[Posted Wednesday a.m.]
NFL Quiz: Washington’s Kirk Cousins threw for 400 yards on Sunday, becoming the first Redskin to throw for 400 twice in one season. So it got me thinking. Who has the most 400-yard games for his career, regular season? Give me the top three. [Hint: Ben Roethlisberger is fourth with nine.] Answer below.
Tragedy in Colombia
The story of the Chapecoense football team from Brazil, whose members and staff almost all perished in the plane crash at Medellin, Colombia, on Monday, is just so sad. The crash has been blamed thus far on an electrical issue on board and there is some certainty with the theory as the pilot had reported a problem as he circled around and around the airport before attempting to land, eventually crashing into a mountainside. Six of 81 on board survived, including three team members, at last report. There were also 21 journalists on board.
Shortly before boarding in Sao Paulo, Chapecoense manager Cadu Gaucho, 36, appeared in a video posted on the team’s Facebook page describing the trip to Medellin as “the club’s most important to date.”
The team had been due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana, against Medellin team Atletico Nacional in what was to be the highlight of a true Cinderella season for the club from a small city, Chapeco, in the state of Santa Catarina, which has fewer than 200,000 inhabitants. Founded in 1973, the team has been playing in Brazil’s Serie A since only 2014. [For a comparison, think someone like Burnley being elevated to the Premier League.]
Last week, it became the first Brazilian team in three years to make it to the final of the Copa Sudamericana, South America’s second most important club competition, after beating Argentine side San Lorenzo. [Think the Europa League, which is below the Champions League in Europe.] This was big stuff.
Brazil announced three days of national mourning, as Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona held a minute’s silence at the beginning of their practice sessions.
Imagine the people of Chapecoense. This club was everything to them.
Some players didn’t make the trip because they were injured. One player wasn’t on the flight because at the last minute he couldn’t find his passport.
Organizers say Atletico Nacional has asked for Chapecoense to be awarded the cup, while Brazilian clubs have offered to loan players to them for free for the next year.
The last big plane crash involving a major sports team was in September 2011, when 36 players, coaches and officials from Russian ice hockey team Lokomotiv died in a crash northeast of Moscow.
Back in February 1958, eight players from Manchester United were among 29 victims of a crash in Munich.
In the U.S., you have accidents that claimed many members of the Marshall University football team, back in 1970,* and the 1977 crash that wiped out the Evansville University men’s basketball team and staff.
*A month earlier, 14 members and the coach of the Wichita State football team were also killed in a plane crash. Other members were on a separate plane that landed safely.
Thankfully, no professional American sports club has suffered such a catastrophic event, but let’s just say all the major sports leagues have long-held contingency plans.
College Football
Prior to release of the latest CFP rankings Tuesday night, CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm, along with everyone else, frankly, has:
Peach Bowl Dec. 31 Atlanta… (1) Alabama vs. (4) Washington
Fiesta Bowl Dec. 31 Glendale, Az. … (2) Clemson vs. (3) Ohio State
And, assuming conference championship games go to form…
Sugar Bowl Jan 2… Oklahoma vs. Auburn (ughh)
Rose Bowl Jan. 2… Wisconsin vs. Colorado (pretty good)
Cotton Bowl Jan. 2… Western Michigan vs. Penn State (very good)
Orange Bowl Dec. 30… Florida State vs. Michigan (excellent)
But we move on to Tuesday night and the new CFP Rankings:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Washington
5. Michigan…moves down just 2 slots
6. Wisconsin
7. Penn State
8. Colorado
9. Oklahoma
10. Oklahoma State
11. USC
12. Florida State
14. Auburn…first SEC team after Alabama
17. Western Michigan
19. Navy
25. Pitt
No sense overcomplicating matters. If Washington loses to Colorado in the Pac-12 title game, or Clemson loses to Virginia Tech in the ACC championship, then the winner of Penn State-Wisconsin for the Big Ten title should replace them in the final four. The selection committee, though, is playing with us in keeping Michigan at 5.
As for Western Michigan, things suddenly get a little complicated for them if Navy beats Temple this weekend in the American Athletic Conference championship; assuming WMU defeats Ohio in the MAC title contest. More Monday.
