FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/17/15 http://twitter.com/nfl345

PLAYOFF RACES AROUND THE NFL ARE HEATING UP

FOURTH SEASON IN NFL HISTORY WITH MULTIPLE 9-0 TEAMS

The NFL has entered the second half of the season and the excitement is building as playoff races tighten.

Two teams remain undefeated – Carolina (9-0) and New England (9-0) – and this marks the fourth season in league history with multiple 9-0 teams (1934, 1990, 2009).

“We take it one game at a time and the focus goes to preparing for the next one,” says Panthers RON RIVERA. “All the record tells you is that you’re in position for the next thing, and that would be the playoffs. So hopefully we can continue to play well and give ourselves an opportunity to get there. It’s a long season but it’s a quick season because the next thing you know, we’re on to our next opponent.”

Entering 2015, 19 teams in the era started 9-0. Of those 19 clubs, all 19 made the playoffs, 11 advanced to the Super Bowl and seven won the Super Bowl.

“It’s a week-to-week league,” says Patriots cornerback MALCOLM BUTLER. “You’ve just to keep moving and keep improving.”

As the season moves into the second half, it’s all still to be decided, with plenty of football left to play. And while every club would like to be 9-0, don’t count anyone out. Since 1990, 21 teams have qualified for the playoffs with a losing record through nine games. Last year, Carolina (3-5-1) accomplished the feat and advanced to the NFC Divisional Playoffs.

“This whole football team is growing,” says head coach JOHN FOX of the 4-5 , who have won four of their past six games after starting the season 0-3. “This is a new system with a lot of new players. We are starting to know our football team better. A lot has changed over the nine weeks quite a bit. Last week was the halfway point. The way we are trending, I like the way the guys are going about their business.”

And entering Week 11, there are currently 23 teams with a 4-5 record or better.

“This win means everything for us,” says Miami wide receiver JARVIS LANDRY about the Dolphins’ come-from-behind win at Philadelphia last week. “It’s a great way to build momentum at this point in the season. Now, in the second half of the season, it’s time for us to start peaking. It’s time for us to gain momentum and go on a winning streak.”

Week 10 kicks off on Thursday night (8:25 PM ET, NFL Network) when the host the Tennessee Titans in a matchup featuring two promising young quarterbacks in Jacksonville’s BLAKE BORTLES and Tennessee’s . Some of the key games this weekend:

WASHINGTON REDSKINS (4-5) at (9-0) (Sunday, FOX, 1:00 PM ET)

The Redskins improved to 4-5 with a commanding 47-14 win over New Orleans in Week 10. Washington moved into a tie for second place in the NFC East and now sit just a half-game behind the first-place New York Giants (5-5). Against the Saints, Redskins quarterback KIRK COUSINS completed 20 of 25 passes (80 percent) for 324 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 158.3 passer rating – the highest attainable mark – and became the first Redskins quarterback to pass for at least 300 yards and post a rating of 150+ in a game since Pro Football Hall of Famer SAMMY BAUGH in 1948 (October 31).

“When we execute and everybody does their part, good things happen,” says Cousins. “It feels very gratifying.”

The Panthers have won 13 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season and are the NFC’s lone unbeaten team. In last week’s win at Tennessee, Carolina quarterback CAM NEWTON recorded his 30th career game with both a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer (31) has more such games in NFL history.

“It’s a great feeling to be 9-0,” says Panthers linebacker THOMAS DAVIS, who is the only player in the NFL this season with at least three sacks and three interceptions. “We are not done yet and we still have work to do. We will watch this film, we will build off of it, we will continue to get better and we will move on to Washington next week.”

GREEN BAY PACKERS (6-3) at MINNESOTA VIKINGS (7-2) (Sunday, FOX, 4:25 PM ET)

The Packers travel to Minnesota this weekend sitting a game behind the Vikings for first place in the NFC North. Green Bay, which won six in a row to begin the season, is looking to get back on track and start another winning streak.

“We’re going to focus on getting better,” says Packers head coach MIKE MC CARTHY. “We need to keep working and fight our way out of this. We’ll keep things in perspective. We need to get ready for Minnesota.”

The Vikings have now won five in a row, including last week’s 30-14 win at Oakland. Minnesota running back ADRIAN PETERSON rushed for 203 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run, in the victory. Peterson has six career 200-yard rushing games, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer O.J. SIMPSON for the most in NFL history. Peterson also surpassed 11,000 rushing yards in his career. With 11,151 rushing yards and 91 rushing touchdowns in 113 games, Peterson joined Hall of Famer JIM BROWN as the only players in NFL history to rush for at least 11,000 yards and 90 touchdowns in the first 113 games to begin a career.

