25 NFL Records That Will Never Be Broken

By RanterX

NFL Records That Will Never Be Broken

Ray Lewis — Ever year in the NFL, we see something that we've never seen before. But we also see several longstanding records that weren't even close to being broken. It's bold, but we're confident these 25 NFL records will stand forever.

25. 49ers' 21 Consecutive Road Wins

San Francisco 49ers v Los Angeles Rams

25. 49ers' 21 Consecutive Road Wins

San Francisco 49ers v Los Angeles Rams — The Niners' five Super Bowls in a decade and a half narrowly missed this list (slash felt a little too arbitrary) but San Fran's golden years had to get some love. This streak encompassed two Super Bowl wins and portions of three years. The 2014 Cowboys were the last team to get through one regular season without a road loss.

24. OJ Simpson's 143.1 Single-Season Yards-Per-Carry Average

O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills in action

24. OJ Simpson's 143.1 Single-Season Yards-Per-Carry Average

O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills in action — Simpson racked up this absurd mark back in 1973 when running backs only had 14 chances to throw out a dud to kill their average. Adrian Peterson's 2012 campaign is perhaps the greatest by a running back in the modern era, yet he only hit 131.1 yards per game that year.

23. Brett Favre's 336 Career Interceptions Thrown

Green Bay Packers v Chicago Bears

23. Brett Favre's 336 Career Interceptions Thrown

Green Bay Packers v Chicago Bears — Favre blew away runner-up George Blanda's 277, along with many more positive passing records. Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Eli Manning are the closest active players and none are even close to within 100.

22. Willie Anderson's 336 Receiving Yards in a Game

willie anderson rams

22. Willie Anderson's 336 Receiving Yards in a Game

willie anderson rams — On Nov. 26, 1989, Willie "Flipper" Anderson had a game for the ages, hauling in 15 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown in a 20-17 overtime win for the Rams over the Saints. In 2013, Calvin Johnson came within seven yards of the record, but even the mighty Megatron fell short in today's pass-happy NFL.

21. Barry Sanders' Four Straight 1,500-Yard Rushing Seasons

Barry Sanders Detroit Lions

21. Barry Sanders' Four Straight 1,500-Yard Rushing Seasons

Barry Sanders Detroit Lions — In today's pass-happy game, topping 1,500 yards provides a decent shot at the rushing title, but doing it multiple years in a row is almost impossible. It was incredible even back in the more run-heavy days of the NFL as Sanders ripped off those monster years from 1994 to 1997.

20. Larry Johnson's 416 Carries in a Season

Chiefs v Giants

20. Larry Johnson's 416 Carries in a Season

Chiefs v Giants — Johnson's workload in 2006 makes Adrian Peterson's total look light in comparison, which is an incredible feat in today's NFL. The only person to come very close this millennium is Eddie George back in 2000. Some runners might top 30 carries in a game here and there, but teams are just moving away from the overworked-horse mentality.

19. Craig Morton's 26.7% INT Rate in Playoff Game

Craig Morton Broncos

19. Craig Morton's 26.7% INT Rate in Playoff Game

Craig Morton Broncos — We'll give the Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense" defense more recognition later, but this record officially falls in Denver's tally. The Broncos went 14-2 on the way to this Super Bowl appearance in 1978, but they benched Morton after he started the title game 4-for-15 with four interceptions, before losing to Dallas, 27-10.

18. Lou Groza Three Straight Field Goal Titles

Lou Groza

18. Lou Groza Three Straight Field Goal Titles

Lou Groza — The nature of field goal attempts is just too random to expect a kicker to lead the league in field goals made three consecutive years again, as Groza did from 1952-54. Not to mention, Groza was leaps and bounds better than the rest doing it back in the 1950s. The last person to even do it two years in a row was Pete Stoyanovich back in 1991-92, and each year he merely shared the top total.

17. Marshall Faulk's 26 TDs Without a Fumble in a Season

Marshall Faulk #28

17. Marshall Faulk's 26 TDs Without a Fumble in a Season

Marshall Faulk #28 — If we had to choose a list of the top five running backs all time, Hall of Famer Faulk would probably have the lowest career rushing yards of the group by far. Obviously, it was his electric moves, nose for paydirt and ability to gash teams in a variety of ways that made him a sublime talent, but what goes most overlooked was his reliability.

16. Jason Hanson's 21 Seasons With Same Team

Jason Hanson

16. Jason Hanson's 21 Seasons With Same Team

Jason Hanson — The inertia of the free agent era just means more and more players we identify with one pro team will eventually join another. This does not only apply to Peyton Manning and Brett Favre, either; it's still weird to see Adam Vinatieri in another jersey. Hanson's 21 years kicking footballs in Detroit (1992-2012) is a testament to loyalty, longevity and good fortune.

15. Tom Landry's 20 Straight Winning Seasons

Tom Landry

15. Tom Landry's 20 Straight Winning Seasons

Tom Landry — Bill Belichick and Co. have done about as good a job as possible in this parity-driven league, but the Patriots still have quite a ways to go to tie this mark and Tom Brady's not playing into his late 40s. What Tom Landry's crew did from 1966-1985 is untouchable.

14. (Tied) 23 Fumbles in a Season

Kerry Collins

14. (Tied) 23 Fumbles in a Season

Kerry Collins — Kerry Collins and Daunte Culpepper were two streaky passers and legendary fumblers. Collins limited his turnovers in overcoming Culpepper in the 2001 NFC title game, before Collins coughed it up 23 times the following season and Culpepper did the same a year later. Eventually the fumbling and other factors cost each their job. No player over the past five years has even finished in the top 40 all-time for this single-season mark.

