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Ricky Williams announced his retirement from the NFL, and while he finished his career with the Baltimore Ravens, he's better known for his years with the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints.

He holds Miami's single-season and single-game rushing records, and trails only Hall-of-Famer Larry Csonka on the team's career rushing list. He finished his career with 10,009 rushing yards, one of just 26 players in NFL history to eclipse the 10,000-yard mark.

In 2002 he had an All-Pro and Pro-Bowl season when he led the NFL with 1,853 rushing yards, a Dolphins record. He led the league in rushing attempts that year and again in 2003.

He started with New Orleans where Mike Ditka famously gave up eight Saints draft picks to take the Heisman Trophy winner fifth overall in 1999 (all six 1999 picks plus first- and third-round picks in 2000). Despite spending just three seasons in New Orleans, Williams is sixth on the Saints all-time rushing list.

At the University of Texas, Williams rewrote the record books. He broke Tony Dorsett's career rushing record on November 27, 1998 against rival Texas A&M.

He finished his career as the all-time FBS leader in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns (he has since been passed in both categories).

Williams had 11 games with 200 yards rushing (tied with Marcus Allen and Ron Dayne for most in FBS history) and is the only player in FBS history to run for 300 yards in back-to-back games.

There's no doubt he's the best runner to play at Texas; he recorded 11 of the 28 200-yard rushing games in school history.

The San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints once again proved that no lead is safe in the playoffs. The two teams exchanged leads four times and combined for four touchdowns in the final five minutes of the game, with Vernon Davis catching the final score with nine seconds remaining to lift the 49ers to a 36-32 win.

Elias confirms that this game was only the second playoff contest in NFL history in which both teams scored at least 16 points in the fourth quarter. The only other game was Super Bowl XXXVIII between the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.

Why the 49ers Won
Davis emerged as a pass-catching threat for the unusually pass-happy 49ers. Davis caught seven passes for a career-best 180 yards, the second-most in 49ers postseason history, as Alex Smith reached season-highs in attempts (42) and yards (299).

Smith was really effective finding Davis on deep throws. Smith went 5-for-5 for 167 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner, when targeting Vernon Davis 11 yards or more downfield. Davis hadn't caught five such throws in a game over the past four seasons.

Smith also was able to do damage with his legs, scoring a go-ahead touchdown on a designed run on 3rd-and-7 from the Saints' 28-yard line. That play was far from ordinary.

During the regular season, quarterbacks attempted a designed run on 3rd-and-7 or more only 2.4 percent of the time and only once on those 81 carries did the quarterback score a rushing touchdown on the play (Chad Henne in Week 1).

The 49ers defense also did its job, forcing five takeaways that led to 13 points. San Francisco tied for the NFL lead in takeaways during the regular season and had the sixth-most points off turnovers.

Turning Point
Facing third down on the Saints' 14-yardline with under 15 seconds remaining in regulation, Smith found Davis on a short pass up the middle and Davis went in for the game-winning score with nine seconds left on the clock.

According to Elias, this was just the fifth time in NFL postseason history that a team scored a touchdown to take the lead when trailing with fewer than 10 seconds left in regulation. The last such score was Kevin Dyson’s 75-yard kickoff return in the 1999 Wild Card Playoffs.

Why the Saints lost
Drew Brees piled up the passing yards in typical fashion but was uncharacteristically inaccurate in this game. He entered this game with a NFL-record streak of 215 postseason passes without an interception and then threw two in the first half.

Both of those picks came on throws more than 20 air yards downfield, his first multi-interception game on such throws since Week 7 of 2009.

Brees also struggled when under duress (i.e. forced to move or alter throw due to pressure) in this game. Brees completed just 5-of-16 passes when under duress, after posting the second-best completion percentage (53.3 percent) in those situations during the regular season.

Brees did throw for 462 yards, becoming the first player in NFL history with three 400-yard passing games in the postseason. Brees now has the two highest passing yard totals in a playoff regulation game. His 63 attempts were the fourth-most ever in a postseason game.

Stats of the game
With the win, the 49ers have have 19 home playoff victories, matching the Cowboys and Raiders for the second-most in NFL history.

With the loss, the Saints drop to 0-5 all-time in road playoff games, tying the Cincinnati Bengals for the worst road playoff record in NFL history.

The Bay Area will be buzzing this weekend when the San Francisco 49ers host the New Orleans Saints in the franchise’s first playoff game since the 2002 season.

