Category Archives: Stats/Charts

An old(er) back learns some new tricks

Ahmad Bradshaw’s days as a 1,000-yard rusher are probably behind him. He’s what you might call a complementary back now, rotating with Trent Richardson and giving the Colts, at the age of 28, A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That. It’s the Little Bit of That we’ll be discussing today.

Suddenly, Bradshaw, never much of a receiving threat before, has started catching touchdown passes. He had three TD receptions in his first seven NFL seasons; he has five in the first six games of 2014. That’s as many as any running back has had through six games since 1960. In fact, it’s been 31 years since a back got off to this good a start (Joe Cribbs, Bills). Two of the other backs since ’60 with five TD catches in the first six games: Hall of Famers Gale Sayers (1965) and Lenny Moore (1961).

Clearly, Andrew Luck has faith in Bradshaw as a receiver, because he keeps throwing him the ball in the red zone. (The five touchdowns have measured 1, 7, 6, 15 and 5 yards.) And if Luck keeps throwing him the ball in the red zone, Ahmad might well break the modern record for TD catches in a season by a running back — 9, shared by four players.

MOST TOUCHDOWN CATCHES IN A SEASON BY A RUNNING BACK SINCE 1932

[table width=”500px”]

Year,Running Back\,Team,Rec,Yds,Avg,TD

1991,Leroy Hoard\, Browns,48,567,11.8,9

1975,Chuck Foreman\, Vikings,73,691,9.5,9

1964,Bill Brown\, Vikings,48,703,14.6,9

1961,Billy Cannon\, Oilers (AFL),43,586,13.6,9

1960,Lenny Moore\, Colts,45,936,20.8,9

2000,Marshall Faulk\, Rams,81,830,10.2,8

1986,Gary Anderson\, Chargers,80,871,10.9,8

1966,Dan Reeves\, Cowboys,41,557,13.6,8

1949,Gene Roberts\, Giants,35,711,20.3,8

[/table]

Always fun to see Dan Reeves’ name pop up in a chart, isn’t it? “Choo-Choo” Roberts, by the way, had one of the great forgotten seasons in ’49 for a 6-6 Giants team. He finished fourth in the league in both rushing yards (634) and receiving yards (711, including two 200-yard games) and scored 17 touchdowns, one shy of Steve Van Buren’s mark (since erased).

I said “modern record” earlier because Hall of Famer Johnny Blood caught 10 for the Packers in 1931, the year before they began keeping Official Statistics. Blood was a hybrid back like Lenny Moore — or, more recently, the Seahawks’ Percy Harvin. He’d line up either in the backfield or on the flank (where his speed could be put to optimum use). Just a dangerous, dangerous receiver. Indeed, he had four scoring grabs of 40 yards or longer that year.

Let’s see Ahmad Bradshaw top that.

Postscript: There are a million Blood stories. Some are even true. He was one of pro football’s all-time characters, the kind of guy who didn’t waste a minute of his life. If you want to read more about him, check out this classic piece Gerald Holland wrote for Sports Illustrated in 1963.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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The eternal John Riggins

Thirty years ago today, at the age of 35, John Riggins carried 32 times for 165 yards as the Redskins whipped the Cowboys, 34-14. Three decades later, his yardage total is still the highest for a 35-or-older back — by 21. Indeed, it’s reasonable to wonder whether his age-group records will ever be broken.

After all, it’s been a decade since a back that old rushed for even 100 yards in a game (the Cardinals’ Emmitt Smith, 106 vs. the Seahawks in 2004). In fact, since Riggins retired after the 1985 season, only Smith (twice) and Marcus Allen (also twice) have topped 100 after turning 35.

It’s so rare for a back to last that long — that is, and still be in decent working order. Tony Richardson played fullback for the Jets until he was 39, but he was a blocker, not a runner. Riggins at 35 was still a franchise back, spry enough to rush for 1,239 yards — almost all of them between the tackles — and to carry 20 times a game (327 in all).

Maybe it was the sabbatical year he took in 1980, when he held out for money and didn’t get it. Maybe that’s why Riggo was so good at such an advanced age. Or maybe it was just genes, an innate Kansas Farm Boy Indestructibility. Whatever the reason, we may never see his like again. So I thought I’d give him a shout-out on the 30th anniversary of one of his greatest games.

Since 1960, there have been only 14 100-yard rushing games by backs 35 or older. Riggins has eight of them. Nobody else has more than two. He was amazing then, and he’s amazing now.

