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Thursday, Nov. 11, 1999
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Halfway to
history
Warner’s TD total is too good to be true — isn’t it?
By Robert Neely, Associate editor
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| Forty-eight is a
very significant number. It’s the number of minutes in an NBA game. It was the number
of an infamous NCAA proposition dealing with eligibility of entering freshmen. It was the
nickname of a parking-ticket cop I once interviewed. But for this discussion, 48 is most
significant as the record for number of TD passes in a season. Dan Marino set the mark in
’84 (that’s 48 backward, in case you didn’t notice).
Kurt Warner, with 24 TD passes through eight games, is smack-dab on pace to tie the
record. This is big news. Marino is the only person in NFL history to have thrown as many
as 40 TD passes in a year. (Dan the Man did it twice, in ’84 and with 44 in
’86.) Warner needs to average only two TD flings per game over the final eight
contests of the season to reach that mark.
There is no way Warner can even come close to Marino’s mark. At least, that’s
what my common sense says. (It’s also what told me I couldn’t have cake for
breakfast this morning. Stupid common sense.) But the dreamer part of me wants to believe
Warner can make a run at the record.
Here are some reasons why the dreamer part of me may be right:
- The Rams’ offense was not especially sharp in the last two games (both losses), yet
Warner threw for three TDs in both games.
- The Rams have a boatload of talented weapons, starting with WR Isaac Bruce, who is as
good as any receiver in the game when healthy.
- Rookie WR Torry Holt will only get better as the season goes along, and that will just
give Warner another option.
- TE Ernie Conwell will be back soon, giving Warner yet another option.
- If the Rams have a little more difficult time in the second half of the season, Warner
may have to throw more. Playing from behind affords perhaps more opportunities for TD
passes.
Warner has a real chance at 40 TD passes. That would be an absolutely astonishing
accomplishment for a player who had about a quarter of NFL experience entering the regular
season. And while 48 is a pipe dream — can you imagine Warner playing as well in the
second half of the season as he did in the first? — it is likely that Warner will
etch his name near the top of the NFL record book in this category.
Editor's note: We’ve received several calls this week asking how long
Buccaneers PK Martin Gramatica’s field goal last week was. After checking the
play-by-play, it’s clear that it was a 35-yard kick, not 45 as was reported
elsewhere. |
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