Some NFL seasons are great, and then there are those that are flat-out legendary. When a player takes over the league for an entire year, setting records and making opponents look silly, it becomes the stuff of football folklore.
From jaw-dropping stat lines to unstoppable performances, these are the 15 most dominant individual seasons in NFL history.
15. Shaun Alexander – 2005
Shaun Alexander ran wild in 2005, racking up 1,880 rushing yards and a then-record 28 total touchdowns. He won MVP, carried the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, and then somehow disappeared from dominance just two years later.
14. Rob Gronkowski – 2011
Gronk turned tight end play into a cheat code, hauling in 90 catches for 1,327 yards and a ridiculous 17 touchdowns. Defenses had no idea how to stop him, and Brady just kept feeding him like a Madden player exploiting a broken play.
13. Eric Dickerson – 1984
Eric Dickerson’s 2,105 rushing yards in 1984 remains the single-season record, and he made it look easy. His upright running style made defenders think they had a shot at stopping him, but they were usually just left grasping at air.
12. Patrick Mahomes – 2018
Mahomes’ first season as a starter was pure fireworks—5,097 passing yards, 50 touchdowns, and countless jaw-dropping throws. It was like watching someone play backyard football with an NFL roster, and he ran away with MVP.
11. J.J. Watt – 2014
J.J. Watt played like a human wrecking ball in 2014, racking up 20.5 sacks, five touchdowns, and even a pick-six. He was so dominant that he finished second in MVP voting, which is basically unheard of for a defensive player.
10. Tom Brady – 2007
Brady’s 2007 season was a masterpiece, throwing for 50 touchdowns and leading the Patriots to a perfect 16-0 regular season. If not for that one helmet catch in the Super Bowl, this would be the greatest QB season ever.
9. OJ Simpson – 1973
Before he became infamous for off-the-field reasons, OJ Simpson became the first player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season—doing it in just 14 games. He averaged an absurd 143.1 yards per game, which is still an NFL record.
8. Calvin Johnson – 2012
Megatron was unstoppable in 2012, setting the single-season receiving yards record with 1,964 while facing double and triple coverage. The craziest part? The Lions still went 4-12 because one receiver, no matter how dominant, can’t win alone.
7. Marshall Faulk – 2000
Marshall Faulk was the ultimate dual-threat, racking up over 2,100 yards from scrimmage with 26 total touchdowns. His ability to torch defenses as both a runner and receiver made the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” completely unfair.
6. Barry Sanders – 1997
Barry Sanders hit 2,053 rushing yards in 1997, including an insane streak of 14 straight 100-yard games. He made defenders look like they were slipping on ice, juking his way into an MVP award.
5. Adrian Peterson – 2012
Less than a year after tearing his ACL, Adrian Peterson came back and rushed for 2,097 yards, falling just eight yards shy of the all-time record. He was basically a human battering ram with the speed of a track star.
4. LaDainian Tomlinson – 2006
LT’s 2006 season was pure dominance—1,815 rushing yards, 508 receiving yards, and an NFL-record 31 total touchdowns. He was so automatic that fantasy football managers basically won their leagues just by drafting him.
3. Lawrence Taylor – 1986
LT turned offensive coordinators into nervous wrecks in 1986, racking up 20.5 sacks and winning MVP as a defensive player. No one had ever seen a linebacker wreck entire game plans like he did, and they still haven’t.
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2. Peyton Manning – 2013
Manning went full video-game mode in 2013, throwing for 5,477 yards and an NFL-record 55 touchdowns. He basically rewrote the record books that season, even if the Broncos got steamrolled in the Super Bowl.
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1. Jerry Rice – 1987
Jerry Rice played only 12 games in the strike-shortened 1987 season but still caught 22 touchdown passes, a record that stood for nearly two decades. He was so dominant that defenders might as well have been playing two-hand touch.
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