One-game wonders

Position-by-position for the season's top performances

Following is my best performances list for midseason, based on around 70 games (haven't totaled them yet) I've seen in their entirety, with charts to prove it. The performances are listed by position. If you're upset that I neglected someone's particularly big day, remember these are only performances I've seen.

QUARTERBACK

My favorite performance was turned in by the 49ers' Jeff Garcia in the overtime win over the Raiders. Facing a heavy rush for much of the afternoon, he almost personally wore down the defense and kept the last two drives, which encompassed 28 straight plays, going on his scrambles. He was bleeding first downs almost on sheer strength of will.

The Rams' Marc Bulger had an amazing day, also against the Raiders, in his first NFL start, completing his first seven passes and directing a 97-yard scoring drive the first time he ever ran an offense. It marked the Rams' turnaround game for the season.

Two more performances make my "best" list: Drew Bledsoe's four-TD day in the victory over Chicago, and Brett Favre's 359-yard, three-TD (including an 85-yarder to Donald Driver) Monday nighter against the Bears.

RUNNING BACK

Hard to separate them. Marshall Faulk, Priest Holmes and LaDainian Tomlinson each had some huge days, so I can only list the ones I liked the best. In order -- Tomlinson's 39-carry, 153-yard performance against Oakland, in which he looked just as fresh on his 39th carry as he did on his first one. The Raiders didn't look so fresh at this point.

Faulk's 158-yard outing against Oakland, which put an exclamation point to Bulger's afternoon.

Holmes, on his 152-yard day against the Jets, which included nine passes caught for another 81 yards, plus the winning 19-yard catch with 27 seconds left, in which he broke one tackle and hurdled into the end zone.

Tomlinson's 27-carry, 217-yard game against New England, which featured two long TD runs.

FULLBACK

Blocking is the key here, and I have a tie between the Chiefs' Tony Richardson against the Raiders on Priest Holmes' 113-yard day, and Detroit's Cory Schlesinger, playing with a chipped bone in his back and laying the wood to the Bears and MLB Brian Urlacher in the Lions’ victory. James Stewart had a career rushing day -- 172 yards on 32 carries.

WIDE RECEIVER

I thought Eric Moulds had a terrific day in the Bills' overtime victory over Chicago in September, making a tough 30-yard catch in tight coverage in OT. But he has to take second place behind Terrell Owens, who buried the Raiders' Charles Woodson on the way to his 12-catch, 191-yard afternoon.

TIGHT END

An easy one. Shannon Sharpe breaking the bank in K.C. with a 12-catch, 214-yard outing that got him into the record books for most single-game receiving yardage ever for a tight end. I had a problem with this one for a while. The Cleveland Rams' Jim Benton once held the overall record with 303 yards in 1945. My question: Was he a tight end? I remember he was a big guy for those days, around 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, and he also played some defense, but what was he, a tight end or a wideout? The answer was he was an "end," period. The tight end-wideout designation didn't really come into the league until Clark Shaughnessy brought it to the L.A. Rams in the late 1940s. So I guess Sharpe, poor devil, deserves his record.

TACKLE

I always have trouble at this position, since really good OTs are hard to find. I guess my No. 1 performance would be the Chiefs' Willie Roaf in a losing effort against the Broncos. Holmes ran for good yardage behind his blocks, and Roaf kept the two guys he faced, Kavika Pittman and Bert Berry, quiet on their pass rush.

I have two more starred -- the Niners' Derrick Deese against the Giants in the Thursday nighter that opened the season, and Philly's Tra Thomas, blocking down on Kenny Holmes and creating the big weakside cushion during the Monday nighter in which the Eagles ran for 299 yards on the Giants.

GUARD

I awarded 16 B-marks, B standing for an outstanding run block, for ... well, I'll let you guess. The 16 B's are the second-most I've ever recorded, the top figure of 18 going to the Jets' Dwayne White, the Road Grader, against the Colts about a decade ago. Give up? The 16-B performance goes to the Lions' 39-year old Ray Brown against the Bears.

Everything else is in the shade of this monumental performance, but I'll list three more for you -- New England's Joe Andruzzi against the Jets, K.C.'s Brian Waters against Denver and Philly's Jermane Mayberry against the Bucs.

CENTER

Strictly on numbers, I have Carolina's Jeff Mitchell in the No. 1 spot against Green Bay, followed by Philly's Hank Fraley against Tampa Bay and Warren Sapp, and then K.C.'s Casey Wiegmann, who has been consistently good, against the Jets.

DEFENSIVE END

Nothing comes close to the day Miami's Jason Taylor had in Denver. I have him down for a sack, an assist, four forces and a forced fumble, plus five more slash marks for run stops. A note about my scoring for defensive players: I award a sack to the guy who creates it, not the one who inherits it. The latter gets an assist. A player will get a force only if the pass is not completed (except in extraordinary circumstances) for any kind of significant yardage. A slash mark for a run stop is awarded only on minimal yardage, unless the tackler shows exceptional hustle getting downfield.