MOST RUSHING YARDS IN A GAME BY A BACK 35 OR OLDER SINCE 1960

[table]

Date,Running Back (Age)\,Team,Opponent,Att,Yds,TD

10-14-84,John Riggins (35)\, Redskins,Cowboys,32,165,0

10-1-78,McArthur Lane (36)\, Chiefs, Bills,17,144,0

9-23-84,John Riggins (35)\, Redskins,Patriots,33,140,1

10-3-04,Emmitt Smith (35)\, Cardinals,Saints,21,127,1

12-3-95,Marcus Allen (35)\, Chiefs,Raiders,21,124,1

10-22-95,Marcus Allen (35)\, Chiefs,Broncos,21,121,1

10-13-85,John Riggins (36)\, Redskins,Lions, 21,114,3

10-27-85,John Riggins (36)\, Redskins,Browns,30,112,1

12-9-84,John Riggins (35)\, Redskins,Cowboys,24,111,1

10-24-04,Emmitt Smith (35)\, Cardinals,Seahawks,26,106,1

[/table]

FYI: Riggins’ 1,239 rushing yards in ’84 are the most by a 35-or-older back by 302. (Next: Smith, ’04 Cardinals, 937.) And his 327 carries that season are the most by a 35-or-older back by 60. (Next: Smith, ’04 Cardinals, 267.)

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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The other thing about Kirk Cousins

In Redskinsland, the talk is of losing (13 of 14, the team’s worst streak since 1963-64) and all the interceptions Kirk Cousins has been throwing — four in the embarrassing 45-14 loss to the Giants and three more in Sunday’s 30-20 defeat at the hands of the Cardinals. We’ll get to the picks in a moment. First, let’s talk about something that hasn’t been getting much attention: the drop-off in Alfred Morris’ performance when Cousins is the quarterback.

My son Danny, the math whiz, crunched some numbers for me. They show a stark difference in Morris’ rushing production when RG3 is under center as opposed to Cousins.

[table width=”275px”]

In RG3’s Starts,                 In Cousins’

Games,30,9*

Attempts,556,168

Yards,2\,724,630

Average,4.90,3.75

Yards Per Game,90.8,70

[/table]

*I also included the game vs. the Jaguars in Week 2 because Kirk played more than three quarters after Griffin got hurt.

See what I mean? The yards per game, to me, aren’t as important. That can be more a reflection of winning and losing, and RG3’s 12-18 record is better than Cousins’ 2-7 (again, putting the Jacksonville game in Kirk’s column).

But yards per carry is another matter — and Morris is averaging 1.15 more per attempt with Griffin at quarterback. How do we explain this? This way: When RG3 is under center, the offense is playing 11-on-11. In other words, the defense has to account for him both as a passer and as a potential runner. That gives Morris more room to operate, and we all know how crucial space is to an offense.

The read-option is obviously part of the equation — and Griffin is far more dangerous running it than Cousins is. But beyond that, the defense simply can’t focus as much on the running back when the quarterback is as fast and elusive as Griffin. If it puts too many people on the line of scrimmage, RG3 can burn it not just with a play-action pass but with a run fake and keeper. Kirk isn’t slow by any means, but he doesn’t command quite the same respect from the defense that Robert does. (I mean, the guy has 56 career rushing yards — fewer than Griffin had on one run against the Vikings as a rookie).

Only twice in Cousins’ nine games at QB has Morris averaged more than 3.88 yards per attempt. An average like that isn’t going to make any defense blink. Or to put it another way, Morris has averaged 5 yards a carry or better 15 times in RG3’s 30 games — exactly half. With Cousins he’s done it only twice in nine games — less than a quarter.

So the question with Kirk Cousins isn’t just: What can he bring to the passing game (that Griffin doesn’t)? It’s: What does he take away from the running game? And clearly, the Redskins need more offensive balance if they ever hope to pull out of this downward spiral. They had it with RG3; with Cousins, they’re much more one-dimensional. And let’s face it, with a defense as suspect as Washington’s, it helps to have some ball control by running Morris Right, Morris Left, Morris Up the Middle — if only to keep the D off the field.

As for the interceptions, Cousins has had 13 in his last seven starts — way too many. In fact, only a dozen quarterbacks in the 2000s have had a worse seven-game stretch during a season. (Cousins’ last seven starts, of course, are across two seasons.) The worst of the worst:

MOST INTERCEPTIONS IN A 7-GAME STRETCH OF A SEASON SINCE 2000

[table width=”350px”]

Year,Quarterback\, Team,Games,INT

2009,Josh Freeman\, Bucs,10-16,16

2001,Aaron Brooks\, Saints, 10-16,16

2013,Eli Manning\, Giants,1-7,15

2009,Jay Cutler\, Bears,3-9,15

[/table]

Between the neutralization of Morris and the picks, it isn’t a pretty picture for the Cousins-led offense. Which is why Colt McCoy’s name actually came up during coach Jay Gruden’s Monday news conference. What a mess.

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DeMarco Murray and the Triple Crown

Every NFL season seems to produce a Statistical Phenomenon or two. So far in 2014, the Cowboys’ DeMarco Murray is That Guy. Let’s pray to the grid god that Murray gets to finish what he’s started, because what he’s started is pretty impressive.

Two weeks ago, when I first wrote about him, it was because he’d rushed for 100 yards in each of his first four games — something that had been done only six other times since 1960. Well, now he’s rushed for 100 yards in each of his first six games. No other back has done that since ’60.

