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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).

If Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was looking for any further motivation regarding Sunday’s matchup with Eli Manning and the New York Giants, he can find it, at least statistically, in his omission from the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster.

Manning was selected over Romo despite Romo ranking eight spots ahead of him in the Total QBR rankings.

Romo’s Total QBR for the season is 72.4, fourth-best in the NFL and third-best in the NFC, behind Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers (85.2) and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints (82.7).

Manning ranks 12th overall and among NFC quarterbacks, he also rates behind Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons (66.2), Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles (62.4), Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions (60.8), and Jay Cutler, who was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday by the Chicago Bears (59.5).

The biggest difference between Romo and his competitors is a big gap in the expected points he added in his pass attempts. He ranks fourth in that stat, (known as Pass EPA), adding 111.7 points to his team this season. Manning rates a distant fifth (85.9). A major reason for this is that Manning has thrown nearly twice as many interceptions (16) as Romo (nine).

Romo’s Total QBR was boosted by four games with a Total QBR of 90 or better, a 27-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2 (Total QBR: 93.9), a 23-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9 (Total QBR: 90.0), a 44-7 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 10 (Total QBR: 99.3) and a 31-15 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15.

In those four games, Romo was a combined 85-for-120 for 1,143 yards, with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Manning only has one game this season that ranked in the Top 50, a 27-24 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 6 (Total QBR: 91.4; 27th-best in the NFL this season).

He does have three others that rate very well, and it likely helps his cause among those selecting the Pro Bowl rosters, that two of those were in wins against the New England Patriots (Total QBR: 81.3) and the Cowboys (Total QBR: 77.1)

The Pro Bowl selections for the AFC were basically a match for the Total QBR rankings.

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers, are first, third, and fourth in the conference in Total QBR, respectively. Injured Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub was second.

The next-best possible AFC quarterback by Total QBR, Matt Hasselbeck of the Tennessee Titans was actually just one spot below Manning, at 58.8, 13th-best in the NFL.

The Dallas Cowboys rebounded from back-to-back fourth-quarter collapses, defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and snapping their two-game slide.

Tony Romo led the way offensively throwing three touchdowns and running for another all in the first half. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Romo is the first quarterback in Cowboys history to accomplish that feat in the first half.

All three of Romo’s touchdown passes were thrown outside of the pocket. He now leads the league with 10 touchdown passes outside the pocket, along with no interceptions.

Romo also had a lot of success in three wide receiver sets as all three of his touchdowns came in that formation. He has thrown 11 touchdown passes out of such formations over his last eight games, compared to just one over his first six games.

Romo finished the game with 249 passing yards giving him 20,283 yards in his 75-game career. Elias says that’s the third-most for any player in NFL history through his first 75 starts, behind Dan Marino (20,492) and Kurt Warner (20,305).

And if that's not enough, Romo’s Total QBR of 97.5 was the second-highest single-game rating this season among quarterbacks with a minimum of 30 action plays.

Another huge key for the Cowboys offense was Felix Jones who rushed for 108 yards. He was tough to take down as 49 of his 108 rushing yards (45.4 percent) came after contact. Jones averaged 2.2 yards per rush after contact, which is not surprising considering he entered the game ranked fourth in the league in yards per rush after contact (2.5).

This marked the first time in Jones’ career that he posted back-to-back 100-yard games as he tallied 106 last week against the New York Giants.

The Buccaneers on the other hand have lost eight straight games, something they have not done since dropping 11 straight over two seasons from 2008-09.

Tampa Bay was held to a season-low 190 yards of total offense, but it was their defense that was once again shredded. Before scoring a third-quarter touchdown, the Buccaneers had allowed 69 consecutive points (28 Saturday, 41 last week versus the Jacksonville Jaguars), which is the second-most in franchise history.

Over the course of their eight-game losing streak the Bucs have been outscored 256-134 (15.3 points per game).

Next week the Buccaneers will hit the road to take on the Carolina Panthers while the Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles as they continue their fight for a playoff berth.

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.

Last year at this time, Dallas Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey was still at Oklahoma State, and coming off a game at Kansas in which he missed two of his four field goal attempts.

