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Statistical stocking stuffers

Anthony Thomas rushed 31 times for 173 yards and a touchdown last week against Tampa Bay. AP

By Bob Harris, Special to CNNSI.com

By golly, Christmas morning will be here before you know it. And if you're like me, you've been busting your tail to make sure all your shopping is done with time to spare. Let's see. … You remembered the wife, kids, Ma and Pa. …

Then it suddenly hits you: What about your Fantasy Football buddies? You didn't get any of them a darned thing yet!

Not a problem. That's why you keep me around!

I've gone to the trouble of bundling up a fun and informative collection of numerical notions that you're more than welcome to pass along to all your favorite Fantasy friends. And hey. … Why don't you go ahead and keep one for yourself as a special Christmas wish from me to you?

So, without further delay, here's your list of statistical stocking stuffers:

St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner is 7-0 this season on the road. In those games, Warner has completed 169 of 238 passes (71.0 percent) for 2,216 yards with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions for a 117.9 passer rating.

Bears rookie running back Anthony Thomas rushed for 171 yards in the victory over the Bucs. He joined Gale Sayers and Walter Payton as the only Chicago backs who have posted more than one 170-yard game in a season.

With 496 career catches, Indy's Marvin Harrison needs six receptions to surpass Sterling Sharpe's total (501) for most catches by a player in his first six NFL seasons.

Detroit rookie quarterback Mike McMahon -- with 241 yards passing and 74 rushing -- single-handedly out-gained the Vikings offense by one yard -- 315 to 314 -- while leading Detroit to its first victory of the season last Sunday. ... It's also worth noting that the Lions are now 9-3 (.750) when James Stewart carries the ball at least 20 times over the course of a given game. The Bills are well within range of finishing the season with four players boasting 50 catches or more for the first time in club history. Fullback Larry Centers (72) and wide receiver Eric Moulds (50) could be joined by No. 2 receiver Peerless Price (44) and tight end Jay Riemersma (41). The last time the Bills had three players with 50 catches was 1993 with Pete Metzelaars (68), Bill Brooks (60) and Andre Reed (52). ... By the way, Centers' 757 career receptions are the most by a running back in NFL history, ahead of Keith Byars (610) and Marcus Allen (587).

Quarterback Steve McNair threw two touchdown passes in the Titans' victory over Green Bay, giving him a career-high 17. The Titans are 4-3 over their last seven games, and McNair has 13 touchdown passes and three interceptions in that span. ... Over the last three games, McNair has a 130.0 passer rating with seven touchdowns and no interceptions.

Titans wide receivers Derrick Mason and Kevin Dyson have combined for 733 receiving yards in the team's past four games. ... Mason has three 100-yard receiving games in that span and four scoring catches in the last three contests.

Oakland wide receiver Tim Brown has reached the 1,000-yard mark for the ninth consecutive season and has eight scoring catches in the past seven games. ... Brown's newest partner in crime, Jerry Rice, has nine TD receptions and needs one scoring catch to become the first player in NFL history with at least 10 touchdown receptions in 10 different seasons. ... Rice also needs 111 receiving yards for his NFL-record 13th career 1,000-yard season.

Minnesota's Randy Moss and Jacksonville's Jimmy Smith are the two active receivers with the highest percentage of 100-yard receiving games. ... Moss has 23 100-yard efforts in 61 career games (37.7 percent), while Smith has 34 100s in 115 games (29.6 percent).

Moss, who ranks third in the NFC with 1,180 receiving yards, is currently tied for the most consecutive 1,300-yard seasons in history (with three), he needs 120 more yards to move into sole possession of first in the category.

Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith has scored 25 touchdowns against the Cardinals, third most by a player against an opponent since 1970. Two touchdowns against Arizona this week will move him into second place on the all-time list.

49er running back Garrison Hearst is averaging 101.5 yards rushing in the 49ers' last six games.

Joe Horn and Willie Jackson currently rank as the most productive receiving tandem in the league -- at least in terms of yardage gained -- with a combined 2,026 yards (Horn with 1,153, Jackson with 876). ... They are NFL twosome to have already cracked the 2,000-yard barrier. ... Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt of St. Louis have posted 1,996 yards, and Jacksonville's Smith and Keenan McCardell have 1,987.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks has thrown for 3,338 yards and rushed for 313 yards this season. ... Brooks needs 162 passing and 87 rushing yards to become the sixth quarterback in history to throw for 3,500 yards and rush for 400 yards in the same season.

The Saints currently rank sixth in the league in total offense (355.1 yards per game) and are well ahead of pace to set a new single-season club record for total yardage in a season. ... If they can average 338 yards a game in the final three outings, they'll break the 1979 mark of 5,627 yards.

Patriots' wide receiver Troy Brown, who has 90 receptions, needs seven to break the team's all-time record set by tight end Ben Coates in 1994. Brown is tied with teammate Terry Glenn, who had 90 catches in 1996, for second place in club history.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre ranks second in the NFL with 27 touchdown passes this season. ... If Favre throws three scoring passes this weekend against Cleveland, it will mark his sixth career 30 touchdown-pass season, extending his NFL record.

Oh yeah. ... The NFL made two statistical changes in the Packers' 26-20 loss to Tennessee: A two-yard pass from Favre to running back Ahman Green at the end of the third quarter has been ruled a lateral. Thus, Green finished the game with 10 carries for 11 yards and Favre finished with 20 completions in 38 attempts for 199 yards.

Giants RB Tiki Barber has rushed for at least 50 yards and averaged at least 5.0 yards a carry in each of his last five games. He has also had a run of at least 20 yards long in each of those games. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last NFL player to rush for at least 50 yards and average 5.0 yards a carry in each of five consecutive games was Jerome Bettis, then with Los Angeles Rams, from Nov. 21-Dec. 19, 1993. Barber and Green Bay's Green are the only NFL players this season to have a run of at least 20 yards long in five straight games. Green did it from Oct. 21-Nov. 22.

In college, it wasn't uncommon for Barber's current backfield mate Ron Dayne to rush 40 times in a game. In the past four games -- including three Giants losses -- he has carried a total of 18 times for 42 yards. ... Dayne -- the NCAA's Division 1-A all-time leading rusher out of Wisconsin and the 1999 Heisman Trophy winner -- selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2000 draft -- boasts a current net total of 1,278 rushing yards over two seasons and only 508 this year while working in Barber's shadow.

Fellow Giant Kerry Collins is one of just three NFL quarterbacks to take every one of his team's offensive snaps this season. Collins has taken each of the Giants 811 snaps this year. New Orleans' Brooks (868 snaps) and Jake Plummer of Arizona (802) are the other quarterbacks that have handled the full load.

So far this season, Raiders running back Tyrone Wheatley has 71 carries for 225 yards and five touchdowns. Last year, he carried the ball 232 times for 1,046 yards and scored 10 times. ...

Dolphins rookie wide receiver Chris Chambers has seven TD catches in past six games -- with five of them coming in the 4th quarter. ...

The Bills have either won (once) or lost by less than a touchdown in four of Alex Van Pelt's five starts -- the other was the 35-0 blowout in San Francisco. The Bills lost by at least two touchdowns four times in Rob Johnson's eight starts. ...

Second-year Steeler wide out Plaxico Burress has posted two 100-yard receiving games in his past four outings, compared with just one 100-yard game in his first 22 games as a pro.

Through Week 14 of the NFL season, Kansas City running back Priest Holmes and Rams running back Marshall Faulk have both averaged 5.9 yards per touch this season. In Holmes' case, that's 5.0 yards per carry and 10.8 yards per reception. ... Ironically enough, teammate Tony Richardson averaged 5.7 yards per touch average last season -- the third-best in the league behind Faulk and Barber.

Carolina place-kicker John Kasay has quietly put together his most accurate season as a Panther, converting 17 of 19 field goals this season. ... Kasay's only misses this season have come from 53 and 51 yards, and he's a perfect 15-for-15 from inside the 50. That's not all that unusual for Kasay. In fact, since the 1999 season, Kasay has been almost automatic from inside the 50, converting an amazing 39 of 40 field goals.

Joe Nedney, who converted 26 of 28 field goal attempts for the Panthers while Kasay recovered from a shattered kneecap last year -- and who wound up signing a five-year, $6.27 million contract with the Tennessee Titans last offseason -- has only hit 16 of 23 field goal attempts this year.

And just in case you have the need for the ultimate statistical lump of coal. … The Cincinnati Bengals failed to complete a pass of 20 yards or more for the third straight week last Sunday.

Hey. … Have a nice Christmas kids.

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