NFL 2014: NFC Midseason Projections
NFL 2014: NFC Midseason Projections

 

ARIZONA

The Cardinals have the NFL's best record at 7-1 and this is the first time since 1966 that the franchise has sole possession of the league's top record this late into a season. The 7-1 record is tied for the best start by the team

WR LARRY FITZGERALD leads Arizona with 513 receiving yards and is on pace for his seventh career 1,000-yard season, the most in franchise history. Rookie WR JOHN BROWN is on target for eight receiving touchdowns, which would tie Fitzgerald (2004) and Anquan Boldin (2003) for the most by a rookie in club history

RB ANDRE ELLINGTON has 559 rushing yards and 313 receiving yards and can join Ottis Anderson (1984) as the only players in team history to record at least 1,000 rushing yards and 600 receiving yards in the same season

QB CARSON PALMER has a 99.3 passer rating, which would be the best single-season mark in club history ahead of Kurt Warner's 96.9 rating set in 2008.

ATLANTA

QB MATT RYAN is on pace for 4,612 passing yards, which would be the second-most in team history (Ryan, 4,719 yards in 2012). It would also mark the third 4,500-yard season in franchise annals and all three performances would be by Ryan. He has 15 touchdown passes and can challenge his single-season team record of 32 set in 2012. With 10 more passing touchdowns, Ryan will record his fifth consecutive season with at least 25 touchdown passes

WR JULIO JONES leads the team with 53 catches and 734 yards. Jones is on target for a team-record 1,468 receiving yards, which would be the first ever 1,400-yard season by a Falcon. He is on track to post the fifth 100-catch season in team history and is chasing WR RODDY WHITE's club mark of 115 set in 2010.

CAROLINA

QB CAM NEWTON has 1,794 passing yards and 257 rushing yards and can become the first player in NFL history to record at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in four consecutive seasons

WR KELVIN BENJAMIN leads the team with 589 receiving yards and can become the first rookie in franchise history with 1,000 receiving yards. Benjamin and TE GREG OLSEN (539 yards) are tied for the club lead with five touchdown catches and can become the first Panthers teammates to each record at least 1,000 receiving yards and 10 TD catches in the same season

LB LUKE KUECHLY leads the league with 97 tackles and aims for his third consecutive 150-tackle season. He has the only two 150-tackle seasons in team history (2012 and 2013). His 417 tackles since 2012 are the most in the NFL.

CHICAGO

RB MATT FORTÉ has 562 rushing yards and 490 receiving yards. He can become the third player in NFL history (Roger Craig, Marshall Faulk) to record 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. Forté is on pace for 116 catches, which would be the most ever by a running back

TE MARTELLUS BENNETT & WR BRANDON MARSHALL tie for the team lead with five TD catches. Bennett & Marshall can be the first Bears teammates to each record at least 10 touchdown receptions in the same season since 1947 (Ken Kavanaugh and Jim Keane)

QB JAY CULTER is on pace for team records in both passing yards (4,186) and TD passes (34)

DE WILLIE YOUNG is on target for 14 sacks, which would be the most by a Bear since Pro Football Hall of Famer Richard Dent (17) in 1985.

DALLAS

RB DE MARCO MURRAY leads the NFL with 1,133 rushing yards and is on pace for 2,014 yards, which would pass Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith's single-season team mark (1,773 in 1995). Murray is the only player in NFL history to rush for at least 100 yards in each of his team's first eight games

QB TONY ROMO has a 103.6 passer rating and looks to top Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Staubach's single-season club mark (104.8 in 1971). Romo would be the first Cowboy to post a 100+ passer rating in two seasons

WR DEZ BRYANT has 50 catches and aims to become the first player in team history with three consecutive 90-catch seasons

DT HENRY MELTON has five sacks and looks to join Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy White as the only Cowboys DTs with 10 sacks in a season.

