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NFL: the extra game in the season could allow Cooper Kupp to break records

As the NFL prepares to turn the page on its 2021 season, two players in particular on the circuit can break records.

The only problem is whether it will now be necessary to put an asterisk next to the players who will establish marks from 2021 since the NFL has opted for a calendar with 17 meetings unlike its traditional regular season of 16 games during which the records were made.

If you ask Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp who has his sights set on records for most yards and catches in a season, there’s no doubt that records will have to be singled out in this new reality. of an extended schedule.

“We are in a new era of football, he mentioned to ESPN. We play 17 games in a season and since many of these records came before that, the weight is not the same as it was 16 games. »

Kupp is simply having a stellar season with the Los Angeles Rams. He leads the NFL in yards with 1,829 and has 138 catches. He thus lacks 135 yards against the San Francisco 49ers to equal the mark of 1,964 yards recorded in 2012 by Calvin Johnson.

If repeatedly targeted by quarterback Matthew Stafford, Kupp could also approach the 149 catches in one season mark that has belonged to Michael Thomas since 2019.

It’s not mission impossible for the Rams receiver who has rushed for 130+ yards in a game four times this season and had 10 or more catches on five occasions. In the 10th week of activity, he had recorded 11 catches for 122 yards against the Niners. The main interested party would not give the same importance to his name if he had to register it in the book of records.

“These records have a different weight, he told ESPN about Johnson and Thomas. I have incredible respect for what these players achieved, what they were able to accomplish for their team in 16 games. »

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end TJ Watt is in a similar situation to Kupp as he can tie or beat Michael Strahan’s mark for most sacks in a season on Sunday.

The Steelers player took his total to 21.5 sacks this season thanks to a harvest of four on Monday night at the expense of Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns. However, Watt has recorded 21.5 sacks in just 14 games this season as he has been plagued by injuries. Strahan’s record of 22.5 quarterback sacks dates back to the 2001 season with the New York Giants in which he appeared in all 16 games for his team.

All the same, it is due to an extended schedule that Watt has the opportunity to join Strahan, but for him the individual brands don’t matter.

“In my first two years, I used to set myself big personal goals with a number of quarterback sacks, tackles for loss of ground, that sort of thing,” the defensive end told the Washington Post. You start chasing all that, but now I’m just trying to impact the game as best I can. It works for me. I don’t see my goals that way anymore, I just want to be a postman. »

Watt and the Steelers will conclude their regular schedule with a matchup in front of the Baltimore Ravens.

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