The second-ranked 49ers defense, which allowed an average of 14 points per game, will face a formidable task in trying to slow the league’s hottest offense in this historic strength-versus-strength matchup.

The Saints, who finished the regular season second in the NFL at 34.2 points per game, gained a playoff-record 626 yards against the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Playoffs and have scored at least 40 points in each of their last four games.

This is the first playoff game between an offense that averaged at least 34 points per game in the regular season and a defense that allowed fewer than 15 points per game since the 1950 NFL Championship, when the Rams (38.8 PPG) lost to the Browns (12.0 PPG allowed) 30-28.

When the Saints have the ball
Drew Brees wasn’t finished re-writing the record books when the regular season ended. Against the Lions he threw for 466 yards, the most ever in a regulation playoff game.

Brees torched the Lions with the deep ball, completing 6-of-9 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns when passing 15 yards or more downfield. Brees will be challenged to repeat those numbers on Saturday as he’ll face one of the toughest defenses on such throws in the NFL.

The 49ers defense has also excelled in getting to the quarterback, tied for seventh in the league with 42 sacks. However, Brees has been one of the hardest quarterbacks to take down this season. He’s been sacked once every 29 dropbacks, the best rate among qualified QBs.

When the 49ers have the ball
As good as the 49ers defense has been this season, their offense has been just as anemic, ranked 26th in total yards. According to Elias, no team has ever won a Super Bowl with an offense that finished outside the top 25 in the regular season.

Though Alex Smith was arguably more of a game-manager than a touchdown-maker this season, he was efficient against the blitz. Smith had the fifth-best touchdown-to-interception ratio and seventh-best completion percentage against five-or-more pass rushers this season.

That record of success for Smith will be critical against the Saints, who have used such pressure an NFL-high 51.3 percent of the time this season (including playoffs).

If Smith can’t move the ball through the air, the 49ers will likely turn to their workhorse running back, Frank Gore, who ran for over 1,200 yards this season. Gore picked up 62.8 percent of his rushing yards prior to initial contact, the fourth-highest rate among running backs with 200 rushes.

However, the Saints are one of the best tackling teams in the league and have a good chance to limit San Francisco’s ground game. Opposing rushers have gained just 53 percent of their yards before contact, the fourth-best rate in the NFL.

Stats of the game
The Saints are 0-4 all-time in road playoff games and with a loss will match the Cincinnati Bengals for the worst road playoff record in NFL history.

The 49ers are 18-8 in home playoff games. With a win they will match the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders for the second-most home playoff victories.

After a relatively slow start, the New Orleans Saints offense finally got going, marching over the Detroit Lions with 35 second-half points en route to a 45-28 win.

Drew Brees completed 33 of 43 attempts for 466 yards -- the second-most in postseason history (Bernie Kosar had 489 in an overtime game in 1986) and the most in a playoff regulation game -- with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Saints tied a franchise playoff record with 45 points, gaining an NFL playoff-record 626 total yards.

For the Lions, Calvin Johnson caught 12 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, becoming just the third player since the merger with 200 receiving yards and two touchdown catches in a playoff game.

WHY THEY WON
The Saints offense overwhelmed the Lions in the second half. Of their 626 total yards, 370 came in the second stanza, or put differently, just 42 yards fewer than the Lions had for the game.

In addition the Brees, New Orleans ran the ball effectively, rolling up 167 yards on the ground. That included a season-high 92 yards after contact.

And for the most part, the Saints have simply been hard to stop at home.

The Saints have won five straight home playoff games, and have scored at least 31 points in each of their past five playoff games. Including the postseason, the Saints have scored at least 30 points in eight of nine home games this season.

TURNING POINT
The second half. The Saints scored touchdowns on each of their first five possessions in the second half, and ran out the clock on their sixth drive of the half.

WHY THEY LOST
The Lions entered halftime with a three-point lead, but it could have been more had they capitalized on New Orleans' two first-half turnovers.

But on each of New Orleans' two fumbles, the Lions came up empty, even going three-and-out following the second Saints turnover.

STAT OF THE GAME
A total of four playoff records were set in Saturday's tilt between the Lions and Saints: most passing yards in regulation game (Drew Brees, 446), most yards by one team (Saints, 626), most combined passing yards (846 by Brees and Stafford), and (courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau) most receiving yards in a playoff debut (Calvin Johnson, 211).

