NFL Tuesday Morning Football - Top Performers from Week Six

In this shortened, slightly late, post - due to overbearing work-induced time constraints - I will be taking a look at three of the top performers from the NFL this week.

Another topsy-turvy week in the NFL saw the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers join forces to post the highest-scoring tie (37-37) in NFL history, the Cowboys beat the Seahawks in Seattle to stake their claim as (probably) legitimate Super Bowl contenders, and the Green Bay Packers stole a win from the Miami Dolphins with a last-second fake spike touchdown from Aaron Rodgers.

Colin Kapernick, LeSean McCoy, Giovani Bernard, Tom Brady,  Andrew Luck and Alshon Jefferey were among those who put up stellar numbers this week, but here are three players I felt worthy of a place in my weekly roundup.


Joe Flacco

Joe Flacco threw five touchdown passes on Sunday. This would be a huge deal in its own right, but what makes it more impressive is that he managed to do it all in the first half. He nearly did it in one quarter, with his final touchdown - a 56 yard pass to Steve Smith Sr. - coming less than one minute into the second quarter. It took the Ravens' quarterback just 16 minutes and three seconds to throw five touchdowns (now the NFL record for the Fastest Time to Five Touchdowns), and had Flacco continued as this pace he would have thrown 18 touchdowns. Yes, it was against the impossibly bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it is an impressive feat nonetheless.

Matt Forte

Kiss goodbye to Matt Forte, running back, and say "hello" to Matt Forte, offensive weapon. He has not been named as such for no reason, and that reason is not "because it sounds cooler". Forte can be considered an offensive weapon - initially created by the Jacksonville Jaguars for former Michigan quarterback Dennard Robinson - because he has emerged into the type of player that causes defensive coordinators nightmares. Forte has flourished under second-year head coach Marc Trestman, and now has a league-high 46 catches in six games. He is the only running back to feature in the top 20 in receptions and top 50 for receiving yards, and he has four games with 100 combined yards from scrimmage this season. Sunday's win over Atlanta was no different, with Forte posting 80 yards - and two touchdowns - on the ground and 77 yards in the air.

T.Y. Hilton

T.Y. Hilton had a quiet week six, leading the NFL in receiving with nine receptions for a staggering 223 yards and an average of 24.8 yards per cach. He also caught one of Andrew Luck's three touchdown passes in the Indianapolis Colts' 33-28 win over the division rival Houston Texans. Hilton emerged in the absence of Reggie Wayne last season, and has remained the Colts' most prolific playmaker despite Wayne's return and the addition of former New York Giant Hakeem Nicks. He leads the Colts with 40 receptions for 604 yards and eight plays of at least 20 yards, a stat for which he is ranked fourth in the league.

Honourable mention: Dan Bailey

Dallas Cowboys' kicker - and die-hard Aston Villa fan - Dan Bailey became the most accurate kicker in NFL history on Sunday, surpassing Mike Vanderjagt's (remember him?) record of 86.47% with a 91.07% field goal accuracy percentage. Vanderjagt's record was always doomed to fall though, because the standard of kicking in the league right now is so much higher than anything that has come before. The top 38 most accurate kickers in history have been active in the last ten years, and twenty three of them are on NFL rosters as we speak. Given how long NFL kickers' careers tend to last, 26 year-old Bailey has plenty of time to distance himself from the rest of the placekicking crowd.