Arizona Cardinals’ 2015 regular season: By the numbers

Despite the sour ending of the regular season for the Arizona Cardinals in last Sunday’s 36-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, it was a historic season for the franchise.

In 2015, the Cardinals posted franchise bests in wins to earn a first-round bye for the first time in franchise history along with many individual achievements.

But before Cards begin the road to Santa Clara for what they hope will cap off the historic season with the franchise’s first ever Super Bowl championship, let’s take one last look at the regular season by the numbers.

4,671

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer set a franchise record with 4,671 passing yards this season, besting Neil Lomax’s record of 4,614 for the then-St. Louis Cardinals. He ranked fourth in the NFL in that category behind Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints (4,870), Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers (4,792) and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots (4,770). Palmer’s passing yardage is also a career best for him, surpassing his 2013 season in which he threw for 4,274.

40,000

In the Seattle game, Palmer surpassed 40,000 passing yards in his career, becoming only the 18th quarterback to do so. He’s the seventh active quarterback in the club, joining Denver’s Peyton Manning, New Orleans’ Drew Brees, New England’s Tom Brady, Eli Manning of the New York Giants, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger and San Diego’s Philip Rivers.

11

Palmer led the league with 11 games with a passer rating of 100 or better. Washington’s Kirk Cousins finished second with 9.

35

In addition to his passing yards, Palmer’s 35 touchdown passes set a new franchise mark, surpassing Kurt Warner’s 30 in 2008. He finished in a four-way tie for second in the league behind Brady’s 36. Blake Bortles of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers all ended the year with 35 touchdown passes.

1,000

Larry Fitzgerald once again had a tremendous season for the Cardinals, highlighted by his 1,000th career reception, which came in Week 13 against St. Louis. The 32-year-old became the 11th player in NFL history to catch 1,000 or more passes in his career. This season Fitzgerald had 109 receptions, which marked a career best for him, surpassing the 103 he had in 2005, his second year in the league. Fitzgerald ended the year with 1,215 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches. It was his third season with 100 or more catches, which is tied for the fourth-most in NFL history.

1,637

Rookie David Johnson filled in nicely at running back for the Cardinals after Chris Johnson was lost to an injury midway through the season. Johnson ended the year ranked ninth in the NFL with 1,637 in all-purpose yards with 13 total touchdowns, which tied for the second-most in the league.

17

Chris Johnson finished the year 17th in the league in rushing yards with 814. Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings took the rushing title with 1,485 yards, but had Johnson not gone down with a broken tibia in Week 12, who knows where he could’ve ranked this season.

142

Rookie receiver J.J. Nelson had 142 receiving yards against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 22, the highest yardage total for a rookie in the NFL this season.

4

The Cardinals had four different receivers register 100-yard receiving games this season. Michael Floyd had five, while Fitzgerald had three, John Brown with two and Nelson with one.

8

The Cardinals finished the regular season ranked eighth in the league in rushing with 1,917 rushing yards on 452 carries — averaging 119.8 yards per game with 16 touchdowns. It’s a vast improvement from 2014 when the Cardinals ranked 31st in rushing with 1,308 yards on 397 attempts while averaging 81.8 yards per game.

+176

The Cardinals outscored their opponents by a total of 176 points on the season — the second-best mark of any team in the league. Only the Carolina Panthers (+192) had a better point differential in 2015.