Tag Archives: Dolphins

2014 receivers: plus/minus

Same drill as yesterday. This time, though, I wanted to look at receivers — tight ends and wideouts only — and determine whose production had vacillated the most from 2013 to 2014. The leader in the plus column was the Falcons’ Julio Jones (an increase of 1,013 receiving yards over last season). The leader in the minus column was the Browns’ Josh Gordon (a decrease of 1,343), who was suspended for 10 games because of a DUI conviction.

Again, this isn’t necessarily a measure of whether a player was better or worse. Injuries, naturally, can cause big swings one way or the other. The question is more: What did his team get out of him?

BIGGEST GAINERS

[table width=”450px”]

Receiver\, Team,2013,2014,Gain

Julio Jones\, Falcons,580,1593,+1013

Travis Kelce\, Chiefs,     0*,   862,   +862

Randall Cobb\, Packers,433,1287,   +854

Malcolm Floyd\, Chargers,149,   856,   +707

Emmanuel Sanders\, Broncos,740,1404,   +664

Kenny Britt\, Rams,   96,   748,   +652

Andrew Hawkins\, Browns,199,   824,   +625

Larry Donnell\, Giants,   31,   623,   +592

Marcus Wheaton\, Steelers,   64,   644,   +580

Rob Gronkowski\, Patriots,592,1124,   +532

[/table]

*Played in one game.

And just think: Jones missed a game. Otherwise, his total would have been even higher. As for Sanders, he certainly made a great free-agent decision to pair up with Peyton Manning. His yards nearly doubled.

BIGGEST DECLINERS

[table width=”450px”]

Receiver\, Team,2013,2014,Drop

Josh Gordon\, Browns,1646,303,-1343

Rod Streater\, Raiders,   888,   84,   -804

Victor Cruz\, Giants,   998,337,   -661

Jarrett Boykin\, Packers,   681,   23,   -658

Vernon Davis\, 49ers,   850,245,   -605

Pierre Garcon\, Redskins,1346,752,   -594

Denarius Moore\, Raiders,   695,115,   -580

Brandon Marshall\, Bears,1295,721,   -574

Brian Hartline\, Dolphins,1016,474,   -542

Harry Douglas\, Falcons,1067,556,   -511

[/table]

On this side of the street, you have Boykin, whose yardage totals in his first three seasons have bounced from 27 to 681 (when Cobb was hurt) to 23 (when Cobb was healthy again), and Garcon, whose stats took a big hit after the Redskins signed DeSean Jackson (and the quarterback situation turned into a three-headed mess).

OK, I’ve got that out of my system. Make of the data what you will. Just wanted to throw it out there.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

Healthy again, Julio Jones' receiving yards for the Falcons increased more than 1,000 yards this season.

Healthy again, Julio Jones saw his receiving yards for the Falcons increase by more than 1,000 this season.

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2014 running backs: plus/minus

In case you were wondering, the NFL’s plus/minus leaders this season — running backs division — were the Ravens’ Justin Forsett (1,235-yard increase over his 2013 rushing total) and the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson (1,191-yard decrease, thanks to the “off-field trouble” that limited him to one game).

You don’t necessarily have to read a lot into this. Maybe a player just got an opportunity (and his yards shot up), or maybe he just got hurt (and they went down). In other words, it’s less a measure of how well a back played and more a matter of his production compared to the year before. (Just one of the ways I keep myself entertained in the offseason: by looking at numbers from all sorts of angles.)

BIGGEST GAINERS

[table width=”450px”]

Running back\, Team,2013,2014,Gain

Justin Forsett\, Ravens,     31,1266,+1235

C.J. Anderson\, Broncos,     38,   849,   +811

DeMarco Murray\, Cowboys,1121,1845,   +724

Arian Foster\, Texans,   542,1246,   +704

Jonathan Stewart\, Panthers,   180,   809,   +629

Mark Ingram\, Saints,   386,   964,   +578

Denard Robinson\, Jaguars,     66,   582,   +516

Le’Veon Bell\, Steelers,   860,1361,   +501

Matt Asiata\, Vikings,   166,   570,   +404

Lamar Miller\, Dolphins,   709,1099,   +390

[/table]

Note: The first five backs all made the playoffs (and three played for teams that didn’t make it the season before).

