with both NFL and collegiate hashmarks. Yard lines ending in "5" could not be marked. In 1971, the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants were the last teams to mark yard lines every five yards instead of ten. 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 (but no penalty yardage will be assessed). 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. All fouls committed by the offensive team behind the line of scrimmage will be assessed from the previous spot. 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 (East, Central and West) 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 team'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. Chicago Bears: Abe Gibron replaced the fired Jim Dooley. 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 coach Jerry Smith served as interim for the remaining five games. Houston Oilers: Ed Hughes resigned and was replaced by Bill Peterson. Philadelphia Eagles: Ed Khayat began his first full season as head coach. He replaced Jerry Williams, who was fired after three games in 1971. In-season Baltimore Colts: Don McCafferty was fired after going 1-4 to start the season. John Sandusky was named as replacement. New England Patriots: John Mazur resigned after going 2-7 to start the season. Phil Bengtson