Welcome to NFL wild card weekend. After a truly great 2021 NFL season that ended with three thrilling overtime games in week 18 (17 games plus a bye). First, Pittsburgh’s Big Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to an OT victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Then Jimmy GQ led the 49ers, who were down 17-0 to the Los Angeles Rams, to a thrilling OT victory. Finally, Derek Carr led the Las Vegas Raiders to an OT victory over the Los Angeles (still wanna call them San Diego) Chargers, knocking the Chargers out of the playoffs and putting the Pittsburgh Steelers in as the final seventh-seeded AFC team.
By the time you’re reading this, the Saturday playoff games of Las Vegas Raiders at the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots at the Buffalo Bills are history. Looking forward to the first 10 am game today of the Philadelphia Eagles at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next up, the 1 p.m. game of San Francisco 49ers at the Dallas Cowboys and finally closing with a Sunday night game of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Kansas City Chiefs. For the first time ever, the NFL is having a Monday night playoff game with the Arizona Cardinals at the Los Angeles Rams. The Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers each got the number one seed in their respective divisions giving them a first-round playoff bye.
Some of the highlights this 2021 season included Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who became only the fifth player in NFL history to win the “triple crown” (leading the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns) with 145 receptions (second all-time), 1,947 receiving yards (second all-time) and 16 receiving touchdowns. Can you name the other four players to win the triple crown of receiving?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski entered the final game needing 7 catches to reach 55 catches to earn a $500,000 bonus and 65 yards for 750 yards on the season and another $500,000 bonus. His bro-friend, quarterback Tom Brady played most of the game, feeding Gronkowski to earn his $1 million in bonuses on top of his $8 million salary. Gronkowski now has thirty-one 100-yards receiving games, the record for tight ends.
Back to Tom Brady. At 44 years old, Brady broke the single-season record for completions with 485 besting Drew Brees former 471. Brady is also the oldest quarterback to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season as he led the NFL in passing yards (5,316) and touchdown passes (43).
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle broke the record for most receptions by a rookie receiver with 104, breaking Anquan Boldin’s previous rookie record of 101. These are the only two rookies to have over 100 receptions.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt had 22.5 sacks, tying Michael Strahan’s record. Watt was injured for a few games and tied this record in only 15 games.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans had over 1,000 receiving yards for his eighth consecutive season, the most ever to begin a career.
San Diego Chargers running back Austin Ekeler tied Indianapolis Colts Jonathan Taylor with 20 touchdowns for the year. This is all the more impressive as Ekeler was undrafted, joining Kansas City Chiefs Priest Holmes as the only undrafted players to have 20 touchdowns in a year.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes won his 50th game in only 63 starts, second fastest to win 50 games to Oakland Raiders Ken Stabler (62 starts).
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Juston Herbert has thrown for 69 touchdown passes in his first two years in the NFL, breaking Dan Marino’s previous record of 68.
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson set a record for the most receiving yards in a receiver’s first two years with 3,016. San Francisco 49ers Jerry Rice had 2,497 receiving yards in his first two years.
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry finished 9th with 937 rushing yards. Considering he only played 8 games before getting injured, he led the league in yards per game with 117.1 yards.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had 1,455 reception yards, the second-most ever for a rookie. He came close to breaking Bill Groman’s 1960 Houston Oilers rookie record of 1,473 yards.
Wide receiver triple-crown winners: Don Hutson, Green Bay Packers – 1936, 1941-1944; Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers – 1990; Sterling Sharpe, Green Bay Packers 1992 and Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers – 2005.
Matthew Owen resides in Eureka, and believes the First Amendment allows for free speech.