The next week, Bailey made both of his field goal attempts in a loss to Oklahoma and polished off his collegiate career by making all three field goal attempts in a win over Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.

Flash forward to the present, where Bailey hit a pair of field goals, including the game winner with no time remaining, to help the Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins in a Thanksgiving nail biter.

Bailey has made 27 of 28 field goal attempts in his rookie NFL season, including 26 in a row, one shy of the Cowboys team record by any player, set by Chris Boniol in 1996.

The Cowboys now have seven wins this season, and four of them have come via Bailey game-winning field goals.

Another rookie from the Big 12 has also played a major role in the Cowboys success this season, running back DeMarco Murray.

Murray played sparingly in the first five games of the season, totaling only 73 rushing yards on 25 carries, but has averaged 126.8 rush yards per game in the six games since, in which the Cowboys have gone 5-1.

Through 11 games, Murray has 834 rushing yards, already fourth on the Cowboys single-season rookie rushing list, behind only Tony Dorsett, Calvin Hill and Emmitt Smith. Dorsett is the only Cowboy to rush for 1,000 yards in his rookie season, totaling 1,007 in 1977.

It was Bailey and Murray’s first Thanksgiving games in the NFL, but that wasn’t the case for Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who is now a perfect 5-0 in his NFL career on Thanksgiving as a starter, the best record for any quarterback with at least five Thanksgiving Day starts.

Romo threw a pair of first-quarter interceptions, something he’s now done just twice in his NFL career, but rebounded with a pair of touchdown passes, both to Laurent Robinson.

Robinson was targeted twice in the end zone on Thursday, and both throws resulted in touchdowns. Robinson has five receptions this season in the five times he’s been targeted in the end zone.

Romo is now 19-2 as a starting quarterback in the NFL in November, the best record of any starting quarterback in November in the Super Bowl era (minimum 15 starts in the month).

He did struggle throwing down the field in the victory, going just 5-14 on throws of 11 or more yards, with both of his interceptions coming on throws of that distance. Entering the game Romo had only thrown four interceptions on passes of 11 or more yards for the entire season.

Those three players helped the Cowboys to improve to 7-4 this season, one more win they had all of last season, when Dallas went 6-10 for its first losing season since 2004. Dallas has also won five of its last six Thanksgiving Day games.

Matt Moore helped put the game away early, leading the Dolphins to touchdowns on each of their first three drives. On those drives, he went 7-9 for 128 yards and two touchdowns. All seven of those completions went for first downs and 108 of those 128 yards came on the strength of his arm, including five completions that went at least 12 yards in the air.

This is the second time in three weeks that Matt Moore has had a game with a Total QBR near 98 –- he had a 97.7 two weeks ago in Kansas City. In fact, using a very small minimum of 10 QB action plays in a game, Moore has two of the five highest-rated games this season.

Aaron Rodgers had another solid performance on Sunday, going 23-34 for 299 yards and three touchdowns. While less than half of his yards came on the strength of his arm (158 yards were YAC), 15 of his 23 completions went for first downs and two of his incompletions were actually drops. Rodgers finished with a Total QBR of 82.9 –- excellent for anyone else, but actually his fourth lowest in 10 games this season.

Rodgers has had a Total QBR of 80 or higher in nine of his 10 games this season. This is quite amazing since no other QB has had more than five such games so far in 2011.

One of the best quarterback duels of the season happened in Chicago Sunday between Jay Cutler (18-31, 286 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown) and Philip Rivers (21-31, 280 yards, two passing touchdowns). Both threw interceptions (one for Cutler, two for Rivers), but each of those came with less than 10 minutes left in an 11-point game and were relatively less costly because they came at a time when the game was pretty much out of reach (the Chargers’ win probability was 16 percent or below for all of the final 10 minutes of the game).

Both quarterbacks made great plays through the air while not taking any sacks. Cutler finished with five completions that traveled at least 22 yards in the air from the line of scrimmage, and 15 of his 18 completions resulted in first downs. Rivers completed four passes that went 23+ yards in the air -- including a 47-yard bomb to Vincent Jackson that traveled 43 yards from the line of scrimmage -- all in the middle of a close game.

This was the first game this year and the fourth since 2008 in which both starting quarterbacks finished with Total QBRs above 90.

