Josh Allen’s creativity and Jameis Winston risk taking produce statistical firsts
Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here.
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Josh Allen and Jameis Winston delivered signature performances in prime time that define their styles of play.
Allen used his athleticism, creativity and a statistical quirk to become the first quarterback ever credited with a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game in Buffalo’s win over San Francisco.
Winston showed off his propensity for big plays — and big blunders — when he became the first player ever to throw for at least 400 yards, four touchdowns and two pick-6s in the same game in a loss for Cleveland at Denver.
It was a weekend of firsts for the two quarterbacks.
It started on Sunday night when Allen took advantage of a peculiar rule of NFL stat keeping to do something no quarterback had ever done. He threw a short pass to Amari Cooper, who was immediately wrapped up by two defenders.
Allen alertly ran toward Cooper and signaled for the ball and Cooper obliged with a pitch. Allen then sprinted and dove in for a 7-yard touchdown on a pass he threw. That’s where the odd scoring comes in with Cooper getting credit for a catch for minus-2 yards and Allen getting credit for 9 yards receiving, a receiving touchdown but no actual reception and a 7-yard TD pass.
Allen became the second player this season to get credit for a receiving touchdown but no catch in a game with Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs doing it following a lateral against Arizona in Week 3. It has happened only one other time in the Super Bowl era with Allen Rice doing it in 1984 for Minnesota against Denver.
Only three other players in NFL history got credit for a receiving touchdown on a pass they threw with Marcus Mariota the most recent in the 2017 wild-card game for Tennessee against Kansas City when he caught his own deflected pass.
Brad Johnson also scored when he caught his own deflected pass for Minnesota against Carolina in 1997 and Frank Ryan scored on a lateral for the Rams against Detroit in 1960.
There was one other play where a player scored a TD following his own pass, according to Sportradar, with Roy Zimmerman doing it for the Eagles against the Giants in 1944 following a lateral. But under rules before 1950, Zimmerman was credited solely with a lateral touchdown.
Allen later ran for a touchdown, becoming the seventh player in the Super Bowl era and first quarterback ever to get a passing, rushing and receiving TD in the same game.
Winston, who created his own 30-30 club when he threw 33 TDs and 30 interceptions in 2019, had the kind of performance that has defined his high-risk, high-reward career.
He threw for 497 yards with four TDs, three interceptions and two pick-6s. Winston became the first player in NFL history to throw for at least 400 yards and four TDs with two pick-6s.
The Broncos had 171 yards on interception returns with the 668 yards combined on Winston’s passes setting an NFL record, according to OptaStats, topping the 664 by Vinny Testaverde for the Jets against Baltimore in 2000.
Streaking
Not that there was much doubt, but Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to the postseason for a 10th straight season — one shy of the longest streak ever held by New England from 2009-19.
The Chiefs are off to an 11-1 start in their bid to be the first team ever to win three straight Super Bowls. Kansas City can clinch a ninth straight AFC West title with a win over the Chargers on Sunday night. The Patriots are the only team with a longer streak, having won the division every year from 2009-19.
Nine of the Chiefs 11 wins have come by seven points or fewer — one shy of the record set by the 1978 Houston Oilers. Kansas City’s plus-54 point differential is the worst of the 59 teams to start 11-1 or better.
The Chiefs will be joined in the postseason once again by the Buffalo Bills, who clinched their sixth straight playoff berth and fifth straight AFC East title. Their division-winning streak is tied for the seventh longest streak ever, trailing only the Patriots and Chiefs, along with the Rams (1973-79), Pittsburgh (1974-79), Minnesota (1973-78) and Cleveland (1950-55).
The Steelers have not clinched a playoff berth yet but are assured of not having a losing season for the record-tying 21st straight season. The only other team to do that was Dallas from 1965-85. Coach Mike Tomlin has been in charge for 18 of those seasons and has never finished with a losing record.
Interim bump
The Chicago Bears are hoping to get the interim coach bump.
Chicago fired Matt Eberflus after another late-game meltdown and promoted Thomas Brown to interim coach starting with Sunday’s game at San Francisco.
Interim coaches have split their debuts this season with Jeff Ulbrich losing his first game for the New York Jets and Darren Rizzi winning his debut for New Orleans.
Over the last 10 seasons, teams have gotten a bump from changing coaches with the interims going 13-11 in their first game. Those teams that fired coaches had posted a .284 winning percentage before the change.
Eberflus’ tenure was one of the worst ever. He went 14-32 (.304) for the 13th worst winning percentage ever among the 229 coaches with at least 45 games. He was at his worst in close games with a 5-17 mark in games decided by seven points or fewer. The .227 winning percentage ranks last among the 221 coaches who have had at least 20 games decided by seven points or fewer.
Defensive letdown
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals keep scoring — and losing.
The Bengals scored at least 33 points in a game for the sixth time this season on Sunday against Pittsburgh but fell 44-38 to the Steelers. Cincinnati has lost four time this season when scoring 33 or more points, topping the 2017 Texans, 2002 Chiefs and 1985 Chargers for the most losses in a season when scoring that many points.
Only eight QBs other than Burrow ever have lost more than four starts in a career when their team scores at least 33 points with former Dolphin Dan Marino’s eight the most.
Burrow leads the NFL with 30 TD passes and 3,337 yards but the Bengals are only 4-8 thanks to a defense that has allowed 28.3 points per game.
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