Week 6 NFL Top Performers
Posted: Tuesday October 13, 1998 09:11 AM
| |
Davis rushed for 208 yards in the Broncos' win over Seattle, giving him an NFL-best 865 yards on the season AP |
Seeing as how the Maris Watch started back in, well, April, it's never
really too early to consider what single-season milestones are potentially
within reach. The projections are just that after the sixth week of the
season, but some big records could fall -- 49ers quarterback Steve Young has passed for
at least 300 yards in his first five games, putting him on pace to
challenge Dan Marino's
1984 record of 5,084 passing yards and Vikings rookie Randy Moss could threaten
Jerry Rice's mark of 22
touchdown receptions.
The closest thing the NFL might have to 61 would be Eric Dickerson's 2,105
rushing yards -- Barry
Sanders gave the mark a scare last season, but there's a new challenger
this year ... Top Ground Gainer Award
Denver's Terrell Davis
rushed for 208 yards in the Broncos' 21-16 win over Seattle, giving him an
NFL-best 865 yards on the season, a full 259 yards ahead of the next-best
rusher. He needs to average a reasonable 124 yards a game -- that's 21
carries each week at his current average of 6.0 yards a carry -- to catch
Dickerson.
But before you eliminate Barry Sanders, keep in mind he has 483 in five
games, putting him a quiet seventh in the league. But he's had his bye week
(three ahead of him, including Davis, haven't) and last season, when he had
2,055, Sanders had just 466 after five games.
We'll let him have the role of Sammy Sosa in this baseball parallel,
keeping in mind that by December, these two running backs might be chasing
not Dickerson, but each other. Offensive Outburst Award
In the first three weeks of the season, Carl Pickens failed to
reached the 100-yard plateau and the end zone, too. In Cincinnati's last
two games, Pickens has made up for it, especially in Sunday's 13-catch,
204-yard performance.
Pickens was at his best on the Bengals' final drive, hauling in a 50-yard
pass on fourth-and-12 and then setting a team record with his 13th catch.
Quarterback Neil
O'Donnell faked a spike and Pickens took off for the end zone, hauling
in a 25-yard touchdown and stealing a win from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pickens leads the NFL with 40 receptions (while we're talking projections,
he's on pace for 128, five more than Herman Moore's NFL record)
after finishing last season with just 52. Losing Effort Award
This week's honor was an easy one, going to Carolina quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who threw
for three touchdowns as the Panthers fell just short of their first victory
in a loss to the Cowboys.
Beuerlein completed 22 of 32 passes (69 percent) and made his only mistake
when Deion Sanders
intercepted a pass with 1:55 remaining as he was driving the team for a
potential tying score. Carolina got the ball back in the final minute and
Beuerlein drove to the Dallas 37-yard line, but his last-second Hail Mary
fell incomplete and the Cowboys escaped with a 27-20 victory.
Beuerlein's loss put him at 26-28 in 54 career starts, but that's a better
percentage than a dozen current NFL starters can claim. Top Rushing
Performances Terrell Davis, Broncos, 30 carries, 208 yards
Antowain Smith, Bills, 31
carries, 130 yards
Eddie George, Oilers, 30
carries, 121 yards
Emmitt Smith, Cowboys, 21
carries, 112 yards
Jamal Anderson, Falcons,
29 carries, 110 yards
Robert Edwards, Patriots,
23 carries, 104 yards
Kordell Stewart, Steelers,
7 carries, 103 yards
Natrone Means, Chargers,
37 carries, 101 yards
Corey Dillon, Bengals, 23
carries, 99 yards
Marshall Faulk, Colts, 18
carries, 93 yards
Top Passing Performances Dan Marino,
Dolphins, 30-49, 1 INT, 2 TD, 323 yards
Steve Young, 49ers, 21-40, 0
INT, 3 TD, 309 yards
Neil O'Donnell, Bengals, 20-26, 0 INT, 3 TD, 298
yards
Jason
Garrett, Cowboys, 14-22, 0 INT, 2 TD, 287 yards
Steve Beuerlein,
Panthers, 22-32, 1 INT, 3 TD, 286 yards
Chris Chandler, Falcons,
14-27, 0 INT, 2 TD, 266 yards
Eric Zeier, Ravens, 25-44,
1 INT, 0 TD, 249 yards
Erik Kramer, Bears, 16-28,
4 INT, 1 TD, 247 yards
Peyton Manning, Colts,
20-41, 2 INT, 2 TD, 235 yards
Drew Bledsoe, Patriots,
17-26, 0 INT, 3 TD, 226 yards
Top Receiving Performances Carl
Pickens, Bengals, 13 receptions, 204 yards
Michael Irvin, Cowboys, 6
receptions, 146 yards
Bobby Engram, Bears, 5
receptions, 142 yards
Rod Smith, Broncos, 8
receptions, 136 yards
Raghib Ismail, Panthers, 6
receptions, 117 yards
Ernie Mills, Cowboys, 5
receptions, 110 yards
Priest Holmes, Ravens, 13
receptions, 98 yards
Terrell Owens, 49ers, 6
receptions, 94 yards
Oronde Gadsden, Dolphins, 5 receptions, 91
yards
Mike
Pritchard, Seahawks, 4 receptions, 91 yards
|
