A look at seven statistical highlights from games played at 1:00 p.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 15, the 10th week of the 2015 season.
• The CAROLINA PANTHERS and NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS both improved to 9-0. That marks the fourth time in NFL history there have been multiple 9-0 teams in a season (1934, 1990, 2009). Carolina defeated Tennessee 27-10 and New England won 27-26 at the New York Giants.
The CINCINNATI BENGALS, who host Houston on Monday Night Football, can become the third 9-0 team with a win tomorrow night. That would mark the most 9-0 teams in a single season in league history.
Entering 2015, 19 teams started a season 9-0 during the Super Bowl era. Of those 19 clubs, all 19 made the playoffs, 11 advanced to the Super Bowl and seven of those teams won the Super Bowl.
• The NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS, who improved to 9-0 for the second time in franchise history (2007), are the fifth team in NFL history and first since the 1983-1998 San Francisco 49ers (16) with at least 15 consecutive winning seasons.
New England, which scored points in all four quarters today against the Giants, has scored points in 35 consecutive quarters, surpassing the 1999-2000 St. Louis Rams (31) and 2005 Indianapolis Colts (31) for the longest such streak in NFL history.
• Minnesota running back ADRIAN PETERSON rushed for 203 yards in the Vikings’ 30-14 win at Oakland. It marked the sixth career 200-yard rushing game for Peterson, who tied Pro Football Hall of Famer O.J. SIMPSON for the most 200-yard rushing games in NFL history.
Peterson now has rushed for 11,151 yards and 91 touchdowns in 113 career games and has joined Pro Football Hall of Famer JIM BROWN as the only players in NFL history to rush for at least 11,000 yards and 90 touchdowns in the first 113 games to begin a career.
• Chicago quarterback JAY CUTLER threw an 87-yard touchdown pass to tight end ZACH MILLER and an 83-yard touchdown pass to rookie running back JEREMY LANGFORD in the Bears’ 37-13 win at St. Louis. Cutler is the first quarterback in franchise history to throw two touchdown passes of at least 80 yards in the same game.
Langford, who finished the game with 73 rushing yards and a touchdown run along with 109 receiving yards and a touchdown catch, is the third rookie running back in NFL history with at least 70 rushing yards, a touchdown run, 100 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in the same game. The only other two rookie running backs to accomplish the feat are Pro Football Hall of Famer GALE SAYERS (October 3, 1965) and JAHVID BEST (September 19, 2010).
• Washington quarterback KIRK COUSINS completed 20 of 25 passes (80 percent) for 324 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 158.3 passer rating – the highest attainable mark – in the Redskins’ 47-14 win over New Orleans. Cousins is the first Redskins quarterback to pass for at least 300 yards and post a rating of at least 150 in a game since Pro Football Hall of Famer SAMMY BAUGH in 1948 (October 31).
Cousins is also the first quarterback in the NFL to record a 158.3 rating with an 80+ completion percentage, 300+ passing yards with at least four touchdown passes and no interceptions since TOM BRADY on October 21, 2007.
• Carolina quarterback CAM NEWTON threw a touchdown pass and rushed for a touchdown in the Panthers’ 27-10 win at Tennessee. It marked the 30th time in his career in which he has had both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the same game. Newton joined Pro Football Hall of Famer STEVE YOUNG (31) as the only players in NFL history to have at least 30 such games.
• Pittsburgh wide receiver ANTONIO BROWN had 10 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns in the Steelers’ 30-9 win against Cleveland. Brown, who had a franchise-record 17 catches in Week 9 against Oakland, is the fourth player in NFL history with at least 27 catches in a two-game span in a single season. He joins CLARK GAINES (29), BRANDON MARSHALL (28 in two separate two-game spans) and TOM FEARS (27) as the only players to accomplish the feat.
Steelers quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER, who did not start the game due to a foot injury, passed for 379 yards and three touchdowns for a 123.2 passer rating. His 379 passing yards are the most ever by a quarterback who did not start the game, eclipsing the mark previously held by Minnesota’s WADE WILSON (374 yards on December 16, 1990).