Murray also is continuing to shoulder a heavy load. Through Week 4, he was on pace for 396 rushing attempts, which would be the seventh-highest total all time. But his 29 carries Sunday in Dallas’ 30-23 road shocker over the Seahawks put him on a 424 pace. That’s eight more the record of 416, set by the Chiefs’ Larry Johnson in 2006.

In addition, Murray has had 180 touches (rushing attempts plus receptions) in his first six games. Only three backs since ’60 have had more. The Top 5:

MOST TOUCHES BY A RUNNING BACK IN THE FIRST 6 GAMES SINCE 1960

[table width=”425px”]

Year,Running Back\, Team,Rush,Rec,Total

2000,Eddie George\, Titans,165,20,185

2000,Ricky Williams\, Dolphins,155,27,182

2002,Priest Holmes\, Chiefs,143,38,181

2014,DeMarco Murray\, Cowboys,159,21,180

1985,James Wilder\, Bucs,144,35,179

[/table]

Wilder, by the way, holds the mark for touches in a season: a superhuman 492 in 1984. Murray projects to 480 (an average of 30 a game). That would be the second-best total in NFL history. As I’ve said before, though, high-volume seasons like that aren’t usually conducive to long-term productivity. Dallas coach Jason Garrett needs to be mindful of the Burnout Factor.

Still, it would nice to see Murray take a run at the Triple Crown — leading the league (or tying for the lead) in rushing yards, per-carry average and rushing touchdowns. It’s a feat that’s been accomplished by just six modern backs, five of whom are in the Hall of Fame. The short list:

RUNNING BACK TRIPLE CROWNS SINCE WORLD WAR II

[table width=”425px”]

Year,Running Back\, Team,Rush Yds, Avg,TD

1998,Terrell Davis\, Broncos,    2\,008,5.1,21

1980,Earl Campbell*\, Houston Oilers,    1\,934,5.2,13

1977,Walter Payton*\, Bears,    1\,852,5.5,14

1975,O.J. Simpson*\, Bills,    1\,817,5.5,16

1967,Leroy Kelly*\, Browns,    1\,205,5.1,11

1963,Jim Brown*\, Browns,    1\,863,6.4,12

[/table]

(Brown led by a comfortable margin in each category – in rushing by 845 yards, in average by 1.4 and in TDs by 3.)

* Hall of Famer

Murray leads NFL rushers with 785 yards and six TDs, but he has some work to do on his 4.9-yard average. The No. 1 guy in that department through six games, the Ravens’ Justin Forsett, is averaging 6.4 on 64 carries.

A Triple Crown is just incredibly hard to pull off. Consider: Seven backs have rushed for 2,000 yards in a season, but only one of them – Davis – won the Triple Crown. LaDainian Tomlinson couldn’t do it in a year (2006) he led the league in rushing (1,815) and scored a record 32 touchdowns, 28 on the ground (2006). Brown couldn’t do it in a year (1958) he broke the season rushing mark by 381 yards (with 1,527), ran for nearly twice as many scores as anybody else in the league (17 to the runner-up’s 9) and had a per-carry average of 5.9 (which ranked a mere fourth).

What makes it even more difficult is that quarterbacks have led the league in rushing average three of the past four seasons (Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III) and seven times in the 2000s. Let’s face it, quarterback yards are different from running back yards. For one thing, QBs have more room to roam.

Still, some running back someday will have a monster year and become the seventh member of the Triple Crown Club. And if it doesn’t happen to be Murray, he’ll have plenty of illustrious backs to keep him company.

Note: The Chargers’ Paul Lowe also had a Triple Crown in the pre-Super Bowl AFL: 1,121 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns (tie) and a 5-yard average (edging the Chiefs’ Mack Lee Hill by .03) in 1965. If you want to count that, too, be my guest. I’m inclined to exclude those years, even though the NFL record book doesn’t. The two leagues just weren’t comparable — yet.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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3 other guys who threw for 7 TDs in a game

As you may have heard, oh, a quadrillion times, the Broncos’ Peyton Manning and Eagles’ Nick Foles both threw seven touchdown passes in a game last season, tying the NFL record. They’re just the sixth and seventh quarterbacks to accomplish the feat (and the first since the ’60s).

But . . . three other QBs also have thrown for seven touchdowns in a game if you count pick-sixes — that is, the TDs they threw to the other team. And get this: Every one of them is the Hall of Fame. The details of the most imaginative seven-TD games in pro football history:

QUARTERBACKS WHO THREW FOR SEVEN TDS IN A GAME COUNTING PICK-SIXES 

[table]

Date,Quarterback\, Team,Opponent,TD,Int TD,Total,Result

11-1-64,Len Dawson\, Chiefs (AFL),Broncos,6,      1,7,W\, 49-39

9-29-68,Joe Namath\, Jets (AFL),Bills,4,      3,7,L\, 37-35

9-8-91,Jim Kelly\, Bills,Steelers,6,      1,7,W\, 52-34

[/table]

Notes:

● Dawson (38 attempts, 23 completions, 435 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT) had his most prolific game as a pro for yards and touchdowns — and it almost wasn’t enough. Down 42-10 late in the third quarter, the Broncos scored 29 straight points in 5 1/2 minutes to close to within a field goal with 10:07 left.

