Data Points: Harder to reach 300

Published: October 24th, 2011 | Tags: Data Points,

It’s safe to say that defenses around the NFL are finally starting to catch up. True, there were some prolific passers enjoying their bye weeks in Week 7, but the number of 300-yard passers dropped so significantly that it can’t be ignored. And with “only” six 300-yard performances in each of the previous two weeks, you can call this a trend. After 56 300-yard passing games through six weeks, there were a grand total of three in Week 7.

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Saints Set Points Record, Beat Colts 62-7

He might as well have had both feet up by the middle of the third quarter.

Drew Brees completed 31 of 35 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns, and the Saints set a franchise record for points and victory margin in a 62-7 demolition of the hapless Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night.

"I was real proud of how we played tonight, how we handled the week of practice," said Payton, standing on crutches after the game. "We spent a lot of time during the week just talking about us beginning to play our best football, because we really felt while we were 4-2, we hadn't done that."

Payton had called offensive plays from the sidelines since he took his first head coaching job with New Orleans in 2006, but that changed after he was caught up in a tackle along the sideline during a loss at Tampa Bay last week and was injured. Payton had surgery on Monday and didn't attend a practice until Thursday.

Sitting high up in the Superdome for the game against the Colts, he had to like what he saw down below, where offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. called plays for the first time.

Brees had two touchdown passes to Marques Colston and one to Darren Sproles in the first quarter. His fourth and fifth touchdown tosses went to second-year tight end Jimmy Graham in the third quarter.

It seemed the Saints (5-2) could do whatever they wanted, also rushing for 236 yards.

"We had a great game plan. We played with a lot of confidence. Pete did a phenomenal job," Brees said. "It was just our night, one of those games that doesn't come along too often. ... We needed a win like this, especially after the past week and everything we've gone through."

The Saints' point total tied the most in a game by any team since the AFL merged with the NFL in 1970.

The Saints previous franchise high for points in a game was 51 on three occasions and their largest previous victory margin was 42 over Denver in 1988.

When the large video board in the Superdome showed Payton peering out from the booth, the crowd erupted. By the time the third quarter ended, there wasn't much of a crowd left.

Colston had seven catches for 98 yards.

Brees wasn't intercepted before he was replaced by Chase Daniel late in the third quarter, a move that prevented New Orleans' starting quarterback from extending his NFL record of four straight games with at least 350 yards passing.

Mark Ingram rushed for 91 yards on 18 carries but limped to the locker room early in the fourth quarter with what Payton said was a heel injury, adding that X-rays were negative. Sproles carried 12 times for 88 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown.

The Saints had 557 yards and a team-record 36 first downs.

The winless Colts (0-7) are guaranteed to have fewer than 10 victories in a season for the first time in nine years, and at this rate they might not win many games at all.

"That team played better than we did in every area and we just got whooped across the board," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said. "It's one of those things that once you don't do the little things right, there is a lot of bad things that happen to you. Obviously, I have to take responsibility for our team and the way that they played."

Colts quarterback Curtis Painter was only 9 of 17 for 67 yards and had an interception returned 42 yards for a touchdown by Leigh Torrence.

"We just didn't play near well enough," Painter said. "We made a few too many mistakes in the beginning, and any time you're playing a team as good as them, they're going to make you pay. We just kind of got off to a rough start and you've got to credit them. They played well."

For the seventh game this season, Colts star quarterback Peyton Manning was forced to watch because of a neck injury that has sidelined him all season.

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Data Points: Forte the Bears’ the foundation

Published: October 18th, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Chicago Bears, International Series, Matt Forte, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

As Bears RB Matt Forte continues to plead his case to get a fat new contract, the numbers he’s putting up certainly don’t hurt. Through six games, his 908 total yards from scrimmage represent 43 percent of Chicago’s total offense.

In honor of the Bears traveling across the pond this week to play the Buccaneers in London, let’s call this a “shephard’s pie chart.”

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Data Points: Six QBs on pace to pass Marino

Published: October 3rd, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Tom Brady

Okay, so Tom Brady is no longer on pace to throw for 7,000 yards this season — but he’s still on paced to obliterate Dan Marino‘s single-season yardage mark. And for the record, we will continue to make this a weekly feature in Data Points as long as there are still a few NFL quarterbacks threatening Marino’s mark of 5,084 yards.

In fact, there were five QBs on pace to break the record last week, and that number has increased to six after the first quarter of the season. And as ridiculous as Brady’s numbers have been, Drew Brees is actually creeping up on him.

