1. Quarterbacks PHILIP RIVERS
(1,759), KYLE ORTON
(1,733) and PEYTON MANNING
(1,609) have each passed for over 1,600 yards in their team’s first five games in 2010.
Rivers, Orton and Manning give the 2010 season three quarterbacks with at least 1,600 passing yards through their team’s first five games of a season, the first time in NFL history this has been accomplished.
2. Detroit kick returner STEFAN LOGAN had a 105-yard kickoff-return TD in the Lions’ 44-6 win over St. Louis, tied for the sixth-longest kickoff return touchdown in NFL history. ELLIS HOBBS (New England, September 9, 2007) holds the league record with a 108-yard return.
The 2010 season is the first since 1970 with at least one kickoff-return touchdown in each of the first five weeks.
3. Chicago running back MATT FORTÉ
4. Arizona quarterback MAX HALL
led the Cardinals to a 30-20 victory over New Orleans in his first career start. Hall is the first undrafted rookie quarterback to start in Week 5 or earlier since 1976 (excluding the 1987 season), when JIM ZORN started the first game for Seattle in the Seahawks’ inaugural season as an NFL franchise.
5. San Diego tight end ANTONIO GATES
had a touchdown reception in the Chargers’ 35-27 loss at Oakland. Gates has a touchdown reception in nine consecutive games, the longest streak in NFL history by a tight end and tied for the longest streak in franchise history by any player (Pro Football Hall of Famer LANCE ALWORTH). Only five players in NFL history have recorded a longer streak, led by Pro Football Hall of Famer JERRY RICE
(13 games).
Gates, who has a touchdown catch in each of the team’s first five games this year, joins WESLEY WALLS (Carolina, 1999) as the only tight ends in NFL history with a TD reception in each of the team’s first five games of a season.
6. Arizona safety KERRY RHODES
had a 27-yard fumble-return touchdown in the Cardinals’ win. Rhodes, who had a 42-yard fumble-return touchdown last week at San Diego, is the first player since MARCUS ROBERTSON in 1997 to record a 25+ yard opponents’ fumble-return touchdown in back-to-back games.
7. New York Giants wide receiver HAKEEM NICKS
had 12 catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the Giants’ 34-10 win at Houston. Nicks joins AMANI TOOMER (September 17, 2006) as the only players in franchise history to record 12 catches, 130 yards and two touchdowns in a single game.