Walter Payton finished his career with 16,726 yards in regular-season games.
752
Steve Largent became the all-time leading receiver with 752 catches. Charlie Joiner had 750.
14,678.70
Bo Jackson earned $14,678.70 per carry and $12,257.47 for every time he touched the ball.
505
Randall Cunningham led Philadelphia in rushing. The last quarterback to lead a team had been the Bears` Bobby Douglass (968) in 1972.
205, 436
Atlanta scored the fewest points in the league and gave up the most. No team had done that since Buffalo in 1971.
100
Barry Wilburn`s 100-yard interception return was a Redskin record, breaking Dick Poillon`s mark of 93 yards against Philadelphia in 1948.
Top rushers-Indianapolis` Eric Dickerson, 196 yards on 33 carries. It was his sixth 100-yard game as a Colt, a team record for a season. Dickerson had 44 100-yard games in his career, good for fourth place on the all-time list. . . . Dallas` Herschel Walker, 137 yards on 25 carries. . . . Joe Morris of the New York Giants, 132 yards on 26 carries. It was his first 100-yard game of the season. . . . Kansas City`s Herman Heard, 107 yards on 12 carries. . . . Houston`s Mike Rozier, 103 yards on 20 carries. . . . Philadelphia`s Keith Byars, 102 yards on 23 carries.
Top passers-Kansas City`s Bill Kenney, 23 of 35 for 320 yards. . . . St. Louis` Neil Lomax, 29 of 54 for 314 yards.
Longest TD catches-81 yards by Kansas City`s Carlos Carson. . . . 51 yards by Washington`s Ricky Sanders and Atlanta`s Floyd Dixon.
Longest TD run-37 yards Heard.
Leading receivers-(Yardage): Sanders, 164 yards on 8 catches. . . . Kansas City`s Carlos Carson, 120 yards on 4 catches. . . . Cincinnati`s Cris Collinsworth, 119 yards on 4 catches. . . . St. Louis` Roy Green, 112 yards on 7 catches. . . . Green Bay`s Walter Stanley, 109 yards on 4 catches. . . . Houston`s Drew Hill, 109 yards on 6 catches. . . . Giants` Mark Bavaro, 106 yards on 6 catches. . . . St. Louis` J.T. Smith, 102 yards on 11 catches. Kansas City`s Stephone Paige, 100 yards on 7 catches. (Catches): 11 by Smith. . . . 9 by Buffalo`s Ronnie Harmon for 35 yards. . . . 8 by Sanders.
Leading defensive players-Buffalo`s Cornelius Bennett had 4 sacks. . . . The Bears` Richard Dent had 3 1/2 sacks, and Steve McMichael had 3.
. . . Washington`s Alvin Walton, San Diego`s Billy Ray Smith and Denver`s Ricky Hunley and Mike Harden each had 2 interceptions. . . . Philadelphia`s Reggie White and Cincinnati`s Emanuel King each had 2 sacks.
Longest TD returns-92 yards by Kansas City`s Paul Palmer. His second TD return of the season. . . . 71 yards by Denver`s Kevin Clark with a punt. . . . 52 yards by Hunley with an interception. . . . 45 yards by Pittsburgh`s Cornell Gowdy with an interception. . . . 34 yards by Detroit`s Ricky Smith with an interception.
Longest field goals-52 yards by New Orleans` Morten Andersen. . . . 50 yards by Atlanta`s Mick Luckhurst.
Most field goals-4 by Andersen.
Significant injuries-Cleveland: NT Bob Golic, broken right thumb. . . . Seattle: RB Curt Warner, left ankle. . . . New York Jets: WR Al Toon, concussion.
Streak-The Jets` Pat Leahy was wide on a 38-yard field-goal try, snapping his streak of 36 consecutive field goals inside the 40.
Accomplishments-Cleveland`s Ozzie Newsome caught a pass in his 127th straight game, tying Harold Carmichael for second on the all-time list. . . . Pittsburgh`s John Stallworth moved into 10th place on the all-time receiving list with 8,723, surpassing Cliff Branch (8,685). . . . Johnny Hector of the New York Jets scored his 11th TD rushing, tying Ermerson Boozer`s team record. . . . Buffalo had 3 50-catch receivers (Ronnie Harmon, Chris Burkett and Andre Reed) for the first time. . . . Philadelphia`s Paul McFadden kicked his 91st field goal, a team record.
Self-criticism dept.-The Atlanta Falcons ”went through the motions” this season on their way to a 3-12 record, the worst in the NFL, according to two of the club`s former No. 1 draft picks, Rick Bryan and Bill Fralic.
Fralic, the only Falcon chosen for the Pro Bowl this year and a No. 2 overall draft pick in 1985, said he expects dramatic personnel changes in 1988. ”It goes back to what (coach) Marion Campbell said at the beginning of this joke season-all the players are playing for their jobs,” said Fralic.
”And based on that, it`s fairly easy to figure a lot of guys lost jobs around here. ”I`m not excluding myself,” said the offensive lineman. ”Maybe I`ll get traded to the Toronto Argonauts.”
”I don`t know what`s going on, but it just feels like things are worse than ever around here. The attitude wasn`t as good,” Fralic added. ”In the other two years I`ve been here, even when things were going bad, I always felt we played hard. I don`t think I can say that about this team. I think the strike really hurt. But we had some time to bounce back, and we didn`t.”
”The attitude just ain`t there,” said Bryan, a defensive end. ”But the attitude problem problem isn`t just in this locker room.” He declined to elaborate, saying, ”I`ve said enough.”
Miscellaneous-Giants tackle Brad Benson announced his retirement. . . . New Orleans General Manager Jim Finks has sent a letter to Jack Donlan and the Management Council trying to get a change in the Pro Bowl voting system.
”What has just happened is ridiculous and absurd,” Finks said. ”Players are supposed to be voted into the Pro Bowl by what happens on the field, not what has happened off the field. There is no doubt in my mind the strike had a lot to do with the way the final voting went.” The most glaring omission was St. Louis wide receiver J.T Smith, who led the league in receptions. He played in the three replacement games. Smith is the first receiver to lead the NFL in catches and not be elected to the Pro Bowl since New Orleans` Danny Abramowicz in 1969. Under Finks` plan, the voting would be taken away from the players and coaches and given to a neutral party, such as Mike Giddings, who runs a player-rating service used by six teams. The voting system is part of the collective bargaining agreement.
