Welcome to This Week in NFL History! Every week, the Research team will spotlight the anniversaries of notable events and birthdays.
Sept. 27
- HOF Vince Lombardi won his 1st game as Packers HC in 9-6 win vs the Bears in Week 1, 1959
- Won 1959 AP Coach of the Year (7-5 W-L)
- Won 5 NFL championships & first 2 Super Bowls
- Coached the Packers for 9 seasons (1959-1967)
- NO QB Drew Brees broke HOF Peyton Manning record (93) for most games with 3+ pass TD in NFL history in the Saints 37-30 loss vs the Packers in Week 3, 2020
- Brees: 288 pass yards, 3 pass TD & 127.8 passer rating
- Brees finished his career with 97 such games (Buccaneers QB Tom Brady is 2nd with 95 such games in NFL history)
- SEA QB Russell Wilson became the 1st player in NFL history with 4+ pass TD in each of his team's first 3 games of a season in the Seahawks' 38-31 win vs the Cowboys in Week 3, 2020
- Wilson: 315 pass yards, 5 pass TD (T-career-high) & 130.7 passer rating
- Wilson's 14 pass TD in Weeks 1-3 are the most in NFL history by any player in his team's first 3 games of a season
- The Vikings became the 1st team in NFL history to have an individual with 175+ rush yards & an individual with 175+ receiving yards in the same game in their 31-30 loss vs the Titans in Week 3, 2020
- RB Dalvin Cook: 22 carries, 181 rush yards & 1 rush TD
- WR Justin Jefferson: 7 receptions, 175 receiving yards (career-high) & 1 receiving TD
- CIN WR A.J. Green recorded a career-high 227 receiving yards in 28-24 win at the Ravens in Week 3, 2015
- Green: 10 rec, 227 rec yards & 2 rec TD (rec TD of 80 & 7 yards)
- 2nd-most in a single game in Bengals history (WR Chad Johnson: 260 vs LAC in Week 10, 2006)
Sept. 28
- HOF LaDainian Tomlinson threw his 1st career TD pass to Drew Brees in the Chargers' 34-31 loss at the Raiders in OT in Week 4, 2003
- Tomlinson: 21-yard pass TD to Brees
- Brees' only rec TD of his career
- Tomlinson's 7 career pass TD are 2nd-most among non-QBs in the Super Bowl Era (HOF Walter Payton had 8)
- HOF Norm Van Brocklin set the NFL single-game record with 554 pass yards in the Rams' 54-14 win vs the New York Yanks in Week 1, 1951
- Van Brocklin: 27-41, 554 pass yards, 5 pass TD, 2 INT & 128.3 passer rating
- 1 of 23 games since 1950 with 500+ pass yards (Most recent occurrence: DAL QB Dak Precott passed for 502 pass yards in 49-38 loss vs the Browns in Week 4, 2020)
- MIN QB Joe Kapp became the 4th player to throw 7 pass TD in a game in the Vikings' 52-14 win vs the Colts in Week, 1969
- 7 QBs have now done it in a game (3 since Kapp are DEN Peyton Manning (2013) vs BAL, PHI Nick Foles (2013) at OAK & NO Drew Brees (2015) vs NYG)
- KC QB Patrick Mahomes became the fastest player (34 games) in NFL history to total 10,000 career passing yards in the Chiefs 34-20 win at the Ravens in Week 3, 2020
- Mahomes: 385 pass yards, 4 pass TD & 133.5 passer rating
- Broke HOF Kurt Warner's previous record of 36 games
- BAL QB Lamar Jackson (2,083) passed Cam Newton (2,032) for the most rush yards by a QB in his first 3 seasons in NFL history in the Ravens 34-20 loss vs the Chiefs in Week 3, 2020
- Jackson: 97 pass yards, 1 pass TD, 73.l passer rating; 9 carries & 83 rush yards
- HOF Brett Favre threw a career-high 6 pass TD to out-duel Kurt Warner in the Jets' 56-35 win vs the Cardinals in Week 4, 2008
- Favre: 24-34, 289 pass yards, 6 pass TD, 1 INT & 123.7 passer rating (most pass TD by any QB in a game in 2008)
- Warner: 40-57, 472 pass yards, 2 pass TD, 3 INT & 84.8 passer rating
- Rookie DET CB Terry Fair recorded longest kickoff return TD in MNF history (105 yards) in a 27-6 win vs the Buccaneers in Week 4, 1998
- 1 of 7 rookies with a kickoff return TD on Monday Night Football
- Notable Birthdays: HOF Albert "Turk" Edwards, HOF Charley Taylor (80), HOF Steve Largent (67) & SEA WR Tyler Lockett (29)
Sept. 29
- CAR WR Steve Smith Sr. recorded 100+ rec yards for the first time in his career (116) in 17-14 loss at the Packers in Week 4, 2002
- Smith Sr. had 51 career games with 100+ rec yards (T-5th-most in NFL since 1950)
