NFL teams not taking a pass on throwing often

Need more evidence the NFL has become a passing league?

Five quarterbacks have thrown for 400-plus yards in games this season, the most through the first three weeks.

Each of those players had thrown for at least 400 in a game before, among them Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning, who has done it 10 times.

It’s worth noting that four of the five quarterbacks wound up losing those games -- and the one who won, Houston’s Matt Schaub, did so in overtime by beating another 400-yard passer. So big yards in the passing game don’t always generate the desired results.

A look at the performances, including number of 400-yard games (*loss):

Player, Yards, Result, No.
Peyton Manning, 433, Texans 34-Colts24*, 10
Matt Schaub, 497, Texans 30-Redskins 27 (OT), 2
Donovan McNabb, 426, Texans 30-Redskins 27 (OT)*, 3
Kyle Orton, 476, Colts 27-Broncos 13*, 2
Philip Rivers, 455, Seahawks 27-Chargers 20*, 2

Good matchups

The NFL’s primetime pairings have been very competitive so far, with seven of the eight night games decided by eight points or fewer. The average differential for night games through the first three weeks was 7.1 points.

Many happy returns

So far this season there have been six kickoff returns for touchdowns. That’s tied with the 1970 and 2002 seasons for the most through the first three weeks since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

If someone were to run one back in this week’s games, it would be the first time in the modern era there were at least one kickoff return for a touchdown in each of the first four weeks.

The star of Week 3 was Seattle’s Leon Washington, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in a victory over San Diego. Washington, a former New York Jets standout who sat out most of last season because of a broken leg, became the 10th player to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game.

That happened twice last season. Ted Ginn, then with Miami, did that last season against the Jets, and Cleveland’s Josh Cribbs did it against Kansas City.

A look at the six touchdowns scored on kickoff returns this year:

Player, Team, Yards, Wk
Brandon Tate, Patriots, 97, 1
Antonio Brown , Steelers, 89, 2
C.J. Spiller, Bills, 95, 3
LaRod Stephens-Howling, Cardinals, 102, 3
Leon Washington, Seahawks,101, 3
Leon Washington, Seahawks, 99, 3

Source: NFL

One shy

When his team beat Buffalo last Sunday, New England quarterback Tom Brady picked up the 99th victory of his career.

(OK, so quarterbacks aren’t pitchers and “victory counts” are a bit of a misnomer considering they aren’t really a statistic, but suspend your skepticism for a moment.)

If the Patriots were to beat Miami on Monday night, Brady would become the 22nd quarterback to win 100 games, reaching that mark in the fewest number of starts (131) among players in the Super Bowl era.

The fastest quarterbacks to 100 wins, including starts to reach 100 wins (in Super Bowl era; since 1966):

Player, Team, Starts
Joe Montana, 49ers, 139
Terry Bradshaw, Steelers,147
Brett Favre, Packers, 153
Peyton Manning, Colts, 154
Tom Brady (99 wins), Patriots, 130