60 Fun Facts About 2022 NFL Season

Which head coach beat the Eagles, his former team, 38–35 in Super Bowl LVII?

Andy Reid. He won more games than any coach in Eagles history without ever winning a Super Bowl there, then beat them to claim his second title with Kansas City.

Super Bowl LVII was played at which venue?

State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The NFL spent two years preparing the grass, yet players from both teams kept slipping on it and several changed their cleats during the game.

Who was named regular-season MVP for 2022 after leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns?

Patrick Mahomes. He then brought Kansas City back from ten points down at halftime of the Super Bowl, scrambling 26 yards on the winning drive, to take that game's MVP award as well.

Which singer headlined the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, her first live show in over five years?

Rihanna. Viewers spent the show guessing, and her representative confirmed straight afterwards that she had performed while pregnant with her second child.

Which kicker's late field goal won Super Bowl LVII for Kansas City?

Harrison Butker. His 27-yard kick with eight seconds left followed a holding call on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry, who admitted afterwards that he had tugged the receiver's jersey.

Super Bowl LVII was nicknamed after which surname because two brothers faced each other in it?

Kelce. Travis's Chiefs beat Jason's Eagles while their mother, Donna, watched in a half-red, half-green jersey with one son's number on the front and the other's on the back.

Which Eagles quarterback tied a Super Bowl record with three rushing touchdowns but still lost Super Bowl LVII?

Jalen Hurts. His 70 rushing yards set a Super Bowl record for a quarterback, and two years later he broke it with 72 while beating the same opponent in a rematch as the game's MVP.

What nickname is given to the Eagles' signature quarterback sneak, a short-yardage staple of their run to Super Bowl LVII?

The Tush Push. Teammates line up behind the quarterback and drive him forward at the snap, and it worked so reliably that a rival club formally proposed banning it in 2025.

The Chiefs' two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in Super Bowl LVII came on misdirection plays named after which snack?

Corn Dogs. The receiver starts in motion across the formation, then stops and doubles back toward the sideline, and both times the Eagles' defenders followed the fake and left him wide open.

Whose 65-yard return set the record for the longest punt return in Super Bowl history?

Kadarius Toney. Picked up in a midseason trade, he ran the punt back to the Eagles' 5-yard line minutes after catching the go-ahead touchdown, beating a 61-yard mark from Super Bowl 50.

Which network's Super Bowl LVII broadcast, averaging 115.1 million viewers, was briefly the most-watched US program ever?

Fox. The first count was 113 million; a review set off by an impossible viewer spike credited to NFL Network added two million and lifted the game past the 2015 Super Bowl's record.

Which country singer performed the national anthem before Super Bowl LVII?

Chris Stapleton. Oscar-winning actor Troy Kotsur performed his rendition in American Sign Language, and it was the third straight Super Bowl to hand the anthem to a country singer.

Which company replaced Pepsi as Super Bowl halftime show sponsor starting with Super Bowl LVII?

Apple Music. Pepsi bowed out after ten years, and the first show under the new name drew a bigger television audience than the game around it averaged.

What was historic about the military flyover before Super Bowl LVII?

It was crewed entirely by women. The Navy flew the formation to mark 50 years since it first admitted women to flight school, where six of the first eight earned their wings.

Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field after tackling which Bengals receiver?

Tee Higgins. Hamlin's heart stopped moments after the tackle; revived on the field with CPR and a defibrillator, he was fully cleared to play football again less than four months later.

The canceled Bills–Bengals game was the first regular-season game not made up since which event?

The 1987 players' strike. Replaying the game would have pushed the playoffs back a week, so the NFL left Buffalo and Cincinnati on 16 games while every other team played 17.

The former Washington Football Team adopted which permanent name before the 2022 NFL season?

Commanders. The club retired its old nickname in the summer of 2020 under pressure from sponsors, then spent two seasons with no nickname at all while it settled on a replacement.

Which German city hosted the NFL's first regular-season game in Germany in 2022?

Munich. Tampa Bay beat Seattle at Allianz Arena, where nearly 70,000 fans broke into "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as the game wound down.

Which quarterback announced his retirement on 1 February 2022, then un-retired 40 days later?

Tom Brady. The first retirement never reached the league's transaction wire, and he came back to set single-season records for completions and attempts before retiring "for good" a year later.

Which running back led the NFL in rushing in 2022, months after his team declined his fifth-year contract option?

Josh Jacobs. He answered the snub with 1,653 rushing yards and the first Jim Brown Award for the league's top rusher, and his club used its franchise tag to stop him leaving the next spring.

Whose record for most career sacks taken, set only a year earlier, was broken in 2022?

Ben Roethlisberger. He retired with 554 sacks taken, having passed Brett Favre, who had held the mark for 11 seasons; totals like that take a long career, yet his own reign lasted one season.

