Week 16 notable nuggets

The playoff picture began to take form in Week 16, as the Patriots clinched home-field advantage, the Chiefs clinched the AFC West, the Jets and Ravens secured playoff spots and the Eagles won the NFC East.

And now a look at some of the most notable numbers, ongoing streaks and best performances from around the league, with assists from the NFL Network research desk and the folks in the NFL communications office:

Patriots 34, Bills 3

Tom Terrific: Tom Brady set an NFL record by completing his 319th consecutive pass without an interception, passing Bernie Kosar (308 in 1990-91). Brady has 24 TDs and 0 INT his last 10 games. Brady also extended his current NFL-record streak to eight consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Rob Gronkowski had two more TDs this week and now has nine this season, tying him for second-most among rookie TEs in NFL history. He only trails some guy named Mike Ditka (12 in 1961).

The Patriots have won 15 straight games against the Bills, tied for the fourth-longest win streak in NFL history by one team against another.

Bears 38, Jets 34

The Bears scored 38-plus points in back-to-back games for first time since 1989.

The Jets’ streak of 21 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher ended as Matt Forte finished with 113 yards on 19 rushes.

Forte finished with 169 yards from scrimmage, becoming the first player in franchise history with at least 1,400 yards from scrimmage in each of his first three NFL seasons.

Redskins 20, Jaguars 17 (OT)

Is it positive or negative that the Redskins’ three overtime wins this season (they’re 3-1) ties them for NFL single-season record? The 1983 Packers played in five overtime games, the NFL single-season mark. Overtime began in 1974.

Chiefs 34, Titans 14

Kerry Collins now has 40,141 career pass yards, the 12th player in NFL history to reach 40,000 yards.

Lions 34, Dolphins 27

The Lions, who had two wins the last two seasons, have won three straight games for the first time since 2007.  The Lions have now won back-to-back road games in same season for first time since 2004 under head coach Steve Mariucci. The Lions set the dubious mark of losing an NFL-record 26 straight road games, which ended last week.

Rams 25, 49ers 17

Sam Bradford improved to 7-8 as starter, the most wins by rookie QB drafted No. 1 overall since 1970. Bradford now has 335 completions this season, breaking Peyton Manning’s NFL rookie record of 326 in 1998.

Ravens 20, Browns 10

Ed Reed had two interceptions, his 10th career two-INT game and second this season. Reed now has 52 career INTs, which is tied for 24th all-time, one behind Deion Sanders and Ty Law, and second among active players behind Darren Sharper (63).

Packers 45, Giants 17

Aaron Rodgers went for a career-high 404 yards and four touchdowns against the Giants, and since becoming the starter in 2008, has passed for 12,165 yards to join Kurt Warner (12,612) and Peyton Manning (12,287) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for at least 12,000 yards in the first three seasons as a starting quarterback.

Broncos 24, Texans 23

Arian Foster has 2,030 yards from scrimmage this season, joining Priest Holmes (three times, 2001-03) as the only undrafted players in NFL history to record at least 2,000 yards from scrimmage yards in a season.

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Week 14 notable nuggets

With an assist from the NFL Network research crew, here’s a look at some of the notable numbers and top performances of Week 14:

Bills 13, Browns 6

Ryan Fitzpatrick had his 14th straight game with a passing touchdown, the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Jim Kelly (18 straight from 1986-87).

Peyton Hillis has 1,070 rushing yards and 57 receptions this season, becoming the ninth player in franchise history to rush for 1,000-plus yards in a season. He joined Mike Pruitt in 1980 and 1981 as only Browns players with 1,000 yards and 50 or more receptions in a season.

Steelers 23, Bengals 7

Hines Ward moved into 10th place all-time in receptions (944), passing Art Monk (940).

Troy Polamalu recorded two more interceptions, and the Steelers are 21-3 when he records an interception (5-0 this season).

Falcons 31, Panthers 10

Roddy White now has 1,219 yards this season, the first player in franchise history with three seasons with 1,200-plus receiving yards.

Lions 7, Packers 3

Congrats to the Lions, who snapped a 19-game divisional losing streak against the Packers. It was their first win versus the NFC North since Oct. 28, 2007 vs. the Bears.

Saints 31, Rams 13

Drew Brees became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for at least 20,000 yards and 150 touchdowns in the first five seasons with a new team. 

Steven Jackson has 1,081 rushing yards on the season and is the first player in franchise history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in six consecutive seasons. 

