NFL by the Numbers

NFL by the Numbers

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40 and 200 ... Seattle's Shawn Alexander is the first running back with a 40-carry, 200-yard game in a regulation game in 29 years. Alexander was 40-for-201 against the Packers, the first player with a 40-carry, 200-yard game not in overtime since Walter Payton of the Bears was 40-for-275 against the Vikings on Nov. 20, 1977. Terrell Davis of the Broncos was 42-for-207 against the Bills in overtime in 1997. Those are the only three 40-carry, 200-yard games in NFL history.

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3 ... Joseph Addai had TD runs of 10, 15 and 10 yards in the first half of the Colts' win over the Eagles, making him the second rookie in NFL history with three rushing touchdowns of 10 yards or more in a first half. On Oct. 31, 1988, another Colt, Eric Dickerson, had TD runs of 12 and 11 yards in the first quarter and 41 yards in the second quarter.

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405 ... Matt Leinart threw for 405 yards against the Vikings, becoming the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to pass for 400 yards in a game. The previous rookie record was 388 yards by Jake Plummer, also of the Cards, against the Giants in 1997. Plummer broke the mark of 379 yards, set by Troy Aikman against the Cards in 1989, so the top three rookie single-game passing marks have been set either by or against the Cards, and the Cards have lost all three games.

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27-0 ... Troy Polamalu and the Steelers' 27-0 loss to the Ravens matched the worst by a defending NFL champion in 42 years. The Bears won the 1963 NFL Championship and lost 52-0 to the Colts in 1964. The Steelers matched the worst shutout loss by a defending Super Bowl winner in 25 years, since the 1981 Raiders lost 27-0 to the Chiefs. The Steelers are also the first Super Bowl winner to be shut out twice the next year since those same 1981 Raiders, who were blanked three weeks in a row - by the Lions, Broncos and Chiefs.

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172 ... Larry Fitzgerald had 11 catches for 172 yards, becoming the second receiver in four years with 11 or more receptions and 172 or more yards. Terrell Owens of the 49ers was 12-for-191 with no touchdowns against the Raiders in 2002. Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals had 11 receptions for 260 yards this year against the Chargers.

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166 ... Michael Vick's 166 rushing yards against the Saints are the second-most ever by a quarterback. Vick had 173 yards against the Vikings in 2002. Vick now owns three of the top four quarterback rushing games in NFL history. Tobin Rote of the Packers had 150 yards against the Bears in 1951. Vick needs 99 yards in the Falcons' last five games to break the single-season record of 968 yards, set in 1972 by Bobby Douglass of the Bears, and 130 to reach 1,000 yards.

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158 ... Devery Henderson of the Saints caught four passes for 158 yards against the Falcons, the most yards on four or fewer catches since Koren Robinson of the Seahawks was 3-for-166 against the Rams on Oct. 20, 2002.

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5 ... Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is the first quarterback since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to put together a game with five touchdown passes, 300 passing yards and no interceptions within his first five NFL starts. The only quarterback to come close during that span was Kurt Warner in 1999, who had 323 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in his fourth career start, against the 49ers. In the second half of his last three starts, Romo has completed 29 of 31 passes for 409 yards, three TDs and no interceptions.

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99 ... Adrian Wilson's 99-yard return of a fumble by Vikings running back Chester Taylor was the fifth-longest in NFL history and the longest since another Cards defensive back, Aeneas Williams, had a 104-yard return of a Stephen Davis fumble against the Redskins on Nov. 5, 2000. It was the longest by a player other than a cornerback since Chiefs linebacker Chris Martin had a 100-yarder against the Dolphins in 1991.

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24 ... The Titans' 24 fourth-quarter points are the most the Giants have allowed in any quarter in 28 years to the day. On Nov. 26, 1978, the Bills scored 27 fourth-quarter points against the Giants in a 41-17 win at Rich Stadium.

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0 ... From 1980 through 2005, there were only two instances where two teams coming off shutout victories faced each other the following week. This weekend, it will happen for the second week in a row. On Nov. 19 of this year, the Bears blanked the Jets and the Patriots shut out the Packers. On Nov. 26, the Patriots beat the Bears. The same day, Ed Reed and the Ravens shut out the Steelers and the Bengals did the same to the Browns. The Ravens and Bengals meet Thursday night in Cincinnati. The only previous instances where two teams met a week after winning shutouts were on Dec. 14, 1986 (Chargers-Seahawks) and Dec. 14, 2003 (Jaguars-Patriots).

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6 ... The Cards ran the ball just six times against the Vikings, matching the fewest carries in NFL history and matching a 73-year-old franchise record set three cities ago. The Chicago Cardinals had six carries against the Boston Redskins on Oct. 29, 1933, at Fenway Park, and the Patriots had six against the Steelers on Oct. 31, 2004.

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21 ... Titans quarterback Vince Young became the first rookie in NFL history to rally a team from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to a victory when he engineered the Titans' 24-21 victory over the Giants. In the game's final 12 1/2 minutes, Young was 14-for-17 for 132 yards and a touchdown and 4-for-43 with a TD rushing. The previous record for largest comeback by a rookie was 19 points, by John Elway. On Dec. 11, 1983, the Baltimore Colts led the Broncos 19-0 early in the fourth quarter before Elway threw TD passes to Clint Sampson, Jesse Myles and Gerald Willhite for a 21-19 Denver win.

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1,954 ... Saints quarterback Drew Brees has passed for 1,954 yards in his last five games, the most by any NFL quarterback in a five-game span since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The previous high for a five-game span since 1970 was 1,947 by Kurt Warner of the Rams the first five weeks of the 2000 season.