike’s 30th Anniversary Campaign: Nike made global headlines by unveiling former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as the face of its “Just Do It” 30th anniversary advertising campaign, sparking widespread conversation across the sports and cultural landscape.
• September 9, 2018 – The Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears met to open the season in a thriller. The Packers overcame a 17-point deficit late in the game to come back and win 24-23. For more on the Packers-Bears rivalry, I suggest you check out the Football History Dudes podcast, titled the Packers-Bears Rivalry Podcast, right here on the Sports History Network, found at sportshistorynetwork.com.
• September 13, 2018 – Internet giant Amazon livestreams an NFL game with an all-female broadcast team during the Cincinnati Bengals versus Baltimore Ravens contest. The voices of Andrea Kramer and Hannah Storm filled the sound waves to entertain the web-viewing audience. The Bengals ended up on top 34-23.
• September 16, 2018 – Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes set an NFL record for the first two weeks of a season by tossing 10 touchdowns. The second-year QB under the tutelage of offense genius, Andy Reid, torched the Pittsburgh Steelers’ secondary with 6 TD passes, leading the upstart Chiefs to a 42-37 victory at Heinz Field.
• September 23, 2018 – The Amazing quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees, surpassed Brett Favre’s career record of 6300 pass completions to become the new record holder. A 17-yard touchdown pass to favorite target Michael Thomas helped not only achieve the milestone but also to overcome the Atlanta Falcons by the score of 43-37.
• September 27, 2018 – Los Angeles Rams Quarterback Jared Goff sets an unbelievable NFL record as he has a perfect passer rating while throwing for 465 yards and five touchdowns in one game! The Rams needed every bit of it, too, as they narrowly escaped with a 38-31 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in a Thursday Night Football thriller!
• October 4, 2018 – New England Patriots signal-caller Tom Brady tosses his 500th scoring pass to receiver Josh Gordon to become only the third quarterback in NFL history to reach the 500 career TD plateau. In the game at the friendly confines of Foxborough Stadium, Brady and the Pats knocked off a strong Indianapolis Colts team 38-24.
• November 19, 2018 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – Could we have watched the most excellent NFL game of all time in 2018? Some people have called the Monday Night Football game that featured two young, up-and-coming QBs facing off just that, when the LA Rams’ Jared Goff played opposite Patrick Mahomes of the KC Chiefs. What was witnessed was the 3rd-highest-scoring game in NFL history, and it was also the first time that both teams scored 50 points in the same game. According to cbssports.com, second-year player Patrick Mahomes threw for 478 yards and 6 touchdowns for Kansas City, the most ever in the history of “Monday Night Football.” Goff was no slouch in the contest as he threw for 413 yards and 4 scoring strikes, including a 40-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Everett for the go-ahead score with 1:49 to play. Other numbers from the game stat sheet included 14 touchdowns (three by defensive players) and 56 first downs! The track meet ended with the Rams outlasting the Kansas City Chiefs, 54-51. (source)
• November 24, 2018.  Alabama wins over. Auburn…..52-21.
• November 25, 2018 – Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta – The Calgary Stampeders outscored the Ottawa RedBlacks, 27-16, to claim the CFL Championship game in the 106th playing of the Grey Cup.  It was the Calgary franchise’s 8th Cup victory. Stampeder Terry Williams scores a record 97-yard punt-return touchdown just before halftime to highlight the scoring for the game. The third time was truly the charm for the Calgary squad, as they had lost the previous two Grey Cup games. (source)
• November 25, 2018 – LA Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers sets an NFL single-game record, completing 25 straight passes in a 45-10 win v. the Arizona Cardinals; Mark Brunell & David Carr previously shared the record (22); also sets an NFL record for best single-game completion % (96.6).  
• December 1, 2018 – The SEC Championship featured yet another excellent Georgia vs Alabama matchup with a few names you might recognize. The final score of the 2018 SEC Championship Game was Alabama 35, Georgia 28. What a game, see our full post on the 2018 SEC Championship.

The Ultimate Backup Story: Jalen Hurts and Alabama’s 2018 SEC Championship Comeback

• December 6, 2018 – Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry went on a rampage at Nissan Stadium, running for a franchise-record 238 yards and four scores against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Henry tied a long-standing NFL record for the longest run in League history with a 99-yard touchdown run.
• December 8, 2018 – The 84th Heisman Trophy Award went to Kyler Murray, the nifty quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners. It was the second consecutive Heisman Trophy awarded to Sooner QBs, as the previous year’s Trophy went to Baker Mayfield, according to Heisman.com. Murray’s 4946 yards of total offense and 51 TDs were big numbers that drew votes for him for collegiate football’s most prestigious individual award. Oklahoma now has seven Heisman winners, tying it with Ohio State and Notre Dame for the most from one school. Murray initially played for Texas A&M, but after his freshman season, he transferred to the Sooners. The second-place finish in the Heisman voting was Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama, and third was Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Kyler Murray was the first overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft when the Arizona Cardinals selected him to be the face of their franchise.
• December 29, 2018 – The results of the BCS semi-final at the 85th Orange Bowl were that #1 Alabama outlasted #4 Oklahoma, 45-34.
• December 30, 2018 – During the KC Chiefs’ 35-3 win over the Oakland Raiders, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes became only the 2nd quarterback in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season. Both milestones were reached on a 3rd-quarter 89-yard TD pass to Demarcus Robinson, per Onthisday.com.