1944: Steve Van Buren Has First 100-Yard Rushing Performance

In the 1944 NFL player draft, the Philadelphia Eagles selected the Honduran-born halfback Steve Van Buren from LSU with their first pick. The Eagles, a perennial losing team since joining the league in 1933, had combined with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1943 due to a shortage of players as a result of World War II and the “Steagles” compiled a 5-4-1 record. With the Eagles back on their own for the ’44 season, innovative Head Coach Earle “Greasy” Neale continued putting the parts together to build a contending team.

The 6’0”, 200-pound Van Buren proved to be a big part of that effort. An outstanding blend of power and speed, he excelled as a kick returner as well as a runner from scrimmage. On November 5, 1944 in a game against the Brooklyn Tigers at Ebbetts Field, he rushed for 129 yards on just 12 carries, including touchdown runs of 44 and 70 yards in the first quarter. It was all the points the Eagles needed – they added one more TD in the second quarter on a 57-yard pass play from QB Roy Zimmerman to HB Mel Bleeker and held on to win easily, 21-7, improving the team’s record to 4-0-1 (Brooklyn finished 0-10 and merged with the Boston Yanks for the 1945 season).

Van Buren ended up with 444 yards rushing on just 80 carries, for a league-leading 5.6 average gain per carry. He also averaged 15.3 yards on 15 punt returns with a 55-yard touchdown and 33.3 yards on eight kickoff returns, again including a TD on a 97-yard return. The 129-yard rushing game remained a record for an Eagles rookie until 2001. It was the first of 19 hundred-yard games in Van Buren’s Hall of Fame career that would see him lead the NFL in rushing four times, twice set the season record, and retire as the league’s career rushing leader.

As for the Eagles, they finished at 7-1-2, losing the Eastern Division title by a half game to the 8-1-1 New York Giants. With Van Buren leading the way, and supplemented by halfbacks Bleeker, Jack Hinkle, Ernie Steele, and Jack Banta, they were the NFL’s best rushing team, both in terms of yards gained (1661) and average gain per carry (3.9). They also scored the most points (267). But while they handed the Giants their only loss, ties with the Giants and Redskins kept them out of the postseason.

2007: Adrian Peterson Runs for 296 Yards Against Chargers

Running back Adrian Peterson wasted no time in making an impact as a rookie for the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. In his first seven games, he carried the ball 128 times for 740 yards (a 5.8- yard average gain) and five touchdowns. He had gone over the 200-yard mark once (224 on 20 rushes at Chicago) and had reached one hundred yards in four games.

In the November 4 matchup against the San Diego Chargers at home in the Metrodome, Peterson went a significant step further as he rushed for an NFL-record 296 yards on 30 carries.

For all of Peterson’s heroics, the rebuilding Vikings came into the game at 2-5 while the Chargers sported a 4-3 record and were tied with Kansas City atop the AFC West. Peterson had a relatively quiet first half, carrying 13 times for 43 yards and a one yard TD. The biggest (and last) play of the half had been turned in by San Diego when CB Antonio Cromartie leaped near the back of the end zone to grab a missed 57 yard field goal attempt by Ryan Longwell and returned it 109 yards for the longest play in league history, which staked the Chargers to a 14-7 halftime lead.

On the opening drive of the second half, Peterson responded with a 64-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14-14. On the next two series, he gained 89 yards on 9 carries, setting up the Vikings go-ahead touchdown but also fumbling the ball away as CB Drayton Florence recovered for the Chargers. Minnesota forced a punt, after which Peterson made up for the turnover by racing 46 yards for a score that put the Vikings decisively in front, 28-17.

With a total of 253 yards in the second half, including 146 in the fourth quarter alone, Peterson passed the single-game rushing record set by Ravens RB Jamal Lewis in 2003 by a yard. The Vikings ended up winning handily, 35-17, on the way to an 8-8 final record and second place in the NFC North. The Chargers recovered to win the AFC West at 11-5, advancing to the AFC Championship game.