Six minutes later, Denver was on the verge of pulling ahead, but wide receiver Al Denson “fumbled near the goal line,” The Associated Press reported, and Chiefs linebacker Walt Corey “picked up the ball and ran to the [Kansas City] 18 with 3:33 to go.” Dawson then led an 82-yard drive for the clinching TD.

Don’t forget: Had the Broncos completed their comeback, it would have matched the Bills’ 32-point rally against the Oilers in the ’92 playoffs, pro football’s all-time biggest.

● Namath (43-19-28-4-5) threw 72 yards of touchdown passes (4, 55, 3, 10) and 198 yards of pick-sixes (100, 53, 45). In fact, there were 79 games in his career in which he had fewer passing yards than he did pick-six yards against the Bills that day. The Jets went on to win the Super Bowl, though, so it was all good.

● Kelly (43-31-363-6-2) connected with wideout Don Beebe for four of his touchdown throws. He, too, reached the Super Bowl that season, but his Buffalo club got killed by the Cowboys, 52-17.

● Oddest note of all: Defensive back Tom Janik had a pick-six of 22 yards vs. Dawson and another of 100 yards vs. Namath. What are the odds of that happening? They were the first and last of his six career INT TDs. Unfortunately, he was long retired by the time Kelly came along.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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The best and worst of kicking

On one side Sunday, you had the Bills’ Dan Carpenter booming a 58-yard field goal with four seconds left to give his team a come-from-behind 17-14 victory. On the other, you had the Lions’ Alex Henery missing all three of his boots — none shorter than 44 yards — and losing his job because of it.

That, friends, is all you need to know about the kicking profession in the 2000s. The NFL has kickers these days capable of knocking through a game-winner from 58 yards or longer, if need be. But the bar for them has been raised so high that missing more than a handful of boots a season — never mind three in an afternoon — is likely to put them on the unemployment line. They’re the victims of their own near-perfection.

Granted, Henery has had a rough go of it this year. In his two games for Detroit, he was 1 for 5 on field goal tries, a success rate that might have raised eyebrows even in the ’50s. But he also has a track record, and it’s pretty good. In his three previous NFL seasons, all with the Eagles, he converted 86 percent of his attempts. But now he’s gone because, well, that’s just the way it is in pro football.

As Lions coach Jim Caldwell put it: “There’s somebody out there for us that’ll do the job for us. We just got to see if we can track him down quickly.”

Translation: No biggie. We’ll just hold a tryout, open up another box of 86-percent kickers and see who performs best. (It turned out to be Matt Prater, the former Bronco.)

NFL soccer-stylers have become so accurate, even from great distances, that last year they were successful on 86.5 percent of their field goal tries (which made Henery, at 82.1, below average). There even have been kickers, two of them, who have gone through an entire season without missing. And, of course, Tom Dempsey’s 63-yarder, which had stood as the record since 1970, was finally topped  by Prater, who booted a 64-yarder in Denver’s thin air last December.

The field goal is becoming almost as automatic as the extra point. So it’s easy to forget, with all these footballs tumbling through the uprights, that, at late as the ’60s, it was a very hit-or-miss proposition. And earlier than that, it was more miss than hit.

Let’s pay a visit to 1939 for a moment, to a game between the Redskins and Pittsburgh Pirates (they weren’t the Steelers yet). The Redskins won easily, 44-14, but they also missed five PATs. The Associated Press’ account read like this:

“Jim German ran off right tackle to a touchdown. Washington missed the kick. . . . [Andy] Farkas knifed through for the score. His kick was blocked by Sam Boyd. . . . Frank Filchock stood in the end zone, passed to Farkas on the 4-yard stripe, and Andy galloped 96 yards for a touchdown — a total gain of 99 yards. Turk Edwards’ kick was not good. . . . [Dick] Todd . . . raced 60 yards for another touchdown. Bob Masterson’s kick was not good. . . . Ed Justice went around left end . . . for the final Redskin[s] touchdown. [Bo] Russell missed the kick.”

This is obviously an extreme example of what I’m talking about. The Redskins were so far ahead that day that they started goofing around and letting everybody kick. (Russell and Masterson were their main guys.) But it just shows how casual teams could be about kicking and how inexact a science it was — even though PATs were 10 yards shorter because the goal posts were on the goal line.

Pittsburgh’s kicker, Armand Niccolai, was one of the better ones in the league — so good that, after he retired following the 1941 season, the team talked him into coming back for one more year. Since he’d already taken a coaching and teaching job at a local high school and couldn’t attend the Steelers’ practices, he just showed up for the games.

“He will not even don pads,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, “but will be used exclusively as a placekicker.”

No practices and no pads! What a sweet deal. Alas, he made just 2 of 14 field-goal attempts that year and decided, wisely, to retire for good.

