Peyton Manning’s 530 career touchdown passes top list of NFL records

Among the many NFL records set in the 2014 season, most notable – and hardly surprising – was something done by Peyton Manning.

The Denver quarterback easily surpassed Brett Favre’s mark of 508 touchdown passes and stands at 530. Manning, 38, has said he plans to keep playing.

Manning and longtime rival Tom Brady also extended their lead for division titles by a quarterback. Brady led the Patriots to their 12th AFC East crown, and Manning won his 11th, his third with the Broncos, to stand 1-2.

The Broncos tied San Francisco’s mark of 12 straight road divisional victories, dating back to 2010.

Other team achievements included four clubs averaging 400 yards on offense per game, a first: New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Denver; Dallas becoming the sixth team to go 8-0 on the road; Carolina, despite its 7-8-1 record, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the NFC South; and two comeback marks.

There were five rallies to victory from 21 or more points down, and there were 43 comebacks from a 10-point deficit to win. The latter tied the mark set the previous season.

The league-wide completion percent (62.6), passer rating (88.9) and total touchdown passes (807) were at historic levels. So was the interception rate of 2.52 percent, the lowest of any season in NFL history.

An NFL-record nine quarterbacks had 30 or more touchdown passes: Andrew Luck (40), Peyton Manning (39), Aaron Rodgers (38), Tony Romo (34), Brady (33), Drew Brees (33), Ben Roethlisberger (32), Philip Rivers (31) and Eli Manning (30). Brees has passed for at least 30 touchdowns in seven consecutive seasons, extending his NFL-record streak.

Roethlisberger became the first player in NFL history with six touchdown passes in consecutive games. Rodgers, with a 112.2 passer rating, is the only player to reach a 100-plus rating in six consecutive seasons.

Luck has 12,957 yards passing, eclipsing Peyton Manning (12,287) for the most in a player’s first three seasons. Seattle’s Russell Wilson has 36 regular-season wins and 22 home victories, the most in the Super Bowl era in a quarterback’s first three seasons.

The Patriots’ five consecutive seasons of first-round byes is the longest streak since the current playoff format began in 1990.

Giants stay course

The New York Giants are sticking with their coach and general manager after a second straight losing season.

Giants co-owner John Mara announced that coach Tom Coughlin will return for a 12th season and Jerry Reese will be back as GM despite what he calls an “embarrassing” 6-10 record.

Mara said if there are to be any changes to the coaching staff that will be Coughlin’s decision.

Mara adds that he still believes in Coughlin as a leader. He also is optimistic about next season because of the play of several rookies, notably Odell Beckham Jr., and that the team never quit after losing seven games in a row.

Around the league

The Jaguars fired OC Jedd Fisch after two lackluster seasons. The Jaguars (3-13) ranked 32nd and 31st, respectively, in total yards during Fisch’s tenure. … Cowboys DT Henry Melton will miss the playoffs because of a right knee injury sustained in the regular-season finale at Washington. … Jaguars coach Gus Bradley will guide the South team and Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt will handle the North squad in the Senior Bowl next month. … The Steelers are preparing for life without injured RB Le’Veon Bell. They signed well-traveled Ben Tate as a backup plan in case Bell’s hyperextended right knee does not heal in time for Saturday night’s wild-card game against Baltimore. … Browns GM Ray Farmer said rookie QB Johnny Manziel can develop into a “solid starter” and that the team needs to be patient. Farmer denied that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam had any influence on taking Manziel in the first round of this year’s draft.