Adrian Peterson wound up with 1341 yards rushing on 238 carries with 12 TDs. He was selected as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press and went to the Pro Bowl. Peterson missed two games due to a knee injury and found himself facing eight- and nine-man fronts when he came back (opponents feared him more than Minnesota’s mediocre passing game); as a result, he had just one more hundred-yard performance in ‘07. But he also set the tone for a career that is still a work in progress.

1934: Detroit’s Consecutive Game Shutout Streak Comes to an End After 7 Games

The November 3, 1934 game between the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Pirates at University of Detroit Stadium wasn’t a close contest; the Lions won convincingly, 40-7. However, when Pittsburgh tailback Harp Vaughan completed a 62-yard TD pass to end Muggsy Skladany on a fake punt (the only pass completion of the day for the Pirates), it was the first time the Lions had been scored upon all season after a total of seven consecutive shutouts.

The Lions were in their first season in Detroit after a group headed by a radio executive, George Richards, bought the Portsmouth Spartans (of Portsmouth, Ohio) and relocated the four-year-old franchise. Coached by the no-nonsense George “Potsy” Clark, the team featured a group of single-platoon players who were equally adept at playing defense as well as offense such as Dutch Clark (pictured; the biggest star and a charter Pro Football Hall of Famer) and Glenn Presnell at tailback; wingback Ernie Caddell; Ace Gutowsky, solid at fullback on offense and linebacker on defense; and Roy “Father” Lumpkin, an offensive blocking back and defensive linebacker. Linemen included George “Tarzan” Christensen, a tackle and, at 240 pounds, the biggest player on the team; guard Ox Emerson; tackle “Cowboy Jack” Jackson; center and linebacker Chuck Bernard; and ends “Wild Bill” McKalip and “Big John” Schneller. Harry Ebding was both a two-way end and wingback.

There was nothing unique about the Detroit defense – they played the standard 6-2-2-1 alignment of that era and the linemen were no bigger than average. They simply outplayed their opponents from week to week, starting with the New York Giants in the 9-0 season-opening win. From there, they won 6-0 over the Chicago Cardinals, 3-0 on the road over the Green Bay Packers (thanks to a then-league record 54-yard field goal by Presnell), 10-0 over the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-0 over the Boston Redskins (intercepting 4 passes and holding the Redskins to 112 total yards), 28-0 over the Brooklyn Dodgers (the first team to penetrate as close as the Detroit 20 yard line, thanks to a fumble recovery), and 38-0 over the hapless Cincinnati Reds (who never got beyond midfield; the franchise folded before the end of the season).

During the streak, the Lions allowed their opponents a total of 835 yards (119.3 per game) and intercepted at least 19 passes (statistics for interceptions in the 1930s are a bit inexact).

While the 1920-21 Akron Pros had recorded 13 straight shutouts and the 1926 Pottsville Maroons had also put together a seven-game streak, these came before the football had been slimmed down and passing rules relaxed. Detroit’s streak remains unique, and no team since has come close to duplicating the feat (or is likely to).

The Lions won two more games after the streak ended before losing the last three games of the season – including a 19-16 defeat in a Thanksgiving showdown with the Chicago Bears – to end up 10-3 and in second place behind the Bears in the Western Division. They outscored their opponents 238-59, allowing just seven touchdowns all season (two of them by rushing, another still-standing league record).

1986: Schroeder and Redskins Overcome Kramer and Missed PATs

The game between the Minnesota Vikings (5-3) and host Washington Redskins (6-2) on November 2, 1986 at RFK Stadium was a hard-fought battle that went into overtime. Ultimately, it was a heartbreaking loss on a record-setting day for Vikings QB Tommy Kramer. The Redskins, who came into the Week 9 matchup in a three-way tie atop the NFC East, skirted with defeat but managed to come from behind to force OT and eke out the win.