Week 10 was a good one for quarterbacks as four topped 90 in Total QBR led by Tony Romo, who set an NFL-high for this season with a QBR of 99.3.

As in any game where a quarterback’s QBR is over 99, Romo did many things well. Among them was his ability to complete long passes down field. He was 6-6 on passes that traveled at least 11 yards down field, 4-4 on passes that traveled at least 21 yards and 2-2 on passes that traveled at least 31 yards (both for touchdowns). In the first half with the game still in question, Romo was 18-19 including a perfect 7-7 on third downs that all went for first downs. Romo did not fumble and was not sacked or intercepted.

This was only the third time since 2008 a QB has had a 99+ QBR in a game with at least 25 action plays.

Matt Schaub had the second highest QBR this week at 93.9. Like Romo, Schaub was dominant in almost every area. He was also great on deep balls, going 3-3 on passes that traveled at least 11 yards in the air. This includes the first play from scrimmage where Schaub completed an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones -- 33 of which came in the air.

A week after posting a Total QBR of 47.4 in his first start for the Raiders, Carson Palmer was third among all quarterbacks this week with a QBR of 92.8. Palmer was perfect throwing the deep ball Thursday, going 4-4 on passes 21+ yards downfield for 146 yards, 134 of which came in the air, and two touchdowns.

One of the most interesting QBRs of the week goes to Tim Tebow. Despite completing just two of eight passes for 69 yards, Tebow finished with a 73.3 QBR on 19 action plays. Because Tebow had so few action plays, his QBR was heavily influenced by his one touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter with the game close. Entering the play Tebow’s QBR was 18.2, but due to the increased leverage of the play and the lack of involvement prior, Tebow increased his QBR to 75.9 with just one pass. QBR is a rate statistic, so the fewer the plays the more each play is weighted.

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

The Pittsburgh Steelers pass defense, which had done little in one key statistical category this season, came through at the right time on Sunday afternoon.

The Steelers, who had recorded only two interceptions in their first nine games (tied for fewest in the league with the Dolphins), had a pair in the fourth quarter to thwart a comeback attempt from Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. That snapped the Bengals five-game winning streak.

One of the keys to the win was that Dalton completed only 12-of-24 passes on throws that went under 15 yards in the air, and his miscues included both interceptions. The Steelers entered the day having allowed opponents to complete 64 percent of such throws this season.

Dalton did complete one such throw for a score, a 36-yarder to A.J. Green, but Green , the NFL’s leading rookie receiver, was injured on the play and left shortly afterwards. After that, Dalton slumped, completing just one of his next six passes that went at least 11 yards in the air.

There was one statistical positive for Dalton, whose touchdown throw gave him 14 for the season. That’s the most for a rookie in the first nine games of the season since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

Highlights for the Steelers offense included Rashard Mendenhall’s first game this season with multiple rushing touchdowns. Both scores came in situations in which the Bengals had at least eight defenders in the box, matching the number of touchdowns Mendenhall had on 24 such runs facing that defensive look this season.

The win made Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger 7-1 for his career in games played in Cincinnati. It also made Mike Tomlin the fourth coach in Steelers history to win 50 regular-season games, joining Chuck Noll (193), Bill Cowher (149) and Buddy Parker (51).

Elsewhere in the early-afternoon games:

• Tony Romo set a Dallas Cowboys record by completing 88.5 percent of his passes (23-for-26). The Cowboys scored their most points since they beat the New York Giants, 45-35 in the season opener in 2007.

DeMarco Murray has now rushed for at least 130 yards in 3 of his last 4 games. His 3 games with at least 130 Rush yards ties Julius Jones for the most by a rookie in Cowboys history.

• New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees had 322 passing yards vs the Falcons, his 51st career 300-yard passing game. That's tied with Dan Fouts for the 5th-most in NFL history. Brees’ 37 straight games with a touchdown is the second-longest streak in NFL history, 10 shy of the mark set by Johnny Unitas from 1956 to 1960.

• On the other end of the quarterbacking spectrum, the Denver Broncos won despite Tim Tebow completing only two passes. The only team in the last 25 years to win a game with two or fewer pass completions AND have only one quarterback attempt a pass was the 2009 Browns in Week 5 at the Bills (Derek Anderson: 2-for-17, but won game 6-3).

