
Benedict Bermange
Cricket Statistician
Aaron Rodgers throws his 40th touchdown pass of the season for the Green Bay Packers; Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers equalled the NFL record for the most touchdown passes by a rookie in a season
Last Updated: 23/12/20 9:27am
A look back at the action and talking points from Week 15 of the NFL season
Sky Sports Cricket statistician – and die-hard Buffalo Bills fan – Benedict Bermange lends his talents to the 2020 NFL season to bring you his top 10 stats from Week 15’s action…
From 2012-2019, no NFL team won a game against an opponent with at least nine more wins. This week it happened on back-to-back days with the 0-13 New York Jets defeating the 9-4 Los Angeles Rams followed by the 2-10-1 Cincinnati Bengals defeating the 11-2 Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the first week in NFL history with more than one such upset victory.

Highlights of the Steelers against the Bengals in Week 15 of the NFL
In the Arizona Cardinals’ 33-26 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts combined for 836 passing and rushing yards between them. That set a record for the most combined yards for two quarterbacks aged 23 or younger in the same game.
Aaron Rodgers threw his 40th touchdown pass of the season for the Green Bay Packers. He became the first player in NFL history with three seasons of at least 40 TD passes. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Dan Marino all threw at least 40 in two different seasons.

Aaron Rodgers opened the scoring with a touchdown pass to tight end Robert Tonyan in the Packers’ win over the Panthers
Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers equalled the NFL record for the most touchdown passes by a rookie in a season.
Most touchdown passes by a rookie QB
Player | Team | Year | TDs |
Justin Herbert | Chargers | 2020 | 27 |
Baker Mayfield | Browns | 2018 | 27 |
Russell Wilson | Seahawks | 2012 | 26 |
Peyton Manning | Colts | 1998 | 26 |
Darren Waller‘s 425 receiving yards in his last three games are the most by a tight end in a three-game stretch in NFL history.
Best three-game stretch by tight ends
Player | Team | Year | Yards |
Darren Waller | Raiders | 2020 | 425 |
Jimmy Graham | Saints | 2013 | 413 |
Shannon Sharpe | Broncos | 1996 | 413 |
Pete Retzlaff | Eagles | 1965 | 406 |
Rob Gronkowski | Patriots | 2017 | 397 |
With defeat to the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots will finish with a record of .500 or worse for the first time since 2000. Only the Dallas Cowboys (20 seasons from 1966-1985) had a longer streak of finishing .500 or better. The Patriots were also eliminated from playoff contention in the regular season for the first time since 2008 – their 11-year playoff streak was the longest in NFL history.
NFL playoff streaks
Team | Years | Seasons |
Patriots | 2009-2019 | 11 |
Colts | 2002-2010 | 9 |
Cowboys | 1975-1983 | 9 |
Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans became just the fourth player in NFL history to have at least 1,500 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns in successive seasons, joining Terrell Davis, Shaun Alexander and Larry Johnson.

Titans running back Derrick Henry throws a Lions defensive back out of bounds with a stiff arm!
With another victory, the Cleveland Browns edged closer to their first playoff spot since 2002, when they lost in the Wild Card round to the Steelers. Their current 17-season playoff drought is the second longest in the Super Bowl era, with only the New Orleans Saints’ 20-season effort from 1967 to 1986 longer.

The best of the action as the Browns beat the Giants 20-6 on Sunday in the NFL
Calvin Ridley of the Atlanta Falcons celebrated his 26th birthday in style on Sunday, hauling in 10 receptions worth 163 yards and a touchdown. He became the third player in NFL history to have at least 10 receptions including a receiving touchdown on his birthday.
Spare a thought for Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans. He continued his excellent season by passing for 373 yards and two touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts but his team fell to a 27-20 defeat. Currently ranked second in the NFL with a passer rating of 110.6, he is on track to become the first quarterback to have a passer rating of at least 100 while suffering at least 10 losses in a season.
Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season – featuring a host of NFL Network programming, a new weekly preview show as well as at least five games a week and NFL Redzone, you won’t miss a moment. Don’t forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports – on the go!
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