BIGGEST DECLINERS

[table width=”450px”]

Running back\, Team,2013,2014,Drop

Adrian Peterson\, Vikings,1266,   75,-1191

Ryan Mathews\, Chargers,1255,330,   -925

Knowshon Moreno\, Broncos,1038,148,   -890

Reggie Bush\, Lions,1006,297,   -709

Maurice Jones-Drew\, Raiders,   803,   96,   -707

Zac Stacy\, Rams,   973,293,   -680

C.J. Spiller\, Bills,   933,300,   -633

DeAngelo Williams\, Panthers,   843,219,   -624

Bilal Powell\, Jets,   697,141,   -556

Stevan Ridley\, Patriots,   773,340,   -433

[/table]

Obviously, most of these backs were injured, forcing their teams to scramble a bit at the running back position. Some of the clubs (Broncos, Lions, Panthers, Patriots) dealt with the situation better than others. But then, Denver, Detroit and New England weren’t that dependent on the running game to begin with.

Next: receivers.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

The Ravens' Justin Forsett rushed for an NFL-high 1,235 more yards than in 2013.

The Ravens’ Justin Forsett rushed for an NFL-high 1,235 more yards than in 2013.

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Statistical curiosities of 2014 (Part 1)

Every NFL season has its statistical curiosities. In fact, if I can find a publisher, my next book might be Statistical Curiosities and the Fans Who Love Them (like me). Anyway, I just noticed one while scanning the final receiving stats. Ready? Here goes:

In 2014 Broncos tight end Julius Thomas became the first player in NFL history to catch 12 or more touchdown passes while gaining less than 500 receiving yards. (Quite a mouthful, huh?)

Thomas’ final numbers in 13 games — he missed three with an ankle injury — were 43 catches, 489 yards, 12 TDs. Others have had 12 or more TDs on fewer than 43 receptions. In 1985, for instance, the Seahawks’ Darryl Turner had 13 on 34 grabs. But nobody, not even in the early days, gained as few as 489 yards. That’s mind-boggling.

Of course, if Thomas had played all 16 games, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. But since he didn’t, we have a terrific Statistical Curiosity for an Offseason Day. The details:

     12 OR MORE TD CATCHES, 800 OR LESS RECEIVING YARDS

[table width=”500px”]

Year,Receiver\, Team,Rec,Yds,Avg,TD

2014,Julius Thomas\, Broncos,43,489,11.4,12

1951,Leon Hart\, Lions,35,544,15.5,12

1962,Chris Burford\, Texans (AFL),45,645,14.3,12

1985,Daryl Turner\, Seahawks,34,670,19.7,13

1963,Gary Collins\, Browns,43,674,15.7,13

1977,Nat Moore\, Dolphins,52,765,14.7,12

2004,Randy Moss\, Vikings,49,767,15.7,13

2012,James Jones\, Packers,64,784,12.3,14

2013,Julius Thomas\, Broncos,65,788,12.1,12

1965,Art Powell\, Raiders (AFL),52,800,15.4,12

[/table]

As you can see, Thomas made the list twice. Last season he had 12 touchdowns on just 788 yards. I have no idea what his career holds for him, but I do know this: The man scores a lot of TDs and — just as important in this Recycling Era — he doesn’t waste yards.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

I could have run yet another photo of Julius Thomas here, but how often does Daryl Turner's name come up?

I could have run yet another photo of Julius Thomas here, but how often does Daryl Turner’s name come up?

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On the brink of going back-to-back

The Seahawks are back in the Super Bowl looking to repeat. Which raises the question: How often has a team in that situation finished the job?