Jaguars 38, Raiders 31

The Jaguars had two 100-yard rushers for the third time in franchise history behind Maurice Jones-Drew (101 yards) and Rashad Jennings (109 yards).

Darren McFadden had himself a day. He had a career high in yards from scrimmage (209), his second career game with both a rushing TD and a receiving TD (both this season) and became the third player since 1950 with two rushing TDs of 35-plus yards and a receiving TD of 60-plus yards in the same game. He is also the first Raider with a 50+ yard TD run and a 50+ yard TD reception in the same game since Clem Daniels in 1963.

Patriots 36, Bears 7

The Patriots are the first team since 1970 with no turnovers in five straight games, and the first team in NFL history with 30-plus and n0 turnovers in five straight games.

Bill Belichick notched his 174th career win as NFL head coach, including playoffs, tying Mike Holmgren for 10th all-time.

Tom Brady had his sixth straight game with two or more passing TDs and no INTs to tie Don Meredith’s NFL record from 1965-66.

Brady is the only player with three straight games with 300-plus passing yards, two or more touchdowns and no interceptions since 1950. He’s actually done it twice, al;so in 2007.

Brady and Belichick have 108 wins together, passing Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll for the second-most wins by a QB-head coach tandem behind only Dan Marino-Don Shula’s 116 wins.

Cardinals 43, Broncos 13

On his first career rushing attempt, Jay Feeley became the fourth kicker since 1950 with a rushing TD. The last to do it? Tim Seder, who had an 8-yard score for the Cowboys against the Raiders in 2001. Feeley wasn’t too shabby kicking, either. He tied his career high with his third career five FG game.

Buccaneers 17, Redskins 16

Donovan McNabb recorded his 12th straight game with a passing TD, the longest streak by a Redskins player since Joe Theismann had 15 straight games from 1984-85.

49ers 40, Seahawks 21

Happy returns: Seahawks KR Leon Washington had a 92-yard kickoff return TD, his seventh career return which is now second most all-time, one behind Joshua Cribbs’ NFL record. It was his third kickoff return TD this season.

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Week 11 notable nuggets

A look at some of the notable nuggets from Week 11 with the help of the NFL Network research desk and @NFLFootballInfo, including Ronde Barber and Ray Lewis reaching some historic milestones.

Ravens 37, Panthers 13

A number of career milestones for the Ravens in Week 11. Derrick Mason became the 13th player in NFL history to reach 900 receptions, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh became the 53rd player in NFL history to reach 600 receptions. Along with Anquan Boldin, the Ravens are the third team in NFL history to have three players with 600-plus receptions.

Ray Lewis recorded his 30th career interception to become the eighth linebacker in NFL history to reach that mark. Lewis now has 38.5 sacks and 30 INT in his career, only the second NFL player with 30-plus sacks and 30-plus INTs (Rodney Harrison had 30.5 sacks and 34 INT).

Ed Reed (1,338) passed Deion Sanders (1,331) for the third-most interception-return yards in NFL history.  Rod Woodson holds the NFL record with 1,483 interception-return yards.

Cowboys 35, Lions 19

Cowboys rookie Bryan McCann, who had franchise-record 101-yard interception return for a TD last week, had a 97-yard punt return for a TD in Week 11 to become the first rookie in NFL history with touchdowns of 97-plus yards in consecutive weeks.

The Lions extended their own NFL record with their 26th consecutive road loss.

Jaguars 24, Browns 20

Maurice Jones-Drew had 133 yards rushing and 87 receiving for a career-high 220 yards from scrimmage. Here’s his career-long 75-yard reception.

Bills 49, Bengals 31

The Bills outscored the Bengals 35-0 in the second half after trailing 31-14 at halftime, the first time since at least 1950 a team led by 17 or more points at halftime but lost by 13 or more points. It’s the third time in franchise history the Bills have won after facing a halftime deficit of 17 or more points, including the playoffs.

Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick went 21 for 34 with 316 yards, with four TDs and two INTs. He now has two four-touchdown games, both this season, becoming the first Bills QB with two such games in a season since Jim Kelly had three four-touchdown games in 1994. Fitzpatrick helped Steve Johnson to a career-high three TDs … here’s video of his third of the day.

Packers 31, Vikings 3

The Packers’ 28-point win at Metrodome was their second-largest margin of victory in Minnesota in franchise history (they won 42-13 at Minnesota in 1964 under Vince Lombardi).

