The record setting pace of NFL offenses continued on Sunday, with several milestones being set. However, the most impressive may be a record that was tied this weekend.
With New England's 20-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady tied the NFL record for most wins by a coach/quarterback duo. Who did they tie? Why Miami's own Don Shula and Dan Marino, who won 116 games together, from 1983 to 1995. The Patriots duo was able to complete the 116 wins in 35 fewer games, meaning the two also hold the best winning percentage for a coach/quarterback tandem.
"There's no quarterback I'd rather have," Belichick said after the game. "I've said it before, there's no quarterback I'd rather have. I'm not going to get into the ranking and all that, but I'm glad he's our quarterback."
Brady also extended his record setting streak of 30 straight home wins. The last time Brady lost in Foxboro was in 2006, when the New York Jets beat the Patriots 17-14 in Week 10. Sunday's win extends Brady to 5 games clear of Brett Favre's 25 games won in Lambeau Field.
Current Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams with a 119.6 passer rating. Rodgers has had a passer rating better than 110 in all six games so far in 2011, becoming the first player in NFL history to complete such a stretch.
Rodgers' accomplishment also means that he has had a passer rating over 110 in six games each of the last three years. That ties him with Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young as the only two players to have such a statistic. Young did it in the 1992-1994 seasons.
Not to be outdone, New Orleans Saints' quarterback Drew Brees and New York Giants' quarterback Eli Manning set marks of their own. Brees threw for 383 yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday, making him the first player in NFL history to throw for over 350 yards in four consecutive games.
Manning beat the Buffalo Bills this week, 27-24. That win moved Manning to a 22-5 record in the month of October. His .815 winning percentage in the month is the best October of any quarterback whose career started in the Super Bowl era (since 1966).
In Detroit, the San Francisco 49ers came back from a 10-0 deficit to beat the Lions 25-19. This was the 19th time a team has come back to win from a 10-point hole, the most times that has happened in the first six weeks of a season.
The win also moved the 49ers to a 5-1 record, making Jim Harbaugh the fourth rookie head coach to start a season 5-1 or better a year after their team started 1-5 or worse since 1970. The other coaches are Bum Phillips (Houston Oilers, 1975), Al Groh (New York Jets, 2000), and Jim Mora (Atlanta Falcons, 2004).
Finally, some return marks were set this week. Oakland Raiders' returner Jacoby Ford returned a kick-off 101-yards on Sunday, as the Raiders defeated the Cleveland Browns 24-17. Ford joined Travis Williams as the only NFL players to have 4 kick off returns for touchdowns in the first 20 games of the career.
Then, there's Devin Hester. The Minnesota Vikings, inexplicably, kicked to the Chicago Bears' return man, who, once again, found the endzone. The 98-yard kick return, Hester's career long return, was his 16th combined punt/kickoff return for a touchdown, extending his NFL record.
With the Miami Dolphins at New York Jets game left to go this week, there's a chance even more records could be set or extended. Hopefully, it involves Miami winning.