NFL Records and Milestones We Could See in Season's Final Week

There are 17 games remaining in the NFL’s latest regular season, and we’ve seen some interesting things happen in 2014.

Passing numbers around the league continue to soar. There’s been uncommon dominance by teams within their own division. There’s a franchise that’s been around for 95 years that is on the verge of some history.

While NFL single-season individual records such as most rushing yards, most passing yards and most touchdown passes won’t be broken this season, there are some other numbers that are certainly worth a mention.

So here’s a look at what we could see in terms of accomplishments by individuals, teams and the league itself after the final game of Week 17, when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals.

Most Receptions by a Running Back in a Season

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It’s been a long year for the Chicago Bears, but it’s been quite the season for running back Matt Forte.

The versatile running back ranks fifth in the league with 94 receptions in 2014 and is not only on the verge of becoming just the third player at his position to reach the century mark in terms of receptions in a season, he could set the league record for most catches by a running back in a season.

For those of you counting, a player has caught at least 100 passes 83 times in 95 seasons, which includes Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown (122) and Atlanta’s Julio Jones (100) in 2014.

As for the running backs, the first was Larry Centers, who racked up 101 catches with the Arizona Cardinals in 1995, a season which saw an NFL-record nine players catch at least 100 passes. In 2003, San Diego Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson totaled exactly 100 catches.

We’ll see what Forte can do this Sunday when the Bears travel to Minnesota.

NFL Reception Leader

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When you catch at least five passes in 31 consecutive games, you are liable to rack up some impressive statistics.

In the case of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, that may be an understatement. It seems like a foregone conclusion that the talented performer will lead the NFL in receptions this season. His 122 catches are not only tied for the fourth-most by a player in a season in league history, it is 22 more than Atlanta Falcons wideout Julio Jones, who ranks second with 100 catches in 2014.

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison caught an NFL-record 143 passes in 2002, which means Brown would have to tie the league mark for catches in a game (21), set by Denver’s Brandon Marshall in 2009, to tie Harrison’s record.

These days, you can never say never in this league.

But what Brown can do is become the first Steelers player to lead the NFL in receptions, quite a surprise considering the franchise has been around since 1933.

Division Excellence

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Dating back to the league merger in 1970 and whether there have been either six or eight divisions, defeating all of those rivals in the same season has been a difficult accomplishment.

In those 44 seasons, there have been 34 instances in which a team won all of its divisional games. And that number is somewhat tempered by the fact that we’re including the 1987 Chicago Bears (7-0) and 1982 Los Angeles Raiders (5-0), seasons in which neither club played a full division slate due to work stoppages and/or player strikes.

This season, the Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons all sit with perfect 5-0 marks within their divisions. It’s worth noting that there has never been more than two teams go unbeaten and untied vs. their divisional rivals in the same season since the merger.

Franchise Record for Victories

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It’s been quite a year for the Arizona Cardinals, who come off a forgettable 35-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night (the team’s first loss at home in 2014) but are still headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

Head coach Bruce Arians has done a sensational job and is arguably the favorite to win NFL Coach of the Year honors for the second time in three years.

If the Cardinals can win at San Francisco this weekend, the team will win one dozen games for the first time in the history of a franchise that first took the field in 1920 as the Chicago Cardinals.

Passing and Receiving Performances

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It’s hardly news to see the numbers involving the passing game go up each season, but it’s still worth noting.

To date, there have been 198 individual performances of 100 or more receiving yards in a game this season. And when it comes to 300-yard passing games, we have seen 116 such outings in 239 contests in 2014.

The NFL record for 100-yard receiving games is 208, set last season. As for 300-yard passing performances, there were a record 126 of those in 2012.

Will one or both of these records be equaled or broken? There are 17 games remaining to achieve those feats.

Quarterback Numbers

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While it’s been a very down year for the New Orleans Saints, quarterback Drew Brees has once again put up big numbers when it comes to passing yards.

There have been eight 5,000-yard passing performances in a season in NFL annals, and four of those belong to Brees. The prolific performer leads the league with 4,671 yards and needs 329 yards though their air to reach the 5,000-yard mark once again.

But back to the bigger picture, in which there have already been eight quarterbacks throw for at least 4,000 yards this year. The NFL record for 4,000-yard passers in a season is 11, set just two year ago. Could we be on the verge of changing that?

Entering Week 17, San Diego’s Philip Rivers (3,995), the Giants’ Eli Manning (3,981), Miami’s Ryan Tannehill (3,786) and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco (3,674) are all within range. And what if there’s a Jay Cutler (3,640) sighting in Minnesota this Sunday?

Rookie Pass-Catchers

Getting 1,000 or more yards rushing in a season for a rookie has not been that difficult an accomplishment. With 123 yards on the ground in his next two games, Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill (877) can become the 57th rookie to run for 1,000-plus yards.

For whatever reason, it’s been much harder for a rookie to gain 1,000-plus yards receiving. On Sunday, New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. totaled eight receptions for 148 yards and two scores in a 37-27 win over the St. Louis Rams. It gave Beckham 1,120 receiving yards in 2014, making him just the 18th rookie to reach the 1,000-yard mark in receiving.

Barring something unforeseen, he is about to have company this year in that regard. Carolina’s Kelvin Benjamin (999) and Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans (997) are on the verge of reaching the 1,000-yard mark. It would mark the first time in league history that we would have had three rookies amass 1,000 or more yards receiving in one season.

Cowboys Rushing Record for Season

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The last time a Dallas Cowboys player led the league in rushing was 1995, when Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith accomplished that feat for the fourth time in five seasons dating back to 1991.

It has seemed like a foregone conclusion that DeMarco Murray would lead the league in rushing yards given the way he started in 2014. He opened the year with an NFL-record eight games of 100-plus yards rushing.

Murray enters the final week of the season with 1,745 yards rushing, 404 yards ahead of Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell (1,341). He would need an astonishing 255 yards on the ground to become the eighth player in league annals to run for 2,000-plus yards in a season.

Back to Smith, who owns the franchise single-season record with 1,773 rushing yards. It would appear inevitable that Murray owns that mark by day’s end next Sunday, but we shall see.