Answer: Of the 11 previous defending champs that returned to the Super Bowl, eight won the game — 72.7 percent. That’s pretty good odds for Seattle (even if it does have to beat the Patriots, the Team of the 2000s). The details:

DEFENDING CHAMPS THAT RETURNED TO THE SUPER BOWL THE NEXT YEAR

[table]

Team,First Super Bowl,Second Super Bowl

1966-67 Packers,Beat Chiefs\, 35-10,Beat Raiders\, 33-14

1972-73 Dolphins,Beat Redskins\, 14-7,Beat Vikings\, 24-7

1974-75 Steelers,Beat Vikings\, 16-6,Beat Cowboys\, 21-17

1977-78 Cowboys,Beat Broncos\, 27-10,Lost to Steelers\, 35-31

1978-79 Steelers,Beat Cowboys\, 35-31,Beat Rams\, 31-19

1982-83 Redskins,Beat Dolphins\, 27-17,Lost to Raiders\, 38-9

1988-89 49ers,Beat Bengals\, 20-16,Beat Broncos\, 55-10

1992-93 Cowboys,Beat Bills\, 52-17,Beat Bills\, 30-13

1996-97 Packers,Beat Patriots\, 35-21,Lost to Broncos\, 31-24

1997-98 Broncos,Beat Packers\, 31-24,Beat Falcons\, 34-19

2003-04 Patriots,Beat Panthers\, 32-29,Beat Eagles\, 24-21

2013-14 Seahawks,Beat Broncos\, 43-8,Vs. Patriots\, SB 49

[/table]

The last time a defending champ lost the Super Bowl, in other words, the winning score came on a conceded touchdown. (The Packers offered no resistance on Terrell Davis’ 1-yard TD run so they could get the ball back with 1:45 left.)

The Packers defensive line opens wide in Super Bowl 32 to let Denver's Terrell Davis score.

The Packers defensive line opens wide in Super Bowl 32 to let Denver’s Terrell Davis score in the final two minutes.

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Player safety in the 1960s

My Internet wanderings recently led me, as they often do, to an unexpected place: a classic 1967 photo of Chiefs cornerback Fred “The Hammer” Williamson. It shows Williamson, famous for bludgeoning receivers with a karate chop to the head, wearing a cast on his feared right forearm — “THE HAMMER” written in big block letters across it. He’d broken the arm in an exhibition game two weeks earlier against the Jets. The New York Times described the collision this way:

In the first quarter [Jets quarterback] Joe Namath completed a 15-yard pass to Don Maynard, who was covered by Fred Williamson. The talkative Williamson tackled Maynard, his right elbow crashing into Maynard’s spine near the neck. Williamson’s right arm was broken on the play. Maynard suffered a slight concussion and was sent to University Hospital [in Birmingham, Ala., where the game was played] for observation.

Williamson’s “Hammer” — “having great velocity and delivered perpendicular to the earth’s latitude,” as he liked to say — usually won these battles. The year before, he’d fractured the cheekbone of the Dolphins’ Howard Twilley. Anyway, here’s the photo of Fred’s arm encased in plaster:

Fred Williamson in cast 8-27-67

Pro football back then was still fairly cavalier about shots to the cranium. The head slap had become a popular — and legal — weapon of defensive linemen, and high hitting like Williamson’s tended to be tolerated as long as the victim wasn’t decapitated. It was a far cry from the concussion-conscious times we now live in. In the ’60s there was no such thing as “targeting” a “defenseless” player. That was just, well, football.

It wasn’t until 1962 that the NFL made it illegal to grab the ball carrier’s facemask. (Until then, he was the only one exempted from the rule — for some strange reason.) In high school and college ball, grabbing anybody’s face mask had been a personal foul since 1957.

By then, David M. Nelson writes in Anatomy of a Game, “large numbers of players were wearing face guards, and opponents were grasping them legally and putting the wearer at a disadvantage. Citing the injury possibility with grasping and holding, the Rules Committee passed the first 15-yard face mask penalty.”