Division I-AA / FCS Playoffs
Among the games in the Sweet Sixteen this Saturday are New Hampshire at James Madison; Villanova at South Dakota State (Road trip!); Chattanooga at Sam Houston State; Wofford at The Citadel;* and Richmond at North Dakota (not to be confused with five-time champ North Dakota State, which is hosting San Diego).
*These two played earlier this year, Citadel winning 24-21.
–I’ve looked at the fourth-and-one overtime call on Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett a number of times and I just can’t see how there is irrefutable evidence to overturn it.
As for coach Jim Harbaugh’s postgame rant against the officials, Steve Politi of NJ.com (Star-Ledger) reminded me of what Harbaugh said after Super XLVII, when he was coach of the 49ers, who lost to his bother John’s Ravens.
“Harbaugh didn’t come to the post-game press conference to heap praise on (brother John), who was celebrating a dramatic victory for his first Lombardi trophy. He came to rip the officials for missing a pass interference penalty on the final, desperate pass to receiver Michael Crabtree to seal his team’s fate.
“ ‘I really want to handle this with class,’ Jim Harbaugh said, before he decided not to, ‘(but) there is no question in my mind that there was a pass interference and a hold on Crabtree on the last one.’”
–Only five schools in the Power Five conferences have fired their coaches (including Baylor strictly for off-the-field reasons), with Oregon dumping Mark Helfrich Tuesday night. As reported in USA TODAY, only three Power Five schools fired their coaches in 2013 and four in 2014, but seven last year.
Texas taking Tom Herman from Houston and LSU opting to stay with Ed Orgeron prevented a series of dominoes.
But as for Helfrich, who was left twisting Sunday and as is the case this time of year had gone out recruiting, the two obvious candidates for his job would be Western Michigan’s P.J. Fleck and Boise State’s Bryan Harsin. But with the bucks that Oregon can throw around (or make that the bucks that Nike’s Phil Knight makes available), Penn State’s James Franklin and North Carolina’s Larry Fedora have been mentioned; both of which happen to be at Nike-affiliated schools.
Oregon handled this firing terribly, but the team’s decline was stark. As Helfrich himself said last night, “Plain and simple – we didn’t win enough games this season.” 4-8, after taking the team to the first College Football Playoff championship game following the 2014 season.
Oregon said they will look outside the program for candidates.
Don’t cry for Helfrich, though. He receives an $11.6 million buyout.
–Chuck Culpepper of the Washington Post muses just how many yards Florida’s 114th-ranked offense will get against Alabama on Saturday. He pegs the over/under at 137.5.
Culpepper also has this thought on Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly: “In his exhausted seventh season at Notre Dame, he finished 4-8 amid reports he has his people seeking other jobs while he denies seeking other jobs. It can get so complicated, co-habitating with ghosts.”
–I was shocked to see Wake Forest placekicker Mike Weaver named first-team All-ACC, the lone Deac on the first squad, because while he’s solid, he’s hardly elite. Miami’s Michael Badgley, who you know I’m partial to, was only honorable mention! A total outrage. I’m ready to riot.
Florida State running back Dalvin Cook, by the way, received the most votes of any player, with the first-team QB being Lamar Jackson, the other running back, Pitt’s James Conner, and Clemson wideout Mike Williams picking up the second most votes overall.
–The television rating for Michigan-Ohio State was the largest for college football in 10 years (10.4…rising to 12.7 during the overtimes). Not bad for a game starting at noon.
NFL
After Monday night’s Green Bay-Philadelphia contest (blurb below), we have the following teams in the playoffs.
AFC
1. Patriots 9-2
2. Raiders 9-2
3. Ravens 6-5
4. Texans 6-5
5. Chiefs 8-3
6. Dolphins 7-4
NFC
1. Cowboys 10-1
2. Seahawks 7-3-1
3. Lions 7-4
4. Falcons 7-4
5. Giants 8-3
6. Redskins 6-4-1
–Monday night, Green Bay (5-6) stayed relevant with a 27-13 win over the Eagles (5-6) in Philadelphia, with Aaron Rodgers in prime form, 30/39, 313, 2-0, 116.7, while Eagles rookie Carson Wentz continued to struggle, 24/36, 254, 0-1, 75.5. He has just 11 touchdown passes and 8 interceptions, after his hot start, and his rating is down to 83.4,
–I just have to note for the record Kansas City’s thrilling 30-27 win Sunday night over Denver, having posted prior to the contest. Consensus was it was one of the better Sunday night games in some time, the Chiefs finally winning as time expired in overtime on a Cairo Santos bank shot field goal. Had it missed it would have ended in a 27-27 tie.