Tim Tebow couldn't find the come-from-behind magic on Sunday that he had in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins. As a result, his Denver Broncos lost by 35 points to the Detroit Lions with Tebow's Total QBR among the worst by a quarterback in a single game this season at 3.4.

Tim Tebow

In addition to Tim Tebow’s relatively poor passing stats (18-39, 172 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int), the Broncos quarterback took an incredible seven sacks for 55 yards and fumbled three times. When the game was within two scores early on, Tebow went just 3-11 for 32 yards and two 1st downs. His only saving grace was his ability to run, as he picked up 63 yards on 10 carries.

Despite being ineffective, Tebow played the entire game piling up a whopping 59 action plays, giving him the lowest Total QBR of any quarterback with at least 50 action plays in a single game since 2008 (more than 300 QB games reach that minimum).

Sunday marked Tebow’s fifth career start in the NFL and his Total QBR has declined significantly in each one.

Tebow’s season-long Total QBR now stands at 12.8, the lowest among 35 qualified QB so far this season.

Matthew Stafford

On the flip side of Tebow’s poor outing was Matthew Stafford’s great one, as the Detroit quarterback finished with a career-high Total QBR of 94.6 (previous high was 84.6 in Week 3 of the 2009 season vs the Redskins). When the game was still relatively close in the first half, Stafford went 16-22 for 11 1st downs and 191 yards, with 135 of those yards coming in the air (including a 41-yard TD strike into the end zone to Titus Young).

Stafford’s great day stood out even more when contrasted with Tebow’s paltry performance. The 91.3 difference in their Total QBRs was the highest among any two opposing quarterbacks in the same game this season, and the seventh-highest such difference in a single game since 2008 (only counting the QB with the most action plays for each team).

Michael Vick

Michael Vick had arguably his best game of the season on Sunday night, making plays with his arm and his feet in an impressive 34-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. In the first half when the game was still close, Vick was 13-17 for 187 yards and 2 TD through the air and had 45 yards and three 1st downs on the ground. He led the Eagles to three touchdowns and one field goal on their four drives in the half.

Vick’s 90.1 Total QBR was his second-highest since returning to the NFL in 2009 (minimum 10 action plays), behind only his record 99.8 Total QBR on Monday Night Football in Washington last season. Sunday’s high rating was also good enough to boost Vick into sixth place among qualifiers in season-long Total QBR, passing his opponent from Sunday night, Tony Romo (who finished with a poor 23.6 Total QBR for the game).

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

Week 6 was a week of extremes as six quarterbacks who have played in at least four games this year set season-highs in QBR while five set season-lows. Rookies Andy Dalton, Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert set career-highs.

Ryan and Rodgers lead the pack

Matt Ryan:

• Season-high 92.5 Total QBR

• Major cause: Two defensive pass interference calls in the end zone setting up 1st and goals for the Falcons. Ryan contributed 4.4 clutch-weighted expected points to the Falcons on penalties, the most in a single game for any quarterback this season.

• Ryan was also 3-3 for 53 yards on third downs in the fourth quarter. All three went for first downs.

• Since 2008, Ryan has 12 games with a QBR of 90 or higher, second most in the league.

Aaron Rodgers:

• 91.9 Total QBR, second highest of the season

• Major cause: In the first half Rodgers was 11-15 for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Despite Rodgers being unable to lead the Packers to any second half points, his superb first half gave Green Bay a 24-0 cushion which was never threatened.

Manning and Newton with season-highs

Eli Manning:

• Season-high 91.4 Total QBR

• Major cause: Stayed away from negative plays. This was Manning’s first game since Week 12 of last season without a sack, interception or fumble.

Cam Newton:

• Season-high 80.6 Total QBR

• Major cause: Scrambling. Newton added 8.1 clutch-weighted expected points with his scrambling, the most in a single game since Vince Young in Week 11 of the 2009 season. A large chunk of this came on Newton’s rush TD on a 3rd and 5 from the Falcons 14 yard line with the Panthers trailing by four in the third quarter.

