Great performances put records in reach

We may refer back to the National Football League’s 2018 campaign as one of the more memorable in the league’s 99-year history. (Perhaps you caught ChiefsRams on Monday night?)

At a time when so many strong teams seemed headed for (hopefully) more memorable encounters once the playoffs roll around, we’ve also seen a variety of fresh and still-not-fading stars track toward unprecedented regular season performances.

Some seem destined to rewrite the record book, while others will require a Herculean push over the next six weeks to stake a claim.

Here are just a few league marks that could come crashing down by season’s end:

Touchdown passes

Chiefs phenom Patrick Mahomes remains in striking distance of Peyton Manning’s single-season record (55 in 2013) after adding six Monday night and pushing his total to 37 through 11 games. At his current rate, Mahomes is on track to fire 54 TDs, though December’s weather could be an obstacle given he’ll play three games at Arrowhead Stadium and another in Seattle. Still, a decent shot for the youngster.

Completion percentage

Drew Brees has broken this record three times since 2009, most recently last year when he reclaimed it from Sam Bradford by becoming the first quarterback to hit the 72 per cent plateau for a single season.

But apparently the Saints standout is tired of messing around and really wants to put it way out there. He’s currently at 76.9 per cent, a number that might have once seemed unattainable.

Most 5,000-yard passers

Dan Marino first crossed this threshold in 1984. Brees did it next in 2008, and it’s become fairly commonplace since. Still, of the nine times it’s happened, Brees has done it five, while no one else has done it even twice. The only year with multiple 5,000-yard passers was 2011 (Brees, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford).

That should change very soon as Mahomes, Matt Ryan, Jared Goff and Ben Roethlisberger are all on pace to blow by 5K. Rodgers, who’s on track for 4,900-plus yards, could make it a quintet with one big game.

Now operating a far more-balanced attack, Brees is looking at pedestrian (by current measures) 4,700 yards.

Sacks

The Rams’ Aaron Donald is sitting on a career-high and league-leading 14 1/2. On a pergame basis he should hit 21 by season’s end, a figure that would leave him 1 1/2 shy of Michael Strahan’s controversial record. However, Donald has really picked up his production after going sack-less in his first three games.

He has 10 1/2 in his last five outings, a clip that could easily vault him past Strahan if he can maintain it.

Team scoring

At 37.8 points per game, the Saints are almost in a dead heat with the record-breaking 2013 Denver offence (37.88 ppg). The Manning-led Broncos finished with 606 points while New Orleans is currently on pace for 605. Yet the Saints are averaging 48 ppg over the past three weeks. They’ve already surpassed 40 points in six games, and no team has done it seven times in one season.

Yards allowed

To date, only the 2012 Saints — yup, that was the year Sean Payton was suspended for Bountygate — have allowed as many as 7,000 total yards to their opponents.

But this year’s Bengals “defence” could bring even more joy to New Orleans by potentially displacing the Saints for this dubious distinction.

Already the first team to allow 500 yards in three consecutive games, Cincinnati is giving up yards at an unprecedented rate: 449.4 per week. That has the Bengals steaming toward 7,200, well beyond the Saints’ 7,042 six years ago.

Receptions

Minnesota’s Adam Thielen and New Orleans’ Michael Thomas have cooled off after scalding starts.

Both remain on pace to eclipse 130 catches — that level has only been reached three times — but will need more double-digit days if either is to seriously threaten Marvin Harrison (143 in 2002).

Receiving yards

This category’s Holy Grail is 2,000 yards for a season. Calvin Johnson got closest with 1,964 in 2012. He’s one of only four players to steam past 1,800 in one year. However Julio Jones could be the first to hit that milestone twice (he had 1,871 in 2015) and is currently in line for 1,853.

But remember, Jones also has three 250-yard-plus games in his career, and one more this year — what else do the Falcons have to play for now? — could allow him to approach 2,000.

And lastly, because we know you’re curious ...

Touchdowns

The Rams’ Todd Gurley entered Monday night’s action with a league-best 17 scores. Yet, amazingly, in a game that featured 14 TDs, he didn’t register one after finding the end zone at least once in his first 10 games. Gurley would need 15 TDs in his final five games — three per week — to overtake LaDainian Tomlinson’s 2006 mark (31), so this is almost surely a quest Gurley will have to reboot in 2019.