Super Bowl XLVI will be streamed online and to phones for the first time. NBC’s broadcast of the Super Bowl will be available on the league’s and network’s websites and through Verizon’s NFL Mobile app. The service will include additional camera angles, in-game highlights and live stats – and replays of those always popular Super Bowl ads.
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In a Monday night match-up against the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees set an NFL passing record for yards in a season. He broke Dan Marino’s 27-year-old single-season passing record by throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Through 15 games he has 5,087 passing yards.
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The 2011 NFL lockout was the longest labor stoppage in league history at 136 days.
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This season, the Green Bay Packers dominated the league offensively and established the second-longest winning streak in NFL history at 19 games. The run ended with a week 15 upset against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Carolina Panther rookie quarterback Cam Newton set several records this NFL season including: 400-yard-plus passing performances his first two games, a single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 14 and broke Peyton Manning’s rookie record of 3,739 yards passing.
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With three weeks left in the 2011-12 NFL season, four quarterbacks: Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Eli Manning had already topped 4,000 yards passing, the earliest in league history.
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Tim Tebow’s memoir on football and faith, Through My Eyes, made the Denver Bronco quarterback the best-selling religion author of 2011. The memoir topped 220,000 copies sold and publisher HarperOne now has 475,000 copies in print.
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There were two 500 yard passing games this time; New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady threw for 517 yards and Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 520. To put this milestone in perspective, from 1920 to 2010, NFL quarterbacks threw for more than 500 yards in a game 10 times.
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Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski caught 17 touchdown passes this season, crushing the record for the position. Only four wide receivers in NFL history pulled in more touchdown passes in a season than Gronkowski in 2011.
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NFL teams averaged 22.2 points a game in 2011.
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Greenbay’s Aaron Rodgers had a passer rating of 122.5 this season, which was a single-season record for passing efficiency.
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Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed 468 passes this season, breaking Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Mannings record of 450 set in 2010.