Niccolai’s final season is one of the worst of all time by a kicker. His competition:

WORST SEASONS BY KICKERS (10 OR MORE FGA)

[table width=”350px”]

Year,Kicker\, Team,Made,Att,%

1965,Bob Timberlake\, Giants,      1,15,6.7

1955,Art Michalik\, Steelers,      1,12,8.3

1939,Clarke Hinkle\, Packers,      1,10,10

1963,Bob Jencks\, Bears,      1,10,10

1952,Joe Geri\, Cardinals,      2,18,11.1

1942,Armand Niccolai\, Steelers,      2,14,14.3

1963,Jack  Spikes\, Chiefs,      2,13,15.4

1950,Ted Fritsch\, Packers,      3,17,17.6

[/table]

All of them, by the way, kicked in the Old Style, with their toes rather than their instep. By the ’70s, though, almost every club had a soccer-styler, and success rates started going up . . . and up . . . and up. It’s just a more reliable way to boot the ball.

Still, while you’re snickering at these percentages, keep in mind: Many of these guys played another position — back when rosters were smaller — in addition to handling the kicking. That certainly raised the margin for error. (Sonny Jurgensen once told me he never had receiver Bobby Walston run a deep route on third down when the Eagles were in field goal position because he didn’t want Walston to be tired if he was needed to kick.)

Just out of curiosity, I thought I’d find out which kickers have missed the most kicks — field goals or extra points — in a season. There are some interesting names on it, including two Hall of Famers.

MOST MISSED KICKS IN A SEASON (FG AND PAT)

[table width=”450px”]

Year,Kicker\, Team,FG,PAT,Total

1964,Paul Hornung*\, Packers,12-38,41-43,28

1961,John Aveni\, Redskins,5-28,21-23,25

1976,Jan Stenerud*\, Chiefs,21-38,27-33,23

1963,Lou Michaels\, Steelers, 21-41,32-35,23

1967,Bruce Gossett\, Rams,20-43,48-48,23

1969,Tom Dempsey\, Saints,22-41,33-35,21

1969,Roy Gerela\, Oilers (AFL),19-40,29-29,21

1969,Gino Cappelletti\, Patriots (AFL),14-34,26-27,21

1966,Bruce Gossett\, Rams,28-49,29-29,21

1963,Jerry Kramer\, Packers,16-34,43-46,21

1963,Tommy Davis\,49ers,10-31,24-24,21

1960,Larry Barnes\, Raiders (AFL),6-25,37-39,21

[/table]

*Hall of Famer

If you’ve ever wondered why Vince Lombardi’s Packers didn’t win the title in 1963 and ’64 — after going back to back in ’61 and ’62 (and winning three more from 1965 to ’67) — you can start with kicking. Kramer and Hornung missed 44 field goal tries in those seasons, and the Golden Boy’s 26 misses in ’64 are an NFL record that probably will last forever. After serving a one-year suspension in ’63 for betting on games, Paul simply lost it as a kicker.

It’s also worth noting that the kicker who has missed the most field goal attempts in a game since 1960 — the Cardinals’ Jim Bakken, six, vs. the Falcons in ’66 — turned around the next season and booted seven in a game, a mark that wasn’t broken for 40 years.

That’s what was so ironic about the Bills-Lions game. Henery got fired for going 0 for 3, right? Guess who the last kicker to have an 0-for-4 day was.

Carpenter, Buffalo’s hero, in 2010.

So maybe this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Alex Henery.

Armand Niccolai clothing ad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Paul Hornung’s forgotten streak

On this day in 1961, Paul Hornung did something that hasn’t been done since — and probably won’t be done again. The Hall of Fame running back, who doubled as a kicker, scored the Packers’ first 31 points in a 45-7 beatdown of the Colts. The highlights of his epic performance:

That was from a ’70s game show, by the way, hosted by Dick Enberg called “Sports Challenge.” The episode you were watching pitted three Packers (Hornung, offensive guard Jerry Kramer and Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis) against a team of Dallas Cowboys (quarterbacks Don Meredith and Eddie LeBaron and receiver Frank Clarke). All of them were retired by then (1972, I’m guessing).

Many of the questions were easy — nobody wanted to make the contestants look bad — but it was still funny to see how little some of them knew about the history of their own sports, never mind other sports. (Even recent history . . . like the previous season.)

But getting back to Hornung, he was one of the last of a breed: an offensive star who also kicked. There were a plenty of them in pro football’s first few decades, when rosters were smaller and players had to multitask. By the late ’50s, though, you started to see more and more kicking specialists, guys who did nothing else (except maybe punt, like the 49ers’ Tommy Davis). Paul managed to hold out as a two-way threat through the 1964 season, at which point coach Vince Lombardi replaced him with Don Chandler.

As you saw in the clip, Hornung could do it all — run, catch, kick and, because he’d been a quarterback at Notre Dame, even throw the occasional option pass. (That was the “run-pass option” Enberg referred to on the last touchdown, when Paul decided to run.) As a result, he scored tons of points for those great Packers teams — a record 176 in 12 games in 1960 (since topped only by LaDainian Tomlinson’s 186 in 16 games for the Chargers in 2006), 146 the next season (also in 12 games) and 31 straight that afternoon against the Colts (whose defense, let’s not forget, featured Hall of Fame linemen Gino Marchetti and Art Donovan).