But the game featured the spectacular play of K.C.’s Tyreek Hill, who became the first player since Gale Sayers in 1965 to score on a pass, rush, and return (86-yard kickoff return). Hill was on the receiving end of an Alex Smith pass with seconds left in regulation that, following a two-point conversion, tied it at 24, sending the game into OT; this after Denver had taken the lead with just 3:00 to play, 24-16.
There was controversy with Denver’s second overtime series, both teams having kicked field goals on their opening drives, when Broncos coach Gary Kubiak opted to allow kicker Brandon McManus to attempt a 62-yard field goal in the thin air in Denver, only it was woefully short. K.C. then drove 32 yards to set up Santos for the winning 34-yarder.
And a thought about Chiefs QB Alex Smith, who seldom sets the world on fire statistically (10 TD passes, 4 INTs this year, 89.7 rating…84.9 for his career). One thing the guy does is more often than not he wins.
Smith has a career 75-55-1 record as a starter, and 37-19 with K.C. As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’
–A lot of folks in this area are justifiably excited by the Giants’ 8-3 start, six-in-a-row after beginning the season 2-3. But while they are definitely playoff bound, they haven’t been winning impressively, though we all know when it comes to the NFL, a ‘W’ is a ‘W’ no matter how you get it.
It’s just that during the current streak they’ve beaten the Ravens, Rams, Eagles, Bengals, Bears and Browns…hardly Carl Hubbell, circa 1934.*
What has a few Giants fans worried is they’re not convinced this edition is capable of a real Super Bowl run, though they’ll find out the next five games…
At Pittsburgh, Dallas, Detroit, at Philadelphia, at Washington.
* For the few of you who don’t know what I’m referring to, Hubbell, pitching for the New York Giants in the 1934 All-Star Game, fanned five future Hall of Famers in succession…Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin.
–Meanwhile, my flailing 3-8 Jets have nothing to look forward to the final five games, especially since coach Todd Bowles insists on continuing to play veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, and not second-year man Bryce Petty, despite the fact there is no chance Fitzpatrick is back with the team next year.
“[Fitzpatrick is] our starter,” Bowles said on Monday. “It’s no different than anyone else on both sides of the ball right now.”
George Willis / New York Post
“The quarterback always is different. In sticking with Fitzpatrick, Bowles is going with the status quo amid a three-game losing streak….
“Bowles seems oblivious to any notion that with the playoffs no longer an option, it’s time to give Petty and rookie quarterback Christian Hackenberg some reps.
“ ‘As a coach, you’re trying to win ballgames first,’ Bowles said. ‘There will be a time and place for those guys to play. It just won’t be next week.’
“How long the instability continues at the team’s most important position is anyone’s guess. But the longer it goes on, the more it will reflect on Bowles. He already seems headed down the same path that doomed (Rex) Ryan: the weekly pronouncements on who will be the starter; the instant second-guessing; the frustration of a fan base that has watched Eli Manning quarterback the Giants since 2004; the mounting losses….
“Bowles is solidifying his reputation as a players’ coach by sticking with the veteran. Current players don’t want to hear about planning for the future.
“ ‘We’re all fighters,’ Bowles said. ‘We’re all trying to win every game. It’s not about Bryce. It’s not about Fitz. It’s about winning a ballgame.’
“Funny, but Bowles could have taken the heat off himself by turning to Petty for the rest of the year. You expect there to be struggles when an inexperienced quarterback is getting his first reps as a pro. Now it looks as if Petty and Hackenberg may not see much action if Fitzpatrick stays healthy the rest of 2016. At this rate, the Jets will come to camp in July with barely half of what they have now: two unproven quarterbacks with 34 professional pass attempts between them.”
I’m so sick of this crap, and really loathe Bowles at this point. Owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Maccagnan have also failed to put their foot down and tell the coach to look to the future. Who knows if Bowles is coming back. He could have been told by Johnson, ‘Don’t worry, you’re coming back next year. So let’s get a good look at Petty.’
As for the veterans wanting to win ballgames, these are largely, with few exceptions, the same guys who have been taking their big salaries and then underachieving on a massive scale.