Washington struck first with a two-yard TD run by RB George Rogers and a 25-yard Max Zendejas field goal to take a 10-0 lead. But the Vikings answered with two touchdowns of their own, including a 67-yard pass play from Kramer to WR Leo Lewis to lead 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Redskins DE Dexter Manley returned a fumble 26 yards for a TD in the second quarter, but the extra point attempt failed. A 39-yard field goal by Minnesota’s Chuck Nelson made the score 17-16 in favor of the Vikings at the half.

Kramer had two more long TD pass plays in the third quarter, first to TE Steve Jordan for 68 yards and the second to Leo Lewis once again, this time for 76 yards. In between, Washington added a field goal and 40-yard TD run by Rogers to make the score 31-26 at the end of three quarters.

When Tommy Kramer tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the day, this time a short one of only a yard to RB Darrin Nelson, the Vikings appeared to be in control with a 38-26 lead and just 5:16 remaining on the clock. But Washington QB Jay Schroeder hit WR Art Monk for a 34-yard touchdown (again the PAT attempt was missed) and, with 1:03 remaining in regulation, Rogers scored his third TD of the game from two yards out. However, for the third time the extra point attempt failed, thus taking the game into sudden death.

A Schroeder to WR Gary Clark pass play of 38 yards ended the struggle and gave Washington a 44-38 win. Drained Head Coach Joe Gibbs said afterward “I feel like we’ve been playing for twelve hours….like we won, lost, won, lost, and won all at the same time”. For Vikings Head Coach Jerry Burns it was a bitter defeat, “a very tough loss to take. I thought we had it.”

Tommy Kramer set a Minnesota team record with 490 passing yards, completing 20 of 35 passes with 4 TDs and an interception. Including the two long touchdowns, Leo Lewis ended up with 159 yards on just three receptions, but he wasn’t the highest yardage producer of the receivers – that was Steve Jordan with 179 yards on six catches and a long score of his own.

Both of Washington’s starting wide receivers, Gary Clark (123 yards) and Art Monk (102) reached triple figures, each with six catches. Schroeder, the second year quarterback, completed 24 of 47 passes for 378 yards with two TDs and an INT. George Rogers was the game’s leading rusher with 88 yards on 19 carries, including the three scoring runs.

The gunslinging Kramer ended up with an even 3000 yards in 1986 and led the NFL with a passer rating of 92.6, with an uncharacteristically strong ratio of 24 TD passes to 10 interceptions. Minnesota ended up with a 9-7 record, in second place in the NFC Central.

The Redskins went 12-4 and were a wild card entry in a postseason that saw them advance all the way to the NFC Championship before falling to the division rival Giants. Kicker Max Zendejas, of the three missed PATs, did not last that far – he was replaced prior to the regular season finale. Second-year quarterback Jay Schroeder had the best of his three seasons with Washington, passing for 4109 yards, although tossing as many interceptions as touchdown passes (22 each). On this day, he had skill enough to bring his team back from the brink and pull out a victory.

1942: Don Hutson Has Second 200-Yard Receiving Game of Season

Packers end Don Hutson was one of the players who revolutionized pro football. He was the first true deep threat, making him the prototype of the modern wide receiver. In becoming the dominant pass receiving threat of his time, he was an innovator who used moves and methods that would become standard fare, but were unique in the NFL of the late 1930s and ‘40s (opposing defenses were forced to defend against him in new ways as well, such as double and triple coverage). At the time of his retirement after the 1945 season, he dominated the receiving records.

The game against the Chicago Cardinals at Green Bay’s City Stadium on November 1, 1942 was one of those record-setting occasions. Hutson caught five passes for 207 yards, three of them for touchdowns. The final score was 55-24 in favor of the Packers, although early in the second quarter the Cardinals were leading 17-7. That was before Hutson caught his first touchdown pass, covering 40 yards, from tailback Cecil Isbell. Isbell hit Hutson for a second score, covering 73 yards, before halftime. The third TD came in the fourth quarter, on a 65-yard pass play from Isbell that put Green Bay safely ahead 41-17.