Hornung’s consecutive-points streak was actually 32, because he’d booted the PAT after Green Bay’s final score the previous week. Think about it: What would it take for somebody to do that today? Answer: Kick 11 field goals — with no intervening touchdowns or safeties. It’s possible, certainly, but nobody has come close to pulling it off. In 2007, for instance, the Bengals’ Shayne Graham booted seven field goals to score all of his team’s points in a 21-7 win over the Ravens. But that was pretty much the extent of his streak (22, counting a point-after the game before).

Indeed, I’ve come across just five examples since World War II of players scoring 20 or more points in a game and having it be all the points their club scored. The list:

PLAYERS WHO SCORED ALL OF THEIR TEAM’S POINTS IN A GAME (20+)*

[table]

Date,Player\, Team,Opponent,Pts,How he scored

11-19-50,RB Doak Walker\, Lions,Packers,24,3 TD catches\, 3 PAT\, 1 FG

11-11-07,K Shayne Graham\, Bengals,Ravens,21,7 field goals

11-18-96,K Chris Boniol\, Cowboys,Packers,21,7 field goals

12-8-62,FB Cookie Gilchrist\, Bills (AFL),N.Y. Titans,20, 2 TD runs\, 2 PAT\, 2 FG

12-1-46,FB Ted Fritsch\, Packers,Redskins,20,3 TD runs\, 2 PAT

[/table]

*Since World War II.

(People forget what a talent Gilchrist was. Besides leading the league in rushing that season with 1,096 yards, he kicked eight field goals and 14 extra points.)

Still, the record for most consecutive points doesn’t belong to Hornung. No, it’s the property of another Hall of Famer, Chicago Cardinals back Ernie Nevers, who scored 59 straight over five days (Sunday/Thanksgiving Day) in 1929 — 19 vs. the Dayton Triangles and 40 vs. the Bears. (The latter, incidentally, remains the mark for points in a game.

Several other consecutive-points streaks in the ’20s also were longer than Hornung’s. Nevers had another lengthy streak — 47 points — in 1926, Hall of Famer Paddy Driscoll of the Cardinals Nevers' 40-point game storyscored at least 44 straight (there’s some uncertainty) in ’23 and Hank Gillo of the Racine (Wis.) Legion had a 43-point run in ’24.

Then there’s the streak put together by Ralph Kercheval of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1934 and ’35. That one might be the most remarkable of all. Over a span of eight games in those two seasons, Kercheval, a running back-kicker, scored every one of the Dodgers’ points — all, uh, 34. (Brooklyn didn’t exactly have a dynamic offense.) He extended his run to 40 the next week with two field goals, but then teammate Red Franklin ended it with a rushing touchdown. Hard as it is to believe — even for those low-scoring times — Kercheval’s streak (three touchdowns, six field goals, 4 PATs) lasted almost a year. It began Oct. 28, 1934 and ended Oct. 6, 1935.

It’s easy to cast aspersions on the early NFL. It was, after all, a much different game. But there’s one thing players did back then that today’s heroes will never match: score large numbers of points consecutively.

Hey, it’s something. One last screengrab:

Walker's 24-point day, 1950

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Passing for a pile of yards — and winning!

Whoever coined the phrase “statistics are for losers” might have had the 400-yard passing game in mind. At first glance, it seems like a significant achievement, one of those My Greatest Day in Football deals. That was certainly the case in the more defense-oriented ’70s, when there were only five 400-yard performances in the entire decade.

But on closer inspection you realize that, hey, a lot of these quarterbacks lost the game. (Exhibit A: the Cowboys’ Tony Romo, who went for 506 last October against the Broncos in a 51-48 defeat.) Indeed, from 1970 — the year the NFL and AFL merged — through 2012, most of these 400-yard passers lost the game. Their record was 115-118-2 (playoffs included). Here’s the breakdown:

RECORD OF QUARTERBACKS WHO THREW FOR 400 YARDS IN A GAME

[table width=“250px”]

Years,W,L,T,Pct

1970s,3,2,0,.600

1980s,37,32,1,.536

1990s,28,17,0,.622

2000s,33,34,1,.493

’10-12,14,33,0,.298

Totals,115,118,2,.494

[/table]

The line for the 2010-to-’12 period, with its woeful winning percentage (.298), really stands out. It suggests there are more “empty” passing yards these days — that is, yards that don’t necessarily lead to victories — than ever before. And that makes sense, given all the rule changes favoring the quarterback, his receivers and even his blockers. Let’s face it, if it were this easy to throw the ball in the ’30s and ’40s, Sammy Baugh’s name would come up in conversation much more regularly.

But something interesting has happened the past two years: Quarterbacks who have passed for 400-plus yards have started winning more. When Peyton Manning racked up 479 yards Sunday in the Broncos’ 41-20 battering of the previously perfect Cardinals, it raised the record of 400-yard QBs since the start of 2013 to 18-11 (.621).