–As reported by Jim Chairusmi of the Wall Street Journal, “the league is on pace to have more nail-biting games than ever.
“Through the first 12 weeks of the season, 60.2% of NFL games have been decided by eight points or fewer, the highest percentage of games decided by just one possession since the NFL implemented the 2-point conversion in 1994, according to Stats LLC.”
It’s interesting that the Lions and the Browns are the only two teams to trail in the fourth quarter of every game this season, but the “Cardiac Lions” are 7-4, while the Brownies are 0-12.
College Basketball
AP Poll (Nov. 28…not including Monday’s results)
1. Kentucky 6-0 (40)
2. Villanova 6-0 (20)
3. North Carolina 7-0 (4)
5. Duke 6-1
6. Virginia 6-0
7. Xavier 6-0
8. Gonzaga 6-0
9. Baylor 6-0 (1)
10. Creighton 6-0
–Monday, Kentucky destroyed Arizona State 115-69 behind John Calipari’s latest freshmen backcourt, which many are calling the best ever in all of college ball…Malik Monk with 23 points and De’Aaron Fox with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. I said way back last spring that Duke was a lock for this season, but once again it’s clear Kentucky is going to be right there.
Also Monday, my Wake Forest Demon Deacons suffered a bad loss at Northwestern, 65-58, as our shooting touch eluded us in a big way, just 19 of 61 from the field, 31.1%, 5 of 21 from three-point range. Our point guard, Bryant Crawford, had nine turnovers! Yikes.
–Tuesday, as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Duke beat Michigan State 78-69.
NBA
–The Oklahoma City Thunder visited Madison Square Garden on Monday and in his only appearance of the season, Russell Westbrook didn’t disappoint. I caught some of it and he was remarkable…27 points, 18 rebounds, and 14 assists. Incredibly, in the first 19 games of the season (the Thunder being 11-8, post-Durant), Westbrook is averaging a triple-double…30.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 11.3 assists. Dating back to 1962, every hoops fan knows that only Oscar Robertson has accomplished this feat (the 1961-62 season for The Big O).
It’s true, Westbrook sometimes has hideous nights from the field, but he brings energy every single possession and he’s upped his game on the assist front in Durant’s absence.
How much as he upped his game? His career averages for rebounds and assists are 5.7 and 7.7. More so than any player in the league, including LeBron, Steph and Durant, he’s worth the price of admission.
Carmelo Anthony, who was horrid a second straight game and is 11 of 44 from the field in his last two, said of Westbrook: “Russ is Russ. He’s a specimen – all over the court.”
On the other hand, Marc Berman of the New York Post said of Anthony, he “was an eyesore.”
MLB
The Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at 12 a.m. ET Wednesday night, with owners still threatening a lockout. Again, such a move would put a halt to the free-agent market* and obviously put a damper on next week’s winter meetings. As noted last time, however, there could be an extension.
It seems the major hang-up is the owners’ wanting an international draft, which would end bidding wars for amateur players from Latin America. Fox Sports is reporting, however, that this is no longer an issue with the owners.
The players’ union doesn’t want Latin teens to have to face a take-it-or-leave-it offer without the leverage of a college scholarship available to draftees in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as noted by the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin.
Other issues remain…such as the addition of a 26th player from April to August, and then a big reduction from the current 40-man limit come September, say to 29. More day games on getaway days, too, though I don’t see this…just plain economics. [Travel for teams playing Sunday night games, though, must change. As happened a few times last year, you can’t have them playing Sunday night in New York and then having to hop on an all-nighter to L.A. for a game there the next day. You’re just not going to be putting a great product on the field in those instances. Actually, the Mets were involved in one or two where they had a day game in another city the next day.]
Anyway, we’ll see.
*But for now, the uncertainty over a new C.B.A. and compensation for free-agents signing with other teams had no impact on the New York Mets, who re-signed their own, Yoenis Cespedes, to a four-year, $110 million deal.
John Harper / New York Daily News
“So how did the Mets go from wanting no part of Yoenis Cespedes on a long-term deal a year ago to pushing aggressively to lock him up through 2020? Simply put, they were smart enough to recognize their window to win a championship is now, and they didn’t stand a chance without the Cuban slugger.
“They still have concerns, to be sure, about whether (the deal) is going to make their high-maintenance superstar less than motivated to give his best effort over the course of 162 games.
