Research & Doug – September 24, 2013

This is a generic bibliography because there’s no way I can track where I get these from. Some are from the TV broadcasts of the games, some are from reading through the game notes prepared by the teams, some are from my own notes I keep during the games, some are from reading through generic stat pages and pulling out what I find interesting, and some are from ESPN Stats & Info.

1) In the last 20 weeks of regular season football (608 games over the 2012 and 2013 season), only 14 games had multiple TDs by the same defense. Chicago has 4 of those games.

2) First rookie in Jets history to have a 300-yard game is Geno Smith.

3) The 49ers are 1-2 and below .500 for the first time in the Harbaugh era…Harbaugh hasn’t been below .500 since 11/15/08 (Stanford loss to USC).

4) Since Rex Ryan took over the Jets, he’s 36-31. The exact same record as Tom Coughlin over that time span.

5) Two head coaches have started their Bears career 3-0: Marc Trestman and George Halas.

6) Josh Freeman has the lowest completion percentage (45.7%) & rating (59.3) in the NFL. He’s ranked 33rd, yet there are 32 teams.

7) Alex Smith is the 13th-ranked QB in the NFL, ahead of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco and Eli Manning…also 12 spots better than the QB that replaced him: Colin Kaepernick.

8) The Detroit Lions won their first road game in team history against the Washington Redskins (beat the Boston Redskins 10/13/1935 @Fenway).

9) Jim Harbaugh is in the first losing streak of his NFL career (he was 7-0 after a loss).

10) The AFC East is undefeated when not playing the AFC East…9-3 overall.

11) Russell Wilson is 10-0 at home.

12) The six NFC playoff teams from 2012 are 6-12 combined for 2013 (including Seattle’s 3-0 record).

13) Only three receivers have 8,000 yards in their first 100 games: Randy Moss, Torry Holt and Calvin Johnson.

14) Aaron Rodgers is 5-17 as a starting QB in all games determined by four points or less.

15) Only three coaches have ever coached a franchise for 14 years or more and then coached against it (Curly Lambeau, Hank Stram and Andy Reid.

16) Over 2012 and ’13 only Tom Brady and Alex Smith throw INTs on fewer than 1.5% of their attempts…(Rodgers is at 1.6% after Bengals game).

17) The Washington Redskins began play in 1932 (not in Washington), seven years after the Giants. 2013 is the first time in history both are 0-3.

18) The Redskins defense has more first half TDs than the Redskins offense (2-1).

19) First two games Dallas called a run on 27% of their plays. Against St. Louis, 57.6% of all plays were called running plays. Most for Dallas since right after Thanksgiving in 2010.

20) Chiefs and Titans are the only teams remaining with zero turnovers.

21) Bryan Hoyer is the first Browns QB to throw for 300 yards in his starting debut.

22) 2012 Saints defense: three games holding their opponent to 17 points or less. 2013 Saints defense: 3 games holding their opponent to 17 points or less.

23) The NFC East has one win outside the division DAL v STL.

24) The Bengals batted down three Aaron Rodgers passes (all after the 4th quarter 2:00 minute warning). Since Brett Favre went to the Jets, Rodgers has only had one other game with three of his passes getting batted down.

25) Tony Gonzalez has missed two games in 17 years due to injury and has caught a pass in 198 straight games.

26) Aaron Rodgers threw two INTs for first time in 41 games. Longest streak between games in NFL history.

27) Bengals are first team to ever lead by 14 before trailing by 16 and still win the game.

28) Justin Houston’s 4.5 sacks versus Philly make him only the 2nd Chief in franchise history to reach that mark in a game (Derrick Thomas).

29) In DeMarco Murray’s 26-game career, he’s rushed for 140+ yards only twice, and both were home games against the Rams.

30) How big were the holes for Murray? He only had 26 yards after contact of his 175 total rushing yards.

31) It’s been since December of 2008 Eli Manning was sacked seven times in a game.

32) It took 10 weeks last year for the Giants to turn the ball over as many times as they have this year (13).

33) Geno Smith’s 69-yard 4th quarter TD pass was the longest 4th quarter TD pass for the Jets since Neil O’Donnell in ’96.

34) On passes traveling 10 yards past the line-of-scrimmage, Kaepernick competed 55.6% in 2012 but only 37.8% this year.

35) The Jaguars have two wins in franchise history in the Pacific Time Zone.

36) The ratings for Bears/Steelers beat the Emmy’s.

37) Adam Vinatieri has made a successful field goal in 39 NFL stadiums (there are 32 teams).

38) The Houston Astros became the first team to receive a 0.0 rating on its own television broadcast.

39) Reggie Wayne and Anquan Boldin are the only active players with 700+ receptions and a Super Bowl ring.

40) In Harbaugh’s first 31 games (23-7-1) as NFL head coach, the 49ers defense ranked first in points against and only lost once by 20+ points. In Harbaugh’s last nine games, (5-4) the 49ers defense is 29th in points against and has three 20+ point losses.

41) ASU is in last place in FBS in net punting, averaging 26.69 yards per punt.

42) When Mathew Stafford targets Nate Burleson, his completion percentage is at 82.6%, highest QB/WR combo in the NFL this year.

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