The 2016 regular season is in the books. This is a deeper look at the FedEx Air & Ground Players of the year. Before you vote, let's take a look at some stats and big plays from this year's nominees.
Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers closed out the season as the hottest quarterback in the NFL. Out of his final seven regular season games, he threw 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. It's the first time in his career he went seven consecutive games without a pick.
He ended the season with seven games with three TDs and 0 INTs. The last three QBs that had at least seven such games won MVP honors. Those QBs were Peyton Manning with seven such games (2013), Tom Brady with eight (2007) and Rodgers himself with eight (2014).
Rodgers also led the league with 40 TD passes. He has two such seasons with at least 40 TD passes and this is just the 12th time it's happened in league history. Out of the previous 11, Kurt Warner (1999) is the only QB to win the Super Bowl that same season.
Le'Veon Bell
Bell rushed for 1,268 yards on 261 carries and seven TDs. He also had 75 catches for 616 yards and two TDs. That's an impressive total, but it's even more so when you consider Bell missed three games with suspension and another for rest before playoffs.
In fact, his 1,884 scrimmage yards is the most in NFL history by a player who played in 12 or fewer games. Also, it's the third most single season scrimmage yards per game average in NFL history. The only players players that managed a better YPG average than Bell (157) were O.J. Simpson (160.2) in 1975 and Priest Holmes (163.4) in 2002.
Bell's dominance has continued so far in the postseason. In his first two postseason games of his career, Bell has rushed for 167 and 170 yards respectively. He's the first player in NFL history with over 150 yards rushing in his first two playoff games. He's just six yards shy of the Steelers' single postseason rushing record, set by Franco Harris in 1974.
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