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ONE TO GO: Last night on Sunday Night Football, New Orleans quarterback DREW BREES threw four touchdowns in the Saints' 31-24 win over San Diego and extended his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 48, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHNNY UNITAS(47)* *for the longest streak in NFL history.
The quarterbacks to throw one or more touchdown passes in the most consecutive games:
PLAYER
TEAM
DATES
CONSEC. GAMES W/ TD PASS
Drew Brees
New Orleans
10/18/2009-present
*48
Johnny Unitas
Baltimore Colts
12/9/1956-12/4/1960
47
Tom Brady
New England
9/12/2010-present
*37
Brett Favre
Green Bay
11/4/2002-11/29/2004
36
Dan Marino
Miami
11/10/1985-11/22/1987
30
*Active streak
Unitas surpassed the previous mark held by CECIL ISBELL (22 games) on November 30, 1958 and held sole possession of the record for 19,663 days before Brees tied the mark in Week 4. Brees has thrown 118 touchdowns during his streak, 12 more than Unitas (102) had during his streak. During their streaks, Unitas threw a TD pass to seven different players, while Brees has connected with 15 players.
A look at Brees' numbers during his 48-game streak and Unitas' numbers during his 47-game streak:
PLAYER
GAMES
ATT
COMP
YARDS
TDs
INTs
RATING
RECORD
Drew Brees
48
1,936
1,331
15,173
118
51
101.4
34-14
Johnny Unitas
47
1,298
697
10,645
102
61
87.6
31-16
Meanwhile in New England, quarterback TOM BRADYrecorded a touchdown pass in the Patriots' 31-21 win over Denver and extended his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 37, surpassing BRETT FAVRE (36) for the third-most consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
-- NFL --
ROOKIE SUCCESS:Four of the top five rookie passing yardage totals in NFL history through a team's first five games have occurred in 2012. Only CAM NEWTON (1,610 yards in 2011) has passed for more yards as a rookie in his team's first five games than this year's rookie foursome of BRANDON WEEDEN (1,610), RYAN TANNEHILL (1,288), ANDREW LUCK (1,208) and ROBERT GRIFFIN III (1,161).
Luck, whose Colts were on bye in Week 4, has played in four games thus far and can add to his total next Sunday against the Jets.
The most passing yards by a rookie quarterback through his team's first five games:
QUARTERBACK
TEAM
YEAR
PASSING YARDS THROUGH FIRST 5 GAMES
Cam Newton
Carolina Panthers
2011
1,610
Brandon Weeden
Cleveland Browns
2012
1,288
Ryan Tannehill
Miami Dolphins
2012
1,269
Andrew Luck
Indianapolis Colts
2012
*1,208
Robert Griffin III
Washington Redskins
2012
1,161
- Through four games
-- NFL --
CATCHING ON:On Sunday, Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. GREENcaught nine passes for 65 yards and a touchdown against Miami. Green became the eighth player – and fourth wide receiver – in NFL history to reach 100 career receptions in 20 or fewer games, tying for the third-fastest all-time.
In his first 20 career games, Green has 101 receptions, 1,550 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is the first player in NFL history with at least 100 receptions, 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first 20 career games.
The fewest games to reach 100 receptions in NFL history:
PLAYER
TEAM
NO. OF GAMES
WR Anquan Boldin
Arizona
16
RB Reggie Bush
New Orleans
19
WR A.J. Green
Cincinnati
20
WR Terry Glenn
New England
20
WR Eddie Royal
Denver
20
TE Keith Jackson
Philadelphia
20
TE Jeremy Shockey
New York Giants
20
TE Kellen Winslow
Cleveland
20
-- NFL --
WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON MNF: Three more notes to keep in mind for tonight's *Monday Night Football *game between the Texans and Jets…
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Close games have been a staple of the 2012 season as 43 games have been decided by eight points or fewer, tied for the second-most such games through the first five weeks of a season in NFL history.
If the Houston Texans and New York Jets game on *Monday Night Football *is decided by eight points or fewer, 2012 will feature the second most such games through the first five weeks of a season in NFL history.
The most games decided by eight points or fewer in a season's first five weeks:
MOST GAMES DECIDED BY
EIGHT POINTS OR FEWER
SEASON
THROUGH FIVE WEEKS
1999
45
2012
*43
1988
43
2011
42
2010
41
- One game remaining
-- NFL --
10,000 CLUB:Houston wide receiver ANDRE JOHNSON (9,924) needs 76 receiving yards on *Monday Night Football *to reach 10,000 career receiving yards. Johnson is 31 years, 89 days old and can become the sixth-youngest to reach the milestone.
The youngest players to reach 10,000 career receiving yards:
PLAYER
TEAM(S)
AGE
*YEARS *
DAYS
Randy Moss
Minnesota, Oakland
28
314
Jerry Rice
San Francisco
30
54
Torry Holt
St. Louis
30
132
Isaac Bruce
St. Louis
30
343
Steve Largent
Seattle
31
83
*Andre Johnson
Houston
31
89
- 9,924 career receiving yards
-- NFL --
SEVENTH HEAVEN:There have been seven punt-return touchdowns through Week 5 with one game remaining, tied for the second most through Week 5 since 1970 (eight in 1998; seven in 1996 and 2002).
With a punt-return touchdown on Monday Night Football, 2012 will tie 1998 (eight) for the most punt-return touchdowns through Week 5 since 1970.
* *
The seven punt return-touchdowns through Week 5*:
* *
PLAYER
TEAM
WEEK
PUNT RETURN TD LENGTH
Leodis McKelvin
Buffalo Bills
2
88
Adam Jones
Cincinnati Bengals
2
81
Marcus Sherels
Minnesota Vikings
4
77
Randall Cobb
Green Bay Packers
1
75
Marcus Thigpen
Miami Dolphins
1
72
Jeremy Kerley
New York Jets
1
68
Tommie Campbell
Tennessee Titans
3
65
- One game remaining