That happened this very week in 58 years ago (which is why I wanted to post about it). Talk about a red-letter day in football safety. The NFL was still a ways away, though, from giving the ball carrier the same protection. When it finally did, Commissioner Pete Rozelle made some interesting comments.

“It has been against the rule to grab face masks in blocking,” he said, “but you could grab the mask of a ball carrier. But the ball carrier actually is the most defenseless of all, and this new rule could prevent possible serious injury.”

More from Rozelle: “We didn’t have any serious trouble with this in league play. Actually, most of our injuries are of the knee or leg type. However, I did see one ball carrier grabbed by his mask and thrown several yards. It scared me a little.”

As well it might.

(I love this headline that ran in a newspaper the day after the rule was passed — specifically the “for ’62” part. Did people actually think the league might change its mind about rule and repeal it?)

NFL Facemask rule headlineIt took defensive players — some of them, at least — a while to adjust to the revised rule, as this 1964 photo shows. That’s Lions’ end Sam Williams trying to yank down Jim Taylor, the Packers’ Hall of Fame fullback:

9-30-64 Appleton Post-Crescent photo of Lion grabbing Packer's facemask

Just thought, with such a (needed) emphasis on player safety these days, it was a good time to revisit Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and celebrate the 1957 passing of the face mask rule — even if it took the NFL a little longer to wise up.

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Unanimous AP all-pro

The words wash by you as you wade into the story about this year’s selections: “Watt, Gronk unanimous AP all-pros.” What exactly does it mean, this Unanimous Thing? How often has it been achieved — and by whom?

Answer: For starters, it’s pretty rare, which makes sense when you stop and think about it. After all, how often can you get 50 media folk to agree on anything? In 2007, for instance, the Patriots’ Tom Brady had one of the greatest quarterbacking seasons ever: 50 touchdown passes, 8 interceptions, a 117.2 passer rating and, oh yeah, a 16-0 record. But some yo-yo still felt obliged to split his vote between Brady and the Packers’ Brett Favre, who threw about half as many TD passes (28), about twice as many picks (15) and had a 95.7 rating. (He/she must have had Favre on his/her fantasy team or something.)

By my count, 15 players have been unanimous AP all-pros in the 2000s, three of them twice (Watt, Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson). So it’s happened 18 times in 15 years — roughly once a year. As you scan down the list, you’ll realize that just about every one of these guys is either in the Hall of Fame, a lock for the Hall of Fame or beginning to move strongly in that direction.

UNANIMOUS AP ALL-PROS IN THE 2000S

● 2014 (2) — Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski, Texans DE/DT J.J. Watt. Gronkowski, now fully recovered from a blown-out knee, had a typical Gronk year: 82 catches for 1,124 yards and 12 TDs in 15 games. (Bill Belichick held him out of the last one.) Watt had an even better season: 20.5 sacks, two defensive TDs, a safety and three TD catches on offense.

● 2013 (1) — Broncos QB Peyton Manning. At 37, Manning had a career year, breaking NFL season passing records with 55 TDs and 5,477 yards as Denver went 13-3, best in the AFC.

J.J. Watt makes another impression on a QB.

J.J. Watt makes another impression on a quarterback.

● 2012 (2) — Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, Watt. Peterson: 2,097 rushing yards (8 off Eric Dickerson’s mark of 2,105, which has stood since 1984). Watt: 20.5 sacks, 16 passes defended (more than many starting DBs).

● 2011 — Nobody.

● 2010 (1) — Patriots QB Tom Brady. There are all kinds of numbers I could throw at you, but the best one is: Brady didn’t throw an interception in the Patriots’ last 11 games (a record streak of 319 attempts that was stretched to 335 the next season).

● 2009 (1) — Titans RB Chris Johnson. Rushed for 2,006 yards, topped 100 rushing yards in the final 11 games and set a mark – which may not be broken anytime soon – with 2,509 yards from scrimmage.

