A look at the players who were tops in some of the major statistical categories in 2019.
Rushing
Derrick Henry\overcame a huge deficit heading into Week 17 to take the rushing crown from the Browns’ Nick Chubb. Henry rushed for 211 yards against the Texans to finish with 1,540. Chubb wound up second with 1,494. Christian McCaffrey was third with 1,387.
Receiving
The great Michael Thomas distanced the field in catches and receiving yards. The Saints’ fabulous wideout had 149 receptions for 1,725 yards. Julio Jones came in second with 1,394 yards. Jones missed a sixth 1,400-yard season by six yards. Major kudos to Chris Godwin of the Bucs, who finished with 1,333 yards despite playing in 14 of the 16 games.
Passing
Jameis Winston threw for more yards than any quarterback. The Bucs’ erratic signal-caller wound up with 5,109 yards, 33 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions. Talk about all over the place. The Cowboys’ Dak Prescott threw for 4,902 yards.
Touchdown passes
The Ravens’ brilliant second-year quarterback Lamar Jackson deserves special mention. Jackson finished with 1,206 yards rushing (6.9 yards per carry) and 3,127 yards passing. He threw 36 TD passes, best in the league, and rushed for seven more in what certainly will be an MVP season.
Scoring
There was a race to the wire in the category for points. Harrison Butker of the Chiefs won the three-kicker battle with Will Lutz of the Saints and Justin Tucker of the Ravens. Butker accounted for 147 points to 144 for Lutz and 141 for Tucker. Butker also kicked 34 field goals, one more than the Jags’ Josh Lambo.
Punting
Washington did not win much. That means the punter was usually busy. Tress Way had a fantastic season as Washington’s punter. He averaged 49.6 yards per kick, Way’s 79 punts went for 3,919 yards, second to the Jets’ Lac Edwards, who accounted for 3,991 yards punting.
Sacks
The battle for taking down quarterbacks also came down to the final week of the season. Shaquil Barrett notched three sacks in the loss to the Falcons by the Bucs in Week 17 to slip past the Cardinals’ Chandler Jones. Barrett finished with 19.5 sacks to Jones’ 19. Jones did not get a sack in the season finale against the Rams.
Tackles
The race for the most tackles by a player came down to a pair of linebackers. The Seahawks’ star Bobby Wagner edged the Packers’ Blake Martinez, 159-155. A pair of Cardinals, Jordan Hicks and Budda Baker, came in third and fourth, respectively.
Interceptions
There was a three-way tie at six picks in the interception category. Stephon Gilmore of the Patriots, Anthony Harris of the Vikings and Tre’Davious White of the Bills each had a half-dozen. Gilmore returned a pair for touchdowns, while Harris brought one all the way back to the end zone.