Romo and Brady both above average, but not much more

Tony Romo:

• 62.6 Total QBR

• Major cause: It was a mixed bag for Romo. His biggest play of the game came on a 17-yard scramble on a 2nd and 13 in the 4th quarter with the game tied. That drive ended with a Cowboys field goal to take a 16-13 lead. However, Romo struggled on third downs all day, completing only two first down passes with an INT on seven attempts.

Tom Brady:

• Season-low 56.8 Total QBR

• Major cause: Like Romo, it was a mixed bag for Brady. His touchdown to Aaron Hernandez is what most people will remember (and was his biggest play of the game); however, Brady did not complete a single pass that traveled more than 12 yards in the air. This is the first time Brady did not complete a pass of that length since Week 4 of last season.

• Entering the final drive Brady’s QBR was 30.6, so the fact he was able to bring it all the way up to 56.8 on one drive was impressive.

For more information about Total QBR, go to http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6909058/nfl-total-qbr-faq

The New England Patriots and their high-powered offense host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon in a marquee AFC-NFC matchup.

The Patriots have scored 30-or-more points in 13 straight regular season games dating back to last year, one shy of the NFL record set by the 1999-00 St. Louis Rams. The last team to hold the Patriots under 30 points in the regular season was the Browns in Week 9 of 2010, a defense coached by current Cowboys coordinator Rob Ryan.

The offense has been fueled by a Tom Brady-led passing attack which leads the league in touchdowns through the air since the start of the 2010 season. Not surprisingly, Brady has also posted the highest Total Quarterback Rating in the NFL at 75.0 over the last two seasons.

On Sunday Brady will face one of his stiffest tests during the streak, going against a Cowboys pass defense that has allowed a Total QBR of 29.1 this year, which ranks second among all NFL teams behind only the Ravens.

Brady has consistently been one of the top passers in the league, and this year leads all quarterbacks with 1,874 passing yards.

But there is one key difference in the Patriots passing game plan this year, as Brady is throwing the deep ball like no other season before.

Through the first five weeks, Brady leads the NFL in completions and yards on throws of 11-or-more yards downfield, and has 11 pass plays of 30-plus yards, which is tied for the NFL lead with Aaron Rodgers.

The Cowboys secondary, however, matches up well with Brady’s air-it-out passing attack. The Dallas defense is allowing just 8.7 yards per attempt on throws that travel 11 yards or more, good for fifth among NFL teams.

Brady won’t be the only quarterback to watch on Sunday, as many eyes (especially those in Texas) will be focused on the play of Tony Romo, who has had a roller-coaster season so far.

While his play has been fairly consistent in the first through the first three quarters, he’s played either like an MVP or a practice squad player in final 15 minutes.

The good news for Cowboys fans is that if the team can keep it close through three quarters, Romo might have a chance win the game late. He’ll be facing a Patriots defense that is allowing a Total QBR of 88.1 in the fourth quarter, which is by far the worst mark in the NFL.

The Detroit Lions overcame a 24-point deficit to beat the Dallas Cowboys a week after coming back to win from a 20-point deficit last week. With the 34-30 road win the Lions improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1980 and have won eight straight regular-season games for the first time since a nine-game streak over the 1953-54 seasons.

It’s the largest blown lead in Cowboys franchise history, and it’s tied for the second-largest blown fourth-quarter lead (13). The only time the Cowboys blew a larger fourth-quarter lead was in Week 1 of this season, when they led the New York Jets by 14 in the final quarter.

Calvin Johnson caught eight passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns, his fourth consecutive game with two touchdown catches. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he’s the first player in NFL history with at least two touchdown receptions in each of a team’s first four games of a season.

He’s the second player (Cris Carter in 1995) with at least two touchdown catches in four straight games in a single season and his eight touchdown receptions are tied for the most all-time in a team’s first four games of a season.

Tony Romo threw three touchdowns, his 20th career game with at least three touchdown passes, tying Danny White for the most such games in franchise history. Romo also had two interceptions returned for touchdowns, the first time he’s done that since 2007 in Buffalo.

The last Cowboys QB to do that at home was Ryan Leaf in a 2001 loss to the Eagles. All five of Romo’s picks this season have come in the second half.

