by Vince Verhei

Trailing by three points with about four minutes to go in the third quarter, the Detroit Lions faced a second-and-9 near midfield. Matthew Stafford hit Calvin Johnson well past the Dallas side of the 50, but after a short run, Johnson fumbled the ball away. That was about the only thing that went wrong for Johnson, though, and he finished with one of the best days we've ever recorded.

The best game in our database belongs to Flipper Anderson of the then-Los Angeles Rams, who caught 15 passes in 20 targets for 336 yards and one touchdown against New Orleans in Week 12 of the 1989 season. Did Johnson's fumble cost him the top spot? Deleting the "FL" from the "Turnover" column in our receiving data spreadsheet boosts Johnson by more than 20 DYAR, which wouldn't be enough, an it's not that simple anyway. Perhaps, if Johnson doesn't fumble, the Lions go on to take the lead on that drive. And perhaps, with the lead, they play the fourth quarter much more conservatively. And perhaps Johnson doesn't get a chance to make so many big plays late in the game.

That's all conjecture and speculation. What we know is that Johnson finished with one of the top ten wide receiver games of all time, and just the 36th 100-plus-DYAR game in our database. There were two this week, and T.Y. Hilton's 6-5-140-2 game against Seattle in Week 5 has also snuck over the threshold with updated opponent adjustments (All three games this season can and will change by the end of the year as opponent adjustments evolve. Johnson's game is well above the 100-DYAR threshold, but the other two are close and could sink to double digits). Even for this pass-wacky era, three 100-DYAR games in a season is a lot -- there were zero such games in all of 2012. Johnson's game against Dallas was the third 100-DYAR game of his career. Only one other player has pulled off that hat trick, and he was also C. Johnson -- Chad "Don't Call Me Ochocinco (Anymore)" Johnson, who had three 100-DYAR games with the Bengals. Only six other players have gone over 100 DYAR twice: Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Jerry Rice, Jimmy Smith, Amani Toomer (no, really), and Wes Welker. As our database grows, it seems inevitable that we'll find at least one more Jerry Rice gem.

Here's the updated top-12 table for wide receiver single-game DYAR. Why 12? Just because we wanted an excuse to list Johnson twice. He's the only name to appear more than once:

Top 12 Wide Receiver DYAR Games, 1989-2013 Year Rank Player Team Total DYAR Rec DYAR Rush DYAR Pass Rec Yds TD WEEK DEF 1989 1 Flipper Anderson LARM 160 160 0 20 15 336 1 12 NO 2000 2 Jimmy Smith JAC 141 141 0 21 15 291 3 2 BAL 1995 3 Jerry Rice SF 136 124 12 16 14 289 3 16 MIN 2006 4 Chad Johnson CIN 133 137 -4 12 11 260 2 10 SD 2000 5 Terrell Owens SF 131 133 -2 22 20 283 1 16 CHI 1989 6 Henry Ellard LARM 130 130 0 15 12 230 3 2 IND 2001 7 Randy Moss MIN 129 112 16 13 10 171 3 10 NYG 2010 8 Kenny Britt TEN 127 127 0 10 7 225 3 7 PHI 2013 9 Calvin Johnson DET 125* 125* 0 16 14 329 1 8 DAL 1994 10 Andre Reed BUF 122 114 8 19 15 191 2 12 GB 1995 11 Kevin Williams DAL 122 104 18 11 9 203 2 17 ARI 2011 12 Calvin Johnson DET 118 118 0 17 11 244 1 17 GB * Numbers subject to change pending evolving opponent adjustments.

SURPRISING ABSENCES: Your leading rusher for Week 8 didn't come close to making our tables. Arizona's Andre Ellington had 159 yards on only 15 runs. The next leading rusher (non-quarterback division) was Green Bay's Eddie Lacy, who had 65 fewer yards on nearly twice as many carries. No Arizona running back has gained 80 yards in an entire game since last November, but Ellington managed in that in one play on his second-quarter touchdown run against Atlanta. He also had a 22-yarder and two 10-yard runs. Outside those booms, though, there was almost nothing but bust. Nine of his carries gained three yards or less, and he also had a fumble.

It was a similar story for San Francisco's Kendall Hunter. He had a 41-yard run in the third quarter and a 33-yard run in the fourth, but his other seven carries gained a total of just 10 yards, including a 5-yard loss on first-and-20 and a run for no gain on third-and-1.

Among receivers, some of the biggest yardage producers this week were undone by high targets and low catch rates. Atlanta's Harry Douglas, Cleveland's Josh Gordon, Cincinnati's A.J. Green, and New York's Victor Cruz averaged 122 yards between them, but they also averaged 11.8 targets, with a cumulative Catch Rate of just 62 percent -— not bad, mind you, but not often good enough to qualify for the top five tables.