It was typical in the single- and double-wing offenses of the time for the tailback to handle most of the passing, and Isbell was one of the best in the NFL in the early ‘40s. On this day, thanks to the long throws to Hutson, he set a new record for passing yards in a game with 333. In fact, several league records fell in this game. Overall, the Packers set a team record with 427 yards through the air. The combined total of 79 points established a new standard, as well as the combined 11 touchdowns scored. And Hutson, who also handled placekicking duties, set a new record by booting six extra points.

In surpassing the 200-yard mark in receiving yards, he almost broke the record that he had set two weeks prior against the Cleveland Rams (209 yards on 13 receptions). As it was, he was the first receiver to have two 200-yard games in a season, and when it was all over he became the first to reach the thousand yard mark in pass receiving yards (1211). His 74 receptions and 17 receiving touchdowns were also new records at the time, as was his total of 138 points scored (the record for receiving TDs wasn’t broken until 1984). No other receiver in the NFL in 1942 caught more than 27 passes (Pop Ivy of the Cardinals) or accumulated more than 571 yards (Ray McLean of the Bears).

To be sure, Hutson was fortunate to play for the Packers under Curly Lambeau, a head coach who was one of the first to make the passing game central to his offensive strategy. He also benefited from the loss of players to the military due to World War II.

However Hutson, who came into the NFL in 1935, had already established himself as the pre-eminent pass receiver in the game before ’42. He had led the league in pass receptions four times (it was his own record of 58, tied with Philadelphia’s Don Looney, that he broke in 1942), pass receiving yards four times as well, and pass receiving touchdowns six times. So, while he was able to enhance his statistics during the war years, his reputation had already been secured before that.

Hutson ended up winning his second consecutive Joe F. Carr Trophy as league MVP following the ’42 season. The Packers ended up with an 8-2-1 record, putting them in second place in the Western Division behind the undefeated Chicago Bears – the one team they (even with Hutson) couldn’t beat.

1987: Eric Dickerson Traded to Colts

As the trick-or-treaters made their way around America’s neighborhoods on the night of October 31, 1987, the news broke of a blockbuster three-team trade that sent Eric Dickerson, the NFL’s leading rusher in three of the past four seasons, from the Los Angeles Rams to the Indianapolis Colts. As befitting a player of Dickerson’s stature, the deal was a large one that involved a total of 10 players and draft picks.

Dickerson had been a sensation from his first season in the league, leading the NFL as a rookie with 1808 yards rushing (still the record for a first-year back) in 1983. He followed that up in ’84 by breaking O.J. Simpson’s single-season rushing record with 2105 yards. By the end of the 1986 season he had run for a total of 6968 yards on 1465 carries for a 4.8 average gain per carry and 55 touchdowns – staggering numbers for just four years.

However, by 1987 all was not well between the star running back and the Rams front office. Dickerson had held out in 1985, missing the first two games of the season, and now was asking to renegotiate a contract that was paying him $682,000. Tired of the constant contract bickering and concerned that Dickerson’s attitude was having a bad effect on the team, the Rams decided to swing a deal – provided, of course, that they could receive ample compensation in a trade. The team was off to a dreadful 1-5 start (the only win was registered by replacement players during the players’ 24-day strike) and was looking to re-stock for the future.

The complex deal that was hammered out started off with the Buffalo Bills trading RB Greg Bell along with two number one draft picks (1988 and ’89) and a second round pick in 1989 to the Colts for the rights to LB Cornelius Bennett, who had been their #1 draft pick in ’87 (second overall in the entire draft) but who was holding out for more money than the team was willing to pay. Indianapolis turned around and dealt Bell, RB Owen Gill, all three Buffalo draft choices, plus their own #1 pick in 1988 and #2 choices for 1988 and ’89 for Dickerson.

