GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 71
other records: Soon, he'll hit 4,000 yards this
season, marking his 10th straight, an
NFL record. As of Dec. 20, Brees had 93
career 300-yard passing games, tied
with Manning for the league mark. If
he hits 30 touchdowns — he had 25
as of Dec. 20 — Brees would extend
his NFL-record to eight consecutive
with at least 30 scores. He has nine
such seasons in his career, tied with
Manning for the best ever, but will likely
make it to 10 by the end of the season.
CLIFF AVRIL
In his eighth season in the NFL, Cliff Avril might be
putting together his best performance. And it might be
worthy of his first Pro Bowl selection. After 15 weeks,
the Seattle defensive end had 7.5 sacks and 43 tackles,
the latter being a career high. He's also knocked down a
career-high five passes, with two forced
fumbles. On a Seahawks' team with
plenty of defensive weapons, Avril
might be the most impactful in
2015. ProFootballFocus.com,
an analytics website, ranks
Avril as the fifth-best edge
defender in the NFL.
RICARDO ALLEN
Ricardo Allen spent 2014
sitting and watching, waiting for
his turn to be a participant on Sun-
days. That's come this season, and
he's made the most of it. The Purdue
cornerback switched to free safety
for the Falcons, a move that the team
hoped would make the most of his
playmaking ability. It seems to have
worked out. Through the first 15
games in 2015, Allen made 12 starts
— he missed a couple games due to
a knee injury — and showed that he
could be a difference-maker. In a trio
of consecutive games, Allen forced three turn-
overs, with two interceptions and a fumble
recovery. Through the first 15 weeks,
he had 63 tackles, a sack and three
interceptions, including a pick in his
career debut in Week 1.
RYAN KERRIGAN
Ryan Kerrigan couldn't have asked
for a much better start to his career.
In Week 14, he picked up a sack, giving
him 7.5 on the season to put him in Elite NFL
All
photos
courtesy
of
their
respective
teams
Avril
Kerrigan
Allen