Quarterbacks Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR 1. Andy Dalton CIN 19/30 325 5 1 187 187 0 All five of Dalton's touchdowns came in the red zone, where he went 7-of-11 for 48 yards. Indicative of how badly the Bengals dominated the Jets, Dalton had nine passes within the Cincinnati 40, 10 passes in the middle of the field, and 13 inside the Jets' 40. 2. Drew Brees NO 26/34 332 5 0 186 190 -4 Brees likely would have been first this week were it not for four sacks. He ripped the Bills on deep passes, going 4-of-7 for 146 yards with two touchdowns. 3. Matthew Stafford DET 34/47 488 1 2 156 136 19 Stafford made a lot of big plays on Sunday, but not many came on third down, where he went just 3-of-9 for 22 yards with two first downs, one interception, and one intentional grounding call. He also threw two fourth-down passes, completing one for a 2-yard touchdown. 4. Aaron Rodgers GB 24/29 285 2 0 149 138 11 Rodgers threw 12 passes on third or fourth down, and completed all of them for 187 yards, two touchdowns, and eight other first downs. He was sacked once on third down. 5. Colin Kaepernick SF 10/16 164 1 0 136 108 28 Not included in those numbers: a 31-yard DPI. Kaepernick threw one pass in the second half, a 17-yarder in the third quarter. He also ran six times (all in the first half) for 55 yards, two touchdowns, and two other first downs. 6. Jason Campbell CLE 22/36 293 2 0 122 124 -3 On the one hand, Campbell threw only six passes inside the Kansas City 40, and he completed only two. On the other hand, those two completions were touchdowns of 39 and 17 yards. Meanwhile, he threw 23 passes inside his own 40, seven inside his own 20. That says a lot about Kansas City and how they dominate field position. 7. Peyton Manning DEN 30/44 354 4 3 69 69 0 Say this for Washington, they almost completely took away the home-run ball from the Denver offense. On deep passes, Manning went just 1-of-8 for 16 yards and two interceptions. 8. Cam Newton CAR 23/32 221 2 0 67 49 18 First three third down passes: three completions, three conversions, one touchdown, 57 total yards. All third down passes after that: Six attempts, five completions, but only 34 yards and no conversions. He also ran nine times for 55 yards and four first downs, including a touchdown. 9. Tony Romo DAL 14/30 208 3 0 67 62 5 Third downs: 3-of-11 for 23 yards and only two conversions, including a 5-yard touchdown. He failed to convert six of his eight third-down throws with less than 10 yards to go. 10. Christian Ponder MIN 14/21 145 0 0 57 44 13 Ponder only threw four deep passes, and three of them came trailing by at least 20 points in the second half. One fell incomplete, one was caught for 18 yards, and two resulted in DPIs for 70 total yards. So why didn't he go deep more often? 11. Alex Smith KC 24/36 225 2 0 56 42 14 Smith only threw two passes to the middle of the field, both within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. One was incomplete, one resulted in a 9-yard gain. 12. Eli Manning NYG 26/39 246 0 0 52 52 0 Inside the Eagles' 40, Manning went 7-of-16 for 45 yards and only two first downs. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR 13. Mike Glennon TB 30/51 275 1 0 38 41 -3 Glennon threw 10 failed completions. Only one quarterback had more this week, and he plays in the NFC South too. 14. Chad Henne JAC 29/45 228 1 0 32 37 -5 First four drives: 4-of-9 for 18 yards and only one first down. He played better after that, but by then the Jaguars were already down by four touchdowns. 15. Matt Barkley PHI 17/26 158 0 1 -17 -17 0 Third and fourth downs: 2-of-5 for 12 yards, no first downs, plus one sack. One of those completions was a 5-yard gain on fourth-and-20. 16. Matt Ryan ATL 34/60 301 1 4 -22 -32 10 Ryan led the league this week with 11 failed completions. None of those, though, came on third downs — each of his third-down completions picked up a first down. On the other hand, all four of his interceptions came on third or fourth down. 17. Carson Palmer ARI 13/18 172 2 1 -23 -22 -1 Arizona's second possession ended in a Palmer interception that set up an Atlanta field goal. He then completed each of his next seven passes for 108 yards and five first downs, including two touchdowns. (There was a sack mixed in there too.) 18. Tom Brady NE 13/22 116 1 1 -36 -43 8 Throwing to his right, Brady went just 4-of-10 for 16 yards, with as many first downs (1) as interceptions. 19. Thaddeus Lewis BUF 22/39 234 1 1 -48 -29 -20 Not included in those numbers: four sacks and two fumbles. He had another fumble on one of his two carries for 5 yards. He was best throwing to his right, where he went 10-of-14 for 102 yards and six first downs. 20. Ryan Tannehill MIA 22/42 192 2 2 -53 -57 4 Third downs in the first half: 6-of-8 for only 38 yards, but five first downs, including two touchdowns. Third downs (including one fourth-down throw) in the second half: 1-of-4 for 25 yards (converting a third-and-23), with three sacks and an interception. 21. Ben Roethlisberger PIT 29/44 275 1 2 -80 -74 -5 Third downs: 5-of-12 for 34 yards and only two first downs, including a touchdown, and an interception. He did not convert a third down until the Steelers were down by 18 points in the second half. 22. Russell Wilson SEA 10/18 139 2 0 -80 -75 -6 Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR 23. Terrelle Pryor OAK 10/19 88 0 2 -84 -101 17 Not included in that statline: eight carries for 107 yards, including a record-setting 93-yard touchdown. Between his own goal line and the Pittsburgh 40, Pryor went 7-of-16 for 60 yards with three first downs, two sacks, and two interceptions. 24. Kirk Cousins WAS 5/9 48 0 2 -94 -98 4 In Cousins' defense, each of his passes came when trailing by at least 17 points in the fourth quarter. 25. Kellen Clemens STL 15/31 158 0 2 -98 -104 6 26. Michael Vick PHI 7/9 30 0 1 -106 -104 -3 In Vick's defense, each of his passes came in the first half, seven of them within one score. Wait. This defense sucks. Let's move on. 27. Geno Smith NYJ 20/30 159 0 2 -113 -114 1 First-down throws: 6-of-13 for 59 yards and only one first down, with two interceptions, both of which were returned for touchdowns. 28. Robert Griffin WAS 15/30 132 1 2 -190 -164 -26 Griffin had five carries for 3 yards (not a typo), with two failed third-down runs and a fumble. He had another fumble on one of his three sacks. On Denver's half of the field, he went 4-of-8 for 29 yards and two first downs, including a touchdown.

