During Week 6 we learned that Joe Flacco enjoys efficiency. We were also told that football can be easy when your opponent is the New York Jets.
Let’s dive in.
13: The amount of pass attempts it took for Joe Flacco to throw five touchdowns in a Buccaneers steamrolling. He had thrown seven over 191 attempts prior to Week 6.
3: The amount of 50-plus yard catches by Steve Smith this season, including a 56-yard touchdown from Flacco this week. During his final season with the Panthers Smith didn’t have a single reception for that distance, averaging only 49.7 yards per game.
89: The length of Giovani Bernard’s second-quarter touchdown run during a tie between the Bengals and Panthers that was definitely Mike Nugent’s fault (ask Adam Jones). Prior to Sunday Bernard had only 247 rushing yards over four games. The run was his first 20-plus yarder this season, the longest of his career, and the second longest in Bengals history.
2: Bengals plays that went for 85 yards or more in that game, with Brandon Tate later adding a 97-yard kick return which set up Jeremy Hill’s game-tying touchdown. That’s not a team that deserved a tie, but here we are.
2: The amount of times Tampa has trailed by at least 35 points this season after two quarters, falling down that deep, dark hole 38-0 (against Baltimore due to Flacco’s air mailing) and 35-0 (Week 3). Not ideal, and Sunday’s deficit was the largest at halftime for a home team in NFL history.
5: The amount of completions Brian Hoyer needed to pass for 146 yards in just the first half of a win over the division rival Steelers (on 11 attempts). None of those completions came in the first quarter.
8: Hoyer’s final completion total, four of which went for gains of 30 yards or more.
8: The amount of rushing touchdowns the Browns have scored after five games, including three more Sunday (two from Ben Tate). They had four throughout the entire 2013 season, and the last time they scored this much on the ground over the first five games was during the 1971 season.
10: Total missed field goals by the Lions over just six games, with two more coming Sunday off the foot of newly-signed kicker Matt Prater. Throughout the entire 2013 season no team missed more than nine.
26: The amount of career receiving yards for Lions running back Theo Reddick prior to Week 6 over 18 game appearances. With Reggie Bush sidelined he went off for 75 yards and a touchdown.
38: The length of Joseph Randle’s run against the Seattle Seahawks in the first quarter. The Seahawks previously hadn’t allowed a run longer than 16 yards.
6: DeMarco Murray’s games with 100 or more rushing yards, the latest his 115 yards Sunday against a Seattle defense that was giving up only 62 rushing yards per game. Murray is only the second running back in league history to start a season with six consecutive 100-plus yard rushing games, joining Jim Brown.
178: The amount of pass attempts by Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks this season (all three of them) without an interception.
9: Receiving touchdowns for Broncos tight end Julius Thomas, tying Calvin Johnson’s record for the most after five games. He scored twice Sunday, making it known that football can be really, really easy. Thomas already has three games with multiple touchdowns.