“But I believe GM Sandy Alderson is also more convinced there is something vital about having a player on a team with World Series expectations who has proven he thrives under the bright lights of New York.”
[The Mets are 106-74 with Cespedes in the starting lineup and 18-23 when he is not.]
The $27.5 million per year is the second-highest annual salary ever in the majors for a position player, behind only Miguel Cabrera.
And remember, the Mets had already committed $17.2 million to Neil Walker on a one-year qualifying offer for a player coming off back surgery.
–There was one free-agent signing on Monday. Kansas City pitcher Edinson Volquez agreed on a two-year, $22 million contract with Miami. Volquez was 13-9, 3.55 ERA, in 2015, in helping the Royals to the World Series title. But this past season he dropped to 10-11, 5.37.
NCAA Soccer
—Men’s Elite Eight is Friday/Saturday….
Providence vs. North Carolina
Clemson vs. Denver
Stanford vs. Louisville
Virginia Tech vs. Wake Forest
Yup, five of the eight are ACC. Providence, having slain No. 1 seed Maryland, is the real Cinderella thus far.
–The Women’s Final Four is Friday/Sunday….
Georgetown vs. USC
North Carolina vs. West Virginia…. Country roads….take me home….
Golf Balls
–It’s all about Tiger Woods, as he finally returns to competition on Thursday at the PGA Tour’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. A reporter with USA TODAY recently watched Tiger during a two-hour hitting session and Tiger was pleased to say he can hit all the shots and that his distance is back.
But as Ernie Els noted: “The talent’s there. It’s been proven. It doesn’t go away. It’s what you think of yourself. It’s what you think where you are. We look at this great player, but he’s not seeing the same stuff in his own mind. A lot of us are like that.”
Els designed the Albany Golf Course where the tournament is being held.
It’s an 18-man field, no cut. But it’s all about one golfer.
–Here’s a depressing item. Geoff Shackelford writes in Golf World that Rio’s Olympic Golf Course is already looking shabby and there is a very real concern it will survive. Can you believe that? [Of course you can, it’s Rio and Brazil.] The Brazilian Golf Federation had given all kinds of assurances that Gil Hanse’s widely praised design would be well taken care of, “but an Agence France-Presse reporter recently visited the site and saw few signs of a basic operation, including no signage, a website or even a golf shop. More troubling was AFP’s claim that the management company in charge of maintenance plans to withdraw, refusing to keep footing the approximately $82,000 monthly bill after not being paid for the past two months. ‘None of us know if there’ll be a job for us in December,’ said superintendent Neil Cleverly, who expertly guided the course through a rushed construction and grow-in. Federation officials are not commenting, but given the turbulent history of the course, Rio’s bleak economy and a contentious landowner, a despairing picture is emerging despite the venue’s Olympian success in August.”
“We are bitterly disappointed,” Hanse told Golf World. “We witnessed this type of brinksmanship during the construction of the course, and we are hopeful that this is another example of having to hit a low point before things get better.”
Stuff
–Just a few notes on the just completed Formula One season. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, teammates at Mercedes, dominated the campaign like no other season, winning 19 of the 21 races between them; Hamilton 10, Rosberg 9.
But Rosberg won the title in Sunday’s finale in Abu Dhabi, even as Hamilton won his fourth in a row to close the season. Rosberg needed to finish outside the top three to not win the title (with Hamilton then winning) but he finished second behind his teammate.
Here’s the thing. These two are fierce competitors and Hamilton did all he could to slow the race down, as you can do in this sport versus Indy Car or NASCAR racing, in attempting to allow other drivers in the race to then block Rosberg.
Of course Hamilton wanted to win the title himself and he rejected claims he used “dirty tricks” in the race. He said after: “I did nothing dangerous so I don’t feel I did anything unfair. We were fighting for the championship. I was leading. I control the pace.”
His team, though, repeatedly ordered him to speed up; Mercedes said, because there was a risk of him losing the race, not because Rosberg was vulnerable to two other top drivers, Sebastian Vettel and 19-year-old sensation Max Verstappen.
Hamilton told his team “let us race” as he continued to do what he thought was the best way to not just win, but maybe take the whole thing.
Rosberg refused to criticize Hamilton after. But Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said he had not decided whether to take some form of action against Hamilton for disobeying team orders.
