by Tom Fanning, Packers.com
posted 01/01/2010
Heading into the season finale at Arizona on Sunday, a handful of Packers have a chance to put their name in the franchise record books, and some team records are in sight as well.
Green Bay enters Sunday's game with 428 points scored this season, which ranks fourth in the league and 29 shy of a new franchise record. The current total already ranks fifth in team history, trailing only the Packers' 456 points in 1996, 442 in 2003, 435 in 2007, and 429 in 1983.
The Packers boast the No. 4 offense in the league with 5,720 net yards (381.3 per game) in '09. The franchise record of 6,357 yards in 2004 will be tough to break, but with 280 yards of offense on Sunday, the 2009 Packers will hit the 6,000-yard mark for just the third time in team history, joining the '04 squad and the 1983 team (6,172).
If Green Bay maintains its spot among the league's top offenses, it would mark the fourth season in a row that the Packers finished in the top 10. The only other teams in the league with a realistic shot to do so are New Orleans (currently No. 1) and Philadelphia (No. 10).
The Packers enter Sunday's game with a league-low 15 giveaways (eight fumbles lost, seven interceptions), which gives them a chance to break the team record of 19 turnovers (10 fumbles, nine interceptions) in 1972.
Green Bay currently ranks third in the league in time-of-possession average at 32:45, a number that would eclipse the previous franchise best of 32:30 in 1992. So far this decade, 21 of 27 teams that finished the season in the Top 3 in that category made the playoffs, and it looks like that could hold true again this season with the Packers currently trailing only New England (33:13) and Cincinnati (32:51).
On the defensive side of the ball, the Packers come into the Arizona game ranked No. 1 in the league in rushing defense, a title the team has never held before, with the highest finish in franchise annals a No. 2 ranking in 1972. Green Bay comes into Sunday's game with 1,285 rushing yards allowed (85.7 per game), 31 yards ahead of No. 2 Cincinnati (1,316) and 54 yards in front of No. 3 Pittsburgh.
Green Bay's defense could also set a team record for fewest rushing yards given up in a 16-game season if it can hold Arizona to 77 rushing yards or fewer on Sunday. The franchise record is 1,363 yards allowed in 1994, and the average of 85.2 per game that year is the team record for any season.
The defense has also held opponents under 90 net yards rushing in 11 games this year, which is tied with the 1996 Super Bowl team for the most in franchise history.
Green Bay leads the NFL with a turnover margin of plus-22, with Philadelphia (plus-15) the next closest team. The last time the Packers led the league in turnover margin was in 2002 (plus-17) when they tied with Tampa Bay. Green Bay also leads the league with 27 interceptions, one ahead of both Buffalo and New Orleans. The last time the Packers led the league in interceptions was in 1965 when they tied with Washington with a league-high 27 picks.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers went over the 4,000-yard mark in last Sunday's win over Seattle, and is 260 yards shy of Lynn Dickey's single-season yardage mark of 4,458 recorded in 1983. Rodgers' current total of 4,199 ranks No. 5 in team history and is the most by a Packers quarterback in over a decade, just 14 yards shy of No. 4 Brett Favre (4,212 in 1998). Rodgers has not thrown an interception in 11 games (min. 10 attempts) this season, which ties Bart Starr's franchise record set in 1964.
Wide receiver Donald Driver is just 4 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards, which would give him six consecutive seasons over 1,000 yards and seven overall. Driver already holds the franchise record with his six 1,000-yard campaigns.
With 4 receiving yards from Driver, the Packers would have a 4,000-yard passer (Rodgers), a 1,200-yard rusher (Ryan Grant) and a pair of 1,000-yard receivers (Driver and Greg Jennings) for the second straight season. According to The Elias Sports Bureau, no team in NFL history has ever accomplished that feat.
Since Jennings (1,084) has already eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark, Driver could join him to give the Packers the same pair of back-to-back 1,000-yard receivers for the first time in the history of the franchise.
Grant went over the 1,200-yard mark for the season last Sunday against the Seahawks, and would top his career high of 1,203 yards set last season with just 2 yards against the Cardinals.
Tight end Jermichael Finley, who missed three games this season due to a knee injury, ranks third on the team with 51 catches this season. He needs six receptions on Sunday to break Paul Coffman's record (56 in 1979) for most catches by a Packers tight end.
Linebacker Nick Barnett comes into the Arizona game with a team-leading 115 tackles, 34 ahead of cornerback Charles Woodson, next closest at 81 tackles. This would be Barnett's fifth time leading the Packers in tackles, the most in franchise annals since the statistic was recorded by the team in 1975.