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Takeaways - NFL Week 17

I found this picture on the desktop of this computer.

I found this picture on the desktop of this computer.

Julio Jones is now 2nd all-time in catches in a season with 136.  Actually he’s now tied for 2nd, as Steelers receiver Antonio Brown caught 13 passes to also have 136 catches for the season.  Brown caught 36 passes the last three weeks of the season.  Julio was more reasonable, catching 27 passes over the last three games.

Devonte Freeman finished 7th in the NFL in rushing yards with 1,061.  Freeman finished 8th in all-purpose yards with 1,639.  In all, just 7 NFL running backs rushed for over 1,000 yards.  The top 5: Adrian Peterson, Doug Martin, Todd Gurley, Darren McFadden and Chris Ivory.


ESPN - Cam Newton is now tied with Steve Young for the most career rushing TD by a QB in the Super Bowl era (since 1966)


The Panthers became the 7th team in NFL history to win 15 games in a season. Of the previous 6, only 2 won the Super Bowl.

Russell Wilson is the 1st player in NFL history to record 4,000 Pass yds, 30 Pass TD & 500 Rush yds in a season.

ESPN - Packers 1st half scoring at home
2014: 212 points
2015: 108 points

ESPN - Broncos are the 3rd team in the last 5 seasons to win a game in which they had 5 TOs Teams were a combined 2-56 prior to the Broncos win

The Broncos have scored 10 points on 2 drives with Peyton Manning at QB. They had scored 10 points on Manning's previous 12 drives.

This is the first time in Tom Brady's career that he lost two straight games to end the regular season

This is the 9th game this season in which Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker both have a TD catch, extending their NFL record.

The Jets are the only team in the NFL to score at least two offensive touchdowns in all 15 games this season

Ryan Fitzpatrick: 1st red zone interception of the season

Mike Pettine is the 4th straight head coach for the Browns who failed to make it into a 3rd season.  Since 2008, Browns have had 5 different head coaches. The rest of the AFC North has not changed coaches in that span
The Chiefs became the 10th team since the 1970 Merger to win at least their final 10 games of the regular season.

The Cowboys since the start of 1997: 152 wins, 152 losses.

Allen Robinson: 4th player in NFL history with 1,400 rec yards in his age-22-or-younger season (Josh Gordon, Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald)

Odell Beckham Jr. passed Randy Moss for the most receiving yards through 1st two seasons in NFL history, with 2,755

J.J. Watt has 2 sacks and 2 batted passes today for the 4th time in his career. The rest of the league has done this 4 times since 2011.

Kirk Cousins has set the single-season passing yards record for the Redskins, passing Jay Schroeder's 4,109 yard season from 1986

Takeaways - NFL Week 16

(ESPN) Win probability: The Falcons' chance to win rose from 33% to 64% on that 70-yard Julio Jones TD reception

(ESPN) 52 air yards on Julio Jones' touchdown, the deepest downfield he's caught a pass in his career

(ESPN) Most Receptions in Single Season - NFL History 2002 Marvin Harrison 143 2014 Antonio Brown 129 2015 Julio Jones 127

(ESPN) Most 70-Yard Touchdown Catches - Last 5 Seasons Victor Cruz 7 Julio Jones 5 A.J. Green 5 Jordy Nelson 5

New York Jets receivers, Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall both caught touchdown passes in yesterday’s win over the New England Patriots.  That is the 8th time that has happened this season, breaking the record by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings.  That team had 7 games in which Chris Carter and Randy Moss caught touchdown passes in the same game.

(ESPN) Ryan Fitzpatrick before trimming his beard: W-L: 5-5 TD-Int 16-11.  He’s now 5-0 as a starter with the trimmed beard.

Speaking of the Minnesota Vikings, who have ended the Falcons playoff hopes, the 49 points they scored on the New York Giants were the most since the team put 50 on Jacksonville in 1998.