While this may seem a bit ridiculous, understand that the teams in Formula One, more than the other two circuits mentioned above, rely on extensive computer models to gauge how their driver is doing vs. the competition, including readings on tire pressure.
The difference in the points’ standings between the two at the end was Hamilton had to drop out, ‘retire,’ from two of the 21 races due to mechanical issues, while Rosberg retired from just one.
Hamilton is a three-time world champion, while this was Rosberg’s first title. In doing so Rosberg matched the feat of his father, Keke Rosberg, who won the title in 1982. [Damon and Graham Hill are the only other father-son duo to win it all.]
It’s a far cry from the sport my brother and I grew up with. Back then it seemed like there was a fatality every 2 or 3 races.
–Yes, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is self-imploding, charged a second time in two months by the Football Association for poor behavior following United’s pathetic 1-1 draw at home Sunday against West Ham.
–Huge developments on the mountain lion front in California. State officials on Monday announced that the big cat known as P-45 “is strongly suspected of breaking into two ranches in the hills above Malibu over the weekend and killing nearly a dozen alpacas and a goat.”
Good lord!
But probably not a smart move for P-45 because the owner of one ranch where 10 alpacas were killed secured a special permit Monday to kill the mountain lion (No. 12 on the All-Species List).
As reported by Matt Hamilton of the Los Angeles Times, “The so-called depredation permit gives the ranch owner the right to hire a hunter to find the animal and kill it…typically, hunters use a deer carcass to lure a cougar and shoot it with a rifle.”
Run for your life, P-45! [Except he has a radio collar.]
Meanwhile, it turns out he ate only one of the alpacas, probably opting to return to feed.
In late November exactly a year ago, ranch managers at Malibu Family Wines discovered P-45 had attacked one of several llamas in a pen, and then the lion returned a few days later to kill an alpaca.
But wait…there’s more! This wasn’t the only mountain lion story in California the past few days.
From Steven Luke of the San Diego Union Tribune:
“A family in San Diego’s East County is growing more and more concerned as an unwanted four-legged visitor keeps returning to their yard.
“ ‘I’m guessing he lives somewhere up on the side of the hill there,’ Lakeside resident Kyle Michael told NBC 7 Saturday, referring to a mountain lion spotted several times near his home. ‘Nobody’s ever seen one around here.’
“Michael, who lives on Green Lane, has captured sightings of the mountain lion on his home surveillance cameras over the past few months.”
Heck, the lion has been spotted just sauntering down the driveway, and on his front steps, and they have a 2-year-old son, plus some rather vulnerable dogs.
And there is this.
“(Michael) said his family and neighbors used to hear coyotes several times a week on the hill but since this past summer they have heard no howling, just silence, along with the occasional glimpse of another predator even higher on the food chain.”
Top 3 songs for the week 12/5/81: #1 “Physical” (Olivia Newton-John) #2 “Waiting For A Girl Like You” (Foreigner) #3 “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (The Police)…and…#4 “Oh No” (Commodores) #5 “Here I Am” (Air Supply) #6 “Private Eyes” (Daryl Hall & John Oates) #7 “Let’s Groove” (Earth, Wind & Fire) #8 “Young Turks” (Rod Stewart) #9 “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” (Diana Ross) #10 “Start Me Up” (The Rolling Stones)
NFL Quiz Answer: 400-yard passing games, career (regular season): Drew Brees, 15; Peyton Manning, 14; Dan Marino, 13. Roethlisberger is alone in fourth with 9, while Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers and Eli Manning all have 8. [In the postseason, Brees and Peyton Manning have 3 each. Brady has zero, incidentally.]
Which leads me to this. Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post was discussing Kirk Cousins’ prolific first 11 games, where he has 3,540 yards, over 500 more than Sonny Jurgensen had in 1967 after 11 games.
Cousins has six 300-yard games thus far in 2016, with the team record being seven, which he set last year.
So Steinberg goes, “For you ‘empty calories’ critics, it’s true that the Redskins are 1-4-1 in those games this season, although they were 6-1 in his 300-yard games last season.”
Only three men have ever had 11 300-yard games in a single season: Brees, Manning and Brady. Manning and Dan Marino share the NFL record of four 400-yard games in a single season. Eli Manning, Rivers and Tony Romo have done it three times in one year.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