● 2008 (1) — Ravens FS Ed Reed. League-leading nine interceptions and three defensive TDs, including a 107-yard INT return, the longest in NFL history.

● 2007 (2) — Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Patriots WR Randy Moss. LT wasn’t quite as sensational as he’d been the year before, but he still rushed for an NFL-high 1,474 yards, scored 18 TDs and threw for another TD. Moss, in his first season with Brady, caught a record 23 TD passes, one more than Jerry Rice totaled in 1987 (in 12 games).

● 2006 (3) — Tomlinson, Dolphins DE Jason Taylor, Broncos CB Champ Bailey. This was LT’s ridiculous 31-TD year. Enough said. Taylor: 13.5 sacks, two interception returns for scores. Bailey: 10 INTs (nobody has had more since 1981), 21 passes defended.

Antonio Gates in the open field.

Antonio Gates in the open field.

● 2005 (1) — Chargers TE Antonio Gates. The first 1,000-yard season of Gates’ great career (89 catches, 1,101 yards, 10 TDs).

● 2004 (1) — Manning, Colts. Even though he blew off the last game except for a few snaps, Peyton set season passing marks with 49 TDs and a 121.1 rating (both of which have since been broken).

● 2003 — Nobody.

● 2002 (1) — Colts WR Marvin Harrison. His 143 catches (for a league-leading 1,722 yards) is still the NFL record . . . by 14.

● 2001 (2) – Rams RB Marshall Faulk, Giants DE Michael Strahan. Faulk: 1,382 rushing yards, 2,147 yards from scrimmage, 21 TDs. Strahan: A record (with the help of Favre) 22.5 sacks.

● 2000 – Nobody.

To recap, Faulk and Strahan are already in the Hall, and the rest — with the exception, probably, of Johnson — could well be headed there. (Peterson, of course, will be an interesting case, depending on where his career goes from here.)

Conclusion: Being a unanimous AP all-pro says a lot about a player, a lot more than just: he had a really, really good year. We’re talking about the best of the best here.

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“Stump the Football Stars”

Sportscaster Dick Enberg was in the news recently as the winner of baseball’s Ford Frick Award. He’s also done some fine football work, of course, calling eight Super Bowls and serving as the radio voice of the Los Angeles Rams. (He’s already, in fact, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.)

Since we’re closing in on Christmas, I thought I’d post these clips from his syndicated game show, Sports Challenge. This episode pitted three Kansas City Chiefs (quarterback Len Dawson, linebacker Willie Lanier and wide receiver Otis Taylor) against a trio of Miami Dolphins (fullback Larry Csonka, halfback Jim Kiick and wide receiver Paul Warfield) — the year after the teams played their classic Christmas Day playoff game, won by the Dolphins in double overtime, 27-24.

Four of these six guys are now in Canton (Dawson, Lanier, Csonka, Warfield), and another (Taylor) probably belongs there. It’s always surprised me that ESPN hasn’t tried to revive Sports Challenge, just for fun. Who doesn’t enjoy seeing pro athletes stumped by relatively easy questions about their game’s history? Check this out:

Nobody knew the answer – not even Dawson, who at the time of the alleged Greatest Game Ever Played was a third-string quarterback for the Steelers. (The others had yet to play pro ball.) That’s almost — almost — like players not knowing that Adam Vinatieri won Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII for the Patriots. (You know what would have been a great follow-up question, by the way? “For 10 points, what is the correct spelling of Myhra?”)

As I said, though, many of the questions on Sports Challenge weren’t very, well, challenging. Like this one, also about the NFL:

Come on! Do we have to dumb things down that much?

I’ll finish with this clip from earlier in the show. Enberg talks about Garo Yepremian ending the Chiefs-Dolphins overtime thriller with a field goal and asks Csonka, “Where were you at that time?” You’ll love the response:

The players weren’t always well-versed in their game’s history, but at least some of them had a sense of humor.