The Lions returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game for just the second time since 1977. They’ve outscored their opponents 92-20 in the second half and overtime this season.

Sunday was the second straight day that a Texas team lost a big halftime lead.

On Saturday in the same stadium, Texas A&M led Arkansas by 18 at halftime and would up losing the game 42-38. The Cowboys led the Lions 20-3 at halftime Sunday and made it 27-3 early in the third quarter.

The Lions used their defense to get themselves back in the game. After allowing Tony Romo’s third touchdown early in the third quarter, they used a four-man rush to pick off Romo three times, returning two of them for touchdowns.

Despite not scoring a single touchdown on Monday, the Dallas Cowboys improved to 2-1 on the season with an 18-16 win over the previously unbeaten Washington Redskins. Dan Bailey kicked six field goals in six attempts tying the rookie record for field goals in one game. Garo Yepremian had six for the Lions in 1966 (in a 32–31 win over the Vikings) and the Steelers’ Jeff Reed had six in 2002 (in a 25–23 win over the Jaguars).

Bailey is also the third kicker in Cowboys' history to kick at least six field goals in a game. The former Lou Groza Award winner out of Oklahoma State joins Chris Boniol in 1996 and Billy Cundiff in 2003 who each kicked seven field goals and also did it on Monday Night Football. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Bailey is also the first Dallas kicker since Cundiff in 2003 to make at least one field goal in six consecutive quarters (including an overtime period).

Tony Romo completed 22 of 36 passes for 255 yards, but saw his streak of 20 consecutive games with a touchdown pass come to an end. That had been a franchise record. Romo finished with a 60.7 Total QBR good for 11th best in the league this week. His counterpart Rex Grossman's Total QBR was just 23.3.

Monday night was a great example of how Total QBR is a better indication of a quarterback’s true contribution to his team than the NFL passer rating.

Although Romo and Grossman had almost identical “basic” QB stats, the difference in the game was Romo’s ability to make plays when it mattered most. On Romo’s last drive he was 3-4 for 57 yards, including a huge 3rd-and-21 conversion, which according to the Elias Sports Bureau was the longest third-down passing conversion of Romo’s career. On Grossman’s last drive he took a sack and lost a fumble, effectively ending his team’s chance of winning.

As a reminder, Total QBR is a quarterback rating that takes into account all of a QB’s contributions (passing, rushing, sacks, fumbles, penalties) to his team’s scoring and winning and summarizes them into one number on a 0-100 scale, where 50 is average.

The Cowboys have been in a number of close games dating back to last season as they became the first team in NFL history to play in nine straight games decided by three points or fewer. Dallas' win leaves the Philadelphia Eagles alone in last place with a 1-2 record in the NFC East.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Monday's game was the 12th this week decided by seven or fewer points. That ties the record for most such games in one week in NFL history. There were also 12 such games in Week 15 in 1993 and Week 12 in 2003. It was just the fourth NFL game since the merger with an 18-16 score and the first since 2000.

Week 2 of the NFL season is almost in the books and we use Total QBR to recap the week that was. As a reminder, Total QBR is a quarterback rating that takes into account all of a QB’s contributions (passing, rushing, sacks, fumbles, penalties) to his team’s scoring and winning and summarizes them into one number on a 0-100 scale, where 50 is average.

Tony Romo (94.0 Total QBR) Rebounds from Last Week, Rib Injury to Lead Cowboys to Comeback Win
After a rough fourth quarter last week, Tony Romo rebounded in a big way in Week 2, coming back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime. His 94.0 is his fourth-highest score in his 37 games since 2008 and the highest single-game score of the season so far (min. 10 plays).

Romo’s Total QBR was 59.9 at halftime; after missing a few series with a rib injury, he returned towards the end of the third quarter. He improved the rest of the game and his Total QBR was 99.6 in the final 10:00 of regulation and overtime.

Tom Brady (91.1 Total QBR) Puts on Another Spectacular Performance
After his great performance last week (517 pass yards, 88.6 Total QBR), Tom Brady finished with an even better game by Total QBR in Week 2. He finished 31-for-40 (23 first downs) with 423 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. He led the Patriots to four touchdowns and two field goals on their nine meaningful drives.