DETROIT

WR GOLDEN TATE has 55 catches and 800 receiving yards and is on target to join Herman Moore (1995) and WR CALVIN JOHNSON (2012) as the only Lions with at least 100 catches and 1,500 receiving yards in a season. Johnson, who is the franchise's all-time leading receiver with 9,676 yards, needs 324 yards to become the first Lion with 10,000 career receiving yards

QB MATTHEW STAFFORD has 2,216 passing yards and aims for his fourth consecutive 4,500-yard season. In Week 8, Stafford (120) passed Pro Football Hall of Famer Bobby Layne (118) for the most passing touchdowns in team history

The Lions lead the league in total defense allowing 290.4 total net yards per game. Detroit looks to have the NFL's top-ranked defense (yards allowed) for the first time since 1965.

GREEN BAY

QB AARON RODGERS leads the NFL with a 113.6 passer rating and can extend his NFL-record streak to six consecutive seasons with a 100+ passer rating. Rodgers' 113.6 rating would be the second-highest in team history behind his 122.5 mark in 2011

WR RANDALL COBB has nine receiving touchdowns and is on pace to tie Sterling Sharpe's franchise-record (18) set in 1994. WR JORDY NELSON has 737 receiving yards and can challenge the club mark of 1,497 set by Robert Brooks in 1995. Cobb (80 catches, 1,156 yards, 18 TDs) and Nelson (100 catches, 1,474 yards, 12 TDs) can become the first Packers to each record at least 75 catches, 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in the same season

LB JULIUS PEPPERS has four sacks and an interception and became the first player in NFL history with 100 sacks (122.5) and 10 interceptions (10).

MINNESOTA

Rookie QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER has won three of his first five starts and his three wins are the most by a rookie quarterback in team history

Rookie RB JERICK MC KINNON leads NFL rookies with 446 rushing yards. RB MATT ASIATA has rushed for three touchdowns in a game two times this season and is the first undrafted player with three such games in his first three seasons in the common draft era

DE EVERSON GRIFFEN leads the NFC with nine sacks and can be the fourth player in franchise history to record at least 16 sacks in a season, joining Jared Allen (22 in 2011), Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Doleman (21 in 1989) and Keith Millard (18 in 1989). The Vikings lead the NFL with 30 sacks and are on pace for 53, which would be the second-most in a single season in team history (71 in 1989).

NEW ORLEANS

QB DREW BREES is on pace for 5,048 passing yards, which would be his fifth 5,000-yard season and fourth in a row. Entering 2014, there have been eight 5,000-yard passing seasons and Brees has four of them

RB MARK INGRAM, who has rushed for 431 yards and six touchdowns in five games, is on pace to become the first Saint to rush for 1,000 yards and 15 TDs in a season

TE JIMMY GRAHAM is on target for 92 catches, 1,036 yards and 10 touchdowns. He can become the first tight end in NFL history to record three seasons with at least 85 catches, 1,000 yards and 10 TDs (2011 and 2013)

LB JUNIOR GALETTE and DE CAMERON JORDAN seek to join Rickey Jackson and Pat Swilling (1991-92) as the only Saints duos to each record at least 10 sacks in back to back seasons.

NEW YORK

QB ELI MANNING is on pace for his team-record sixth season with at least 3,800 passing yards. There have been eight such seasons in franchise history and Manning owns five of them. He has 16 touchdown passes and is on target to record his second career 30-TD season. Manning would join Pro Football Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle as the only Giants with multiple seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes. Manning has a 94.9 passer rating, which would rank as the third-best single-season mark in club history

TEs LARRY DONNELL (five) and DANIEL FELLS (four) lead the team in touchdown catches. The single-season mark for the most touchdown receptions by a tight end in team history is nine set by Joe Walton (1962) and Aaron Thomas (1967).