How did it all turn out? Well, for Dickerson it resulted in a four-year contract worth $5.6 million dollars and being reunited with his college coach at Southern Methodist, Ron Meyer, who was now head coach in Indianapolis. He was in uniform the next day with the Colts and proceeded to run for 1011 yards in the remaining nine games. The Colts won the AFC East with a 9-6 record, making it to the postseason for the first time since they were the Baltimore Colts in 1977.

Buffalo also received an immediate boost from the addition of Bennett, who started the last seven games at outside linebacker and recorded 8.5 sacks. He would go on to be selected to five Pro Bowls with the Bills.

As for the Rams, they rallied to finish the season at 6-9. RB Charles White, a Heisman-winning disappointment in Cleveland, stepped into Dickerson’s position and led the league in rushing (1374 yards to Dickerson’s combined total of 1288). Greg Bell didn’t contribute much the rest of the way in ’87, but had thousand-yard rushing seasons in 1988 and ’89 and scored a total of 31 touchdowns. Owen Gill, on the other hand, appeared in one game and was gone for good. The two #1 draft choices that they picked up in the deal turned out to be RB Gaston Green (did little with the Rams but had a couple of good years with Denver) and WR Aaron Cox (showed promise as a rookie but regressed thereafter), and the #1 draft choice for 1989 was RB Cleveland Gary (led the NFL with 14 rushing TDs in 1990, but was inconsistent and prone to fumbling). The extra #2 choice in 1988 went for LB Fred Strickland (started 27 games in 5 years with LA), and the two second round choices in ’89 were used for LB Frank Stams (16 starts in 3 years with the Rams) and DB Darryl Henley (decent player who started 54 games over 6 seasons and returned punts).

Moreover, the Rams rebounded to return to the postseason in 1988 and ’89, getting all the way to the NFC Championship game in the latter season, before falling into a steep decline that wouldn’t be reversed until the franchise was in St. Louis. The cache of draft choices obtained in the Dickerson deal failed to translate into longer-term success.

2005: Tiki Barber Runs for 206 Yards in Emotional Win Over Redskins

The Week 8 matchup on October 30, 2005 at Giants Stadium between the Giants and Washington Redskins featured two 4-2 teams sitting atop the NFC East standings (along with the Philadelphia Eagles). A layer of poignancy was added to what was already a key division showdown by the death five days previously of Wellington Mara, the 89-year-old co-owner of the franchise.

What resulted was a lopsided 36-0 beating of the Redskins by the emotionally charged Giants, led by running back Tiki Barber’s 206 yards on the ground over just three quarters of action. The defense, which had been subpar in previous weeks, rose to the occasion in this game, shutting out Washington in decisive style, including three turnovers forced in their first 11 possessions. The Redskins managed just 125 total yards and 7 first downs.

But it was Barber who spurred the win, running 57 yards on the first play from scrimmage to set up the initial score (a 39-yard field goal by Jay Feely). It wasn’t his longest run of the day; he went 59 yards in the second quarter to set up a short touchdown by RB Brandon Jacobs. Barber’s 24th and final carry of the game, late in the third quarter, resulted in his lone touchdown of the day and he handed the ball to one of Wellington Mara’s grandchildren before exiting.

The 206 yards weren’t Barber’s season high; he had 220 yards against Kansas City on December 17 and ended up being one of three runners in NFL history with three or more 200-yard games in a season. Criticized for lacking durability and being prone to fumbling earlier in his career, Barber had taken part in an offseason conditioning program that paid off in outstanding performances in 2004, ’05, and ‘06 – he set a Giants single-season rushing record in 2005 with 1860 yards on 357 carries at age 30 and was at his best in his last three years, a rarity among pro running backs.

As for the Giants, they went on to win the NFC East title in 2005, but lost to Carolina in the Wild Card playoff round.