Here are 20 whimsical factoids — some positive, some negative — to digest before the Sunday/Monday slate of Week 5 games:
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1. It's only a sample size of four games, but in his NFL career, Giants wideout Victor Cruz has racked up a touchdown in every meeting against the Eagles. In that span, he's averaging 5.5 catches, 100 yards and 1.3 TDs per outing.
2. How's this for bankable information? Excluding last year's meaningless cameo against the Bengals in Week 17, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has accounted for 300 yards passing or three TD passes in his last seven road games.
3. Of his last seven games against the Giants, Eagles tailback LeSean McCoy easily crossed the threshold of 100 total yards and/or one touchdown six times.
4. Check this out: Dating back to last year, Broncos QB Peyton Manning (16 TDs through four weeks) has notched seven straight outings of 300 yards or three TD passes.
5. Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers (1,057 yards passing, eight TDs) boasts stellar averages of 292 yards and 2.7 touchdowns in his last seven regular-season home games.
6. Through four weeks, Titans tailback Chris Johnson currently ranks third in carries (84 — behind Doug Martin and Adrian Peterson). And of the Titans' 263 offensive plays, Johnson has registered 89 total touches/targets — or 34 percent.
Here's a history lesson, as well: Johnson didn't score in the first six games last year ... and still wound up with 1,475 total yards and six touchdowns.
7. For what it's worth, Bengals wideout A.J. Green has either tallied 100 yards receiving or one touchdown in every game against an AFC East foe.
On the flip side, he's never faced the Patriots.
8. Going back to last season, Bears tailback Matt Forte (480 total yards, one TD) has notched 90 total yards and/or one touchdown in nine straight games.
9. Tony Romo draws a Sunday date with the Broncos, the NFL's 30th-ranked pass defense. He also has averages of 329 yards passing and 2.8 touchdowns in his last six home games.
10. Mike Wallace has fostered a miserable start to the season, catching only 15 balls for 176 yards and one TD for the Dolphins, his new employer.
The outlook for Weeks 5 isn't any rosier, as Wallace has pedestrian career averages of 4.3 catches, 58 yards and 0.13 touchdowns against the Ravens. Ouch.
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11. Charting his last seven regular-season games played indoors, Seahawks tailback Marshawn Lynch has averaged 118 total yards and 0.7 touchdowns.
12. Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton, who has yet to find the end zone this year, tallied six touchdowns from Weeks 9-17 last season.
During that stretch, he also averaged seven targets per game (strong for a rookie).
13. Drew Brees may have a lifetime mark of 0-4 at Soldier Field, but that's hardly a death knell to his fantasy prospects.
Of Brees' last three games at Chicago, he's averaging 302 yards passing and 2.3 touchdowns.
14. Nine years have elapsed since a Lions tailback rushed for 100 yards at Lambeau Field — Kevin Jones with 156 yards and one TD in 2004.
Detroit's good-luck charm for that day? Yours truly was a team employee (Web writer) ... and standing near the pylon when Jones dashed for a 24-yard score — boosting his team's short-lived lead to 10-0.
(The Lions haven't won at Green Bay since 1991.)
15. Rams receiver Chris Givens (13 catches, 235 yards) could be in line for a PPR breakout on Sunday.
He tallied eight-plus targets for Weeks 2-4 — the first time he accomplished the feat in back-to-back-to-back games. Plus, the Jaguars have allowed an average of five catches, 90 yards and 1.5 TDs to a No. 1 receiver in the last two weeks.
16. There's a good news/bad news proposition with DeAngelo Williams this week:
Of his five career games against the Cardinals, Williams has rock-solid averages of 102 total yards and 0.4 TDs. However, he only has 105 combined yards against Arizona in the last two meetings.
17. Here's why Eric Decker (24 catches, 340 yards, one TD) should never be benched in 12-team PPR leagues: Of his last nine games, including the playoffs, he crossed the threshold of eight receptions, double-digit targets, 85 yards and/or one touchdown eight times.
18. Yes, Chargers QB Philip Rivers has two 400-yard passing days against the Texans and Cowboys (with seven combined touchdowns), but he also has two games of less than 200 yards passing (with four TDs).
One more thing: Of his previous eight games against the Raiders, Rivers has averaged a good, but hardly elite tally of 272 yards passing and 1.6 touchdowns.
19. Of his last seven games against AFC foes, Falcons QB Matt Ryan has averaged 274 yards passing and 2.4 touchdowns.
And last but not least ...
20. Lions receiver Calvin Johnson (21 catches, 312 yards, four TDs) has collected eight-plus targets in 19 consecutive games.
But that's not why he's anchoring today's Fun Facts:
Of his last three games at Lambeau Field, Calvin boasts absurd tallies of nine catches, 147 yards and one touchdown per outing.
