On The Numbers: Where do Newton's, Winston's 5-TD games fit in history?

In Week 11, Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston became the youngest quarterback to throw five touchdown and no interceptions in a game. Where does that fit into history? Mitch Goldich takes a look in this week's On The Numbers.

Welcome to Week 11 of “On the Numbers,” a weekly column that mines for statistical oddities and numerical fun facts from around the NFL.

On a week that saw Eddie Lacy finally reach 100 yards rushing, Patrick DiMarco catch two touchdown passes and Mark Sanchez throw three interceptions, there was plenty to track across the league.

• News, analysis, highlights, injuries and more from Week 11 in the NFL

Feats of Strength

A pair of former Heisman Trophy winning No. 1 draft picks set career highs Sunday with five passing touchdowns each: Cam Newton and Jameis Winston.

Newton’s five TDs for 10–0 Panthers leave critics short on material

Newton is in his fourth season, and he had never even thrown for four touchdowns in one game. The last time he threw for four touchdowns in one game was the 2010 SEC Championship game when Auburn blew out South Carolina 56–17.

Newton also notched his 100th career touchdown pass on the day, and then numbers 101 and 102 for good measure. Much is made of his rushing numbers, because those are historically great for a quarterback. But his passing stats aren’t too shabby, and he’s now 15th on the list of most career touchdown passes in a player’s first five seasons.

<p>QB</p>	<p>YEARS</p>	<p>TEAM</p>	<p>GAMES</p>	<p>STARTS</p>	<p>TDS</p>
Dan Marino	1983–87	Dolphins	71	69	168
Peyton Manning	1998–2002	Colts	80	80	138
Matt Ryan	2008–12	Falcons	78	78	127
Andy Dalton	2011–15	Bengals	74	74	119
Jeff Garcia	1999–2003	49ers	74	71	113
Matthew Stafford	2009–13	Lions	61	61	109
Johnny Unitas	1956–60	Colts	58	52	109
Drew Bledsoe	1998–97	Patriots	76	75	108
Brett Favre	1991–95	Falcons, Packers	65	61	108
Aaron Brooks	2000–04	Saints	72	69	107
Carson Palmer	2004–08	Bengals	65	65	107
Jim Kelly	1986–90	Bills	71	71	105
Jay Cutler	2006–10	Broncos, Bears	68	68	104
Frankie Albert	1946–50	49ers	66	50	102
Joe Flacco	2008–12	Ravens	80	80	102
Cam Newton	2011–15	Panthers	72	72	102

Newton has had more games to work with than some of the other guys on this list, but his career average of 1.42 touchdowns per game would move him into sixth on this list if he plays all six of the Panthers’ remaining games.

Winston shows critical improvement in dominant performance vs. Eagles

Winston had been blanked in his last two games, and hadn’t thrown for more than two touchdowns in any of his first nine pro games. His last five-TD game was in October 2013 when Florida State blew out Maryland 63–0. On Sunday he and Doug Martin, who had 235 yards rushing, made the Eagles look like a college defense at times.

Winston joined Matthew Stafford as just the second rookie ever to throw for five touchdowns in a game, and he became the first to do it without throwing an interception. At 21 years, 321 days old, he also became the youngest player with five passing touchdowns and no interceptions. How much is that an indicator of future success? Well the previous youngest were Josh Freeman and Dan Marino, so you can be the judge.

<p>QB</p>	<p>AGE</p>	<p>DATE</p>	<p>TD</p>	<p>INT</p>
Jameis Winston	21 years, 321 days	Week 11, 2015	5	0
Josh Freeman	22 years, 347 days	Week 16, 2010	5	0
Dan Marino	22 years, 353 days	Week 1, 2985	5	0

Two-Way Players

Some of the most fun statistical anomalies come when players are asked to do things they don’t normally do. Punters throwing the ball! Kickers running! Lineman trying to catch passes!

It’s particularly exciting when players switch sides of the ball. We normally see this when defensive players come in on offense, especially at the goal line. There were two prime examples Sunday, with the Texans dialing up a pass pattern to J.J. Watt and the Chiefs handing off for Dontari Poe for a rushing touchdown.

Week 11 Snaps: Broncos have no reason to switch quarterbacks again

We don’t often see it the other way with offensive players coming in for defense, but we had a rare occurrence at the end of the Colts-Falcons game, when tight end Coby Fleener came in as part of the Colts’ Hail-Mary-Extreme-Prevent defense. 

We’ve seen other offensive players do this, but in a situation when players are usually better off trying to knock the ball down instead of going for the pick anyway, they rarely come away with the interception. But Matt Ryan’s last ditch effort fell short of the end zone and CobyFleener actually caught it for an interception.

