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 BRADY recorded 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.
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 |
|
|
||
CATCHING ON: On Sunday, Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. GREEN caught 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 |
|