What To Look For - Week 6 - Baltimore Beatdown

What To Look For - Week 6

by Bruce Raffel on Oct 17, 2009 10:20 AM EDT Comment 7 comments

As always, here is "What To Look For" in the NFL games in week 6 of the 2009 season, direct from NFL.com:

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WHAT TO LOOK FOR – WEEK 6

CLIMBING BACK: Teams off to a slow start are justified in believing that they can turn it around.

Since the current playoff system (12 teams) was instituted in 1990, 11 teams have rebounded from being at least three games under .500 after the season’s first five weeks or later to qualify for the postseason. That includes five 1-4 teams that ultimately won their division.

Since 1990, teams that were three or more games below .500 after Week 5 or later and made the playoffs:

YEAR	TEAM (RECORD)	ADVANCED TO	ADDITIONAL NOTES
1990	New Orleans Saints (2-5)	Wild Card Playoffs	Finished second in NFC West
1992	San Diego Chargers (1-4)	Divisional Playoffs	Won AFC West
1993	Houston Oilers (1-4)	Divisional Playoffs	Won AFC Central
1994	New England Patriots (3-6)	Wild Card Playoffs	Finished 10-6 (tied for best in division)
1995	Detroit Lions (2-5, 3-6)	Wild Card Playoffs	Finished 10-6
1995	San Diego Chargers (4-7)	Wild Card Playoffs	Finished 9-7
1996	Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6, 4-7)	Championship Game	Won two playoff games
2002	Tennessee Titans (1-4)	Championship Game	Won AFC South
2002	New York Jets (1-4, 2-5)	Divisional Playoffs	Won AFC East
2004	Green Bay Packers (1-4)	Wild Card Playoffs	Won NFC North
2008	San Diego Chargers (4-7, 4-8, 5-8)	Divisional Playoffs	Won AFC West

-- NFL –

PETERSON ON POINT: Minnesota Vikings running back ADRIAN PETERSON has an NFL-best 3,582 rushing yards since entering the league in 2007, including 3,185 yards in his 29 starts. With 133 yards in his start against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Peterson will have the third-highest rushing yards per game average of any running back since 1970 in his first 30 starts. Peterson averages 134.1 rushing yards per game in his eight career games against the AFC.

The players with a 100+ rushing yards per game average in their first 30 career starts, since 1970:

PLAYER, TEAM	YEARS	RUSHING YPG (TOTAL)
Eric Dickerson, Los Angeles Rams	1983-84	120.0 (3,600)
Larry Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs	2004-07	117.1 (3,514)
Clinton Portis, Denver Broncos	2002-04	110.6 (3,317)
*Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings*	*2007-09*	109.8 (3,185)*
Gerald Riggs, Atlanta Falcons	1982-85	104.7 (3,142)
Earl Campbell, Houston Oilers	1978-79	103.2 (3,096)
Edgerrin James, Indianapolis Colts	1999-2000	100.7 (3,022)
George Rogers, New Orleans Saints	1981-83	100.6 (3,019)

* Through 29 starts

-- NFL --

DOME SWEET DOME: With two touchdown passes against the Ravens on Sunday, Minnesota Vikings quarterback BRETT FAVRE will record his 11th consecutive two-plus passing touchdown game at the Metrodome (eight with Green Bay, three with Minnesota).

Favre passed for at least two touchdowns in 12 consecutive games at Lambeau Field from 1994-96, a streak equaled by Arizona Cardinals QB KURT WARNER at the Trans World Dome (now Edward Jones Dome) from 1999-2000, the longest such streaks in NFL history.

The most consecutive games with two-plus touchdown passes in a stadium:

GAMES	PLAYER	STADIUM	YEARS
12	Brett Favre	Lambeau Field	1994-96
12	Kurt Warner	Trans World Dome (Edward Jones Dome)	1999-2000
11	Jim Everett	Anaheim Stadium	1989-90
10	*Brett Favre*	*Metrodome*	*2000-present*
9	Many tied

-- NFL --

BIG GAME TORRY HOLT: Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver TORRY HOLT will face his former team, the St. Louis Rams, for the first time on Sunday. Holt spent 10 seasons with the Rams after they selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, totaling 12,670 receiving yards with the club. Holt will become just the sixth player in NFL history to face a team for which he had 10,000+ receiving yards.