“We’re just going to stay in our shell and hopefully continue to stay under the radar,” says Peterson about the Vikings’ 7-2 start. “But inside this locker room, we’re a pretty confident group.”

CINCINNATI BENGALS (8-1) at (7-2) (Sunday, NBC, 8:30 PM ET)

The Bengals enter Week 11 with an 8-1 record and as the leaders in the AFC North. Cincinnati will look to bounce back from the team’s first loss of the season, a 10-6 defeat to Houston on Monday night.

“We just have to put this one behind us,” says Bengals quarterback ANDY DALTON, who ranks fourth in the NFL with a 104.6 passer rating. “We can’t let this turn into another one. We can’t let there be any carry over. We know what we’ve done to this point. One game doesn’t define our season. We’re still 8-1. We’re still leading the division. We know where we are, so we just need to get back to what we’ve been doing and we’ll be just fine.”

The Cardinals will play their second consecutive Sunday-night contest after last week’s 39-32 win at Seattle. That victory gives Arizona a three-game lead in the NFC West over both St. Louis and Seattle. The team will look to continue its stellar play this Sunday in front of the home fans. It will mark the 100th Cardinals’ game at University of Phoenix Stadium (preseason, regular season and postseason) and every game has been a sellout.

Arizona quarterback , who leads the NFC with 23 touchdowns passes and a 108 passer rating, has won 20 of his past 24 starts. Palmer, who was the No. 1 overall pick by the Bengals in the 2003 NFL Draft, guides the league’s top offense (421.1 yards per game) and the NFC’s highest-scoring team (302 points).

“We’re a resilient group,” says Palmer. “It trickles down from the head coach. I think good teams take on their coach’s mentality. I think that’s what B.A. (head coach ) brings and we’ve figured out how to let that trickle down to our minds by the way we work, by the way we prepare and ultimately, by the way we play.”

BUFFALO BILLS (5-4) at (9-0) (Monday, ESPN, 8:30 PM ET)

The Bills have won two consecutive games – both against division opponents – and look to make it three in a row when they travel to New England to face the first-place Patriots. Last Thursday night, Buffalo knocked off the New York Jets 22-17 as running back LE SEAN MCCOY racked up 159 scrimmage yards and rookie running back KARLOS WILLIAMS became the second player in NFL history (ROBERT EDWARDS, 1998) to score a touchdown in each of his first six career games.

“Everything is about one game,” says Bills head coach REX RYAN. “You don’t worry about down the road. You worry about right now and how we can get better today and for that week’s game. This is where we’re at and this is what’s in front of us.”

New England’s STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI kicked a 54-yard field goal with one second remaining to give the Patriots a 27-26 win over the New York Giants in Week 10. The victory helped preserve the team’s undefeated season as New England improved to 9- 0 for the second time in franchise history (2007). With nine wins, the Patriots are guaranteed their 15th consecutive winning season, becoming the first team since the 1983-1998 (16) to accomplish the feat. New England enters Week 11 having scored in 35 consecutive quarters, the longest streak in NFL history.

“We’re 9-0 and now we’re going to move forward and look at beating the Bills,” says Gostkowski. 2015 NFL STANDINGS

American Football Conference East Division Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak New England Patriots 9 0 0 1.000 303 169 5-0 4-0 6-0-0 3-0-0 Won 9 Buffalo Bills 5 4 0 .556 231 207 2-3 3-1 5-3-0 3-1-0 Won 2 New York Jets 5 4 0 .556 217 184 3-2 2-2 4-3-0 1-2-0 Lost 1 Miami Dolphins 4 5 0 .444 191 225 1-2 3-3 2-5-0 0-4-0 Won 1

North Division

Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak Cincinnati Bengals 8 1 0 .889 235 152 4-1 4-0 7-1-0 3-0-0 Lost 1 6 4 0 .600 236 191 4-2 2-2 3-4-0 1-2-0 Won 2 Baltimore Ravens 2 7 0 .222 210 236 1-3 1-4 2-5-0 1-2-0 Lost 1 Cleveland Browns 2 8 0 .200 186 277 1-3 1-5 2-6-0 1-2-0 Lost 5