According to Pro Football Reference, he’s the first tight end with an interception since the Broncos’ Tony Scheffler in Week 1 of 2009. Fleener caught three passes for 45 yards on Sunday, giving him 36 catches on the season. Only three players in the Super Bowl era had at least 36 catches in the same season they earned an interception for the defense: Randy Moss, Deion Sanders and now Coby Fleener. 

That’s some list to join. 

Errorless debut as starter showcases Osweiler as QB to fulfill Kubiak’s vision

Moss’s interception came in 2009 with the Patriots, when he intercepted a Kyle Orton pass on the final play of the first half in a game against the Broncos. Sanders was a more legitimate two-way player for the Cowboys in 1996, when he caught 36 balls for 475 yards and was named First Team All-Pro for his defense.

Once upon a time it was much more common for players to catch passes on both sides of the ball. Most notably, Hall of Famer Don Hutson had three separate seasons with at least 45 catches and six interceptions.

But for Fleener, this is likely just a trivia question, a story for his grandkids and a quirky footnote at the bottom of his stats page.

Partial Listings

I wrote about Seahawks undrafted rookie running back Thomas Rawls after his breakout game in Week 5. Little did I know he’d be back with an even bigger game later in the season. But with Marshawn Lynch out of the lineup, the Seahawks turned to him to lead their rushing attack in a game they really needed against San Francisco to get their season back on track.

Rawls responded with 209 rushing yards on 30 carries, plus three catches for 46 yards and a touchdown each on the ground and through the air.

Many running backs much more accomplished than Rawls have never had a day like he did on the ground, including the player he replaced in the Seahawks’ backfield. Here’s a partial listing of some of those running backs:

<p>PLAYER</p>	<p>GAMES</p>	<p>CAREER HIGH</p>	<p>TOTAL YARDS</p>
Matt Forte	114	205	8,252
Curtis Martin	168	203	14,101
Ricky Watters	144	178	10,643
Marcus Allen	222	173	12,243
Marshawn Lynch	127	153	9,112

Bumping up the qualifications to Rawls’s 255 yards from scrimmage narrows the pool even more. Here is a partial listing of players who have never racked up as many yards from scrimmage in a game as Rawls did on Sunday:

<p>PLAYER</p>	<p>CAREER HIGH</p>
Barry Sanders	253
Eric Dickerson	245
Arian Foster	238
Emmitt Smith	237
LeSean McCoy	221
Marshawn Lynch	177

Perfect Passer

Twenty-nine players have thrown passes so far in Week 11, but only one was spotless without an incompletion: Cecil Shorts III. Granted, the Texans’ wide receiver only threw one pass, but the trick play went for a touchdown when T.J. Yates threw him a screen pass slightly backwards and then he launched it to Alfred Blue for a 21-yard touchdown.

It was one of the plays of the day, as the Texans won 24–17 to stay tied atop the AFC South and alive in the Wild Card race.

With Romo back and all the pressure off, Cowboys remain very much alive

Shorts, a former quarterback in college at Mount Union, also threw two passes during his time with the Jaguars. He has now completed all three of his passing attempts for 53 yards and two touchdowns.

The odds are probably against Shorts finishing his career with a perfect completion percentage. If a guy like Shorts is good enough to keep throwing, his teams will probably try the play often enough until he eventually fails. (Case in point: Ladanian Tomlinson finished his career 8-for-12 with seven touchdowns; Antwaan Randle El was 22-for-27 with six touchdowns, plus 1-for-3 in the playoffs with his 51-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward in Super Bowl XL.)

So there’s no lineup of guys finishing their careers 10-for-10 as passers. The record for most career completions without an incomplete pass is six by Bill Donckers, who played just two seasons, both for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1976 and 1977. His Pro Football Reference page lists him as a quarterback with no other stats. The record for a non-QB is five by Mohammad Sanu, the Bengals receiver who is still active. 

Shorts is just one clunker of a pass from disappearing off this list forever, but at the moment he joins this list of players with multiple touchdown passes and a spotless 100% completion percentage.

<p>PLAYER</p>	<p>YEARS</p>	<p>TEAMS</p>	<p>COMP</p>	<p>ATT</p>	<p>YDS</p>	<p>TDS</p>
Mohamed Sanu	2012–15	Bengals	5	5	117	2
Cecil Shorts III	2011–15	Jaguars, Texans	3	3	53	2
Arthur Marshall	1992–96	Broncos	2	2	111	2
Kevin Lockett	1997–2003	Redskins	2	2	45	2
Curtis Martin	1995–2005	Jets	2	2	36	2
Earnest Graham	2004–11	Buccaneers	2	2	5	2

It may take years for Shorts to add to his passing numbers (although maybe he’ll get more opportunities the long T.J. Yates is in control of the Texans’ offense).

But for now, maybe just keep an eye on him. And cover your man downfield when he has the ball behind the line of scrimmage.