The players with 10,000+ receiving yards with one team who later faced that team:

PLAYER	PREVIOUS TEAM, YEARS	NEW TEAM, YEAR	YARDS WITH PREVIOUS TEAM
Jerry Rice	San Francisco 49ers, 1985-2000	Oakland Raiders, 2002 & 2004	19,247
Tim Brown	Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, 1988-2003	Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004	14,734
Isaac Bruce	St. Louis Rams, 1994-2007	San Francisco 49ers, 2008	14,109
*Torry Holt*	*St. Louis Rams, 1999-2008*	*Jacksonville Jaguars, 2009*	*12,670*
Cris Carter	Minnesota Vikings, 1990-2001	Miami Dolphins, 2002	12,383
Stanley Morgan	New England Patriots, 1977-1989	Indianapolis Colts, 1990	10,352

Holt is also 34 receiving yards from 13,000. If he reaches the mark against the Rams, he will have done so in 164 career games, making him the third-fastest to 13,000 receiving yards in NFL history.

The fewest number of games to reach 13,000 receiving yards in NFL history:

PLAYERS, TEAM(S)	NO. OF GAMES TO 13,000 RECEIVING YARDS
Jerry Rice, San Francisco	154
Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis	162
Randy Moss, Minnesota /Oakland /New England	167
Terrell Owens, San Francisco /Philadelphia /Dallas	172
Isaac Bruce, St. Louis	179

*Torry Holt, St. Louis /Jacksonville*	163*

* Has 12,966 career receiving yards in 163 career games

-- NFL --

STORM THE GATES: Coming off of a two-touchdown performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to their bye week, San Diego Chargers tight end ANTONIO GATES is one receiving touchdown from tying five-time All-Star WESLEY WALLS for fourth on the all-time list by a tight end. Gates will look to notch his 54th career receiving touchdown on Monday Night against the division-leading Denver Broncos.

The most receiving touchdowns by a tight end in NFL history:

PLAYER	YEARS	RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS	TOTAL GAMES
Tony Gonzalez*	1997-2009	78	194
Shannon Sharpe	1990-2003	62	204
Jerry Smith	1965-1977	60	168
Wesley Walls	1989-2003	54	196
Antonio Gates*	*2003-2009*	53	97

* Active

-- NFL --

TOP-RATED QB PLAY: Entering Week 6, there are eight qualifying (min. 14 attempts/game) quarterbacks with a passer rating of 100.0 or better, including New York Giants QB ELI MANNING and New Orleans Saints QB DREW BREES, who meet on Sunday. If that number holds, it would surpass 2007 and 2008 (five) for the most quarterbacks with a 100+ rating through Week 6 since the passer rating system was officially implemented in 1973. The record for most 100+ rated passers in a season is four (1998, 2004).

The quarterbacks with a 100+ rating this season as compared to the record-setting seasons of 1998 and 2004:

1998		2004		2009*
PLAYER, TEAM	PASSER RATING	PLAYER, TEAM	PASSER RATING	PLAYER, TEAM	PASSER RATING
Randall Cunningham, Minnesota	106.0	Peyton Manning, Indianapolis	121.1	Peyton Manning, Indianapolis	114.1
Vinny Testaverde, NY Jets	101.6	Daunte Culpepper, Minnesota	110.9	Eli Manning, NY Giants	111.7
Steve Young, San Francisco	101.1	Drew Brees, San Diego	104.8	Drew Brees, New Orleans	108.4
Chris Chandler, Atlanta	100.9	Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia	104.7	Brett Favre, Minnesota	104.1
* 1998 and 2004 are for full season, 2009 is through Week 5.				Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle	103.1
				Matt Ryan, Atlanta	102.9
				Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh	102.6
				Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay	101.1

-- NFL --

HEAD START: Denver Broncos head coach JOSH MC DANIELS and Indianapolis Colts head coach JIM CALDWELL are each off to 5-0 starts in their first season as a head coach. With a Broncos win on Monday night against San Diego, McDaniels can tie for the best start by a rookie head coach since 1970. Jim Caldwell and the Colts have a bye.

The best starts by a rookie head coach since 1970:

HEAD COACH	TEAM	RECORD TO START CAREER	FINAL RECORD IN FIRST SEASON
Chuck Knox	1973 Los Angeles Rams	6-0	12-2
Red Miller	1977 Denver Broncos	6-0	12-2
Mike Martz	2000 St. Louis Rams	6-0	10-6
*Josh McDaniels*	*2009 Denver Broncos*	*5-0*	??
*Jim Caldwell*	*2009 Indianapolis Colts*	*5-0*	??

The opinions posted here are those of the administrator of this blog and his loyal readers. They are in no way official comments from the team, and should not be misconstued as such, even though he thinks he could do just as well or even a better job!

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Comments

Very interesting info

good job researching

A bird in the hand is worth about 10.99 at KFC and makes me lick my chops
Yummy!!!!!

by kdog69 on Oct 17, 2009 11:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Credit to the NFL

certainly not to me, other than posting it!

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Oct 18, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was a really good posting job, though.

Water covers 2/3 of the Earth's surface. Ed Reed covers the rest.

by Ampallang on Oct 18, 2009 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bruce, tis must be a very sad week for you guys

WE are sad here too. We were soundly beaten by the Texans. I honestlt canot say that I was rooting for the FG to be good as, after all you guys are in our div,, but man it has to have been a whle since you lost 3 in a row. It happens to us all the time. The bright side is that the Steelers play the Viknigs next week and we do as well in Dec I think. IMO they cold very well sweep the AFC North so it could be a wash as far as the division race goes. Our only hope is that Favre and AP wear down a bit before we play them. I see you guys lay the Colts in a few weeks as well. Man, you guys have the Patriots and Colts on your schedule. Thats tough. The Steelers got the Titans and Dolphins. We got the Texans and Jets. Pittsburg caught a break in the schedule. Frankly if if the Bengals and Ravens don’t beat the Steelers they just may be in the cat bird seat again. I would much rather see the Ravens win the div than the Steelers.

The Bengals, with everyone on the field and everything working, are good enough to compete this year but as the team wears down we don’t have the quality depth to hold up. Loosing Odom for the season and with Peko out for what looks like several weeks I think we are in trouble. I have said many times that we are still another good off season away from being really good. Bummer day in both Cincy and Baltimore.

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Oct 19, 2009 8:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I share your pain, JJ

but the Steelers have the Vikes at home which is a huge difference than what we faced. YOur loss and injuries were tough to see but we won’t complain if they’re not there when we come back for revenge in a couple of weeks. I guess, I’d rather have you guys in the playoffs than Pittsburgh, but between you them and Cleveland it’s an easy choice. However, I hope my Ravens turn it around and disappoint you all.

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Oct 19, 2009 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

With your schedule if you can win the div title you will have earned it

As I said with you guys having to play the Pats and Colts it is tough. I am sure you would much rather play the Titans, Dolphins, Texans or Jets. Frankly, I don’t see how the Texans lost 3 games. They played lights out yesterday. I don’t think we played our best game but no excuses – a loss is a loss. We could easily lose to the Bears and I fear that once the Steelers get up they will be very hard to take down. Frankly the only real chance I see for the Bengals is for you guys to beat them twice and that is a tall order. You can be assured that we will be rooting for you to beat the Steelers and lose to the Colts. The second half of the season is just a bit softer for us. The toughest remaining games, other than the Ravens and Steelers one more time, are the Bears, Chargers, Vikings & Jets. If we can play those games 3-3 we have a shot. That miracle play that GB made looms very large right now. I think it will take 11 wins to get the division. We can only afford 3 more losses and you guys can only afford 2 more. Frankly I don’t see us being able to pull it off. I really only see 10 wins as possible and if you split with the Steelers and lose to the Colts, both realistic possibilities you still have to beat the Packers and Bears and they are not pushovers. The Bengals only hope for a wild card is for you to beat the Steelers twice. Man I thought this division was supposed to have an easier schedule this year!

" My enemy said "Love your enemy". I obeyed and loved myself." Gibran

by JUNGLEJOHN on Oct 19, 2009 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

At least we have the history

We were 3-3 at the same point last year and our defense including Ed Reed went crazy and that was with a below average offense. If we can get some pressure on the passer, all will fall into place and with this offense, we can be scary. If…..

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Oct 19, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs