Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
MLB
TIGERS FAILED IN COME-FROM-BEHIND BID
From Elias: The Tigers erased an early 1-0 deficit before losing 4-3 in 10 innings to suffer a four-game sweep to the Giants. No team has come from behind in Game 4 to avoid a World Series sweep since the Reds against the Orioles in 1970.
LEYLAND SWEPT FOR FIRST TIME
From Elias: This was the 14th postseason series of Jim Leyland's managerial career, which had been the most by any manager who had never been swept in a postseason series. With the Tigers' loss in four games to the Giants, that distinction reverts to a former Tigers manager, Sparky Anderson (12).
BOTH BATTING CHAMPS HOMER IN GAME 4
From Elias: Game 4 was the first World Series game in which each league's batting champion hit a home run. In fact, Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey are only the fourth batting champions to face each other in the Series, following Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner in 1909, Chick Hafey and Al Simmons in 1931, and Bobby Avila and Willie Mays in 1954. None of those pairs homered in the same World Series, let alone the same World Series game.
BELT FINALLY BREAKS THROUGH
From Elias: Brandon Belt's second-inning RBI-triple was his first hit in a road game in the 2012 postseason and his first hit of the World Series. Coming into that at-bat, Belt was 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts on the road this postseason and 0-for-10 in the World Series.
Belt was the first player in major-league history to go 0-for-10 (or worse) over the first three games of a World Series in which his team took a three-games-to-none lead.
COKE SETS SERIES STRIKEOUT MARK
From Elias: Losing pitcher Phil Coke set an all-time World Series record by extending his strikeout streak to seven batters¿the first seven that he faced in the 2012 Series¿when he struck out the side in the top of the ninth. The previous record of six straight strikeouts was shared by three pitchers, who all did it in a single game: Hod Eller (1919), Moe Drabowsky (1966), and Todd Worrell (1985).
NFL
ROETHLISBERGER SCHOOLS ANOTHER ROOKIE
From Elias: Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes in the Steelers' 27-12 win over the Redskins and Robert Griffin III. We mention RG3 because of Roethlisberger's extraordinary 14-0 record when starting against a rookie QB. Roethlisberger has thrown 20 TD passes and only seven interceptions in those 14 games, and his victims have included Eli Manning, Joe Flacco (twice), and Andy Dalton (twice).
MANNING, & GIANTS WIN 4TH STRAIGHT AT DALLAS
From Elias: Eli Manning led the Giants to a 29-24 victory at Cowboys Stadium. As was widely reported, the Giants have a 4-0 record at the Cowboys' new home field. Manning became the first visiting QB ever to win four consecutive starts at Dallas, regardless of the stadium.
BROWN STEALS 3 FROM COWBOYS
From Elias: Stevie Brown had two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the Giants' win at Dallas. Only two other Giants players recorded three takeaways in a game against the Cowboys: Willie Williams (1969) and Terry Kinard, who did it twice (1983 and 1987, both at Giants Stadium).
WITTEN SETS RECORD IN COWBOYS' LOSS
From Elias: Jason Witten caught 18 passes in the Cowboys' loss, the highest single-game total ever recorded by a tight end. Witten, who shared the previous record of 15 with Kellen Winslow the Elder, is only the third player in NFL history with two games of 15 or more receptions. The others are Brandon Marshall and Wes Welker.
RYAN REACHES 50-WIN MARK
From Elias: Matt Ryan earned his 50th regular-season victory in the Falcons' 30-17 win at Philadelphia. With 19 losses, Ryan became only the third NFC quarterback to reach the 50-win before losing 20 times. The others were Roger Staubach and Danny White of the Cowboys. Two AFC QBs did so since then: Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger.
MANNING THROWS FOR 300 AND 3 TD ... AGAIN
From Elias: Peyton Manning passed for 300 yards and three touchdowns in the Broncos' 34¬-7 win over the Saints. It was Manning's fourth consecutive game with at least 300 yards and three TDs, the second-longest such streak in one season in NFL history. Steve Young opened the 1998 season with a five-game streak.
STAFFORD THROWS LATE GAME-WINNER
From Elias: Matthew Stafford threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Titus Young with 20 seconds to play in the Lions' 28-24 win over the Seahawks. Stafford has played only 36 games in the NFL, but it was his sixth game-winning TD pass in the final 3 minutes of the fourth quarter, tying Tom Brady for the most among active QBs.
GOULD REACHES MILESTONE IN NEAR-RECORD TIME
From Elias: Robbie Gould kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bears a 23-22 win over the Panthers. It was Gould's 200th field goal in 233 attempts. The only kicker to reach the 200-FG mark in fewer tries was Mike Vanderjagt (230).
BEARS SCORE ON ANOTHER INT RETURN
From Elias: Tim Jennings scored on a 25-yard interception return in the Bears' victory. It was Chicago sixth INT-TD this season, and the Bears became only the fourth NFL team to score on six INTs over a span of seven games. The others were San Diego in 1961, Seattle in 1984, and St. Louis in 1999. Chicago is the first team with six pick-sixes in their first seven games of a season.
RICHARDSON POSTS HIS 2ND 100-YARD GAME
From Elias: Trent Richardson ran for 122 yards in the Browns' 7-6 win over the Chargers. Richardson, who gained 109 rushing yards against the Bengals in Week 2, is the first Browns rookie in nearly 30 years and only the third in team history to reach the 100-yard mark twice by the end of October. The others were Bobby Mitchell (1958) and Boyce Green (1983).
The win was the Browns' fifth since 2005 in which they scored fewer than 10 points. No other team has more than two such wins during that time.
LUCK THROWS GAME-WINNER IN OVERTIME
From Elias: Andrew Luck threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Vick Ballard to give the Colts a 19-13 overtime win over the Titans. Since the NFL instituted regular-season overtime in 1974, only two other rookies threw a game-winning TD pass in OT: Drew Bledsoe to Michael Timpson for the Patriots in 1994, and Ryan Fitzpatrick to Kevin Curtis for the Rams in 2005.
PATRIOTS ROUT RAMS AFTER FALLING BEHIND
From Elias: The Patriots spotted the Rams an early 7-0 lead in their 45-7 rout of St. Louis. It had been nearly 40 years since a team opened the scoring with a touchdown then failed to score the rest of the way and lost by such a wide margin. The last such game was a 46-6 victory by the Falcons over the Bears in 1973, in which the turning point might have been when Mirro Roder, Chicago's rookie kicker, missed an extra-point attempt with the Bears leading 6-0 early in the second period.
New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams
DOLPHINS SCORE VS. JETS ON BLOCKED PUNT
From Elias: Olivier Vernon recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to give the Dolphins a 10-0 lead and Miami cruised to a 30-9 victory over the Jets. It was the first TD allowed by the Jets on a blocked punt since 1984, a span of 439 games that was the longest of its type in NFL history. The Jets set that record earlier this month.
JAGS FALL BELOW .500 WITH LOSS AT GREEN BAY
From Elias: Green Bay defeated Jacksonville, 24-15, dropping the Jaguars' all-time record to 139-140. It's the first time since 1997, when the Jags had a 23-24 record late in their third season, that Jacksonville has been below the .500 mark.
Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers
RAIDERS TAKE 6TH STRAIGHT AT ARROWHEAD
From Elias: The Raiders defeated the Chiefs, 26-16, posting their sixth consecutive road victory over their longtime rivals. Only one other visiting team won six or more games in a row at Kansas City. The Steelers won seven straight regular-season games at Arrowhead Stadium from 1974 to 1996, although Kansas City won a Wild Card game at home against Pittsburgh after the first six of those Steelers victories.
Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs
CASSEL'S TD PASS IS A CHIEFS MILESTONE
From Elias: Matt Cassel's fourth-quarter pass to Dexter McCluster was the 1000th touchdown pass in Chiefs history. That leaves Buffalo as the only team among the original AFL franchises not to reach 1000 TD passes. (The Bills are currently at 975.)
Len Dawson and Otis Taylor were the most prolific TD connection for the Chiefs, combining for 46 scoring passes.
CHIEFS STILL HAVEN'T RUN A PLAY WITH THE LEAD
From Elias: Although the Chiefs defeated the Saints for their only victory of the season, Kansas City won that game in overtime and never led in any of its six losses. The Chiefs are the first team in 83 years to go through its first seven games of a season without running a play or defending while holding a lead. The last team to do so was the Buffalo Bisons in 1929.