(ESPN) Most seasons with at least 10 rushing TD LaDainian Tomlinson 9 Emmitt Smith 8 Adrian Peterson 8

Eli Manning and Peyton Manning, have now combined for 47 pick sixes in their careers.  Brett Favre is your career leader with 35.  Dan Marino had 30.

(ESPN) probability model estimates the recipient of the opening kickoff in overtime will win about 53.8 percent of the time, and setting aside ties, the kicking team will win about 46.2 percent of the time.  A 7% loss in winning probability. The raw numbers since 2012 appear to support the advantage for the receiving team, although the sample size isn’t big enough yet to be certain. Receiving teams have won 33 of the 65 overtime games that did not result in a tie, a 50.7 percent rate.

(ESPN) If Denver wins tonight, they will have posted four straight seasons with at least 11 wins.  That would be a franchise record.

(ESPN) Simple formula for Colts: If 10 games break right for them, they make playoffs. It's about a 3,300-to-1 shot

(ESPN) The Chiefs have won 9 straight. They won 4 straight, without a 200-yd passer, 100-yd rusher or 100-yd receiver. 1st to do that since 2000 Dolphins.

(ESPN) Green Bay got stomped by the Arizona Cardinals.  The 30-point loss was the worst for the Packers in a game started by Aaron Rodgers. Previous high was a 28-point loss in 2012 against the Giants

Dwight Freeney's first 3-sack game since 2006 (Week 15 vs Bengals)

(ESPN) Jameis Winston now has 3,717 passing yards this season, 4th most in NFL history by a rookie (behind Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Peyton Manning)

The Saints beat the Jacksonville Jaguars despite Allen Robinson burning Brandon Browner for a 90 yard touchdown catch.  The is the longest touchdown passing play of the season.

(ESPN) Most 70-Yard TD Passes - NFL History Drew Brees 16 Peyton Manning 16 Aaron Rodgers 16

(ELIAS) Jason Witten has now caught a pass in 118 consecutive games, surpassing Michael Irvin for longest streak for Cowboys.

Takeaways - NFL Week 15

Julio Jones now owns the franchise record for receptions in a season.  Julio now has 118, passing Roddy White’s mark of 115 in 2010.
Panthers: 14-0 this season, 18th straight regular-season win 4th team to start 14-0 (1st since the 2009 Colts)

Cam Newton: 1st QB in NFL history with 5 TD passes and 100 rushing yards in same game
Cam Newton: 5 TD passes in 3 different games this season, tied for 2nd-most such games in a season (@EliasSports) (2004 Peyton Manning 4 games) – Brees, Brady, Culpepper.

Odell Beckham Jr. has been flagged 4 times today, 3 of which were unnecessary roughness He entered day with 5 career penalties

Beckham Jr.: 3 unnecessary roughness penalties Sunday; 3rd player w/ 3 such penalties in a game in last 15 seasons
Odell Beckham: 25th career TD catch (26th game)

The largest regular-season comeback in NFL history is 28 points ... December 7, 1980 (49ers defeated Saints)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is now the only QB in NFL history to have thrown at least three touchdowns in five consecutive games without an interception.
Russell Wilson now has the most TD passes without an interception in a 5-game span in NFL history (@EliasSports) (19 TDs – 0 INTs)


Doug Baldwin: 10 TD receptions in last 4 games
Doug Baldwin: 4th straight game with multiple TD receptions He's the 3rd player in the Super Bowl era to do so (Calvin Johnson-Chris Carter)
Doug Baldwin and Jerry Rice (1987) are only players with 10 receiving TD in a 4-game span within a single season (via @EliasSports).


Chiefs: won 8 straight games ... 1st team to win 8 straight following a 5-game losing streak (via @eliassports)

Antonio Brown (@steelers): 1st player in NFL history with pair of 16-reception games in the same season (via @EliasSports)

Steven Jackson: 158 reg season games WERE 3rd-most in NFL history by player who never played on a team w/ winning record (via @EliasSports)

NFL rushing leaders, active players: Frank Gore 11,879 yards Adrian Peterson 11,504 Steven Jackson 11,388