13. Ed Reed's 1,590 Career INT Return Yards

Reed Ravens

13. Ed Reed's 1,590 Career INT Return Yards

Reed Ravens — Even when Reed faded through the twilight of his career, he retained that same incredible knack for being at the right place when a pass is tipped. He perfected the art of the interception return, and the Ravens' defense found creative ways to turn turnovers into a Reed return show for a decade.

12. John Riggins' 136 Carries in Single Postseason

John Riggins

12. John Riggins' 136 Carries in Single Postseason

John Riggins — The way John Riggins singularly pounded the rock to a Super Bowl victory following the 1982 season is the stuff of legend. It is also the stuff of the past, as more and more the postseason is dominated by elite quarterbacks and diversified run offenses to keep guys fresh (enough) into February.

11. Paul Hornung's 26 Misses Field Goals in a Season

Paul Hornung

11. Paul Hornung's 26 Misses Field Goals in a Season

Paul Hornung — David Akers attempted a bizarrely high 42 field goals in 2012, missed a horrifying 13 and surprised no one when he was released after the Super Bowl. Hornung was a centerpiece of the Packers' offense back in the early 1960s, so his 26 missed field goals in 1964 did not result in him getting kicked to the curb. That would not be the case for kicker today well before he missed 26, and it's shocking that Akers even made it to 13.

10. Paul Krause's 81 Career Interceptions

Paul Krause Vikings

10. Paul Krause's 81 Career Interceptions

Paul Krause Vikings — Paul Krause averaged more than five interceptions per season for 16 years in the NFL. Charles Woodson and DeAngelo Hall are the next closest active players and neither is anywhere close to the required pace for catching Krause.

9. Jim Brown's Eight Rushing Titles

Jim Brown

9. Jim Brown's Eight Rushing Titles

Jim Brown — Jim Brown's eight rushing titles come from a bygone era, but the relevance of this record hasn't faded at all. Nowadays, running back by committee is en vogue and it's hard to get to through a full 16 games pounding without injury, let alone the rushing title. No one else has more than four rushing titles, so this seems pretty safe.

8. Derrick Thomas' Seven Sacks in a Game

Derrick Thomas #58

8. Derrick Thomas' Seven Sacks in a Game

Derrick Thomas #58 — Derrick Thomas made David Krieg's life miserable on one fateful afternoon in November 1990. I'd imagine if Von Miller was going hog-wild to the tune of five sacks by the fourth quarter, the opposing team would begin devoting every blocker they have to him. Seven sacks are just too absurd; Thomas' name will forever be remembered in the history books for this mark.

7. Dick "Night Train" Lane's 14 INTs in a Season

Dick Night Train Lane

7. Dick "Night Train" Lane's 14 INTs in a Season

Dick Night Train Lane — It feels like "Night Train" Lane makes every historical list we ever write, and he deserves it thanks to his 14-interception year in 1952. Today's NFL coaches and offensive coordinators are smart and attentive enough to generally stay away from a guy once he starts approaching double-digit picks, and we'd be surprised to see anyone hit 15.

6. Buccaneers' 26-Game Losing Streak

Buccaneers Coach John McKay 1976

6. Buccaneers' 26-Game Losing Streak

Buccaneers Coach John McKay 1976 — The Buccaneers spent the first 26 games of their existence losing, going 0-14 in 1976 and 0-12 to start 1977. This combines for the worst losing streak in the league to this day. Hey, even the Jaguars can find a way to win now and then in the modern NFL.

5. Brett Favre's 321 Consecutive Starts (Including Playoffs)

Seattle Seahawks v Green Bay Packers

5. Brett Favre's 321 Consecutive Starts (Including Playoffs)

Seattle Seahawks v Green Bay Packers — Peyton Manning sort of had a shot at this record until spinal stenosis issues took him out for a year. Still, Manning's 227 consecutive starts at the quarterback position are probably as close as anyone will get to Brett Favre's 321. The closest current streak is Peyton's younger brother, Eli Manning.

4. Ravens' 165 Regular-Season Points Allowed

Ray Lewis 2000 Baltimore Ravens

4. Ravens' 165 Regular-Season Points Allowed

Ray Lewis 2000 Baltimore Ravens — The 2000 Ravens somehow allowed only 165 points and that record hasn't even been sniffed in the time since. The closest challenger in the ensuing the years came from the 2002 Buccaneers, an all-time great defense that still gave up 196 points during the regular season.

3. Jerry Rice's 22,895 Career Receiving Yards

Jerry Rice

3. Jerry Rice's 22,895 Career Receiving Yards

Jerry Rice #80 — Calvin Johnson may have topped Jerry Rice's regular-season receiving yards record, but Rice holds the three career records that probably won't get touched in receptions, touchdowns and receiving yards. I think the most impressive of these is the career yards total which stands nearly 7,000 yards in front of runner-up Terrell Owens.

2. NFC's 13 Consecutive Super Bowl Wins

01lombarditrophy

2. NFC's 13 Consecutive Super Bowl Wins

01lombarditrophy — With all the parity in today's NFL and the odds of winning a single game never close to certain, it's almost humorous that the NFC won 13 consecutive Super Bowls from 1985 to 1997. Granted, pretty much half of this was the San Francisco 49ers and a majority of the NFC East just whipping up on the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills, but it's still hard to imagine this kind of conference dominance happening into the free agent era.

1. Emmitt Smith's 18,355 Career Rushing Yards

Emmitt Smith runs with the ball

1. Emmitt Smith's 18,355 Career Rushing Yards

Emmitt Smith runs with the ball — To put Emmitt Smith's breadth of work in perspective, the closest active player to his career rushing total is a little over halfway there, but we all know Steven Jackson isn't going to rush for another 7,000 yards in his career. Considering today's running backs aren't used the way Smith was for so many years, this record might as well be written in stone.

Share On Facebook

Share