Five most valuable running backs Rk Player Team Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR 1. Mike Tolbert CAR 35 0 29 1 43 13 29 Tolbert's contributions as a runner were pretty much limited to a 22-yard run and a fourth-and-1 conversion. As a receiver, though, he caught each of the four passe thrown his way, for a touchdown and two other first downs. 2. Knowshon Moreno DEN 44 0 89 1 38 -6 44 Only two of Moreno's 14 carries gained first downs, none went longer than 8 yards, and three went for no gain or a loss. The Broncos threw him six passes though, all complete, for a touchdown and four other first downs. 3. Adrian Peterson MIN 60 1 23 0 36 21 15 Peterson's 13 carries led to three first downs, one a touchdown, each on second-and-4. He also had three receptions on three targets with one first down and a 13-yard gain on second-and-16. 4. James Starks GB 57 1 0 0 35 35 0 First four carries: 10 yards, no first downs. Next three carries: 11-yard gain, 11-yard gain, 25-yard touchdown on second-and-11. 5. Pierre Thomas NO 65 0 29 0 33 21 12 Four of Thomas' 14 carries went for first downs, including three conversions with 2 yards or less to go. He caught each of the three passes thrown his way, including another first down.

Least valuable running back Rk Player Team Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR 1. Steven Jackson ATL 6 0 7 0 -47 -30 -18 Six of Jackson's 11 carries went for no gain or a loss. To put that another way: His median carry went for no yards. He had no first downs, and his only successful carry was a 2-yard gain on second-and-3. He was stuffed on the ensuing third-down play. He also had five targets, resulting in three receptions for a total of 7 yards, with no first downs, and no successful plays.

Five most valuable wide receivers and tight ends Rk Player Team Rec Att Yds Avg TD Total

DYAR 1. Calvin Johnson DET 14 16 329 23.5 1 125 Four of Johnson's first six targets came on third or fourth down. (He converted two of them, including a touchdown.) After that, they stopped waiting to throw to him -- the rest of his targets all came on first or second down. Seven of his catches gained 20 or more yards. Oh, and the Lions threw him nine deep balls, resulting in seven receptions for 187 yards. That does not include his 87-yard reception, which technically was a "short right" pass. In other news, did you know the Cowboys have lousy safeties? It's true. 2. Marvin Jones CIN 8 8 122 15.2 4 104 Seven of Jones' receptions gained touchdowns or first downs. His only failed completion went for no gain on first-and-goal from the 6 when the Bengals were ahead by 26 points in the third quarter. He scored on the next play. 3. Jordy Nelson GB 7 8 123 17.6 2 64 Nelson had two touchdowns and three other first downs. Each of those converted a third or fourth down, although none came with more than 6 yards to go for a first down. 4. Kenny Stills NO 3 4 129 43.0 2 60 His three receptions, in order: a 69-yard touchdown; an 18-yard gain; and a 42-yard touchdown on third-and-20. 5. Jarrett Boykin GB 5 6 89 17.8 0 45 Each of Boykin's catches gained at least 11 yards and a first down. He also had a 16-yard DPI on second-and-15.