7 NFL records that could be broken this weekend — thanks to the extra game

The Atlanta Falcons’ tight end Kyle Pitts has been one of the more underwhelming rookies this season. Drafted with the fourth-overall pick, Pitts was believed to be one of the best prospects of all time, with virtually no downsides as a pass-catcher. However, with only one week left to play, Pitts has caught only 66 passes and reached the end zone just once.

That being said, it may come as a surprise to you that Pitts is only 67 receiving yards away from breaking Mike Ditka’s record for most receiving yards by a rookie tight end. In 1961, Ditka recorded 1,076 receiving yards on just 56 receptions, and he did so in only 14 games. Ironically, that was the most receiving yards Ditka would record in a single season his entire career. Ditka would never even reach 910 yards in a single season after his rookie year.

It’ll be difficult for Pitts to reach that marker though. In his team’s game against New Orleans earlier this year, he managed just three receptions for 62 yards. Pitts will need a slightly better showing this weekend if he wants his name in the record books.

Sticking with tight ends, Baltimore Ravens’ big man Mark Andrews is just 140 yards short of Travis Kelce’s record for most receiving yards by a tight end in a single season (1,416 in 2020). When Kelce set this record a year ago, he probably thought he was going to hold it for several years, but Andrews might but the kibosh on that. The Oklahoma alum has had only one game this season with more than 140 receiving yards (Week 5 v. IND), but has recorded at least 100 receiving yards in three of the last four weeks.

That being said, the Ravens’ opponents this weekend are the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that has been notoriously hard for Andrews to rack up stats on. In five career games against the Steelers, Andrews has not once recorded more than 50 receiving yards, or more than five receptions. It would take a miracle for Andrews to reach 141 yards, but hey, weirder things have happened.

Moving away from tight ends and back to rookies, Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase needs just 45 receiving yards in order to break Bill Groman’s rookie receiving record set in 1960, in a 14-game AFL schedule. That doesn’t sound too bad. Chase has reached that mark twelve times this season. Here’s the thing though. Chase will have to do it without quarterback Joe Burrow throwing him the ball.

Burrow announced earlier this week that he plans to take the final week of the regular season off in order to rest his knee, which he aggravated in the closing minutes of the Bengals’ Week 17 win over Kansas City. In 2021, Chase has not yet had to play a game without his star quarterback passing to him. Hell, since Chase opted out of the 2020 college football season due to COVID concerns, Chase hasn’t had to play a single game without Burrow throwing him the ball since before college. Now, it will be up to backup Brandon Allen to feed Chase the ball if he wants to break the record.

That might not be as bad as it sounds though. Throughout Allen’s eight career starts, he’s only ever failed to have at least one 50-yard receiver three times. That’s not a great percentage, but at least he has one wide receiver hit the half-century mark more often than not. Not to mention, the Bengals are probably well aware of how close Chase is to breaking the record and will likely try to feed him the ball as early and as often as possible.

Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp needs just 136 receiving yards to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record, set in 2012. Sounds easy enough given what Kupp has been able to do this year. Surprisingly though, Kupp has only reached 136 receiving yards three times all season.

There is some good news though. The Rams are set to take on San Francisco this weekend. While Kupp only managed to record 11 receptions and 122 yards in their last meeting (great, but would not be enough for the record), the 49ers will likely be without starting slot corner K’Waun Williams, who was placed on the 49ers’ COVID list earlier this week. There is a chance that Williams could still play this weekend if he tests negative for the virus two days in a row, but given that Williams was placed on the COVID list four days ago and hasn’t emerged yet, it seems unlikely.

What might be more worrisome is how the Rams’ gameplan might look if they get out to an early lead. L.A. will be fighting for a division title this weekend, and while the 49ers got the better of the Rams’ counterparts when last they faced, the they are unlikely to fall flat two matchups in a row. The 49ers are also fighting for a playoff spot, so perhaps they will also have a little extra pep in their step, too. Basically, if Kupp wants the record, he’s going to have to hope his team doesn’t get out to an early lead in the first half. Although, I’m sure Kupp would take a division title over the receiving-yards record any day of the week.

Another year, another chance for Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. to break an NFL record. On Sunday, Brady will have an opportunity to break two records.

The first is the single-season completions record. Brady needs to complete just 16 passes to break Drew Brees’ record of 471, set in 2016. Brady has recorded at least 18 completions in every game this season. While the Bucs don’t have much to play for this Sunday, other than playoff seeding, it’s hard to think of a scenario where Brady won’t complete at least 16 passes.

The other record Brady could break this weekend is the single-season passing-yards record. However, that record will be much harder to achieve. Brady needs 488 yards through the air to break Peyton Manning’s all-time record of 5,477 set in 2013. Throughout his 22-year career, Brady has surpassed 488 passing yards only once. The most passing yards he’s had in a single game the last three years was 411. That’s a long ways away from what Brady needs.

It is possible, but, as I said before, given that the only thing Tampa Bay is playing for this weekend is playoff positioning, it’s unlikely that Tampa Bay will go all out in an effort to keep some of their plays hidden before heading into the playoffs. Furthermore, with the pitiful Carolina Panthers on the docket, there’s a very small chance the game script will call for Brady having to throw for nearly 500 yards. The completions record is very doable, but the yards record is damn near impossible.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker T.J. Watt heads into Week 18 just one sack shy of breaking Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record (22.5, set in 2001). Watt is fresh off a four-sack performance against Cleveland and now gets the Baltimore Ravens, whom Watt recorded 3.5 sacks against in Week 13.

What makes Watt’s record all the more impressive is that, unlike Kupp, Pitts, Chase, or Brady, Watt has missed time this season. In fact, Watt will have played fewer games this season (15) than Strahan did in 2001, Justin Houston (22.0) did in 2014, Jared Allen (22.0) did in 2011, and Mark Gastineau (22.0) did in 1984. Watt has been on an absolute tear this season, and the only person standing in his way is Ravens’ left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, who has surrendered nine sacks throughout 2021 — tied for the second-most in the NFL. There is one small hiccup though. Steelers’ defensive coordinator Keith Butler entered COVID-19 protocols earlier this week, and it’s unlikely that he will be on the sideline for Sunday’s game. Still, head coach Mike Tomlin has contributed throughout his career in gameplanning for his defense. If Butler is unable to coach this weekend, Tomlin will likely call the defensive plays. All in all, I like Watt’s chances.