WHAT'S NEXT
Awaiting the Saints in the NFC Divisional Round are the San Francisco 49ers, owners of a similar 13-3 regular-season record.

For the Saints to advance to their third NFC Championship Game in six seasons, they'll have to do something they've never done before -- win a true road playoff game.

These teams have never met in the playoffs before. The Saints currently own a six-game win streak in the series dating back to 2002.

In their last meeting, back on Sept. 20, 2010, the Saints eked out a 25-22 win courtesy of a Garrett Hartley 37-yard field goal as time expired.

Atlanta Falcons
The five-man offensive line unit of Will Svitek, Justin Blalock, Todd McClure, Joe Hawley, Tyson Clabo has played 591 of the Falcons’ 1,103 snaps this season. Together, that unit has yielded just six sacks, or one every 58.7 pass attempts .

No line unit that played at least 500 snaps together allowed fewer sacks or a lower rate of sacks per pass attempt. When that specific unit wasn’t on field for the Falcons, the offensive line allowed 20 sacks, or one every 13.6 pass attempts.

New York Giants
This season, the Giants recorded 34 sacks with four or fewer pass rushers, second-most in the NFL. The Giants’ defensive line was at full strength against the Cowboys in Week 17 and it paid dividends.

Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul shared the field for the first time since Week 12. The Giants tallied five sacks on the 26 plays they were on field together. Four of those sacks also came with Justin Tuck on field at defensive tackle.

Not to be forgotten on the defensive line is Mathias Kiwanuka, who was involved in 15 tackles for loss this season, second-most in the NFL.

New Orleans Saints
Jermon Bushrod and Carl Nicks have anchored the left side of the Saints’ line this season, each playing 1,177 snaps. Not only did each player play every snap for the Saints, they tied for the second-most snaps played on either offense or defense in the NFL this season.

This chemistry between Bushrod and Nicks paid off as the Saints are averaging 6.6 yards per rush to the left side this season (second in NFL), compared to 4.5 yards per rush to the middle and right.

Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans
One thing the Lions, Broncos and Texans have in common is consistency on the offensive line. All three teams have a five-man combo that ranks in the top four of most snaps played together.

The Lions’ five-man combo helped produce the most pass yards of any offensive line unit; the Broncos and Texans helped produce the most rush yards.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Heath Miller might be the primary tight end for the Steelers, but he’s spent nearly as much time blocking as route-running. Only Daniel Fells of the Broncos has blocked on more snaps among the primary tight ends on teams in the Wild Card Playoffs.

The Steelers have used a league-high 25 different combinations of offensive linemen this season and with Maurkice Pouncey now out, Miller may be called in to block even more.

Cincinnati Bengals
Defensive tackle Geno Atkins’ 7.5 sacks this season were tied for the fewest of any team leader in the Wild Card Playoffs. However, Atkins’ sacks have been about quality, not quantity.

Of his 7.5 sacks, 7.0 have come on third or fourth down. That’s tied for most in the NFL this season with league sack leader Jason Babin and the Giants’ Pierre-Paul.

No team recorded more sacks from players lining up in the interior line than the 17.5 that Bengals produced this season.

Doug Clawson contributed to this post

Saturday night’s Wild Card matchup between the Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints features two teams that have had very different recent postseason results.

The Saints are just two seasons removed from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. That from a franchise that won just two playoff games in its first 42 years in the NFL.

Compared to the slump the Saints were once on, the Lions current drought seems brief. But the Lions had missed the playoffs for 11 straight seasons before this year, which was tied with the Buffalo Bills for the longest active streak.

Now, the Lions will try to snap a six-game postseason streak that dates back to the 1991 season. If Detroit drops Saturday night’s game, it’ll tie the Chiefs for the longest postseason losing streak in NFL history.

What these teams do have in common, however, is a propensity for throwing the ball. Both teams' quarterbacks, Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford, went over 5,000 yards this season.

The difference maker in this game could be on the defensive side of the ball. Especially how these teams rush the opposing passer.

When the Saints have it
Let’s face it, going up against Drew Brees is a tall order. Brees set NFL records this season in pass yards, completion percentage, completions, passing first downs, 300-yard games and consecutive 300-yard games.

Don’t think that dropping additional defenders into coverage will help the issue. Brees shredded opposing defenses for a 74.0 completion percentage and an 89.9 Total QBR when facing four or fewer rushers, both best in the NFL.

