Everybody’s in love with the Jonas Gray story this week, and who can blame them? Few things are more fun than seeing a guy who’s worked his way up from the practice squad — in his case, multiple practice squads — have a breakout game on a national stage. And Gray’s 201-yard, four-touchdown performance in the Patriots’ 42-20 erasure of the Colts was certainly a stunner. (It made you grateful for names on the backs of jerseys, just so you could keep reminding yourself who was doing all this damage.)
A performance like that tends to produce a bunch of cool stats. Here’s one: Gray scored a TD in every quarter, making him one of just a dozen players to do that since the 1970 merger. (Note: In the chart below, the numbers represent yards, R = run and P = pass reception.)
PLAYERS WHO SCORED A TD IN EVERY QUARTER OF A GAME SINCE 1970
| Date | Player, Team | Opponent | 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11-16-14 | RB Jonas Gray, Patriots | Colts | 4R | 2R | 2R | 1R |
| 10-29-06 | RB Larry Johnson, Chiefs | Seahawks | 3R | 9P | 2R | 3R |
| 12-14-03 | WR Joe Horn, Saints | Giants | 50P | 13P | 7P | 18P |
| 12-7-03 | RB Clinton Portis, Broncos | Chiefs | 11R | 1R | 59R | 28R, 53R |
| 12-18-00 | RB Marshall Faulk, Rams | Bucs | 2R | 16R | 27P | 9R |
| 10-29-00 | RB Marshall Faulk, Rams | 49ers | 1R | 1R | 19P | 16P |
| 9-4-95 | RB Emmitt Smith, Cowboys | Giants | 60R | 1R | 1R | 1R |
| 11-24-94 | WR Sterling Sharpe, Packers | Cowboys | 1P | 36P | 30P | 5P |
| 10-14-90 | WR Jerry Rice, 49ers | Falcons | 24P, 25P | 19P | 13P | 15P |
| 9-7-80 | WR Earnest Gray, Giants | Cardinals | 10P | 37P | 42P | 20P |
| 9-16-79 | RB Clarence Williams, Chargers | Bills | 5R | 1R | 55R | 2R |
| 10-23-77 | RB Wayne Morris, Cardinals | Saints | 2R | 9R | 1R | 12R |
Would you look at Marshall Faulk? He did it twice in six games. (He missed two after his first four-touchdown day.) And really, who can get enough Clarence Williams in these charts? I know I can’t. I just wish it was the same Clarence Williams who played Linc on Mod Squad.
By the way, you know who else accomplished the feat — before the merger? Cowboys running back Dan Reeves.
Source: pro-football-reference.com
Jonas Gray, the Patriots’ off-the-practice-squad rookie, got to do this in every quarter Monday night.