Naturally, I have a ton of big defensive end performances, so without going into the sacks-forces-slashes, etc., I'll list them chronologically -- Titans' Carlos Hall and Kevin Carter against Philly, Saints' Darren Howard against Washington, the Giants' Frankie Ferrara against Atlanta, Oakland's Tony Bryant against San Diego and Green Bay's Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila against Washington and Miami.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Philadelphia's Darwin Walker against Tampa Bay. Two days later the club rewarded this former off-the-street free agent with a six-year contract extension, which included a $4 million bonus.

The others are close -- Chicago's Ted Washington against Minnesota, Green Bay's Cletidus Hunt against Carolina, Jacksonville's Marcus Stroud against Tennessee and Oakland's Rod Coleman against the Chiefs.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

The Bucs' Derrick Brooks is getting all the publicity for his touchdowns, but my top two performances came early in the season -- Jamie Winborn for his terrific coverage and run-stopping instincts in the Niners' Thursday night opener against the Giants and Pittsburgh's Joey Porter, who had three sacks plus two long interceptions in the loss to Oakland.

Brooks gets on the board for his game against the Eagles. The Bears' one-man pass rush, Rosevelt Colvin, makes the list by virtue of his performances against Atlanta and Buffalo. Highly underrated is the Raiders' Eric Barton, who makes my roster for his game against K.C. And I had very high numbers for the Giants' Brandon Short against Philly. Yes, the Eagles ran for a million yards -- but not against him.

MIDDLE/INSIDE LINEBACKER

Baltimore's Ray Lewis had an inspirational night in the upset over Denver, especially on his coverage, which earned him four pass-deflect marks on my chart, plus a pick. Houston's Jamie Sharper played a key role in the Texans' upset over the Cowboys, and the two Pro Bowl favorites this year, Brian Urlacher and Atlanta's Keith Brooking, get on my list with their games against the Falcons and Giants, respectively, and my second-best performance, after that of Lewis, goes to the Dolphins' Zach Thomas, who did more blitzing and pass-rushing against Denver, and had a fine day.

CORNERBACK

Houston's Aaron Glenn, the ex-Jet, tops my chart with a terrific day against Dallas -- six passes defensed, plus a pick. They threw at him 15 times, for some reason, and completed five for a minimal 30 yards, total. The Cowboys' Mario Edwards turned in a very strong performance that same afternoon. Arizona nickel back Justin Lucas had a big day against the Giants. Seattle's Ken Lucas, assigned man coverage on Randy Moss, kept all gains by the Vikings star minimal, and the Bucs' Ronde Barber had a very solid outing against Philly.

STRONG SAFETY

A shocker here. K.C.'s Shaunard Harts, filling in for the regular, Greg Wesley, who was hurt, had such a good day against San Diego that he became the starting free safety. He's young and green but very active. The Giants' Shaun Williams has had a very solid season. My No. 1 performance for him came against Seattle.

FREE SAFETY

I couldn't find anything that really got me excited until the 49ers' Ronnie Heard, subbing for the injured Zack Bronson, came up with three picks against Arizona. Another bench guy, Green Bay's Marques Anderson, had a big day against Washington, and now he's the regular on the strong side. And the guy he subbed for, Darren Sharper, was on his way to a terrific night against the Bears, when he pulled a hamstring.

KICKER

The Giants' Matt Bryant got on my board with his three-for-three field goal night against Seattle, including the game-winning 47-yarder at the end, but then Denver's Jason Elam went five-for-five, including what looked like the game-winner, from 55 yards out with 45 seconds left, against Miami, only to have it topped by Olindo Mare's 53-yarder at the whistle. So how would I rate them? Elam first, then Mare, then Bryant.

PUNTER

Seattle's Jeff Feagles against the Giants. Six punts for a 47.7-yard average, with a net of 47.3. Average hang time -- 4.75 seconds, which included one of 5.0 and another of 5.09. A punt that went out of bounds at the 4-yard-line, and another one that backed up and was downed on the Giants' 5.

RETURNER

Two easy calls. The Jets' Chad Morton with two kick return TDs, including the one that won the contest in OT. New Orleans' Michael Lewis with a long punt return and another on a kick, both for TDs, against Washington.

COVERAGE

A pair of Seahawks whom I've mentioned all year (note ... I don't award a T mark for a tackle after significant returns, only stuffs) -- Alex Bannister with four T's against Oakland, and Tim Terry, with three T's and two forced fumbles against the Vikings.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Paul Zimmerman covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. To send a question to Dr. Z's Mailbag, click here.

 

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