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Johnny Football’s brutal baptism

How much of a horror show was Johnny Manziel’s overhyped starting debut with the Browns? Pretty bad, to be sure — 54 net passing yards and zero points in a blowout loss to the Bengals. Still, I came up with three Hall of Famers who had a worse one, rating-wise, and various other legends and No. 1 overall picks who struggled mightily as well. That puts Manziel in the middle of this group:

HOW JOHNNY MANZIEL’S FIRST NFL START STACKS UP

[table]

Year,Quarterback\,Team,Opponent,Att,Comp,Yds,TD,Int,Rating,Result

1983,John Elway\, Broncos,Steelers,8,1,14,0,1,0.0,W\, 14-10

2005,Alex Smith\, 49ers,Colts,23,9,74,0,4,8.5,L\, 28-3

1970,Terry Bradshaw\, Steelers,Oilers,16,4,70,0,1,19.3,L\, 19-7

1967,Bob Griese\, Dolphins,Chiefs,22,11,101,0,2,25.0,L\, 24-0

2014,Johnny Manziel\, Browns,Bengals,18,10,80,0,2,27.3,L\, 30-0

2009,Matt Stafford\, Lions,Saints,37,16,205,0,3,27.4,L\, 45-27

1989,Troy Aikman\, Cowboys,Saints,35,17,180,0,2,40.2,L\, 28-0

2004,Eli Manning\, Giants,Falcons,37,17,162,1,2,45.1,L\, 14-10

1979,Joe Montana\, 49ers,Cardinals,12,5,36,0,0,49.3,L\, 13-10

2012,Andrew Luck\, Colts,Bears,45,23,309,1,3,52.9,L\, 41-21

1998,Peyton Manning\, Colts,Dolphins,37,21,302,1,3,58.6,L\, 24-15

[/table]

If you’re wondering how on earth Elway won that game — all the other QBs lost — the answer is: He sat out the second half with a bruised right elbow, and backup Steve DeBerg rallied the Broncos to victory.

As for Bradshaw, his first start wasn’t exactly well received by the Pittsburgh media. This how the Post-Gazette covered it. “I couldn’t hit the side of a building today,” Terry said. “I know I was late throwing the ball a number of times, which gave [the Oilers] a chance to cover up, but they were coming at me strong.”

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 1.46.58 PMP-G Bradshaw subheadNoll yanking BradshawBut do the math. Elway, Bradshaw and Griese had worse days than Manziel did, and they went on to appear in a combined 12 Super Bowls, winning eight. I’m not in any way predicting similar success for Johnny Football. Just sayin’. First impressions can be deceiving.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Le’Veon Bell breaks out

Le’Veon Bell, the Steelers’ second-year running back, was having a nice little career for himself heading into the Titans game three weeks ago. Now, though, such adjectives as “nice” and “little” no longer seem to apply. Three straight games with 200-plus yards from scrimmage will do that for you.

It’s unusual enough, after all, for a back to have two games in a row like that. Only seven others have done it in the 2000s — and no back has had three in a row since Bears Hall of Famer Walter Payton in 1977. The details:

BACKS IN THE 2000S WITH 200 YARDS FROM SCRIMMAGE IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES

[table width=”500px”]

Year,Back\, Team,Opponents (Yards),Total

2014,Le’Veon Bell\, Steelers,Titans (222)\, Saints (254)\, Bengals (235),711

2012,Doug Martin\, Bucs,Vikings (214)\, Raiders (272),486

2007,Ronnie Brown\, Dolphins,Jets (211)\, Raiders (207),418

2003,Deuce McAlister\, Saints,Falcons (237)\, Eagles (232),469

2002,Ricky Williams\, Dolphins,Bills (235)\, Bears (216),451

2002,Marshall Faulk\, Rams,Seahawks (235)\, Cardinals (235),471

2000,Mike Anderson\, Broncos,Seahawks (209)\, Saints (256),465

2000,Eddie George\, Titans,Bengals (214)\, Jaguars (209),423

[/table]

