NFL

NFL 2014: A Record-Breaking Year of Football

Among the many NFL records set in the 2014 season, most notable -- and hardly surprising -- was something done by Peyton Manning.

The Denver quarterback easily surpassed Brett Favre's mark of 508 touchdown passes and stands at 530. Manning, 38, has said he plans to keep playing.

Manning and longtime rival Tom Brady also extended their lead for division titles by a quarterback. Brady led the Patriots to their 12th AFC East crown, and Manning won his 11th, his third with the Broncos, to stand 1-2.

The Broncos tied San Francisco's mark of 12 straight road divisional victories, dating back to 2010.

Other team achievements included four clubs averaging 400 yards on offense per game, a first: New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Denver; Dallas becoming the sixth team to go 8-0 on the road; Carolina, despite its 7-8-1 record, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the NFC South; and two comeback marks.

There were five rallies to victory from 21 or more points down, and there were 43 comebacks from a 10-point deficit to win. The latter tied the mark set the previous season.

The league-wide completion rate (62.6 percent), passer rating (88.9) and total touchdown passes (807) were at historic levels. So was the interception rate of 2.52 percent, the lowest of any season in NFL history.

An NFL-record nine quarterbacks had 30 or more touchdown passes: Andrew Luck (40), Peyton Manning (39), Aaron Rodgers (38), Tony Romo (34), Brady (33), Drew Brees (33), Ben Roethlisberger (32), Philip Rivers (31) and Eli Manning (30). Brees has passed for at least 30 touchdowns in seven consecutive seasons, extending his NFL-record streak.

Roethlisberger became the first player in NFL history with six touchdown passes in consecutive games. Rodgers, with a 112.2 passer rating, is the only player to reach a 100-plus rating in six consecutive seasons.

Luck has 12,957 yards passing, eclipsing Peyton Manning (12,287) for the most in a player's first three seasons. Seattle's Russell Wilson has 36 regular-season wins and 22 home victories, the most in the Super Bowl era in a quarterback's first three seasons.

The Patriots' five consecutive seasons of first-round byes is the longest streak since the current playoff format began in 1990.

NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray of Dallas was the first player to rush for at least 100 yards in each of his team's first eight games. Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell had at least 200 yards from scrimmage in three straight games, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Walter Payton (1977) as the only players to manage the feat.

Four players gained at least 1,500 yards receiving: Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones and Jordy Nelson. That's tied for most in a season (1995).

Detroit's Calvin Johnson became the quickest to 10,000 yards receiving, 115 games.

Three rookie wide receivers gained at least 1,000 yards through the air: Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin. That's an NFL mark.

Beckham and Evans each had 12 touchdown receptions, the first time two rookie receivers have had at least 10 TD catches in the same season.

Chicago's Matt Forte set a record for running backs with 102 receptions.

Special teams certainly contributed to the accomplishments, with the league average of 23.8 yards per kickoff return tying a mark set in 2011.

Atlanta's Devin Hester has 20 return touchdowns in his career, surpassing Hall of Famer Deion Sanders for the most in NFL history.

The Eagles scored 11 return touchdowns (three blocked punts, two kick returns, two punt returns, two interception returns and two fumble returns), with 10 players doing so. The 10 players is a record.

Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri, with 140 points this season, became the only player to score 100 or more points in 17 seasons. Philadelphia kicker Cody Parkey scored 150 points, setting the NFL record by a rookie.

Houston DE J.J. Watt made 20 1/2 sacks, becoming the first player in NFL history with multiple 20-sack seasons. Watt also had 20 1/2 sacks in 2012.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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