Jets 30, Texans 27

 The Jets have won three straight games, with all three game-winning scores coming in the final 0:10 of regulation or overtime. They’re just the third team since 1983 to win three consecutive games in that fashion (joining 1998 Cardinals and 2006 Titans).

Santonio Holmes joins Mike Brown as only players since 1983 with a game-winning TD in the final 0:10 of the four quarter or OT in back-to-back games.

Buccaneers 21, 49ers 0

Ronde Barber recorded his 40th career interception, becoming the only player in NFL history with at least 25 sacks (26) and 40 interceptions.

Steelers 35, Raiders 3

Ben Roethlisberger had his first career game with three-plus passing TDs and a rushing TD. Here’s his 16-yard rushing TD.

Falcons 34, Rams 17

Dome Sweet Dome: The Falcons improved to 21-6 in games played in domes since 2008, including 7-0 this season.

Patriots 31, Colts 28

Bill Belichick notched his 171st career win (including playoffs) to tie Joe Gibbs for 11th all-time.

Tom Brady picked up his 25th consecutive home win as starter to tie Brett Favre (1995-98) for most consecutive home wins as starter since 1970.

Peyton Manning connected with Reggie Wayne on an 11-yard TD pass, their 65th career TD connection to tie Kelly and Andre Reed for the fourth-most touchdowns by a QB-WR duo in NFL history. Manning now has 63 career games with three-plus TD passes, passing Dan Marino for second-most all-time behind Favre (72).

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Week 10 notable nuggets

With an assist from the NFL Network researchers and the crew @NFLfootballinfo, here’s a look at some of the most notable statistics from Week 10:

Bills 14, Lions 12

Things haven’t gotten any better for the Lions on the road. The Lions broke their own NFL record in Week 10 by losing their 25th straight road loss, a streak dating back to 2007. The Lions also lost 24 straight games from 2001-03.

Jaguars 31, Texans 24

David Garrard and Mike Thomas delivered Week 10's most memorable play, connecting on a 50-yard game-winning TD on the final play of regulation, the fifth-time that’s happened since 2000. Dating back to 1983, it was the second-longest game-winning TD pass on the final play of regulation. As for Thomas, he tied his career high in receptions (eight) and posted his first 100-yard game (149) and the TD was the longest of his career.

Bears 27, Vikings 13

Brett Favre has his share of NFL records, good and bad. With three interceptions in Week 10, it marked Favre’s 39th game with three-plus interceptions, leaving him one game shy of George Blanda for most all-time.

Jets 26, Browns 20 (OT)

When Santonio Holmes scored the game-winning TD with 16 seconds left in overtime, it represented the third latest touchdown in regular season overtime history. In 1996, Michael Jackson scored with 10 seconds left to defeat the Rams, and in 1978 John Jefferson scored with no time remaining, in overtime, to lift the Chargers over the Chiefs.

The Jets, who won 23-20 in OT at Detroit’s Ford Field last week, are the first team in NFL history to win road games in overtime in consecutive weeks.

Broncos 49, Chiefs 29

Never fear, we have some Tim Tebow numbers to chew on. Tebow had a 3-yard TD pass and a 1-yard TD run, becoming the third Broncos rookie with a rush TD and pass TD in same game (the last was Gary Kubiak in 1983). Tebow also joined Matt Ryan (2008) and Kordell Stewart (1995) as only rookie QBs with a passing touchdown on their first career pass attempt since 1991.

The Broncos led 35-0 in the second quarter, and are the first team since at least 1950 to have a first half lead of 35-plus points and a first half deficit of at least 35 points in two separate games in the same season (the Broncos trailed 38-0 in the first half vs. the Raiders in Week 7).

Cowboys 33, Giants 20

The 101-yard interception return by Cowboys rookie Bryan McCann was the longest interception return in franchise history. McCann is the second rookie in the Super Bowl era with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. The other is Detroit’s Louis Delmas, who had a 101-yard INT-TD last season.

Dolphins 29, Titans 17

Chris Johnson had 17 rushes for 117 yards and a touchdown, and now has now has 4,072 career rushing yards to become the seventh player in NFL history to reach 4,000 rushing yards in his first 40 career games. He is now one of four players in NFL history to rush for at least 4,000 yards and average at least 5.0 yards per carry in his first 40 games.

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