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Data Points: Numbers say Lions are playoff-bound

Published: October 3rd, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams

Good news for the Detroit Lions: Recent history says they now have an 82 percent chance of making their first playoff appearance since 1999. The Lions, along with the Packers, are off to a 4-0 start. Since 1990, 50 of the 61 teams to win their first four games have gone on to the postseason.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the 0-4 Dolphins, Vikings and Rams (and Colts, depending on what they do Monday night) can all but book their January vacations. Only one team in the last two decades has started 0-4 and made the playoffs. Follow the pie charts below, and you can see how the chances get smaller and smaller as you go from 4-0 teams to 0-4 teams:

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Data Points: Megatron is a scoring machine

Published: September 29th, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Calvin Johnson, Miles Austin, Vernon Davis

Thanks to his hot start in 2011, Lions WR Calvin Johnson has vaulted to the top of the list among players with the most receiving TDs since 2009. Too bad the player he passed last week — Miles Austin – is still injured and won’t be able to go head-to-head with Megatron when the Lions and Cowboys face off this Sunday.

Even more intriguing here is the fact that the lone tight end on this list is Vernon Davis of the 49ers.

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Data Points: Passer efficiency at an all-time high

Published: September 27th, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Aaron Rodgers, Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Schaub, Matthew Stafford, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tom Brady

On Tuesday, we told you that five quarterbacks are still on pace to break Dan Marino‘s single-season passing yardage record. As it turns out, 2011 is shaping up to be a banner year for passing efficiency as well.

There have never been more than five quarterbacks in one season to post a passer rating of 100 or better. After three weeks this season, there are eight QBs above the century mark.

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Data Points: White’s sack dominance

Published: September 29th, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, DeMarcus Ware, Jerome Brown, Reggie White

How good was Reggie White? The Hall of Fame defensive end is the only player in NFL history to record more than 100 sacks in his first 100 career games. That’s not what makes White such a compelling figure — as you’ll see in Thursday night’s “A Football Life” documentary about White and former Eagles teammate Jerome Brown (NFL Network, 10 p.m. ET), but it’s part of White’s legacy.

Meanwhile, Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware plays his 100th career NFL game when Dallas plays Detroit this weekend — and he’s already second on the all-time list with 85 sacks in his first 99 games.

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Data Points: Brady still on pace for 7,000

Published: September 27th, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Dan Marino, Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, Tony Romo

Last week, we told you that five quarterbacks, after two weeks, were on pace to shatter Dan Marino’s single-season passing yards record. Well, now that three games are in the books, there still are five passers on pace to beat that mark.

Marino’s record of 5,084 yards was set back in1984. Patriots QB Tom Brady remains on pace to throw for a preposterous 7,077 yards. Meanwhile, the five names on this list aren’t exactly the same as last week — Tony Romo dropped off the pace while Lions QB Matt Stafford has entered the picture.

In all, there are nine QBs averaging at least 300 yards per game so far in 2011.

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Are This Season’s Huge Passing Numbers Leading To More Points?

The explosion in passing yards is not leading to a similar increase in points scored.  Passing yards are at 128.4 and points scored are at 113.5.  (2006 = 100.0); this is the biggest difference between the two since the start of the 16-game era.  There may be more passing yards to be had due to the new kickoff rule pushing starting field position back.  The sample size is only 2 weeks; these numbers can, and probably will change.

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Data Points: Texans defense stepping up

Published: September 22nd, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Peyton Manning, Wade Phillips

It’s only been two games — but so far, so good for the Wade Phillips-led defense in Houston. The Texans have been struggling for years to field a playoff-caliber defense, and the results have been far less than satisfactory. Enter Phillips as the new defensive coordinator.

Hopes were high, and the numbers after two weeks, compared to all of last season, are very positive — albeit against the Dolphins and the Colts sans Peyton Manning. This week should be a true test, as the Texans go on the road to face Drew Brees and the high-powered Saints.

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Data Points: Not so awesome without Asomugha

Published: September 21st, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With all the big passing numbers that have been produced through the first two weeks of the 2011 season, it’s difficult to get a gauge on which teams are going to thrive in pass defense. But it’s interesting to note that of the five best pass defenses over the previous five seasons, the one that has struggled the most in 2011 is the Raiders. Missing Nnamdi Asomugha, or are there other factors?

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Data Points: Fish out of water

Published: September 22nd, 2011 | Tags: Data Points, Miami Dolphins

When you look at the teams with the best road record in the NFL over the last three seasons, it’s no surprise that most of them are perennial playoff squads. Most of them. So what gives with the Miami Dolphins?

Oddly enough, the Dolphins are tied for the third-best road record since 2008. So after losing their first two games this season at home, the 0-2 Fins must be looking forward to their Week 3 trip to Cleveland.

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