PHILADELPHIA

The Eagles lead the NFC averaging 29.3 points per game. Only twice in franchise history has the club averaged more than 30 points per game (1948 and 1949)

WR JEREMY MACLIN has 45 catches for 790 yards and eight touchdowns and is on pace to tie or break the single-season club record in all three categories. The current record holders for the team are Brian Westbrook (90 receptions in 2007), Mike Quick (1,409 receiving yards in 1983) and Terrell Owens (14 touchdown catches in 2004)

RB LE SEAN MC COY has rushed for 622 yards and seeks his third career 1,300-yard season. He would be the first Eagle to rush for 1,300 yards in three different seasons

The Eagles have scored seven return touchdowns and need just one more to tie the franchise's single-season mark of eight set in 1952.

ST. LOUIS

DE ROBERT QUINN is on pace for his third consecutive season with at least 10 sacks. He would join Kevin Greene (1988-90), Kevin Carter (1998-2000) and Leonard Little (2001-03) as the only Rams to post 10 or more sacks in three seasons in a row

TE LANCE KENDRICKS leads the team with four receiving touchdowns and is on track for eight touchdown catches, which would be the most by a tight end in franchise history

QB AUSTIN DAVIS has played in all eight games, including seven starts, and has passed for 1,785 yards and 11 touchdowns. He can be the first Rams quarterback to pass for at least 3,500 yards and 20 touchdowns in the season of his first career NFL start.

SAN FRANCISCO

RB FRANK GORE seeks his franchise-record eighth 1,000-yard rushing season and his eighth such performance in the past nine years

WR ANQUAN BOLDIN leads the team with 540 receiving yards and looks to become the first player in 49ers annals to record back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons in his first two years with the club

QB COLIN KAEPERNICK has passed for 1,956 yards and rushed for 274 yards. He can be the first 49ers quarterback with at least 4,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in a single season. Kaepernick (2013) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young (1992) are the only players in team history with at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in the same season.

SEATTLE

QB RUSSELL WILSON has a 93.1 passer rating and is the only player in NFL history with a 100+ passer rating in both his rookie and second season. In Week 7, he became the first player in league annals to pass for 300 yards (313) and rush for 100 yards (106) in the same game. In his career (including the playoffs), Wilson is 20-2 (.909) at home

RB MARSHAWN LYNCH is on pace to rush for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns for the fourth season in a row. He would join Shaun Alexander (2001-05) as the only Seahawks to accomplish the feat. Lynch is the only player in the NFL with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in each of the past three seasons (2011-13)

Since entering the league in 2011, CB RICHARD SHERMAN has 21 interceptions, the most in the NFL.

TAMPA BAY

DT GERALD MC COY has five sacks in seven games played and looks to join Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp (1997, 1999, 2000) as the only defensive tackles in club history with more than 10 sacks in a single season

Rookie WR MIKE EVANS has 460 receiving yards and four touchdowns in seven games played. He can join Joey Galloway as the only players in franchise history with at least 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdown catches in the same season

LB DANNY LANSANAH has returned two interceptions for touchdowns this year and needs one more to tie Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks for the most INT-TDs by a Buccaneers linebacker in a season. Since entering the NFL in 2012, LB LAVONTE DAVID is the only player with 350 tackles (372), nine sacks and six INTs.

WASHINGTON

WR DE SEAN JACKSON leads the team with 784 receiving yards and is averaging 21.8 yards per catch (36 catches). Jackson will attempt to set the franchise single-season marks for receiving yards (1,483 by Santana Moss in 2005) and receiving average (23.4 by Hugh Taylor in 1952)

RB ALFRED MORRIS has 605 rushing yards and is closing in on his third consecutive 1,000-yard season. Since entering the NFL in 2012, Morris leads the league with 3,493 rushing yards

LB RYAN KERRIGAN has 7.5 sacks and seeks to join Dexter Manley (1985 and 1986) as the only Redskins with at least 15 sacks in a season. Since entering the NFL in 2011, Kerrigan is the only player in the league with at least 30 sacks (32), 10 forced fumbles (12) and two interception-return touchdowns (two).

 

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NFL 2014 - NFC Midseason Projections