With one touchdown reception each in the New England-Dallas showdown on Sunday, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens inched ever so slightly up the all-time list of highest scoring receivers in NFL history, based upon TD catches per game.
Moss is No. 2 all time, averaging nearly 0.76 TDs per game over the course of his career (109 TD catches in 144 games). Owens is No. 3, with 0.72 TDs per game (118 TDs in 164 games). Marvin Harrison remains No. 4 on the all-time list, at nearly 0.71 TD catches per game (123 TDs in 174 games).
The three modern phenoms appear likely to remain in those positions for the foreseeable future. There's a big gap between Moss and No. 1 Don Huston (
the most dominant receiver ever and a member of the Cold, Hard Football Facts
All-Time 11). There's also a big gap between No. 4 Harrison and the next active player, Torry Holt, who is No. 16 on the all-time list, averaging a shade over 1 TD every two games.
To put the difference between Hutston and the rest of the pack in perspective, No. 2 Moss would need to haul in 37 TD passes between now and the end of the 2008 season (26 games) to surpass Hutson's career average of 0.853 TD catches per game.
ALL-TIME LEADING RECEIVERS, TDs per game (thorugh Week 6, 2007)
|
|
Player |
TDs |
Games |
TDs per game |
|
1 |
Don Hutson |
99 |
116 |
0.853 |
|
2 |
Randy Moss |
109 |
144 |
0.757 |
|
3 |
Terrell Owens |
118 |
164 |
0.720 |
|
4 |
Marvin Harrison |
123 |
174 |
0.707 |
|
5 |
Art Powell |
81 |
117 |
0.692 |
|
6 |
Jerry Rice |
197 |
303 |
0.650 |
|
7 |
Lance Alworth |
85 |
136 |
0.625 |
|
8 |
Sterling Sharpe |
65 |
112 |
0.580 |
|
9 |
Cris Carter |
130 |
234 |
0.556 |
|
10 |
Tommy McDonald |
84 |
152 |
0.553 |
|
11 |
Gary Collins |
70 |
127 |
0.551 |
|
12 |
Sonny Randle |
65 |
120 |
0.542 |
|
13 |
Paul Warfield |
85 |
157 |
0.541 |
|
14 |
Bullet Bob Hayes |
71 |
132 |
0.538 |
|
15 |
Mark Clayton |
84 |
158 |
0.532 |
|
16 |
Torry Holt |
67 |
132 |
0.508 |
|
17 |
Carl Pickens |
63 |
125 |
0.504 |
|
18 |
Steve Largent |
100 |
200 |
0.500 |
|
19 |
Charlie Taylor |
79 |
165 |
0.479 |
|
20 |
Don Maynard |
88 |
186 |
0.473 |
|
21 |
Wesley Walker |
71 |
154 |
0.461 |
|
22 |
Andre Rison |
84 |
184 |
0.457 |
|
23 |
Joey Galloway |
74 |
167 |
0.4431 |
|
24 |
Jimmy Orr |
66 |
149 |
0.4430 |
|
25 |
Raymond Berry |
68 |
154 |
0.442 |
|
26 |
Bobby Mitchell |
65 |
148 |
0.439 |
|
27 |
Carmichael |
79 |
182 |
0.434 |
|
28 |
Isaac Bruce |
80 |
187 |
0.428 |
|
29 |
Herman Moore |
62 |
149 |
0.416 |
|
30 |
Michael Irvin |
65 |
159 |
0.409 |
Minimum, 60 TD receptions
Active players in bold