- HOF Bruce Smith recorded his first 2 career sacks in his 4th career NFL game in the Bills' 27-20 loss vs Vikings in Week 4, 1985
- 200.0 career sacks are the most in the NFL since sacks were first officially tracked in 1982
- HOF Warren Moon was sacked 12 times in the Oilers' 17-10 loss vs the Cowboys in Week 4, 1985
- T-most times sacked in a single game by any QB in the Super Bowl Era
- ARI WR Larry Fitzgerald recorded his 1,326th career reception, passing HOF Tony Gonzalez for 2nd-most in NFL history in the Cardinals' 27-10 loss vs the Seahawks in Week 4, 2019
- Only HOF Jerry Rice (1,549) has more career receptions than Fitzgerald (1,432)
- HOF WR Jerry Rice became the all-time leader in career scrimmage yards, surpassing HOF RB Walter Payton in the Raiders' 52-25 win vs the Titans in Week 4, 2002
- Rice: 7 rec, 144 rec yards & 1 rec TD
- Retired with 23,540 scrimmage yards (most in NFL history) & 207 scrimmage TD (most in NFL history) in 20 NFL seasons
- Notable Birthdays: HOF Dave Wilcox (79), HOF Calvin Johnson (36) & SEA DC Ken Norton Jr. (55)
Sept. 30
- NE QB Tom Brady made his 1st NFL start & won his 1st game with the Patriots in a 44-13 win vs HOF Peyton Manning & Colts in Week 3, 2001
- Brady: 13-23, 168 pass yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, & 79.6 passer rating
- Manning: 20-34, 196 pass yards, 1 pass TD, 3 INT & 48.2 passer rating
- Brady's 232 QB wins are the most in NFL history (46 more than HOF Brett Favre & HOF Peyton Manning's 186)
- HOF Dan Marino recorded his first career game with 400+ pass yards (429) in a 36-28 win at the Cardinals in Week 5, 1984
- 13 career games with 400+ pass yards (Only Drew Brees (16) & HOF Peyton Manning (14) have more since 1950)
- Won MVP in 1984 with an NFL-best 5,084 pass yards & 48 pass TD (1st season any QB had either 5,000+ pass yards or 45+ pass TD in NFL history)
- Notable Birthdays: GB T David Bakhtiari (30) & JAX CB CJ Henderson (23)
Oct. 1
- Patriots HC Bill Belichick won his 1st game with the team in a 28-19 win at the Broncos in Week 5, 2000
- Started his first season with NE 1-4 & finished 5-11
- 245-93 (entering Week 3, 2021) since 2000 (best record in NFL, min. 40 games)
- HOF Dan Marino passed for 450 yards in Dolphins' 26-23 win at Bengals in battle of the Shulas (Don & David) in Week 5, 1995
- Don Shula: 2-0 vs son David Shula (CIN HC from 1992-96)
Oct. 2
- 103,467 fans attended the Cardinals' 31-14 victory vs the 49ers at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium in Week 4, 2005, a then-record for attendance for a regular season game
- 1st regular season game played outside the United States
- ARI HC was Dennis Green, QB was Josh McCown & top WRs were Anquan Boldin & Larry Fitzgerald
- SF HC was Mike Nolan, QB was Tim Rattay (rookie Alex Smith played in relief), rookie RB Frank Gore had 2 carries (4 yds) & top WR was Brandon Lloyd
- New reg season attendance record: Giants at Cowboys in Week 2, 2009 (105,121)
- ATL WR Julio Jones had a career-high 300 receiving yards in the Falcons' 48-33 win vs the Panthers in Week 4, 2016
- 1 of 5 players with 300+ rec yards in a game since 1950
- Notable Birthdays: Chuck Pagano (61) & QB Mark Rypien (59)
Oct. 3
- HOF Art Shell was named HC of the Raiders in 1989
- 1st Black head coach since HOF Fritz Pollard coached the Hammond Pros in 1925
- Shell: 56-52 with 3 playoff appearances in 7 seasons with Raiders (1989-1994 & 2006)
- HOF Terrell Owens became the oldest player (36) in NFL history with 200+ rec yards (222) in a game during the Bengals' 23-20 loss at the Browns in Week 4, 2010
- Owens: 10 rec, 222 rec yards & 1 rec TD (78-yard rec TD)
- 3 career games with 200+ rec yards (T-5th-most since 1950)
- HOF George Halas coached his 1st game with the Decatur Staleys (now CHI Bears) in 20-0 win vs the Moline Universal Tractors in Week 1, 1920
- 318 wins are 2nd-most in NFL history (Only Don Shula [328] has more)
- 5-time NFL champion
- 2-time Coach of the Year (1963 & 1965)
- Coached 40 seasons with the Bears (1920-1929, 1933-1942, 1946-1955 & 1958-1967)
- Also played 9 seasons with the Bears (1920-1928)
- Notable Birthdays: WR Anquan Boldin (41) & SF DT Javon Kinlaw (24)
