The NFL through week two: What the stats say (part two)

Quarterback Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints directs play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers September 15, 2013 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Getty Images)

NFL: The passing league

It’s week two, so take this as seriously as you want, but there are currently three passers on pace to break Drew Brees’ record for single season passing yards. The record is 5,476 yards, which requires a yards per game average of 342.25. Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos (385 ypg), Eli Manning of the New York Giants (406 ypg) and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers (407 ypg) will all beat that on current pace. Brees (of the Saints) is himself just short at 340 ypg.

However, while it is ridiculous to predict what will happen over a six week season in the air, what we do know is what has happened in the first two weeks of the season through the air. The second week of 2013 saw the highest number of passing yards ever thrown in a single NFL week.

Interestingly, the previous record was set last week.

Punters (and kickers) are people too

Rich Eisen wants us all to respect that punters are people too. I feel obligated, therefore, to throw some punter (and kicker) statistics your way to round things off:

New Orleans’ Thomas Morstead is not leading the league in punt average (that would be Atlanta’s Matt Bosher), but if you look beyond pure distances it is clear that the Saint is having a fabulous start to the season. Of the seven punts he has attempted thus far, six were downed inside the 20 and he hasn’t recorded a single touchback. That is pro bowl-calibre accuracy.

On the other side of things, the worst punter in the league so far is Washington’s Sav Rocca, who ranks dead last with a 38.8 net average. The poor ‘skins just haven’t caught a break in any phase of play this year.

Dallas Cowboys’ Dan Bailey is the pick of the place-kickers. His 100% record on field goals includes two from more than 50 yards. He is the only kicker in the league to have converted more than one field goal from that distance. Meanwhile Houston Texans kicker Randy Bullock has missed four of his five field goal attempts, albeit three of them were from 50+ yards. That is what you call a baptism of fire.

*Unless hyperlinked, all stats taken from ESPN.go.com

For the first part of this article, click here: The NFL through week two: part one