Suddenly, a 400-yard game isn’t, as often as not, just a nice consolation prize. Suddenly it isn’t merely the result of a quarterback having to take to the air because his team was desperately behind. Teams are getting ahead by passing, staying ahead by passing and closing out games by passing — as Manning did in Week 5.

Consider: Leading by 21 with 3:58 left — and with Arizona down to its No. 3 QB because of injuries — Peyton began a series from the Denver 32 with . . . a 13-yard completion to Demaryius Thomas. (Granted, he wanted Thomas to break Shannon Sharpe’s club record of 214 receiving yards in a game — and that catch put Demaryius over the top with 226 — but still . . . . Times sure have changed.)

Then, too, perhaps quarterbacks are winning more of these 400-yard passing games because they’re getting more practice at it. As you may have noticed in the above chart, the number of them has increased dramatically in this decade. There were 12 400-yard games in 2010, 20 in 2011, 15 in 2012 and 26 last season. Those are four of the six highest totals in league history. We’re not even halfway through the ’10s, and already there have been 76 400-yard passing games. That’s more than the ’70s and ’80s combined (75) — and six more than any other decade, for that matter (next most: the ’80s with 70).

Of course, there’s always the possibility the pendulum will swing back again — as it’s been known to do. In the first five years of the 2000s, for instance, 400-yard passers were 23-15-1; in the next eight seasons they were 24-52. This latest blip just happened to catch my attention. When 400-yard passers win 16 games in 2013 alone, twice as many as in any previous year, you might call it Statistically Noteworthy.

Finally, in case you’re curious:

HOW ACTIVE QUARTERBACKS HAVE FARED WHEN THROWING FOR 400 YARDS

[table width=“275px”]

Quarterback\, Team(s),W-L,Pct

Tom Brady\, Patriots,5-1,.833

Peyton Manning\, Colts/Broncos,13-3,.813

Aaron Rodgers\, Packers,3-1,.750

Drew Brees\, Saints,6-7,.462

Ben Roethlisberger\, Steelers,2-3,.400

Eli Manning\, Giants,2-3,.400

Philip Rivers\, Chargers,2-4,.333

Tony Romo\, Cowboys,0-5,.000

[/table]

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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The latest Running Back from Nowhere

Once again Sunday, NFL fans watched slack-jawed as another Mystery Running Back darted and dashed all over the field. This time it was Branden Oliver, the Chargers’ undrafted rookie, who amazed the masses, racking up 114 yards rushing, 68 receiving and one touchdown — in just his third game as a pro — as San Diego routed the Jets 31-0.

This is becoming almost an annual event now, pro football’s version of Punxsutawney Phil emerging from his hole to forecast the weather. Oliver’s emergence, of course, just reminds everybody that scouting is a woefully inexact science, especially when it comes to running backs.

We know this because good ones go unclaimed in the draft all the time. Indeed, there have been 17 1,000-yard rushing seasons in the 2000s by backs who weren’t selected. Practically every year, it seems, an overlooked runner makes personnel departments cringe by leading the NFL in rushing, yards from scrimmage, touchdowns or otherwise distinguishing himself. Check out this list:

THE 9 UNDRAFTED BACKS IN THE 2000S WHO HAVE BEEN 1,000-YARD RUSHERS

[table width=”500px”]

Running back\, Team,Best Year,Att,Yds,Avg,TD

Arian Foster\, Texans,2010,327,1\,616,4.9,16

Priest Holmes\, Chiefs,2002,313,1\,615,5.2,21

Willie Parker\, Steelers,2006,337,1\,494,4.3,13

Ryan Grant\, Packers,2009,282,1\,253,4.4,11

James Allen\, Bears,2000,290,1\,120,3.9,2

Dominic Rhodes\, Colts,2001,233,1\,104,4.7,9

BenJarvus Green-Ellis\, Bengals,2012,278,1\,094,3.9,6

Fred Jackson\, Bills,2009,237,1\,062,4.5,2

LeGarrette Blount\, Bucs,2010,201,1\,007,5.0,6

[/table]

Note: League leaders in bold face. Foster (2,220) and Holmes (2,287) also led the league in yards from scrimmage.

It’s not just these guys, either. It’s all the other guys, the ones who were drafted as afterthoughts in the late rounds. There are plenty of those, too. Such as:

TOP LATE-ROUND RUNNING BACKS IN THE 2000S

[table width=”500px”]

Running back\ Team,Round,Best Year,Att,Yds,Avg,TD

Michael Turner\, Falcons,5th,2008,376,1\,699,4.5,17

Alfred Morris\, Redskins,6th,2012,335,1\,613,4.8,13

Mike Anderson\, Broncos,6th,2000,297,1\,487,5.0,15

Ahmad Bradshaw\, Giants,7th,2010,276,1\,235,4.5,8

Chester Taylor\, Vikings,6th,2006,303,1\,216,4.0,6

[/table]

Oliver, built along the lines of the Eagles’ Darren Sproles at 5-foot-7, 201 pounds, came out of the same University of Buffalo program that produced James Starks. Starks, you may recall, was one of the nicer stories of 2010. After being drafted in the sixth round by the Packers and spending most of the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, he pulled a Punxsutawney Phil in the playoffs and rushed for 315 yards to help Green Bay win the Super Bowl. It’s the third-highest rushing total by a rookie in the postseason since 1960.