The Lions used four or fewer pass rushers on 78.9 percent of their opponents’ dropbacks this season, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL. In Week 13, Brees went 22-28 for 297 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Lions when Detroit sent four or fewer rushers.

When the Lions have it
Unlike the Lions, no team sent extra rushers after the quarterback more often this season than the Saints. New Orleans sent five or more pass rushers on 51.1 percent of dropbacks.

Stafford struggled this season when facing the extra pressure, with a 44.4 Total QBR and six interceptions against seven touchdowns.

No qualifying quarterback faced extra defensive pressure more often than Stafford this season, as he faced five or more pass rushers on 24.6 percent of his dropbacks. However, only four quarterbacks threw more interceptions in such situations than Stafford’s six.

Stafford finished the seasons with 16 interceptions, tied for the seventh-most in the NFL. However, that total could’ve been much higher. Opponents dropped six potential interceptions against Stafford this season, the most against any passer in the NFL.

Stafford is coming off a huge game, so momentum could be on his side. In Week 17 against the Packers, Stafford threw for 520 yards, fifth-most in NFL history, and the most since Boomer Esiason threw for 522 yards in 1996.

Brees (97.2 Total QBR) Finishes with Another Spectacular Performance
Drew Brees continued his end-of-season tear in Week 17, going 28-35 for 389 yards with five touchdowns in a 45-17 blowout of the Panthers. He did throw one interception, but 21 of his 28 completions went for first downs including 10 that traveled at least 15 yards through the air.

Brees led the Saints to seven scores (six touchdown, one field goal) on their first eight possessions, as they scored 40+ points for the third straight game.

It was his eighth straight game with a Total QBR above 80. Since Week 9, Brees has a ridiculous Total QBR of 91.3, not only the highest in the league in that span, but the highest November-and-after regular-season QBR by a significant margin for any QB in any season since 2008.

Another Disappointing Finish to a Season for Tony Romo (11.0 Total QBR)
Tony Romo’s line from Sunday’s game – 29-37, 289 yards, two touchdowns, one interception – don’t look so bad, but a deeper look shows how those numbers are deceiving.

In the first half, Romo led the Cowboys to zero points as they dug a 21-point hole they couldn’t climb out of. He took three sacks – two on third downs that ended drives – and completed only two passes that went more than 10 yards in the air, both on the final drive of the half in which the clock was running down.

Romo played better in the second half, but took three more sacks, threw an interception in the third quarter with the Cowboys trying to cut into a 14-point lead, and failed to convert on a sneak on 4th-and-1 from the Giants’ 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

His Total QBR of 11.0 on Sunday was his lowest of the season and second-lowest in any of his 51 games – regular or postseason – since 2008 (min. 10 action plays). His lowest single-game QBR in that span was a 4.2 on Dec. 7, 2008 at Pittsburgh.

Tim Tebow (2.4 Total QBR) Runs Out of Magic against the Chiefs, But Broncos Still Make Playoffs
Tim Tebow had a rough outing Sunday against the Chiefs, going 6-22 for 60 yards through the air and carrying the ball six times for 16 yards on the ground.

Only one of his incompletions was a drop by the receiver, and only three of his rushes or passes resulted in a first down.

Tebow fumbled with the Broncos driving down the field for a possible game-tying touchdown early in the second quarter, and the Broncos’ other 11 drives ended with nine punts, a field goal and an interception (though the pick was in “desperation time”).

Tebow finished with his lowest single-game score as a starter. It was also the fourth-lowest single-game rating of the season (minimum 30 action plays).

It’s a good thing for the NFL that the regular season comes to an end tonight, since there will be a lot of new records when the league prints out a new version for next season.

Lambeau Field legends
The year of the passing attack continued, and even though the Green Bay Packers rested Aaron Rodgers, Lambeau Field was center stage for the onslaught.

In his second NFL start, Matt Flynn set Packers records for passing yards (480) and touchdowns (six) in a game. According to Elias, he’s the first quarterback in NFL history with at least five TD passes in one of his first two NFL starts.

Flynn had most of his success passing outside the numbers. He was just the third quarterback this season to attempt 17 or more passes outside the numbers in a game while completing at least 82 percent of his passes. The others? Rodgers and Tom Brady.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford matched Flynn throw for throw until a late interception sealed the Packers win. Stafford set a franchise record with 520 pass yards, the fifth highest total in NFL history. He became the third quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards this season, joining Drew Brees and Brady.

