Mike White benched: 4 one-game wonders from NFL history 

The NFL's latest passing sensation was literally a passing sensation.

Mike White's stranglehold on the football-loving public's imagination is over, as the New York Jets announced that they would start Joe Flacco for their Sunday contest against the Miami Dolphins (1 p.m. ET, CBS). White put in a literal Hall of Fame performance on Oct. 31 against the Cincinnati Bengals, becoming the first NFL quarterback to throw for 400 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start.

White was able to follow up his historic showing with a prime-time touchdown to Elijah Moore in the Jets' Thursday night loss in Indianapolis on November 4. However, reality intervened in the form of the Buffalo Bills, who victimized White for four interceptions in a 45-17 loss. Flacco led the Jets to their final score in the fourth quarter and returned to New York after spending the most recent preseason in Philadelphia.

The NFL has produced several offensive heroes of one-game fame

Burk played five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles (Photo: Getty)

10/17/54: Yo, Adrian, it's NFL history

Approximately seven players share the NFL record of throwing seven touchdown passes in a single game. Many would probably expect legends like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, George Blanda, and Y.A. Tittle to appear on the list. Others, like Nick Foles and Joe Kapp, were able to carve professional football legacies beyond their high-scoring affairs but the addition of Adrian Burk is one that will certainly raise eyebrows among non-football historians.

Burk was the second overall pick of the 1950 NFL Draft but spent a relatively uneventful seven seasons with the Colts and Eagles. But an October 1954 afternoon with the latter helped him make history, as he threw seven touchdowns on only 27 attempts in a 49-21 win over Washington, becoming the first to earn that historic tally. That triumph was one of only 15 victories Burk would earn as a starter in his NFL career.

Despite his history in a helmet, Burk is perhaps better known for his officiating endeavors as a back judge. Ironically, he was present when Kapp pulled off the feat in 1969. Burk was also part of the officiating crew for Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception during the 1972-73 playoffs.

---

Also check out: Complete Thursday Night Football Schedule 2021

---

Harrison embarked on one of the most prolific rushing games in NFL history in Kansas City (Photo: Getty)

12/20/09: Cleveland Ground

Somehow, a December game between teams with a combined five wins became one of the most exciting games of the NFL weekend. A 41-34 win for the Cleveland Browns over the Kansas City Chiefs featured over 900 yards of offense, 286 of which came from Browns running back Jerome Harrison.

Harrison's tally was good for the third-best single-game rushing tally in NFL history. To put that in perspective, Harrison tallied only 301 total over the first 13 games of the 2008 season. That was enough for Cleveland to bring him back on a new contract and grant him the top rushing duties for the following season.

Alas, Harrison was traded to Philadelphia in October of the following year. He was nearly sent back to the Eagles after signing with Detroit over the offseason, but he failed his physical after Philadelphia doctors discovered a brain tumor. Some expected Harrison to be a quadraplegic after the ordeal, but he has since regained most of his motor skills through a rigorous recovery process.

Flynn (10) threw for 480 yards in a 45-41 win (Photo: Getty)

1/1/12: Flynn the Money

The NFL history of the Green Bay Packers has been written by aerial legends: Bart Starr, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and...Matt Flynn???

Titletown's single-game record for passing yards and touchdowns is held by Flynn, a seventh-round pick of the Packers in the 2008 draft. Flynn had made a single start entering Week 17 of the 2011-12 NFL season, when he was called upon to relieve a resting Rodgers before the top-seeded Packers began their playoff trek. Despite the relative lack of stakes, Flynn wowed audiences with a 480-yard, six-touchdown showing as the Packers earned a 45-41 victory over the Detroit Lions.

Flynn's output was enough to convince the Seattle Seahawks to shell out the big bucks: a three-year, $20.5 million contract awaited in the ensuing offseason, along with the implication that Flynn was the team's new franchise man. Alas for Flynn, the drafting of a third-round pick named Russell Wilson changed everything. He lasted only two more seasons in the NFL after that, a stretch that included a return to Green Bay in 2013-14.

Gray scores one of his four touchdowns in the win over the Colts (Photo: Getty)

11/16/14: Gray Matter

It has become a tiring NFL cliche/meme to say that Bill Belichick can win with anyone. But that axiom rang dangerously true during a November 2014 prime-time contest between Belichick's New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts.

With regular rushers Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount unavailable, the Patriots bestowed their duties on Gray. That Sunday night's showdown against the Colts was the one-month anniversary of his promotion to the Patriots' active roster. He went on to torch the Colts for 201 rushing yards and four scores, becoming the first player in the NFL's modern era to earn a touchdown quartet after entering the game with none. New England would win the game 42-20 and Gray earned cover duties for the ensuing week's issue of Sports Illustrated.

Alas, Belichick giveth and Belichick taketh away: Gray took the costliest nap of his life during the ensuing week of practice, as his oversleeping made him late for practice after his phone died. Gray was originally suspended for a "violation of team rules" after the incident, but wound up being a healthy scratch in all but four of the Patriots' remaining games that season. He was released by the Patriots at the end of training camp in 2015 and failed to catch on in Miami or Jacksonville.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags