In a 1990 game against the Seattle Seahawks, Thomas sacked quarterback Dave Krieg seven times. That record has stood for more than 20 seasons because since then, only three times has a player gotten within a sack and a half of that total. One of those times was Thomas (with six in 1998 against the Oakland Raiders). The New York Giants' Osi Umenyiora had six in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2007. The San Francisco 49ers' Aldon Smith had 5.5 sacks against the Chicago Bears in 2012. Sacks didn't become an official NFL statistic until 1982. According to legend, Norman "Wild Man" Willey has a 17-sack game for the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in 1952.

In 2002, it was as if the Indianapolis Colts were playing "Madden" and only throwing passes to Harrison in orde to boost his stats to otherworldly levels. Harrison's next-closest competitor for the NFL's receptions lead that season was Hines Ward, who had 31 fewer catches.

Free agency and the salary cap have helped spawn an era of parity and competitive balance (though a few teams find ways to rise above and remain annual contenders), which would make for what the expansion Buccaneers experienced in 1976 and continued into 1977 very unlikely in the modern NFL. The best part of this run of ineptitude was the Buccaneers' creamsicle uniforms and coach John McKay, who was always willing to provide a witty sound bite ("Well, we didn't block, but we made up for it by not tackling.").

Blanda is one of only two players in NFL history whose career spanned four different decades (John Carney -- 1988-2010 -- was the other). Blanda, who played both as a quarterback and kicker, made his NFL debut in 1949 for coach George Halas' Chicago Bears and finished it in 1975 for coach John Madden's Oakland Raiders. Blanda's lengthy NFL career included an American Football League MVP award in 1961 for leading the Houston Oilers to the league championship, and then at the age of 43 won an NFL MVP award in 1970 for last-minute heroics in five consecutive games.

Winning on the road in the NFL is tough business. Doing so for a stretch of two-plus seasons is nearly impossible, unless you're the talent-laden 49ers of the late-1980s, early-1990s. The 49ers won the Super Bowl following the 1988 and 1989 seasons, and were vying for a rare three-peat during the 1990 season. With teams routinely gunning for defending Super Bowl champions at every chance they get, it's amazing what the 49ers were able to pull off and this accomplishment only speaks to their status as one of the NFL's all-time greatest dynasties.

Favre's streak is so impressive that the record that stood before was 116 games, set by Ron Jaworski in 1984 (that's more than 11 seasons shorter). Peyton Manning has come the closest to Favre's mark, starting 208 consecutive games from 1998 through 2011 (5 1/2 seasons short of Favre's mark). Favre replaced an injured Don Majkowski in 1992, remained the team's starter for 16 seasons before spending a season with the New York Jets and two more with the Minnesota Vikings. In that time, 238 other quarterbacks have started in the NFL (the Packers' long-time rival, the Chicago Bears, alone had 22 different starters).

Hardy might have had the most dramatic up-and-down start to a season. In the 1950 season opener, Hardy had arguably the worst day a quarterback ever had (and that's saying something given the likes of Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell once roamed the pro gridiron). Hardy threw eight interceptions in a 45-7 loss for his Chicago Cardinals against the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles. The next week, Hardy threw six touchdown passes in a 55-13 win for the Cardinals over the Baltimore Colts. At the time, it tied an NFL record for most touchdown passes in a game with Sammy Baugh and Johnny Lujack.

Krause's career got off to a fast start, as he led the NFL with 12 interceptions. Sixteen seasons later, Krause retired as the NFL's all-time interceptions leader, besting Emlen Tunnell's career total of 79. Of recent vintage, Rod Woodson came the closest with 71 interceptions. Ancient warrior Charles Woodson is the active leader with 58 interceptions, having attained that total in 17 seasons.

Hutson is arguably the greatest receiver of all time, and his greatest individual performance might have come on Oct. 7, 1945. During a 57-21 win over the Detroit Lions at State Fair Park stadium in Milwaukee, Hutson scored four touchdowns in the second quarter and added five PATs for a 29-point quarter. Hutson, however, fell short of the single-game scoring record, held by Ernie Nevers, who had 40 points (six touchdowns and four PATs) for the Chicago Cardinals against the Chicago Bears in 1929.

In a 31-30 Detroit Lions win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8 of the 2013 season, receiver Calvin Johnson had a game for the ages, catching 14 passes for 329 yards and a touchdown. He came within seven yards of matching Anderson's record from 24 years earlier. In a 20-17 overtime win for the Los Angeles Rams over the New Orleans Saints, Anderson had 15 receptions for 336 yards and a touchdown (a game-tying score in the fourth quarter that forced the overtime).

The records set by Rice during his spectacular 21-year NFL career are too numerous. So, we've placed these marks in one spot. Rice holds nearly every significant career receiving record, including receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895), touchdowns (197) and most 1,000-yard receiving seasons (14).

In 2012, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson came within 10 yards of toppling one of the NFL's most prestigious records, Dickerson's single-season rushing yardage total of 2,105 (Peterson finished with 2,097). Dickerson set the record in just his second NFL season, averaging 131.6 yards a game and 5.6 yards per carry. In three of his first four seasons, Dickerson rushed for 1,800 or more yards.

» Play Record Breaker: Can you break Dickerson's record?

In his 15 seasons in the NFL, Smith rushed for 1,000 or more yards in 11 of those seasons. He led the league four times, all within a five-year stretch during the Dallas Cowboys' reign of terror during the 1990s. Smith was the latest in a long lineage of the NFL's greatest backs to conquer this prestigious record, before Smith, Walter Payton held the mark. Before Payton, Jim Brown was the record-holder. Before Brown, it was Joe Perry. Before Perry, it was Steve Van Buren. Before Van Buren, it was Clarke Hinkle. And before Hinkle, it was Cliff Battles.

Entering Week 8 of the 2014 season, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick owns 204 wins as a coach. Belichick -- who is the winningest active NFL coach -- would have to average 10 wins a season for the next 12 years to catch Shula's record. Belichick will be 74 years old in 2026. Shula's record could stand for perpetuity. Impatient front offices, fanbases and media make lenghty coaching careers a rarity. A down season could result in a change at coach and the requisite rebuilding project commences. In his 33 years as coach, Shula was at the helm of just two teams: The Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins. Shula's teams made the playoffs 19 times (that's also a record). He coached in six Super Bowls (another record) and won two. During his 33 seasons, he earned a winning percentage of .678, the sixth-best mark for anybody who coached for 10 or more seasons.

Gather around boys and girls, and let uncle Jim tell you a tale about a magical time when the Cleveland Browns were the most dominant force pro football had and will ever see. No freaking way, you say? It might be hard to believe, but it's easy if you try. Under the guidance of Otto Graham and groundbreaking coach Paul Brown, the Browns dominated not one, but two professional football leagues. After winning all four championships of the AAFC, the Browns then authoritatively entered the NFL. The Browns played in the NFL championship game in six consecutive seasons, winning four times. That's 10 consecutive years of reaching the championship game, and Graham was quarterback for all 10.