South Division Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak 4 5 0 .444 200 227 2-3 2-2 4-3-0 3-0-0 Won 1 Houston Texans 4 5 0 .444 184 211 2-2 2-3 2-3-0 2-1-0 Won 2 Jacksonville Jaguars 3 6 0 .333 192 255 2-2 1-4 3-4-0 0-2-0 Won 1 Tennessee Titans 2 7 0 .222 169 214 0-5 2-2 0-5-0 0-2-0 Lost 1

West Division Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak 7 2 0 .778 205 168 3-1 4-1 4-2-0 2-1-0 Lost 2 Kansas City Chiefs 4 5 0 .444 224 195 2-2 2-3 3-2-0 1-1-0 Won 3 Oakland Raiders 4 5 0 .444 227 241 2-3 2-2 4-2-0 1-1-0 Lost 2 San Diego Chargers 2 7 0 .222 210 249 2-3 0-4 1-4-0 0-1-0 Lost 5

National Football Conference East Division Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak New York Giants 5 5 0 .500 273 253 3-2 2-3 4-4-0 2-2-0 Lost 1 Washington Redskins 4 5 0 .444 205 209 4-1 0-4 4-2-0 1-1-0 Won 1 4 5 0 .444 212 184 2-2 2-3 3-4-0 2-2-0 Lost 1 2 7 0 .222 166 214 1-4 1-3 2-6-0 2-2-0 Lost 7

North Division Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak Minnesota Vikings 7 2 0 .778 198 154 4-0 3-2 4-1-0 3-0-0 Won 5 Green Bay Packers 6 3 0 .667 219 185 4-1 2-2 4-2-0 1-1-0 Lost 3 Chicago Bears 4 5 0 .444 199 234 1-3 3-2 1-5-0 0-3-0 Won 2 Detroit Lions 2 7 0 .222 167 261 1-3 1-4 2-4-0 2-2-0 Won 1

South Division Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak Carolina Panthers 9 0 0 1.000 255 175 5-0 4-0 5-0-0 2-0-0 Won 9 Atlanta Falcons 6 3 0 .667 229 190 3-1 3-2 4-3-0 0-2-0 Lost 2 4 5 0 .444 191 237 2-3 2-2 3-3-0 2-1-0 Won 1 4 6 0 .400 255 315 3-2 1-4 3-5-0 1-2-0 Lost 2

West Division Team W L T Pct PF PA Home Away Conf Div Streak Arizona Cardinals 7 2 0 .778 302 185 3-1 4-1 5-1-0 2-1-0 Won 3 St. Louis Rams 4 5 0 .444 166 183 3-2 1-3 3-4-0 3-0-0 Lost 2 4 5 0 .444 199 179 2-2 2-3 4-4-0 1-2-0 Lost 1 San Francisco 49ers 3 6 0 .333 126 223 3-2 0-4 2-5-0 0-3-0 Won 1

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS NOVEMBER 12, 15-16 Byes: Atlanta, Indianapolis, San Diego, San Francisco (Home Team in Caps)

Thursday, November 12 Sunday, November 15 (cont’d) Buffalo 22, NEW YORK JETS 17 Jacksonville 22, BALTIMORE 20 Detroit 18, GREEN BAY 16 Sunday, November 15 Minnesota 30, OAKLAND 14 Carolina 27, TENNESSEE 10 Kansas City 29, DENVER 13 Chicago 37, ST. LOUIS 13 New England 27, NEW YORK GIANTS 26 PITTSBURGH 30, Cleveland 9 Arizona 39, SEATTLE 32 WASHINGTON 47, New Orleans 14 TAMPA BAY 10, Dallas 6 Monday, November 16 Miami 20, PHILADELPHIA 19 Houston 10, CINCINNATI 6

2015 NFL WEEK 11 SCHEDULE THURSDAY, SUNDAY & MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 22-23 Byes: Cleveland, New Orleans, New York Giants, Pittsburgh (All times local)

Thursday, November 19 Sunday, November 22 (cont’d) Tennessee at Jacksonville, 8:25 PM (NFLN) Dallas at Miami, 1:00 PM Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, 1:00 PM Sunday, November 22 Kansas City at San Diego, 4:05 PM Indianapolis at Atlanta, 1:00 PM Green Bay at Minnesota, 3:25 PM St. Louis at Baltimore, 1:00 PM San Francisco at Seattle, 1:25 PM Washington at Carolina, 1:00 PM Cincinnati at Arizona, 6:30 PM (NBC) Denver at Chicago, 12:00 PM Oakland at Detroit, 1:00 PM Monday, November 23 New York Jets at Houston, 12:00 PM Buffalo at New England, 8:30 PM (ESPN)