Here are 20 whimsical factoids — some positive, some negative — to digest before the Sunday/Monday slate of Week 4 games:
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1. Let's start with some playful sarcasm:
Fresh off a rookie campaign of 1,690 total yards and 13 touchdowns, Redskins tailback Alfred Morris has yet to garner 16 or more touches in a game this year.
On the flip side, QB Robert Griffin (975 yards passing, five TDs) has averaged 46 passes for the season.
Do you think the above stats have anything to do with Washington's 0-3 start?
2. How's this for symmetry? You can set your watch to Tom Brady averaging 300 yards passing and three touchdowns at the Georgia Dome ... just like you can set your watch to the Falcons pass defense allowing roughly 300 yards each week (296, technically).
3. Of his last three games against the Browns, which includes two matchups with corner extraordinaire Joe Haden, Bengals wideout A.J. Green boasts averages of six catches, 101 yards and one TD.
4. Of his last seven home games, dating back to last year, Raiders tailback Darren McFadden (232 total yards, two TDs) has notched either 115 total yards or one touchdown five times.
5. Adrian Peterson's matchup with the Steelers isn't that difficult, on paper. For the season, he has averaged 111 total yards and 1.3 touchdowns. Plus, Pittsburgh has allowed 115 rushing yards per game, to date.
6. Of his 17 home games since November 2011, Saints QB Drew Brees has amassed 300 yards passing and/or three touchdowns 16 times.
7. Buffalo's Scott Chandler (five catches, 79 yards, one TD last week) could be a sneaky-good play against Baltimore, which has surrendered an average of 6.6 catches, 84 yards and 0.3 touchdowns to tight ends in its last seven games (including the playoffs).
For good measure, Chandler has drawn six targets for each 2013 outing.
8. Lions wideout Calvin Johnson, who racked up 13 catches, 233 yards and three TDs for Weeks 2 and 3, has collected eight-plus targets in 18 consecutive games.
9. Of his last five home games, including the playoffs, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (909 yards passing, six TDs) has eclipsed 300 yards passing and/or three touchdowns four times.
10. Colts receiver Reggie Wayne (18 catches, 205 yards, one TD) has per-outing tallies of 7.8 receptions, 99 yards and 0.3 touchdowns in his last eight games against the Jaguars.
Chiefs tailback Jamaal Charles (375 total yards, three TDs) has averaged 139 total yards and 0.4 touchdowns in his last five home games.
12. In a vacuum, Blaine Gabbert may be the QB-equivalent of fantasy roadkill, but that still isn't enough to bench Jaguars wideout Cecil Shorts in PPR leagues.
For starters, Shorts (19 catches, 276 yards) is currently riding a six-game streak of double-digit targets ... and from Weeks 10-13 last year, he tallied one score in four straight outings.
13. For his career, Titans tailback Chris Johnson (258 total yards) has averaged a respectable 96 total yards against the Jets. But ay the rub: Johnson has never found the end zone against New York.
14. Of his last four non-divisional road games, played outdoors, Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant boasts averages of seven catches, 100 yards and one touchdown.
And that includes a two-catch, 14-yard clunker against the Panthers (2012).
15. Chargers tailback Ryan Mathews should only be a starting consideration in 16-team leagues this week. Here's why:
The Cowboys currently have the NFL's second-ranked rush defense (66.3 yards per game); and of his last 10 games against NFC foes, Mathews has pedestrian tallies of 76.4 total yards and 0.2 TDs.
16. Trent Richardson couldn't have asked for a better full-scale-debut opportunity with the Colts. For the season, the Jaguars defense has allowed a staggering tally of 167 rushing yards per game.
17. There's a bad news/good news proposition involving the Bills defense, which indirectly affects the Week 4 ranking for Ravens tailback Bernard Pierce (assuming Ray Rice sits with an injury):
Of its last six games, dating back to last year, Buffalo has surrendered 175 team rushing yards per outing. However, the Bills have only allowed one rushing touchdown this year (Jets quarterback Geno Smith).
18. You may have forgotten that Carson Palmer threw for for 414 yards and four touchdowns (with three picks) against Tampa Bay last November. After all, it was the same day Bucs rookie tailback bludgeoned the Raiders for 251 rushing yards (272 total) and four touchdowns.
Speaking of Palmer (now with the Cardinals) ... for what it's worth, he has averaged 343 yards passing and two touchdowns in his last six games of 25 or more completions (two-year span).
19. Our 'Mixed Messages Of The Week' award goes to tailback Darren Sproles:
In his brief tenure with the Saints, Sproles has never endured four straight games without a touchdown — something that could occur on Sunday.
On the plus side, Sproles (16 catches, 228 total yards) has considerably more touches (34) than last year after three games (25).
And last but not least ...
20. Let's not freak about Arian Foster's 13 touches from last week's blowout loss to the Ravens.
Of Houston's previous six defeats of 15 or more points (dating back to December 2010), Foster averaged just 18 touches, 81 total yards and 0.7 touchdowns.
Bottom line: If the Texans were a bad team ... maybe we'd be worried about Foster's season-long prospects.
