Numbers from the 2011 NFL Regular Season

Week 17 of the NFL was one to remember. The Bengals and Broncos, who seemed to be in must-win situations in Week 17, both lost at home and still made the playoffs. The Jets choked. The Raiders and the Cowboys had a chance to clinch their divisions with a win, but both failed to do so.

Before we look ahead to this year’s NFL playoffs, let’s look back at some statistics from the NFL regular season.

Quarterbacks:

2011 was the year of the quarterback. The single season mark for passing yards was set by Dan Marino in 1984 with 5084 yards. Over 25 years later, the record was finally broken by Drew Brees (5476) by nearly 400 yards. Brees’s numbers overshadow another great season by Tom Brady who also broke Marino’s record by throwing for 5235 yards and finished fourth in touchdowns and third in QB rating. Aaron Rodgers, the leading candidate for this year’s NFL MVP, potentially could have also broken Marino’s record had he not sat out the Packers’ final game against the Lions. Speaking of the Lions, Matt Stafford finally remained healthy for an entire season. He threw for over 5000 yards, over 40 touchdowns and has the Lions in the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

In 2010, Philip Rivers led the NFL with 4710 yards. This year he threw for nearly the same amount of yards (4624), but finished sixth in passing yards. In 2011, there were 10 quarterbacks who threw for over 4000 yards. In 2010, neither Brady nor Rodgers surpassed 4000 yards. Only 5 quarterbacks did.

Best QB Duel:

Many records were broken during the Week 17 matchup between the Lions and Packers. The Packers already clinched the number one seed and the Lions already clinched a wild card spot, but had a chance to move up to the five seed with a win and a Falcons loss. Matt Stafford threw for 520 yards and 5 touchdowns. His 520 yards was the most by a quarterback all season eclipsing Tom Brady’s 517 yards in week 1. For the Packers, the 2008 seventh round draft pick Matt Flynn kept pace with Stafford and led the Packers to a win. Flynn threw for 480 yards and 6 touchdowns. He became the first Packers QB to throw for 6 touchdowns in a game. Not Aaron Rodgers, not Brett Favre, not Bart Starr. It was the first time opposing quarterbacks each threw for 400-plus yards and 5-plus touchdowns. Stafford and Flynn’s combined net passing yards also set an NFL single game record.

Runningbacks:

2011 was not a kind year to runningbacks. Jamaal Charles got a season-ending knee injury in mid-September, Darren McFadden didn’t play in any games after October, and Fred Jackson’s breakout season was cut short as he missed the final 6 games of the season. Other notable RBs who dealt with injuries this season include Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson, Peyton Hillis, and Demarco Murray. Also, it looks like Rashard Mendenhall tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the playoffs for the Steelers.

So who had a good year? Maurice Jones Drew was the only tailback to average over 100 yards a game and finished with 1606 yards. He was the lone bright spot for the Jaguars who finished 5-11 and surprisingly third in the division. The Jaguars passing game is not very good, so many teams load the box to try and stop MJD. Also, the Jaguars are usually down in games and therefore need to throw the ball more. This makes it hard for MJD to be effective sometimes. Put him on a consistent playoff caliber team and he would be an MVP candidate.

No other runningback eclipsed 1400 yards, but Ray Rice (1364), Michael Turner (1340), and Lesean McCoy (1309) all had solid seasons.

Top Performaces of 2011

Week 7 (Rams-Cowboys): DeMarco Murray  25 rush   253 yards   1 TD

Week 12 (Cardinals-Rams): Beanie Wells   27 rush    228 yards   1 TD

Week 15 (Dolphins-Bills): Reggie Bush  25 rush    203 yards   1 TD

Wide Receivers

Arguably the NFL’s top receiver, Andre Johnson missed most of the season due to injury. This gave room for others to make a name for themselves. Calvin Johnson had a monster year with a healthy Matt Stafford and led the league with 1681 yards and 32 catches of 20-plus yards. Wes Welker had another great year for the Patriots. He finished second in yards (1569), and led the league in receptions (122) and yards after catch (707). Another receiver who had a great season was Victor Cruz. The Giants signed him even though he had zero career receptions and gave him playing time right away. He became an immediate big play threat, finishing third with 1536 receiving yards and averaging almost 19 yards per reception.

Top Performances of 2011

Week 17 (Lions-Packers): Calvin Johnson   11 rec     244 yards   1 TD

Week 3 (Bills-Patriots): Wes Welker   16 rec       217 yards      2 TD

Week 17 (Lions-Packers): Jordy Nelson   9 rec      162 yards     3 TD

Other Notable Numbers

Gronkowski vs. Graham

The record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end is 1290 by Kellen Winslow in the year 1980. Both Rob Gronkowski (1327) and Jimmy Graham (1310) broke Winslow’s record. Gronkowski had 17 touchdown receptions, which led the NFL and set a new record for a tight end. The previous record was 13 held by Antonio Gates in 2004 and Vernon Davis in 2009.

Penalties

The 1990 Kansas City Chiefs had the record for penalties (158) and penalty yards (1304). Those records were broken by this year’s Raiders. They had 163 penalties and 1358 penalty yards. With this lack of discipline, it’s amazing that they were only one win away from the playoffs.

Total Offense

The 2000 St. Louis Rams held the record for total offense in a season with 7074 yards. That offense had Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Marshall Faulk. The Saints broke this mark recording 7474 yards of total offense.

Field Goals

David Akers kicked a total of 44 field goals this season breaking the record of 40 set by Neil Rackers in 2005. To top it off, he threw a touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree on a fake field goal against the Rams, helping them clinch the number 2 seed in the NFC.

Rushing Defense

Since the NFL moved to a 16-game schedule in 1978, 11 teams have allowed only 4 rushing touchdowns in a season. The San Francisco 49ers broke this record, only allowing 3 rushing touchdowns all season, including 2 in their final game against the Rams.

2011 was a record breaking year and don’t be surprised to see more records broken in the playoffs and in the 2012 season.