It was the first game in NFL history where both quarterbacks threw for at least 400 yards and five touchdowns. The teams combined for 971 pass yards, easily eclipsing the previous NFL record set in Week 1 this season by the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.

While the records were all passing related, they weren’t all positive marks. The Packers finished the season allowing 4,796 pass yards, the most in NFL history. This year’s Patriots briefly held the record after finishing their game with 4,703 pass yards allowed this season. Before this year, the 1995 Atlanta Falcons held the futility mark with 4,541 pass yards allowed.

Saints march into record book
The New Orleans Saints will be responsible for much of next year’s reprinting costs as well, courtesy of Drew Brees. Brees threw for 389 yards and five touchdowns and finished the year with NFL single-season records in pass yards, completions, completion percentage and 300-yard games.

Brees finished the season with seven straight 300-yard passing games and 43 straight games with a touchdown pass. The former is a new NFL record, while the latter leaves him four games behind the record of 47 straight games with a touchdown pass held by Johnny Unitas.

Brees’ marks weren’t the only records set at the Superdome on Sunday. Darren Sproles finished the year with 2,696 all-purpose yards, breaking Derrick Mason’s single-season record by six yards. Jimmy Graham spent the day batting for the record for receiving yards in a season for a tight end, eventually falling 17 yards short of Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots.

Two Carolina Panthers also set records on Sunday. Cam Newton became the first rookie to throw for 4,000 yards in a season, while Steve Smith set the franchise record with 699 receptions, passing Muhsin Muhammad.

Both the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons have already clinched playoff berths, but the season finale of Monday Night Football at 8 ET on ESPN tonight still has major postseason implications for the two NFC South teams.

With a win, the Saints can wrap up the division title. The Falcons need a victory to stay alive for the division title and keep themselves out of the sixth seed in the conference.

History2W4
The other major storyline in this game is Drew Brees’ chase for history. Brees leads the NFL with 4,780 passing yards and needs 305 to break Dan Marino's single-season record of 5,084 set in 1984.

Brees has averaged nearly 300 yards per game in 12 career matchups with the Falcons, and has reached the 300-yard mark in each of his last three games vs Atlanta.

If he does set the record this week, it will also be his sixth straight 300-yard passing game, which would match the NFL record shared by Steve Young (1998), Kurt Warner (2000) and Rich Gannon (2002).

Matchups2W4
Part of Brees’ success this season is due to his exceptional performance on deep passes. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and just one interception on throws of more than 20 yards downfield, compiling a near-perfect Total QBR of 99.9. Against the Falcons in Week 10, two of his three completions on such throws found the end zone.

The Falcons have been vulnerable to the deep pass this year. Their Total QBR allowed of 97.8 on throws of at 21 yards downfield ranks 24th in the league.

Only three teams have allowed more touchdowns on such throws than the six that Atlanta has allowed. And the only other team besides the Falcons that has failed to intercept such a pass is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The best defense against Brees might be a strong running game that can control the clock and keep the Saints offense on the sidelines. However, Michael Turner has struggled over the last four weeks, averaging just 60 yards per game, a drop of nearly 30 yards from his average during his first 10 games.

Recently he has been unable to get to the sidelines with the explosiveness that he showed at the beginning of the season, averaging five fewer yards per rush outside the tackles in his last four games compared to his first 10 games.

Tonight’s game against the Saints might be the perfect opportunity for Turner to break out of his slump. New Orleans has allowed the second-most yards per carry (6.5) on rushes outside the tackles this season.

Against the Saints in Week 10, Turner rushed for 52 yards on five carries outside the tackles, and his 10.4 yards per rush average was his second-best of the season.

Stats2Know
• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Falcons have lost their last nine Monday Night Football road games, matching the Chicago Bears (1970-85) for the longest road losing streak in Monday Night Football history.

• Elias also tells us that the Saints have won their last six Monday Night Football games, the longest active winning streak on Monday Night Football.

Monday night on ESPN, the New Orleans Saints will square off against the Atlanta Falcons in a game with massive NFC playoff implications. While the Saints have dominated the series 11-2 dating back to 2006, the Falcons are looking to avenge their Week 10 overtime loss to Drew Brees and company.

A key situation in which Matt Ryan must excel in order to beat the Saints is handling added pressure, specifically on third down.


The Saints send five or more pass rushers 54 percent of the time, more than any other team in the NFL. On third down, Gregg Williams’s defense dials up the blitzes even more by sending five or more rushers 60 percent of the time (eight percent more often than the next closest team, the Denver Broncos).