Which quarterback was suspended for the first 11 games of 2022 after the NFL appealed his original six-game ban?

Deshaun Watson. A retired judge set six games; the league appealed for at least a full season, and the settlement landed on 11 games, a $5 million fine and mandatory treatment.

Which team gave a quarterback a record $230 million fully guaranteed in 2022?

Cleveland Browns. No NFL contract had ever guaranteed so much money, and it went to a quarterback who had not played a single game the previous season.

Seattle traded quarterback Russell Wilson to which team in March 2022?

Denver Broncos. They gave up two first-round and two second-round picks plus three players, then benched him late in his second season and released him the following spring.

Green Bay traded star receiver Davante Adams to which team in March 2022 for first- and second-round picks?

Las Vegas Raiders. The move reunited him with Derek Carr, his quarterback at Fresno State, but the club benched Carr before that first season ended and released him soon after.

Kansas City traded receiver Tyreek Hill to which team in March 2022?

Miami Dolphins. They made him the league's highest-paid receiver, while Kansas City took five draft picks in return and still finished with the NFL's best offense and the title.

Carolina traded running back Christian McCaffrey to which team in October 2022?

San Francisco 49ers. In his second game for them he threw, ran and caught a touchdown, only the fourth player since the 1970 merger to do all three in one game.

Which receiver did the Eagles acquire from Tennessee on draft night in April 2022?

A. J. Brown. Philadelphia gave up first- and third-round picks, handed him a $100 million contract straight away, and got 1,496 receiving yards, a franchise record, in his first season.

Jacksonville used the first overall pick of the 2022 NFL draft on which Georgia defender?

Travon Walker. Seen as a mid-first-round pick before the scouting combine, he tested so well there that Jacksonville took him ahead of Aidan Hutchinson, the top-ranked prospect on Mel Kiper's board.

Which quarterback, the final pick of the 2022 draft, was that year's "Mr. Irrelevant"?

Brock Purdy. Third on the depth chart in September, he took over when both quarterbacks ahead of him were injured, then won all five of his regular-season starts and two playoff games.

Rookie Cade York's 58-yard field goal in week 1 of 2022 beat which quarterback, who was facing his former team?

Baker Mayfield. His old club had traded him to Carolina two months earlier, then beat him with eight seconds left for its first opening-week win since 2004.

Which quarterback set the regular-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 178 in a 2022 game?

Justin Fields. He broke Michael Vick's 20-year-old mark of 173 and threw three touchdown passes as well, yet his team still lost 35–32.

Which team led 33–0 at halftime in 2022 and still lost, the NFL's biggest blown lead?

Indianapolis Colts. Jeff Saturday, made interim coach weeks earlier with no college or NFL coaching experience, watched his team blow the lead and lose 39–36 in overtime.

Which team won 13 games in 2022 despite being outscored?

Minnesota Vikings. Eleven of the 13 wins came by one score and three of the four losses were blowouts, leaving them three points in the red, a first for a 13-win team.

Who won 2022 Offensive Player of the Year after leading the NFL in both catches and receiving yards?

Justin Jefferson. His one-handed catch on fourth-and-18 in Buffalo, wrestled away from a defender, kept alive a game his team won in overtime and was voted the season's best moment.

Which pass rusher was named 2022 Defensive Player of the Year after leading the NFL with 18.5 sacks?

Nick Bosa. He then stayed away from his club for 44 days the next summer, until it made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history at $170 million over five years.

Which rookie cornerback was named both first-team All-Pro and Defensive Rookie of the Year for 2022?

Sauce Gardner. With receiver Garrett Wilson he made the Jets only the third team to win both Rookie of the Year awards in one season, yet the club still finished 7–10.

Which first-year head coach was named 2022 NFL Coach of the Year?

Brian Daboll. Buffalo's former offensive coordinator took over a club that had not had a winning season since 2016 and delivered one at the first attempt.

Which quarterback won 2022 Comeback Player of the Year after years as a backup?

Geno Smith. He beat out Drew Lock, the quarterback Seattle received in the Russell Wilson trade, for the starting job, then led the whole league in completion percentage.

Who hosted the 12th NFL Honors in February 2023, the first woman to host the awards show?

Kelly Clarkson. Texas-born and a Dallas Cowboys fan, she hosted in a gown styled on the team's jersey with names and numbers down the skirt, and still used her monologue to tease the Cowboys.

In week 13 of 2022 the Packers passed which franchise for the most all-time regular-season wins?

Chicago Bears. The rivals kicked off level on 786 wins, and Chicago, which had topped the all-time list at the end of each of the league's first 102 seasons, lost the lead with a 28–19 defeat.

