Ground Report

12/13/2009

SEVEN FROM SUNDAY – WEEK 14

A look at seven statistical highlights from games played at 1:00 p.m. ET and 4:00 p.m. ET on

Sunday, December 13, the 14th week of the 2009 season.

*** For the first time in NFL history, there are two 13-0 teams in the same season. The INDIANAPOLIS COLTS and the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS both improved to 13-0 with their victories today. The Colts defeated Denver 28-16 and the Saints won 26-23 at Atlanta. Entering this season, only five teams had started 13-0: 2007 New England (16-0), 1972 Miami (14-0), 1934 Chicago (13-0), 1998 Denver (13-0) and 2005 Indianapolis (13-0).

The Colts have now won 22 consecutive regular-season games, surpassing the 2006-08 New England Patriots (21) for the longest streak in NFL history.

Indianapolis has 114 regular-season wins since the start of the 2000 season, the most by a team in a single decade. The San Francisco 49ers registered 113 wins in the 1990s.

*** The SAN DIEGO CHARGERS improved to 10-3 with a 20-17 win at Dallas. Dating back to a 24-21 win at Buffalo on December 3, 2006, the Chargers have won an NFL-record 16 consecutive games in December. The previous mark was set by the 1968-1972 Dallas Cowboys, who won 13 games in a row during the month.

*** Denver wide receiver BRANDON MARSHALL had 21 receptions for 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns against Indianapolis. Marshall’s 21 receptions set an NFL record for most catches in a game. TERRELL OWENS previously held the record with 20 receptions on December 17, 2000 with the San Francisco 49ers.

*** Tennessee running back CHRIS JOHNSON totaled 186 yards from scrimmage (117 rushing, 69 receiving) in the Titans’ 47-7 victory over St. Louis. Johnson leads the NFL with 2,017 scrimmage yards and became only the fifth player in NFL history to reach 2,000 scrimmage yards in his team’s first 13 games. He joins Pro Football Hall of Famers JIM BROWN (2,008 in 1963), WALTER PAYTON (2,051 in 1977) and O.J. SIMPSON (2,120 in 1975) and former Kansas City running back PRIEST HOLMES (2,104 in 2002) as the only players to accomplish the feat.

*** New England wide receiver WES WELKER had 10 receptions for 105 yards in the Patriots’ 20-10 win over Carolina. Welker, who played in his 11th game today, leads the NFL with 105 receptions and tied MARVIN HARRISON for the fewest individual games played to reach 100 receptions in a season in NFL history. Harrison caught 100 passes in his first 11 games of the 2002 season en route to an NFL-record 143 catches.

Welker also joined Harrison (4), JERRY RICE (3) and HERMAN MOORE (3) as the only players to have 100 receptions in three consecutive seasons.

*** Houston wide receiver ANDRE JOHNSON had 10 receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the first half of the Texans’ 34-7 win over Seattle. Johnson is the first player to record at least 10 catches, 180 yards and two touchdowns in the first half of a game since Jacksonville’s JIMMY SMITH in 2000 (September 10, 2000).

*** San Diego running back LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON rushed for one touchdown in the Chargers’ 20-17 win at Dallas. Tomlinson has now rushed for at least 10 touchdowns in each of the first nine seasons to start his career, the longest such streak in NFL history.
NFL