Not only do the Saints like to bring the heat, they happen to be very good at it. They've recorded 21 sacks this season, second-most in the league, and they hold opposing quarterbacks to a 45.0 QBR (10th best in the league). Comparatively, when they’ve sent four or fewer pass rushers, they’ve recorded only six sacks (the fewest in the league) and have allowed a 66.9 QBR (20th in the league).

The differences are even more drastic on third down.

However, Gregg Williams may want to reconsider sending additional pass rushers on third down because Matt Ryan has had success this year when dealing with pressure.

Ryan ranks in the top 10 among quarterbacks this season in QBR (67.8), yards per attempt (8.0), yards (1,259), and completions (92) when facing five or more rushers. And the pressure has not been getting to him as he has taken only four sacks, tied with Matt Hasselbeck for fewest in the league.

On third down, Ryan gets even better when facing pressure. Not only is he tied with Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning for the most passing first downs with 28, but he is also second in the league in completions (33), fourth in yards (455), and tenth in yards-per-attempt (8.1).

When facing four or fewer rushers on third down, Ryan’s numbers are much more pedestrian. He averages 1.4 fewer yards per attempt and has been sacked a league-high 13 times. All three interceptions Ryan has thrown on third down this season have been when defense drop seven or more into coverage.

The Saints effectively contained Ryan in their previous matchup, however his QBR was 47.2 points higher against added pressure. Ryan must replicate and improve upon that effort on Monday, as he’s sure to face plenty of pass rushers.

Upsets reigned throughout the early afternoon on this NFL Sunday, the most notable of which was the Green Bay Packers having their unbeaten season ruined by the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers were supposed to roll to 14-0 against a Chiefs team that had allowed at least 30 points in five different games this season, including in last week’s loss to the New York Jets.

But interim head coach Romeo Crennel’s defense rose to the challenge, holding the Packers to season lows in points (14), yards (315) and first downs (16).

Rodgers’ streak of 13 straight games with multiple passing touchdowns came to an end.

How did the Chiefs manage to have such success?

Their approach was to defend against the pass. They used at least five defensive backs on 86 percent of the Packers plays. Against nickel and dime defenses, Rodgers completed only 15-of-31 passes.

Rodgers also had the worst game of his career when throwing the ball at least 15 yards in the air. Without injured receiver Greg Jennings, Rodgers was just 2-for-15 on such throws.

Ten of Rodgers’ 35 pass attempts were either over or underthrown. That’s the highest percentage of off-target incompletions for Rodgers in a game this season.

Let’s run through the rest of the notable surprises on the weirdest day of the NFL season.

It is the third time in NFL history in which a team that was at least 10-0 lost and a team that was 0-10 won (the others took place in 1953 and 1984, according to the Elias Sports Bureau).

• New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was supposed to dominate the Washington Redskins with passes downfield. The Redskins entered the game with the third-worst opponents Total QBR against such throws this season (97.7).

Instead, Manning was 4-for-15 on throws of at least 11 yards downfield, with three interceptions. Manning had the first game of his career in which he finished with no touchdowns and at least three interceptions.

Manning was outplayed by Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman, who was most effective on third down, going 8-for-11 for 120 yards and a touchdown.

That led to the Redskins completing a season sweep of the Giants for the first time since 1999.

• The Indianapolis Colts were supposed to continue their slide to a winless season, but instead surprised the Tennessee Titans.

The statistical highlight was Donald Brown’s late touchdown run, an 80-yarder that matched the franchise record for longest run, set by Tom Matte in 1964.

Dan Orlovsky won for the first time in 10 career starts. The Colts 82 passing yards are their fewest in a win since 1995.

• One of the few things that went according to form was the performance of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in a romp over the Minnesota Vikings.

Brees became the first player in NFL history to throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns in a game while completing 80 percent of his passes.

He also set the NFL record for 300-yard games in a season with his 11th, tied the NFL record with his sixth career game with at least five touchdown passes, and set the Saints franchise single-season mark for touchdown passes in a season (37).

He also surpassed 400 yards passing in a game for the seventh time in his career. Only Dan Marino (13) and Peyton Manning (8) have more.

