A look at seven statistical highlights from games played at 1:00 p.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 3, the final week of the 2015 season.--· The DENVER BRONCOS defeated San Diego 27-20 and clinched the AFC West division title along with home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS, who are the AFC East champions, will be the No. 2 seed and have a first-round bye. TheCINCINNATI BENGALS, who are the AFC North champions, defeated Baltimore 24-16 and will be the No. 3 seed. The HOUSTON TEXANSclinched the AFC South and the No. 4 seed with a 30-6 win against Jacksonville.-The KANSAS CITY CHIEFS, who defeated Oakland 23-17, will be the No. 5 seed. The PITTSBURGH STEELERS, who won 28-12 at Cleveland, clinched a playoff berth and will be the No. 6 seed.-The CAROLINA PANTHERS, who are the NFC South champions, defeated Tampa Bay 38-10 and clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The ARIZONA CARDINALS, who are the NFC West champions, will be the No. 2 seed and have a first-round bye. The winner of tonight’s game between the MINNESOTA VIKINGS and GREEN BAY PACKERS will be the NFC North champions and clinch the No. 3 seed. The WASHINGTONREDSKINS are the NFC East champions and the No. 4 seed.-The SEATTLE SEAHAWKS, who won at Arizona 36-6, and the loser of the Vikings-Packers game are the two Wild Card teams. If Green Bay wins tonight, the Seahawks will be the No. 5 seed and the Vikings will be the No. 6 seed. If Minnesota wins tonight, the Packers will be the No. 5 seed and the Seahawks will be the No. 6 seed.-· Four teams that missed the postseason in 2014 – KANSAS CITY (11-5),MINNESOTA (10-5), HOUSTON (9-7) and WASHINGTON (9-7) – advanced to the 2015 playoffs. Since the 12-team playoff format was adopted in 1990, at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season that were not in the postseason the year before.--· Carolina quarterback CAM NEWTON passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two touchdowns in the Panthers’ win over Tampa Bay. It marked the 31st time Newton has recorded a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the same game, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer STEVE YOUNG for the most in NFL history. Newton reached the mark in his 78th career game while Young played 169 games in his NFL career.-Newton finished the season with 35 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns and is the only player in NFL history with at least 30 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in a single season.-· Seattle quarterback RUSSELL WILSON threw three touchdowns and no interceptions in the Seahawks’ win at Arizona. Wilson has 24 touchdown passes and one interception in his past seven games and is the only player in NFL history to pass for at least 24 touchdowns and have one or zero interceptions in a seven-game span within a season.-· New Orleans quarterback DREW BREES passed for 323 yards in the Saints’ 20-17 win at Atlanta. The performance marked Brees’ 96th career 300-yard passing game, the most in NFL history.--Brees finished the season with 4,870 passing yards, his NFL-record sixth consecutive season with at least 4,500 yards. Brees has seven career 4,500-yard passing seasons, the most in NFL history.-Brees’ 4,870 passing yards are the most in the NFL this season and he will become the first player ever to lead the league in passing yards six times. Pro Football Hall of Famers SONNY JURGENSEN and DAN MARINO each accomplished the feat five times.-· Pittsburgh wide receiver ANTONIO BROWN had 13 catches for 187 yards and one touchdown in the Steelers’ win at Cleveland. Brown, who led the league with 129 catches in 2014, has 265 total receptions over the past two seasons, surpassing MARVIN HARRISON (252 in 2001-02) for the most catches in any two-season span in NFL history. The performance marked the fourth 185-yard receiving game by Brown in 2015, the most in a single season in NFL history.--Brown and Atlanta’s JULIO JONES are tied for the NFL lead with 136 receptions, the second-most in a single season in NFL history (Harrison, 143 in 2002).-Brown (136 catches for 1,834 yards) and Jones (136 catches for 1,871 yards) are the first players in NFL history to have at least 125 catches and 1,800 yards in a season. Jones’ 1,871 receiving yards are the second-most in a single season (CALVIN JOHNSON, 1,964 in 2012).-· Houston defensive end J.J. WATT had eight tackles, three sacks, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the Texans’ win against Jacksonville. Watt, who currently leads the league with 17.5 sacks in 2015, joins Pro Football Hall of Famer REGGIE WHITE as the only players with at least 15 sacks in three of their first five NFL seasons since the statistic became official in 1982.
