Record-setting receivers enjoy big Week 16 across NFL

Updated Dec. 29, 2021 5:45 a.m. ET

Associated Press

This season has been another banner year for wide receivers, with several hitting milestones in Week 16.

Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, Antonio Brown, Keenan Allen and rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown are among the receivers who reached memorable marks this week.

Kupp had

Kupp's 132 receptions are the fifth-most ever and he needs 18 in the final two games to break Michael Thomas' record of 149 set in a 16-game season in 2019.

Jefferson had eight catches for 116 yards in that same game, giving him 2,851 yards receiving in his two-year career. That breaks the mark of 2,755 set by Odell Beckham Jr. from 2014-15.

Brown had 10 catches for 101 yards in Tampa Bay's win over Carolina for his record 23rd game with double-digit catches, breaking Andre Johnson's career record.

and one TD, joining Beckham as the only rookies to have at least eight catches in four straight games.

Keenan Allen of the Chargers had four catches to give him 96 on the season for his fifth straight year with at least 95. The only other player to do that was Brown, who did it six years in a row from 2013-18.

Cincinnati's dynamic duo of rookie Ja'Marr Chase and

Led by Jefferson, Higgins and Dallas' CeeDee Lamb, wide receivers from the 2020 draft class have combined for 13,505 yards receiving this season, the most ever for one draft class in one season, topping the 13,333 from the 1996 class in 1999.

Another pass catcher also got into the mix, with Atlanta rookie tight end Kyle Pitts recording

BURROW BESTS BALTIMORE

Joe Burrow had a record-setting performance against the Baltimore Ravens.

Burrow threw for

But with Burrow also throwing for 416 yards in the first meeting of the season, he had a record 941 yards against Baltimore this year, breaking the mark held by Dan Marino (874 yards against the Jets in 1988) and Joe Montana (874 against Atlanta in 1990).

Burrow has three career games with at least 400 yards passing and three TDs, tying Marino for the most in a player's first two seasons.

Burrow's big day capped Cincinnati's 4-0 sweep against division rivals Baltimore and Pittsburgh, marking just the fourth time one team swept those traditional powers. The Bengals also did it in 2009, the Jaguars in 1999 and the Oilers in 1998.

FANTASTIC FILL-IN

Josh Johnson made the most of his emergency start for the Ravens, even in a losing cause.

Johnson threw for

Johnson became the second player since the merger to throw for at least 300 yards and a touchdown for two teams in the same season. Kyle Orton did it in 2011 for the Broncos and Chiefs, with both coming in losses to the Raiders.

BIG MAN TOUCHDOWNS

There has never been a day quite like Sunday

It was the most TDs scored in a week by offensive linemen since at least 1949, according to Sportradar, with the previous mark of two last being done in Week 14 of the 2010 season.

NO NO NOTRE DAME

Ian Book lost his first NFL start for the New Orleans Saints on Monday night, extending a long winless streak for Notre Dame quarterbacks.

Fighting Irish quarterbacks have lost their last 24 starts in the NFL, the longest streak for one college since at least 1950, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

DeShone Kizer has 15 of the losses, with Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen having four apiece to go along with Book's defeat.

Quinn has the last win with a 27-21 victory for Kansas City over Carolina on Dec. 2, 2012.

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