Now let’s compare Bell’s run to Payton’s. Le’Veon first:

[table width=”400px”]

VS.,Rushing,Receiving,Total

Titans,33-204-1,2-18-0,35-222-1

Saints,21-95-1,8-159-0,29-254-1

Bengals,26-185-2,6-50-1,32-235-3,

Totals,80-484-4,16-227-1,96-711-5

[/table]

And now Walter:

[table width=”400px”]

VS.,Rushing,Receiving,Total

Chiefs,33-192-3,1-29-0,34-221-3

Vikings,40-275-1,1-6-0,41-281-1

Lions,20-137-1,4-107-0,24-244-1

Totals,93-604-5,6-142-0,99-746-5

[/table]

Awful close. Note that Payton set a single-game rushing record (since broken) when he went for 275 against the Vikes. But other than that . . . there isn’t much difference between them volume-

Le'Veon Bell cuts upfield.

Le’Veon Bell cuts upfield.

wise. Walter had three more touches and 35 more yards.

Note, too, that both had a 100-yard receiving game during their streak. If you’re going to pull off something like this, it helps to have some pass-catching ability.

Thanks in large measure to Payton, by the way, the Bears made the playoffs that season for the first time in 14 years (when they won their last title under George Halas). And Bell, of course, has the 8-5 Steelers pointed in the same direction. (He’s also on pace to finish with 2,368 yards from scrimmage, which would be the fifth-highest total of all time.)

At any rate, the word is out about him now — if it wasn’t before. This is one dangerous (and durable) back.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Ram-bunctious defense

Earlier in the week we were talking about the Rams posting two straight shutouts, a rare feat. Now we’re talking about them going three games without allowing a touchdown, another rare feat. Five teams have done it in the 2000s:

TEAMS IN THE 2000S THAT DIDN’T ALLOW A TD IN 3 CONSECUTIVE GAMES

[table width=”500px”]

Year,Team (W-L),Opponents (Score),PA

2014,Rams (6-8)*,Raiders (52-0)\, Redskins (24-0)\, Rams (L\, 12-6),12

2011,Dolphins (6-10)*,Chiefs (31-3)\, Redskins (20-9)\, Bills (35-8),20

2008,Dolphins (11-5),Rams (16-12)\, Bills (16-3)\, 49ers (14-9),24

2000,Titans (13-3),Bengals (35-3)\, Browns (24-0)\, Cowboys (31-0),3

2000,Steelers (9-7)*,Jets (20-3)\, Bengals (15-0)\, Browns (22-0),3

[/table]

*missed playoffs

The thing about the Steelers’ streak is that it kept going. They extended it to five games before giving up a touchdown to the Eagles. (Where have you gone, Jeff Thomason? He was the guy who scored it.)

In all, the Steelers allowed six field goals during this stretch. And they didn’t make the playoffs! Their 9-7 record left them in the First Alternate position. In fact, three of the above teams failed to earn a postseason berth (and the two that did were one-and-done). Go figure.

The Rams have a chance to match the Steelers’ run, but it won’t be easy. They have the Giants (home) and Seahawks (away) left on their schedule, and it doesn’t look like Seattle will be in a position to mail-in the last game, not with the division title — and possibly home-field advantage in the NFC — at stake.

Still, it’s been an impressive display of defense, even if the Rams haven’t exactly faced a Murderer’s Row of quarterbacks (Derek Carr, Colt McCoy, Drew Stanton). That’s usually how it is with these streaks — hot defenses squashing less-than-quality competition (and their club being fortunate enough not to give up any return TDs, of course).

One final note: Two of these teams (2014 Rams, 2000 Titans) had Gregg Williams as their defensive coordinator. Gotta be more than just a coincidence, don’t you think?

Source: pro-football-reference.com

"That's Gregg with TWO G's."

“That’s Gregg with TWO G’s.”

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