It’s Brady’s sixth game in the past two seasons with a Total QBR of 90 or higher; no other quarterback has more than four such games in that span.

Brady’s Total QBR of 89.7 through two games leads the league and is well ahead of the pace he set on his way to winning the NFL MVP last season. It’s still below where he was through the first two games (98.0) of his record-setting 2007 season.

Despite High Yardage Total, Cam Newton’s Second Game (25.2 Total QBR) Not as Good as His First
After putting up a very good Total QBR of 75.7 in his NFL debut against the Cardinals, Cam Newton finished with another high yardage total against the Packers (432 yards). If you look at Newton’s contributions to the Panthers on a play-by-play basis and take into account the situation in which they occurred (like Total QBR does), you can see why Newton’s game was actually below average:

• Panthers scored touchdowns on only two of 12 drives (went 2-for-6 in red zone); second touchdown came with 0:37 left and team down 14 points
• Newton had only four first downs on 20 red zone action plays
• All three of Newton's interceptions came with the score within seven points
• Newton took three sacks on the potential game-tying driving drive in the fourth quarter (including one on 3rd-and-1 from the 3), then failed on a scramble on fourth down to end that drive

Despite Loss, Jason Campbell Has 2nd-Highest Total QBR (93.3) of Week 2
Despite the Raiders coming up short in a 38-35 loss to the Bills, Jason Campbell had an excellent game, particularly in rallying the Raiders to a near victory in the fourth quarter. Some highlights/notes from Campbell’s game:

• Seventeen of 23 his completions went for first downs
• went 8-for-8 (all eight for first downs), 139 yards (91 air yards), two touchdowns on his first two fourth-quarter drives, both taking the Raiders from down three points to up four points
• His interception came on a hail mary attempt at the end of game and was basically inconsequential to his QB Rating.

Campbell’s 93.3 was his second-highest in a single game in 47 games since 2008 (95.3 in 2010 Week 7 at Broncos).

Tony Romo had two big turnovers in the fourth quarter Sunday night -- a fumble inside the Jets’ five-yard line and an interception that led to the game-winning field goal. His Total QBR -- ESPN’s new metric that takes into account everything a quarterback does, not just passing -- fell from 85.2 in the first three quarters to 10.2 in the fourth.

Does that mean that Romo is not clutch?

Over the past three-plus seasons, Romo has been better statistically almost across the board in the fourth quarter and overtime than in the first three quarters. His yards per attempt and touchdown percentage increase while his interception and sack rates go down.

Since 2008, his Total QBR is virtually identical in those periods: 58.6 in the first three quarters and 58.4 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

He’s essentially the same quarterback in the fourth quarter and overtime as he is before; there’s not a huge spike in fumbles, interceptions, sacks or anything else negative.

Romo is 18th (among 23 quarterbacks with 50 action plays) in Pass Expected Points Added (6.68) when only looking at plays that carry significant clutch weight, like when the score is within eight points in the fourth quarter or later and third/fourth down plays.

On those plays, Romo's receivers have the the third-highest yards after catch Expected Points Added (3.17) of the same 23 quarterbacks. Cowboys receivers also have the highest yards after catch per reception rate on third and fourth downs in late and close games (7.6), as well as the highest YAC percentage of passing yards in those same situations (53 percent, the only team over 50).

Simply put, Romo “lets his receivers do the work” in important situations, leaving him with an average fourth quarter/overtime Total QBR as opposed to his elite NFL passer rating that rewards blowout yardage.

One common knock on Romo is that he doesn't perform well in primetime or nationally televised games. But the numbers don't bear that out either.

Since 2008, he's played 17 of these "big games", which include primetime games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as well as Thanksgiving and playoff games.

In all of those games, his Total QBR is 55.9. In two Thanksgiving games, it's an 82.0, and in three Monday Night Football games, it's a 71.5 In the same span, his overall QBR is 58.2, so there's not much evidence that he plays worse in spotlight games.

Breaking down his recent career in this way lends credence to the theory that last Sunday's meltdown in East Rutherford was more of an aberration than the norm for Romo.

-- Dean Oliver and John Parolin contributed to this report