The Green Bay Packers' Week 13 game in East Rutherford against the New York Giants represents arguably the Packers’ toughest regular season test left. The Packers currently sit at 11-0 with the Giants and Chiefs left on the road schedule, while they’ll welcome the Raiders, Bears, and Lions to Lambeau Field. With Green Bay’s road divisional matchups and wins over New Orleans and Atlanta in their rearview mirror, Packers fans could be excused for thinking “undefeated season”- particularly when their quarterback is Aaron Rodgers.

How good is Rodgers, really? Other than the Super Bowl MVP and Lombardi-trophy resume? Looking past the likely MVP award and potential undefeated record this season?

Rodgers has thrown for 33 touchdowns this season, most in the NFL. But Rodgers’s +29 TD-Int differential is higher than any quarterback’s touchdown total alone. Breaking it down by distance, it’s clear that Rodgers has been successful on his short, high-efficiency throws. His +13 TD-Int ratio trails only Tom Brady (+15) between 1-10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and his Total QBR (93.5) and completion percentage (78.1) are both league-highs.

However, it’s the deep ball that best illustrates exactly how good Aaron Rodgers is. On throws at least 21 yards downfield, Rodgers officially has a 99.99 Total QBR. That’s best in the league because, frankly, it’s difficult to beat when the QBR scale stops at an unreachable 100. Just as impressively, Rodgers has completed 23 of his 34 attempts at least 21 yards downfield for an incredible 67.6 completion percentage. That percentage (on only deep throws) would rank Rodgers second in overall completion percentage this season.

This Sunday, Rodgers and the Packers offense will face the Giants. New York’s secondary, despite injury problems in the preseason, has defended or intercepted 40 passes this season, third-best in the NFL. However, Drew Brees picked New York’s defense apart on Monday night, and things won’t be any easier for Big Blue when Green Bay comes to town.

Another game, another 300-yard passing effort for Drew Brees. The Saints quarterback completed 24 of 38 passes for 363 yards and four touchdowns in New Orleans' 49-24 win over the New York Giants Monday. Brees also rushed for a touchdown, the second time this season he's accounted for five total touchdowns.

Brees became the first player with four touchdowns, 350 passing yards and a rushing touchdown on Monday Night Football. He has now thrown for 350 yards or more in 27 career games, tied with Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino for the most such games in the Super Bowl era.

Speaking of Marino, Brees now has 3,689 passing yards on the season. That's 1,395 yards shy of tying Marino for the most yards in a single season. Brees finished 15 yards short of the record in 2008, but with five games left has a shot at breaking it this season. He's averaging a little more than 335 yards per game this season and would need to average 279 yards per game in his last five games to break the record.

Monday was the 38th straight game that Brees has thrown a touchdown, the second-longest streak all-time behind Johnny Unitas who did it in 47 straight games.

Brees posted his second highest Total QBR of the season and his third QBR of 90+ this year, tying him with Tony Romo for second most this season behind Aaron Rodgers. It's his second consecutive game with a QBR of 90+ and all three of his 90+ games have come in his past five games.

Brees entered Monday taking 57 percent of his snaps out of the shotgun, but was extremely balanced against the Giants. He also averaged a touchdown every 9.5 attempts out of the shotgun, nearly three times more often than through the Saints’ first 10 games (26.9).

The win improved the Saints to 5-0 at home for the second time in franchise history. They are also 11-0 in November since the start of the 2009 season, the best record of any team in that month.

The 49 points was the most the Giants have ever allowed on Monday Night Football. It's the most points they've allowed in any game since September 19, 1999 when they allowed 50 to the Redskins. New York has allowed 97 points in their last two trips to New Orleans. The Giants have now lost three straight after a win at New England earlier this month.

Despite the lopsided score, Eli Manning threw for 406 yards and two touchdowns. He even completed 21 straight passes at one point, one shy of the all-time record for consecutive completions in a game. It was Manning's second career 400-yard passing game and both have come this season in losses. Manning and Brees became the sixth pair of opposing quarterbacks to throw for at least 350 yards on Monday Night Football.

For the second time in five seasons, the St. Louis Rams found the New Orleans Saints to be the perfect opponent against which to end a season-long winless drought.

In 2007, the Rams were 0-8 to start the season and picked up their first win against the Saints. There were a few similarities between that contest (a 37-29 win) and this one (31-21).

The Saints were the fourth team in the past 40 seasons to score at least 62 points in a game. Of those four, three lost their following game. The 1973 Atlanta Falcons also lost to the Rams (then the Los Angeles Rams). In fact, those Rams shut out the Falcons 31-0 in the second week of that season.