There’s no telling what lies ahead for Oliver. Sunday could be the highlight of his career or it could lead to even better things. With Donald Brown now questionable with a concussion, Ryan Matthews (knee) still out and Danny Woodhead (broken fibula) on injured reserve, there’s plenty of opportunity for the rookie.

But if it is his one, brief, shining moment, it was an awfully good one. His 182 yards from scrimmage are the third most by a running back this season (and include a 50-yard reception).

But getting back to our previous subject — why are so many good backs drafted so low (or not at all)? — it’s interesting to compare the Top 5 rushers this season with the Top 5 passers in terms of what round they went in.

CURRENT TOP 5 RUSHERS

[table width=”350px”]

Yds,Running Back\, Team,Round (Pick)

670,DeMarco Murray\, Cowboys,3rd (71)

460,Le’Veon Bell\, Steelers,2nd (48)

404,Arian Foster\, Texans,UFA

396,Rashad Jennings\, Giants,7th (250)

365,Frank Gore\, 49ers,3rd (65)

[/table]

CURRENT TOP 5 IN PASSER RATING

[table width=”350px”]

Rating, Quarterback\, Team,Round (Pick)

116.3,Philip Rivers\, Chargers,1st (4)

114.8,Aaron Rodgers\, Packers,1st (24)

112.9,Russell Wilson\, Seahawks,3rd (75)

109.0,Peyton Manning\, Broncos,1st (1)

100.3,Andy Dalton\, Bengals,2nd (35)

[/table]

Huge contrast, no? On the quarterback side, you’ve got three No. 1s (two of them very high), a near No. 1 and a No. 3. And on the running back side, you’ve got a second-rounder, two third-rounders, a seventh-rounder and an undrafted free agent.

You hear all the time that the hardest position evaluate is quarterback. Well, on the basis of this, running backs may be even harder to get a read on.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Gronk vs. the greats

Rob Gronkowski scored another touchdown Sunday night in the Patriots’ 43-16 pasting of the previously unbeaten Bengals. That’s what Gronkowski does — at a rate never seen before by a tight end (and by few other receivers in NFL history). His latest, a 16-yarder over the middle from Tom Brady, was his 46th scoring catch in 56 games. Do the math, and it comes out to .82 TDs per game. Wow.

Only four receivers — all wideouts — have had more scoring receptions in their first 56 games. Their names should be pretty recognizable. Three are in the Hall of Fame, and the other, I’ve got to believe, will make it when he’s eligible.

MOST TOUCHDOWNS CATCHES, FIRST 56 GAMES

[table width=“250px”]

Years, Receiver\,Team,TD

1962-66,Lance Alworth*\, Chargers (AFL),53

1985-88,Jerry Rice*\, 49ers,50

1965-69,Bob Hayes*\, Cowboys,47

1998-01,Randy Moss\, Vikings,47

2010-14,Rob Gronkowski\, Patriots,46

1957-61,Tommy McDonald*\, Eagles,42

[/table]

*Hall of Famer

It’s impressive enough that a tight end is keeping company with some of the greatest deep threats of all time. You get an even greater sense of the Magnitude of Gronk, though, when you compare him to Hall of Famers who played his position. (I threw in a few more who figure to reach Canton eventually — plus Jerry Smith, who held the TD record for tight ends for years and should never be left out of these conversations.)

TD CATCHES BY NOTABLE TIGHT ENDS, FIRST 56 GAMES

[table width= “250px”]

Years,Tight End\, Team,TD

2010-14,Rob Gronkowski\, Patriots,46

2010-13,Jimmy Graham\, Saints,35

1961-64,Mike Ditka*\, Bears,30

2003-06,Antonio Gates\, Chargers,30

1979-83,Kellen Winslow*\, Chargers,29

1965-69,Jerry Smith\, Redskins,27

1963-66,John Mackey*\, Colts,25

1974-78,Dave Casper*\, Raiders,20

1978-81,Ozzie Newsome*\, Browns,19

1997-00,Tony Gonzalez\, Chiefs,19

1968-72,Charlie Sanders*\, Lions,15

2003-06,Jason Witten\, Cowboys,14

1963-66,Jackie Smith*\, Cardinals,11

1990-93,Shannon Sharpe*\, Broncos,   7

[/table]

*Hall of Famer

Sharpe, who finished with 62 touchdown receptions (a record since broken), is a reminder that some players, even future stars, take a while to establish themselves. That wasn’t the case with Gronkowski, of course. In just his ninth game he caught three TD passes against the Steelers and was off to immortality.

That is, if he can stay out of the operating room for a spell. He’s had a rough go if it of late with injuries, but he looked like the Gronk of Old on Sunday night. The Gronk of Old was a wonder to behold.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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