Week 12 NFL Primer

WHAT TO LOOK FOR – WEEK 12



THE 11-0 CLUB: With victories this week over Houston and New England, respectively, the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints can boost their records to 11-0. Prior to this season, 19 teams had posted 10-0 records, with 13 winning their 11th game. Of the 19, four finished the regular season undefeated and untied – the 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears, 1972 Miami Dolphins and 2007 New England Patriots.



This marks the third consecutive season with at least one 10-0 team – the longest such streak in NFL history.



The 21 teams to start 10-0 and their final records:



TEAM
FINAL

RECORD
OPPONENT & GAME NO. OF FIRST LOSS

TEAM
FINAL

RECORD
OPPONENT & GAME NO. OF FIRST LOSS

1929 Packers
12-0-1
Undefeated season
1985 Bears
15-1-0
Dolphins (13)

1934 Lions
10-3-0
Packers (11)
1990 Giants
13-3-0
Eagles (11)

1934 Bears
13-0-0
Undefeated season
1990 49ers
14-2-0
L.A. Rams (11)

1942 Bears
11-0-0
Undefeated season
1991 Redskins
14-2-0
Cowboys (12)

1953 Browns
11-1-0
Eagles (12)
1998 Broncos
14-2-0
Giants (14)

1961 Chargers
12-2-0
Oilers (12)
2005 Colts
14-2-0
Chargers (14)

1962 Packers
13-1-0
Lions (11)
2007 Patriots
16-0-0
Undefeated season

1969 L.A. Rams
11-3-0
Vikings (12)
2008 Titans
13-3-0
N.Y. Jets (11)

1972 Dolphins
14-0-0
Undefeated Season
2009 Colts
???
???

1975 Vikings
12-2-0
Redskins (11)
2009 Saints
???
???

1984 Dolphins
14-2-0
Chargers (12)




--NFL--



NO STRANGERS TO PERFECTION: The New England Patriots will face the undefeated New Orleans Saints (10-0) on Monday, two weeks after facing the undefeated Indianapolis Colts (8-0). It will mark only the fifth time since 1970 that a team has played two games against teams with records of 8-0 or better in the same season.



YEAR
TEAM
OPPONENTS

1972
New England Patriots
Miami* 8-0; Miami 11-0

1990
Los Angeles Rams
NY Giants* 8-0; San Francisco 10-0

1998
San Diego Chargers
Denver* 8-0; Denver 11-0

1998
Kansas City Chiefs
Denver* 9-0; Denver 12-0

2009
New England Patriots
Indianapolis 8-0; New Orleans 10-0

* Won Super Bowl


--NFL—



BRADY THROWING 300 IN BUNCHES: New England Patriots quarterback TOM BRADY has thrown for 300 yards in five consecutive games. With a 300-yard performance on Monday night against the Saints, Brady can tie STEVE YOUNG (1998), KURT WARNER (2000) and RICH GANNON (2002) for the most consecutive 300-yard passing games in NFL history.



The most consecutive 300-yard passing games in NFL history:



PLAYER, TEAM
YEAR
MOST CONSECUTIVE 300-YARD GAMES

Steve Young, San Francisco
1998
6

Kurt Warner, St. Louis
2000
6

Rich Gannon, Oakland
2002
6



Tom Brady, New England
2009
5*

* Active streak




CJ GOES FOR SIX: CHRIS JOHNSON of the Tennessee Titans, the NFL’s leading rusher, has posted 125+ rushing yards in five consecutive games. He aims to tie the NFL record – set by Pro Football Hall of Famers EARL CAMPBELL (1980) and ERIC DICKERSON (1984) – with his sixth such game in a row on Sunday against Arizona.



PLAYER
TEAM
YEAR
CONSECUTIVE 125+ YARD

RUSHING GAMES

Earl Campbell
Houston Oilers
1980
6

Eric Dickerson
Los Angeles Rams
1984
6

Chris Johnson
Tennessee
2009
5

Jim Brown
Cleveland
1958
5

O.J. Simpson
Buffalo
1975
5

Barry Sanders
Detroit
1997
5

Clinton Portis
Denver-Washington
2003-04
5

Larry Johnson
Kansas City
2005
5




With five consecutive games of 125+ rushing yards and a 5.0+ yards per carry average in each of those games, Johnson has joined Pro Football Hall of Famer JIM BROWN (1958) as the only players to accomplish this feat in NFL history.