The Rams held the Saints, who scored 62 points in a win over the winless Colts last week, to no points in the first half of this game.

Steven Jackson finished with 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns, the first time a Rams player posted 150 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a game since Jackson in Week 17 of 2008.

Jackson also was responsible for two touchdowns in that 2007 win over the Saints, although he managed them in a slightly different fashion, throwing for one and running for the other.

Chris Long posted three sacks for the Rams' defense on Sunday, the first time a Rams player had at least three sacks in a game since Leonard Little in Week 13 of 2003. The Rams finished with six sacks and two interceptions against Saints quarterback Drew Brees. They had four sacks and two interceptions against Brees in that losing-streak-snapping win in 2007.

The Saints now are 2-3 on the road this season. That is as many road losses as in the previous two combined seasons, 2009-10, in which they were an NFL-best 13-3 in road games.

The only statistical positive for the Saints was that Brees threw a touchdown pass with 6 seconds left, marking the 35th straight game in which he’s thrown at least one. That’s one shy of Brett Favre for the second-longest streak in NFL history.

Elsewhere on the winless front
• The New York Giants became the latest team to come back to beat the Miami Dolphins, rallying from 11 points down to win 20-17. The Dolphins are 0-7 for the second time in franchise history (they started 0-13 in 2007). They’ve lost 10 straight games, the second-longest losing streak in team history and the longest since losing a franchise-record 16 in a row from 2006 to '07.

It’s the fourth straight season in which the Giants won their first game following a bye week. They’ve also won four straight overall against AFC opponents.

• The Tennessee Titans downed the winless Indianapolis Colts 27-10, making the Colts 0-8 for the fourth time in franchise history, the first time since starting 0-10 in 1997.

One highlight from this contest was that Titans kicker Rob Bironas made field goals of 50 and 51 yards. He continued a fine run for NFL kickers on long-distance kicks. Kickers entered the day 41-for-58 on field goal tries of 50 yards or longer.

Week 7 saw six quarterbacks make their first start of the season and three of them including the Broncos' Tim Tebow were in the bottom four for Total QBR. Tebow's QBR was fourth-lowest among the 25 quarterbacks who had at least 15 action plays on Sunday. Only the Seahawks' Charlie Whitehurst, and the Raiders' Carson Palmer and Kyle Boller had a worse QBR.

Tim Tebow:

• Career-low 18.2 Total QBR

• Major cause: Through three quarters Tebow had a 7.8 QBR. After his sack with 6:48 left in the fourth quarter his QBR fell to a game-low 6.9. The Broncos also had a game-low 1.8% chance to win based on ESPN Stats & Information's win probability model.

From there Tebow was able to lead his team on two late scoring drives to tie the game at 15-15, bringing his QBR up to 25.5. However, keep in mind this only gave his team slightly less than a 50/50 chance to win being the road team entering overtime. With the game truly in the balance in overtime, Tebow's only action play was a sack on a third down from midfield which gave the ball back to the Dolphins. The other five offensive plays the Broncos ran in overtime were all non-Tebow running plays.

So Tebow did well to get his team close to winning - as seen by his nearly 20 point QBR increase in the fourth quarter - but he did almost nothing to get the Broncos from 50/50 to 100%.

• It might seem strange that Tebow had an 18.2 QBR this week while leading his team to a victory where last week he had an 83.3 QBR while leading his team to a similar (yet ultimately unsuccessful) comeback. The obvious reason for this is that Tebow had nothing to do with the 16-point deficit he nearly overcame against San Diego, but had a lot to do with the 15-point deficit he faced against the Dolphins. Through his first 27 action plays Tebow had a 6.9 QBR. On his next 16 action plays his QBR was 96.0.

Drew Brees:

• Season-high 97.2 Total QBR

• Major cause: Brees was dominant right from the beginning. From his third pass attempt onward, Brees’ QBR never fell below 97.0. He was 12-12 on throws longer than five yards, the first qualified QB to be perfect on throws of that length this season. He was also 3-3 on throws longer than 10 yards, only the third qualified QB to be perfect on passes of that length this season.

• Brees’ performance jumps him up to the #3 position in the season-long QBR leaderboard. Brees is the only qualified QB to have a 60+ QBR in every game he has played this season.

Cam Newton:

• 77.5 Total QBR

• Major cause: Second half. Up three entering the third quarter, Newton went 8-8 for 152 yards in the second half.


For more information about how Total QBR is calculated, go here.