57 NFL 2010s Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Defensive end

Despite going undrafted in 2010, Villanueva never gave up on his NFL dream. He received a trial with the Cincinnati Bengals but was not offered a deal and went into military service. Two years later, he tried out at tight end for the Chicago Bears but was again rejected. After a final tour in the army, he paid to take part in a regional NFL combine in Georgia in 2014, later signing a contract with the Eagles as a defensive end.

From October 2015, Villanueva established himself as the starting left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2016, he was ranked as the best offensive tackle in the NFL between Week 11 and the AFC Championship Game. He was also named to the 2017 and 2018 Pro Bowls.

Answer: AFC Championship Game

The game in question was the AFC Championship Game, played on January 18, 2015, in Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with the winner to go to the Super Bowl two weeks later.

Answer: DE

Jadeveon Clowney played Defensive End at the University of South Carolina. His college career is perhaps best known for his hit on Michigan RB Vincent Smith during the 2012 season's Outback Bowl. After Clowney was taken first overall in the 2014 Draft by the Houston Texans, he didn't have much of an impact in the team's turnaround, as he underwent a variety of surgeries, missing various games, until he finally ended up on Injured Reserve in early December.

Answer: Eric Dickerson

Peterson failed to achieve the 208 yards he needed (he achieved 200 yds and ended up with 2097 yards) when he played the Green Bay Packers in the final matchup of the Vikings' regular season, but his outstanding effort in that game led to a win for the team to clinch a playoff berth.
The record he failed to break - 2,105 yards set in 1984 by Eric Dickerson (LA Rams).

Answer: Philip Rivers

Philip Rivers (San Diego) threw for 4710 yards, ten more than Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts).

Answer: New England Patriots

The others all finished with a 10-6 record and had a good season. The Patriots won their AFC East with a 14-2 record. In 2009, a season they were known for blowouts, they still improved in 2010 with four more wins.

Answer: Indianapolis

The story was broken by Bob Kravitz, a reporter for Indianapolis TV station WTHR. Kravitz received a late-night text from a source that the NFL was investigating the Patriots for deflating footballs; once he verified the information with a second source, he tweeted out the news.

Answer: Rex Ryan

In Rex Ryan's first career game at the helm of the Buffalo Bills his team defeated the Indianapolis Colts 27-14. Ryan had some success with the New York Jets as his team made the AFC Championship Game twice but his team finished 4-12 in 2014 and he was dismissed from the team.

Answer: Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham Jr. had quite a few highlight-reel catches, including a truly ridiculous one-handed, fighting-pass-interference one against the Cowboys. If you haven't seen it, look it up. He ended his season with 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns, despite missing four games!

Answer: Seattle Seahawks

The won their division with a 7-9 record and made the playoffs, even though teams with better records didn't get into the playoffs e.g. Tampa Bay & New York Giants finshed 10-6, San Diego 9-7, plus Oakland Raiders & Jacksonville 8-8.

Answer: Roddy White - Atlanta

The others all caught 86 passes in the season. White of the Falcons caught 115 passes. White and Reggie Wayne of the Colts were the only receivers to catch over 100 passes in the season. In 2009, there were six receivers who reached the 100-mark.

Answer: the Wells Report

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hired attorney Ted Wells to conduct an investigation and report back. The 138-page report, issued on May 6, 2015, concluded that two Patriots employees had been guilty of deflating balls to suit quarterback Tom Brady's wishes, and that Brady was at least "generally aware" of what they were doing on his behalf.

The Dowd Report concerned the issue of Pete Rose betting on baseball, while the other two reports were from the world of politics.

Answer: Nick Foles

Nick Foles had a solid game against the vaunted Seattle Seahwaks defense as he had a 115.8 passer rating while completing 18 of 27 passes for 297 yards. The St. Louis Rams clinched their week one victory in overtime 34-31 after their defense stopped Marshawn Lynch on fourth and one.

Answer: Michael Turner

Michael Turner (Atlanta Falcons) had 334 carries.

Answer: Arian Foster - Houston

The others finished 8th, 9th, and 10th in the league. Foster was the only rusher to top the 1500-yard mark in the season with his 1616 yards. Arian also led the league in rushing touchdowns with 16.

Answer: Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown (Steelers) had 1,698, AJ Green (Bengals) had 1,041, Vincent Jackson (Buccaneers) had 1,002, and Calvin Johnson (Lions) had 1,077.

Answer: DeMarco Murray

Over the last few years, Murray had built up a bit of a reputation for being injury prone, as 2014 was his first NFL season in which he played all 16 games. However, he not only played in all 16 games, he did so with an immense workload, with 392 carries! He ended the season with 1,845 yards, propelling his team into the playoffs.

Answer: Jim Caldwell

Caldwell had a rough first game against the Denver Broncos (lost 17-34), but once the Ravens made the playoffs, he helped quarterback Joe Flacco throw for 11 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Flacco tied Joe Montana for the greatest passing postseason of all time.

Answer: Green Bay Packers

Green Bay beat Pittsburgh 31-25 in Cowboys Stadium (Arlington TX near Dallas).

Answer: New England Patriots

The others were all last place teams in their division. Six teams topped the 400-point mark in the season, but only one team topped 500. The Patriots scored 518 points, averaging 32.3 points per game, compared to 2009 averaging 26.6. Other teams that topped the 400-point mark were the Colts, Chargers, Raiders, Eagles, and Falcons.

Answer: Sixth

After signing with the Patriots, Butler had an impressive pre-season and earned himself a place on the team's depth chart, starting at sixth spot. He was behind Darrelle Revis, Alfonzo Dennard, Logan Ryan, Kyle Arrington and Brandon Browner. That year, Butler would go on to make arguably the greatest play in Super Bowl history, intercepting Russell Wilson's pass to win the Patriots Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks.

From 2015, Butler became a starting corner in New England and would win another Super Bowl in the 2016 season, leaving to join the Tennessee Titans in 2018. He was voted to the Pro Bowl in the 2015 season and was named Second Team All-Pro in 2016.

Answer: San Diego Chargers

In week one Philip Rivers threw for 404 yards while Keenan Allen had 166 yards receiving. During the game the Chargers were trailing 21-3 but they rallied to score the next 30 points of the game. The Chargers were able to hold the Lions' All-Pro receiver Calvin Johnson to just 39 yards receiving.

Answer: Justin Houston

Justin Houston (Chiefs) had 22 sacks, Clay Matthews (Packers) had 11, Von Miller (Broncos) had 14, and JJ Watt (Texans) had 20.5.

Answer: Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers was the model of efficiency in 2014, throwing 38 touchdowns compared to only 5 interceptions. This was the second MVP award of Rodgers' career, after his first followed his stellar 2011 season. Unfortunately, in both of these seasons the Packers' year ended in heartbreak, with a 37-20 loss to the Giants in the 2011 season's Divisional Round and a 28-22 overtime loss to the Seahawks in the 2014 season's NFC Championship Game.

Answer: Mike Tomlin

Mike Tomlin was appointed head coach of the Steelers in 2007 and, after two seasons, he became the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl when the Pittsburgh Steelers won their 6th Super Bowl in February 2009 (they beat Arizaona Cardinals 27-23).
Morris coached the Tampa Bay Bucs, Payton coached the New Orleans Saints, and Rooney was the owner of the Steelers.