Eli Manning (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

National Football League fans got a great day of football on Sunday, December 15, with exciting games, great individual performances, and some unbelievable finishes. Here’s a few stats you may not know from a few of the games this past weekend.

1. New York Giants QB Eli Manning threw five interceptions in his team’s 23-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. It was Eli’s first five-interception game in the NFL. It was also the second five-interception game in the league this season (Baltimore’s Joe Flacco was picked off five times versus Buffalo earlier this year). Since 1960, George Blanda has the most five-interception games with 10. Teams that have a QB throw five interceptions in a game are 15-181-4 since 1960. Eli’s brother, Peyton, has one five-interception game in his career. What you might not know is their dad, Archie, had a pair of five-interception games in his career.

2. Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles had five TDs on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, including four TD pass receptions. He became the 22nd player in the Super Bowl era to have four TD pass receptions in a game and the first running back to accomplish this feat.

3. The Giants were shutout 23-0 at home by the Seahawks. It was the first time this year that a team was shutout at home. The last time was on September 30, 2012 when the New York Jets hosted the San Francisco 49ers and lost 34-0. Since 2000, the Cleveland Browns lead the league with the most times being shutout at home with eight games. Two teams, Denver and Houston have never been shutout at home.

4. Minnesota Vikings running back Matt Asiata scored three TDs on 30 carries in his team’s win over Philadelphia. Asiata had only 51 yards on those 30 carries. It was the second fewest yards gained by a running back who had 30 or more carries in a contest. The last time a running back gained less than 60 yards with 30 or more carries was in 2006 when Edgerrin James carried the ball 36 times for only 55 yards. The fewest yards gained rushing on 30-plus carries was 42 by Curtis Martin on November 1, 1998.

5. Dallas placekicker Dan Bailey had five field goals in Dallas’ loss to Green Bay. Since 1966 (the start of the Super Bowl era), teams are 171-33 in games when their kicker makes five or more field goals. (You can make that 172-33 with Justin Tucker’s six field goals in the Ravens Monday Night win over Detroit.)

6. It only took 14 games, but Greg Jennings finally showed Minnesota Vikings fans some of the receiving prowess they thought they would see more often when he caught 11 passes for 163 yards in the Vikings win. The 11 catches were a career-high for Jennings. The 163 yards were the second most in his career; his career-best was in 2008 with the Packers when he had 167 yards receiving in a game. This was his first 100-yard receiving game since December 30 of last year when he had eight catches for 120 yards for the Packers in a game against the Vikings. He is the first Vikings receiver with 160-plus yards since Sidney Rice who had 201 in a game on November 15, 2009.

7. The Vikings 48-30 win over Philadelphia was their first game with 45 or more points in a game since December 20, 2003 when they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 45-20. This was also their highest scoring game since December 20, 1998 when they beat Jacksonville 50-10.

8. Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy had 141 yards rushing on 21 carries in their 37-36 win over Dallas. It was Lacy’s fourth 100-yard game of the season. He is now one game shy of tying the team record for most 100-yard rushing games in a rookie season. That record is held by Ryan Grant who had five such games in his rookie season of 2007 with the Pack. Lacy is also 78 yards shy of breaking the Packers all-time rookie rushing record of 1,105 yards rushing by John Brockington in 1971. Lacy has 1,028 yards rushing this season.

9. The Packers overcame a 23-point deficit to beat the Cowboys on Sunday. It was the second time in team history that they overcame a 23-point halftime deficit and won the game. The other time was on September 12, 1982 when the Packers fell behind the Los Angeles Rams 23-0 at half and eventually won the game 35-23. It was also the ninth time that the Packers have scored 34 or more points in the second half of a game (they are 9-0 in such games). Green Bay was also behind 29-17 to Dallas going into the fourth quarter. Their 37-36 win was only the third time in 109 games since 1970 that they overcame a deficit of 12 points or more at the end of the third quarter to win a game. The last time was September 20, 1992 when they started the fourth quarter behind the Cincinnati Bengals 17-3. The Packers won that game 24-23.

9a. Prior to the Green Bay game on Sunday, the Cowboys were 21-0 in their history when they had a halftime lead of 23 points or more. In addition, Dallas in their team history had played in 197 games where they had a 12-point or more lead at the end of the third quarter; they had won 195 of those games and only lost two. Sunday was their third loss in team history with a lead of 12-points or more at the start of the fourth quarter.

10. Two teams, Kansas City and Pittsburgh, each on Sunday scored 21 points in the first quarter of their games. Both teams won their game. Since 1970, there have been 145 times when a team scored 21 or more points in the first quarter. Those teams are now 129-15-1 (a .893 winning percentage) in those games. Denver leads the league with 13 games with 21 points or more in the first quarter since 1970.

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