IN-VINCE-IBLE: The Tennessee Titans have rebounded from an 0-6 start to win four consecutive games, the most ever by a team that started a season with six straight losses. The Titans aim to extend their winning streak to five against the Cardinals on Sunday. The Titans have won all four games that quarterback VINCE YOUNG has started this year. Young has won eight consecutive starts overall and is 22-11 (.667) as a starter in his career.



--NFL--



THE FAVRE FACTOR: Minnesota’s BRETT FAVRE has thrown 21 touchdown passes this season versus only three interceptions. His seven-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio is the second best in NFL history through a team’s first 10 games among passers with a minimum of 20 TD passes (TOM BRADY, 2007, 9.5-to-1 ratio, 38 TDs vs. four INTs).



The record for touchdown-to-interception ratio through 11 games is also held by Brady from 2007 (9.7-to-1 ratio, 39 TDs, four INTs).



If he keeps up his current pace, Favre will record the best such ratio in a season in NFL history for quarterbacks with at least 20 touchdown passes. Only six quarterbacks have ever had a ratio above 4.0 (min. 20 TDs) in NFL history.



The quarterbacks all-time with a 4.0+ touchdown-to-interception ratio for an entire season with a minimum of 20 TD passes:



PLAYER
TEAM
YEAR
TD/INT RATIO FOR SEASON

Tom Brady
New England
2007
6.25 (50 TDs, 8 INTs)

Steve DeBerg
Kansas City
1990
5.75 (23 TDs, 4 INTs)

Peyton Manning
Indianapolis
2004
4.90 (49 TDs, 10 INTs)

Steve Bartkowski
Atlanta
1983
4.40 (22 TDs, 5 INTs)

Milt Plum
Cleveland
1960
4.20 (21 TDs. 5 INTs)

Vinny Testaverde
NY Jets
1998
4.14 (29 TDs, 7 INTs)




--NFL--



OWENS THE MOMENT: Buffalo Bills wide receiver TERRELL OWENS will play in his 200th career game when he takes the field against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Owens already ranks in the top three all-time in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns for a player in his first 200 career games. He can continue to climb those charts in Week 12.



The top five most receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in a player’s first 200 career games:



PLAYER
RECEPTIONS

PLAYER
REC. YARDS

PLAYER
REC. TDS

Jerry Rice
1,115

Jerry Rice
17,334

Jerry Rice
161

Marvin Harrison
1,102

Terrell Owens*
14,685

Randy Moss*
143

Terrell Owens*
986

Marvin Harrison
14,580

Terrell Owens*
141

Tony Gonzalez*
968

Isaac Bruce*
14,281

Marvin Harrison
128

Isaac Bruce*
948

Randy Moss*
14,126

Cris Carter
114

* Active




Note: Owens has played 199 games; Moss has played 180 games; Harrison played 190 career games.




--NFL--



NEVERS SAY NEVER: Eighty years ago on Thanksgiving Day (November 28, 1929), Chicago Cardinals halfback ERNIE NEVERS produced one of the most memorable performances in NFL history. Nevers scored all of the Cardinals’ 40 points – on six rushing touchdowns and four extra points – in their 40-6 win over the cross-town rival Chicago Bears.



His records for rushing touchdowns in a game (six) and total points scored in a game (40) have never been broken, and stand as the oldest individual single-game records in league history. Only two other players have ever scored six total touchdowns in a game – DUB JONES of the Cleveland Browns in 1951 (four rushing and two receiving) and GALE SAYERS of the Chicago Bears in 1965 (four rushing, one receiving and one punt return).



Some of the oldest individual records in NFL history:


PLAYER, TEAM
RECORD
DATE
2009 LEADER

Ernie Nevers,

Chicago Cardinals
Most Points, Game (40)
11/28/1929
Many tied (18)

Ernie Nevers,

Chicago Cardinals
Most Rushing TDs, Game (6)
11/28/1929
Many tied (3)

Beattie Feathers,

Chicago Bears
Highest Rushing Avg., Season (8.44)
1934
Chris Johnson, Tennessee (6.24)

Don Currivan, Boston
Highest Receiving Avg., Season (32.58)
1947
Miles Austin, Dallas (19.40)

Sammy Baugh, Washington
Highest Yards Per Pass Avg., Game (18.58)
10/31/1948
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (13.17)

Norm Van Brocklin,

Los Angeles
Most Yards Passing, Game (554)
9/28/1951
Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia (450)




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