On the Marc
Rams' Bulger racking up unprecedented numbers
Posted: Wednesday October 5, 2005 4:57PM; Updated: Wednesday October 5, 2005 5:33PM


Marc Bulger has thrown for more than 440 yards three times in his career with the Rams.
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images



Marc Bulger is the perfect quarterback for the Rams. They fall behind a lot; he loves to throw.

Bulger on Sunday threw for 442 yards in the Rams' 44-24 loss to the Giants. That's the first time anyone has thrown for 440 yards in a game since Bulger passed for 450 yards against the Jets on the final weekend of last season.

Bulger also passed for 448 yards against the Packers the 11th week of last year. Between that game and his 442-yard performance against the Giants, only two other QBs threw for 442 or more yards - the Titans Billy Volek (492 vs. the Raiders) and the Eagles Donovan McNabb (464 vs. the Packers).

So during a period of 11 weeks, Bulger has more games with 440 or more yards (three) than all other NFL quarterbacks combined (two).

There's more.

Bulger also passed for 453 yards against the Chargers in 2002, making him the first quarterback in NFL history with four 440-yard games in a four-year period. Dan Marino is the only quarterback in history with more -- but his were spread over an 11-year period.

Tommy Kramer of the Vikings had three 440-yard games, and only nine others have passed for that many yards twice in a game --- Jake Plummer, Vinny Testaverde, Randall Cunningham, Boomer Esiason, Steve Young, Joe Montana, Neil Lomax, Dan Fouts and Richard Todd.

But Plummer, Testaverde and Cunningham -- the three who most recently preceded Bulger with multiple 440-yard games-- each had their two performances for different teams, Plummer for the Cards and Broncos, Testaverde with the Jets and Buccaneers and Cunningham with the Eagles and Vikings.

That means in the last 10 years, Bulger is the only QB with more than one 440-yard passing performance for the same team.

And he has four.

Until this week, only Kramer (1980 and 1981) and Montana (1989 and 1990) had two efforts of 442 yards or better in the span of 11 starts.

Bulger is also the first QB to complete 40 passes and throw for 442 or more yards in a game since Simms was 40-for-62 for 513 yards against the Bengals in 1985.

Here is a look at Bulger's four career 440-yard passing efforts:

Oct. 2, 2005: vs. N.Y. Giants 40-62, 442 yards
Jan. 2, 2005, vs. N.Y. Jets (OT) 29-39, 450 yards
Nov. 29, 2004, vs. Packers 35-53, 448 yards
Nov. 10, 2002, vs. Chargers 36-48, 453 yards

More Obscure, Absurd and Preposterous Stats from the NFL's Week 4
• Giants WR Plaxico Burress had 204 receiving yards against the Rams on Sunday, his second game with 204 or more yards over the past four years.

He's the only receiver this decade with two games of 204 or more yards, and he now has more career 200-yard games than Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Paul Warfield, Andre Reed, Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Stanley Morgan and Muhsin Muhammad combined.

Since Nov. 10, 2002, when Burress had 253 yards for the Steelers against the Falcons, only four other receivers have reached 204 yards in a game (Amani Toomer, Rod Smith, Anquan Boldin and Drew Bennett).

Burress is the 13th player in NFL history to surpass 204 yards in a game more than once. The others: Jerry Rice (five times); Don Hutson, Charlie Hennigan, Isaac Bruce, Wes Chandler and Lance Alworth (three times); and Michael Irvin, James Lofton, Don Maynard, Carroll Dale, Stephone Paige and Jimmy Smith (twice).

The only other player with a 204-yard game for two different teams was Lofton, who on Oct. 15, 1984, caught 11-for-206 for the Packers against the Broncos and on Oct. 21, 1991, grabbed 8-for-220 for the Bills against the Bengals.

The last to have two 204-yard games closer together than Burress was Smith, who had a 220-yard game against the Saints in 1999 and a 291-yard game against the Ravens in 2000.

• Eagles QB Donovan McNabb has thrown for 342 or more yards in three straight games, the first NFL QB to do that since Kurt Warner, then with the Rams, opened the 2000 season by passing for 441 yards vs. the Broncos, 386 vs. the Seahawks and 394 yards vs. the 49ers ... The Cards have won as many games in Central America since mid-December as they've won in the U.S. ... The four starting QBs who also have brothers playing quarterback in the NFL -- Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Josh McCown and Matt Hasselbeck -- completed 66% of their passes (97-for-146) last weekend, for 1,187 yards with 11 TDs and 0 INTs and a combined 116.4 passer rating ... The NFL's four undefeated teams had a combined 31-33 record last year ... Eagles WR Terrell Owens has 506 yards, the most after four games since Smith had 516 in 2000 ... Vikings punter Chris Kluwe is averaging 48.8 yards per punt, the highest average by a punter after his first four NFL games since Steve O'Neal of the 1969 Jets (50.1) ... Cards WR Anquan Boldin has 183 receptions, the most in NFL history after 30 games. The previous high was Lionel Taylor's 169 ...

• Since last Nov. 28, the Bengals have a higher winning percentage (.800) than the Patriots (.778) ... Redskins RB Clinton Portis is averaging 87.7 rushing yards per game this year. He averaged 87.7 yards per game last year ... The Bengals have allowed 38 points in four games, the fewest they've allowed in any four-game stretch since the fifth through eighth weeks of 1976, when they gave up 36 ... Cards PK Neil Rackers has 16 field goals, the most in NFL history after four games. The previous high was 15, shared by Richie Cunningham of the Cowboys in 1997 and Gino Cappelletti of the Patriots in 1964 ... The Redskins have held eight straight opponents to 18 or fewer points, their longest streak since the last eight games of 1982. If they limit the Broncos to 18 or fewer points Sunday, it will be their longest such streak in 63 years, since they held 10 straight teams to under 19 points spanning the 1942 and 1943 seasons and including the 1942 NFL Championship Game ... The Colts have not allowed a TD in the first 55 minutes of any of their games this season.