Week 7 was a pretty crazy week. There weren’t a whole lot of competitive games, or, enjoyable games for that matter. Yesterday’s Ravens-Jaguars game deserves to be played on a 24-hour loop to any captured Al Qaeda members still at Guantanamo Bay, because when the immovable object that is the Jaguars offense collides with the unstoppable force that is the Ravens defense, it results in one of the most mind-numbing games in history. But don’t worry America: you only have to sit through two more Jaguars games in primetime.
NFL Notes & Records: Week 7 -- Where the Colts REAALLLLY miss Peyton Manning
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Historically, though, it was a tremendous week. The Saints game alone could easily fuel this entire article. New Orleans beat the Indianapolis Colts to the score of 62-7, an astounding total considering these very two teams met in a tightly-contested Super Bowl barely a year ago. The 62 points tied the most any team has scored since the AFL merger in 1970, making them just the third team to finish in the 60’s, while coming within nine points of the all-time record.
They totaled over 300 passing yards and 200 rushing yards. Drew Brees, who is now on pace to break both Dan Marino’s yardage record as well as his own completion percentage record from 2009, finished the game with more touchdowns (5) than interceptions (4); his 88.6 completion percentage was the second-highest ever for a quarterback with more than 30 attempts; and he threw for more than 300 yards for the fifth straight game, without even throwing a pass in the fourth quarter. Jimmy Graham, despite (somehow) failing to record 100 receiving yards for the first time in five games, remains in the ballpark to break every of one Tony Gonzalez’ single-season tight end records. And Darren Sproles, New Orleans’ third-string rusher, has 45 receptions through seven games, putting him on pace to break the single-year receptions record by a running back, set by Ladainian Tomlinson in 2003.
On the Colts’ side, it’s everything but the opposite. This is clearly the low point to what has obviously been a disastrous season in lieu of Peyton Manning. Indianapolis’ throttling was very reminiscent of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who, last year without LeBron James, suffered their worst defeat in franchise history in a road game against the Lakers (112-57). You may recall that outcome caused LeBron to tweet that “karma is a bitch,” although he later claimed his account had been hacked, which was a pretty lame excuse. Byron Scott, the coach of the Cavs, did not lose his job after the loss, and it’s hard to see Indianapolis cutting off ties with Jim Caldwell either. Still, something has to be done after a loss like that.
The Colts already have more losses through seven games than they’ve had in any season since 2001. You may also recall that being the year of Jim Mora’s legendary “Playoffs?!” post-game speech.
More footnotes after the jump...
- Murray shatters Cowboys rushing record. DeMarco Murray was nothing short of amazing on Sunday, rushing for 253 yards and establishing the Cowboys’s single-game franchise record. And he did it without even starting! The Cowboys, in recent history, have produced a flurry of overrated running backs whose talent is exaggerated because of the stage they play on (Marion Barber, Felix Jones, Julius Jones, etc.). Murray could easily fit into that category, and we can’t ignore that this performance took place against a moribund Rams team that was without Sam Bradford. Plus, one great game doesn’t make a career; Jerome Harrison isn’t even two years removed from a 286-yard rushing performance, and he may never play another football game in his life. Still, Murray’s game is clearly worth getting excited over. If Cam Newton can come out of nowhere and become a superstar right away, why can’t Murray?
- So is Tim Tebow good or bad? I still can’t tell. For most of the game, he was absolutely horrendous against a pretty miserable Dolphins team, but he turned it around in the final minutes. He lead the Broncos to an 18-15 overtime victory, making Denver the first team since the merger to win a game after being down by 15 with three minutes to go. His mechanics are awful, but his intangibles are great. It’s a dichotomy that should follow him the rest of his career, and whether he’ll be effective or not, his career should be interesting if nothing else.
Matt Forte is having a pretty damn good season, too. Not since Sammy Sosa has a Chicago athlete been more responsible for his team’s scoring output. Forte is averaging 155.9 yards from scrimmage this season and has accounted for more than half of the Bears’ yards. He has a chance to set the record for most yards from scrimmage, as well to become only the third back in history to produce 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in a year. Marshall Faulk was the last to do it.
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