What did the NFL's overtime rule change for the 2022 postseason guarantee each team?

At least one possession. Since 2010 the coin-toss winner had won 10 of 12 playoff overtime games, most recently Kansas City, which beat Buffalo with a touchdown on the opening drive.

"Ataxia" was added to the concussion protocol's no-go symptoms after which quarterback's week 3 injury?

Tua Tagovailoa. He stumbled after a hit against Buffalo yet was cleared to play on; days later he left a game in Cincinnati on a stretcher, and the players' union fired the doctor who had checked him.

Titans rookie punter Ryan Stonehouse broke an average-per-punt record held since 1940 by which Hall of Fame quarterback?

Sammy Baugh. Washington's star passer also punted and played safety, and his 51.4-yard average outlasted 82 seasons of full-time punters before an undrafted rookie reached 53.1.

Which kicker set a single-season NFL record in 2022 with 11 field goals of 50 or more yards?

Daniel Carlson. Cut by his first team the day after missing three kicks in one game as a rookie, he passed the mark of 10 shared by Blair Walsh, Justin Tucker and Brandon McManus.

Whose ninth career kickoff-return touchdown set a new NFL record in November 2022?

Cordarrelle Patterson. He broke the tie with a 103-yard return against one of his former teams, passing Josh Cribbs and Leon Washington, who had eight each.

A November 2022 snowstorm forced the Bills to move a home game to which stadium?

Ford Field in Detroit. Buffalo won there on the Sunday, then came back four days later for its scheduled Thanksgiving game against the Lions and won in the same building again.

Which head coach was fired a day after a 51–14 loss on Christmas Day 2022?

Nathaniel Hackett. He lasted only 15 games of his first season as a head coach, winning four, and the blowout that finished him came against an opponent that had itself won only four games.

Which stadium hosted the AFC Championship Game for a fifth straight season in January 2023?

Arrowhead Stadium. The run nearly ended that winter: because of the cancelled Bills–Bengals game, the title game would have moved to a neutral field in Atlanta had Buffalo reached it.

Which Bengal's late hit on the Chiefs' quarterback set up the winning kick in the January 2023 AFC Championship?

Joseph Ossai. With eight seconds left and the score 20–20 he shoved the scrambling quarterback at the sideline, hoping to keep the clock running, and teammates spent the aftermath consoling him.

Which team did the Eagles rout 38–7 in the Divisional Round on their way to Super Bowl LVII?

New York Giants. A week later the Eagles gave up only seven points again, beating an opponent whose two quarterbacks were both hurt during the game.

Which Eagles defensive coordinator left after Super Bowl LVII to coach the Arizona Cardinals?

Jonathan Gannon. The Cardinals had phoned him while his 70-sack defense was preparing for the Super Bowl, a breach of league rules that the two clubs settled by swapping third-round draft picks.

Which NFL owner was fined $1.5 million and suspended in 2022 for tampering with Tampa Bay's quarterback?

Stephen M. Ross. His club also lost first- and third-round draft picks after a six-month investigation found it had courted a quarterback and a head coach who were under contract elsewhere.

Which family led the group that bought Denver's NFL franchise in 2022 for a then-record $4.65 billion?

The Waltons of Walmart. Rob Walton, eldest son of the chain's founder, bought the club from the estate of long-time owner Pat Bowlen, with Condoleezza Rice and Lewis Hamilton among his partners.

Which defending champion lost the 2022 NFL Kickoff Game at home to Buffalo and went on to finish 5–12?

Los Angeles Rams. Beaten 31–10 on opening night, they then lost Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald to injuries and set a record for defeats by a reigning Super Bowl champion.

The Broncos–Jaguars London game in October 2022 was played at which venue?

Wembley Stadium is the Jaguars' London base: Jacksonville gives up a home game to play in the city most seasons, and this 21–17 loss to Denver was its ninth trip.

Which two teams met at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Monday Night Football in November 2022?

San Francisco and Arizona are NFC West rivals, and the Cardinals gave up a home date to stage this one in Mexico City; the 49ers ran away with it, 38–10.

Which four-time Super Bowl-winning tight end retired for a second time in June 2022?

Rob Gronkowski had already quit once, in 2019, then came out of retirement a year later to play in Tampa Bay, where he won his fourth ring before leaving for good in June 2022.

Chicago traded linebacker Roquan Smith to which team on 31 October 2022?

The Baltimore Ravens gave up A. J. Klein and two 2023 draft picks, then ten weeks later signed Smith for five years and $100 million, at the time the richest deal for an off-ball linebacker.

Which injury was the Chiefs' quarterback playing through in Super Bowl LVII?

A high ankle sprain from the Divisional round still hobbled him, yet the league's leading pass rush never got him down; one Eagles rusher called the slick turf the worst he had played on.