NFL Tweets of the Week

Following are the “Tweets of the Week” from the @NFLfootballinfo, @NFLhistory and @RLiuNFL Twitter feeds. @NFL345: RT @ESPNResearch: As we kickoff the NFL season tonight…72% of Americans are fans of the NFL, highest fan base level in 18 year history of ESPN Sports Poll

There are 185 million Americans who are fans of the NFL, with 86 million of them being avid fans. The percentage of Americans who were fans of the NFL in 2012 (72 percent) is the highest fan base level in the history of the ESPN Sports Poll.  Not only is it the number one fan base in the country, but it also has the number one avid fan base (33 percent) across 31 sports tracked.

The NFL has been recognized as America’s most popular sport for the past 48 years, rated No. 1 by fans in the Harris Poll since 1965. In fact, more people name professional football (34 percent) as their favorite sport than the combined total of the next three professional sports – baseball (16), auto racing (eight) and men’s pro basketball (five). More than 223 million Americans watched the 2012 NFL season and viewership of NFL games continues to dominate the fragmented television landscape.

@NFLfootballinfo: Why every fan has hope…In past 10 seasons, at least 1 team won division the year after finishing in last place

Competitive balance, one of the hallmarks of the NFL, gives fans hope entering each season. Three 2012 playoff teams – the WASHINGTON REDSKINS (10-6 in 2012, 5-11 in 2011), INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (11-5 in 2012, 2-14 in 2011) and MINNESOTA VIKINGS (10-6 in 2012, 3-13 in 2011) – finished in last place in 2011 and combined for a 21-win improvement last year.

For an NFL-record 10th consecutive season, at least one team finished in first place in its division the season after finishing in last place. In fact, of the 40 teams in league history to go from “worst-to-first,” 19 of them have done so in the past 12 years (2001-12), including an NFL-record three such teams in 2005 and 2006.

After finishing last in the division the prior year, the Redskins won seven consecutive games to close the 2012 campaign and claim the NFC East crown, becoming the fifth team in league annals to reach the playoffs after starting the season 3-6.

The teams to go from “worst-to-first” in their division in the past 10 season (2003-2012):

@RLiuNFL: .@Denver_Broncos have @NFL best 40-13-1 record in home openers. Last night, the Denver Broncos defeated the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens 49-27 in the NFL’s annual primetime kickoff game.

Denver owns the top winning percentage in home openers (.750, 40-13-1) and currently has the second-best winning percentage in season openers (.638, 34-19-1) in the NFL. The win marks the Broncos 12th consecutive regular-season win, the longest active streak in the NFL.

@NFLhistory: As noted by @RLiuNFL, YA Tittle = only player in #NFL history with 7 TD passes & 0 INTs in a game. Peyton joins him tonight.

Denver quarterback PEYTON MANNING completed 27 of 42 passes for 462 yards and seven touchdowns versus zero interceptions for a 141.1 passer rating in last night’s win. His seven touchdown passes ties the single-game NFL record (SID LUCKMAN, 1943; ADRIAN BURK, 1954; GEORGE BLANDA, 1961; Y.A. TITTLE, 1962; JOE KAPP, 1969).

Manning and Tittle are the only quarterbacks in NFL history to have at least seven touchdowns passes without an interception in a single game. A look at their individual game statistics:

@NFLfootballinfo: QB continuity was a theme of 2012. 20 of 32 clubs started same QB in every game, most in a season since at least 1970. NFL quarterbacks produced the most prolific and efficient season in NFL history in 2012, setting myriad league-wide passing records.

A big reason for that success was the consistent performance of the starters.

In 2012, 20 of 32 teams started the same quarterback in every game, the most of any season since at least 1970.

@NFLfootballinfo: 9 rookie QBs will have started in Week 1 from 2011-13. That’s most in Week 1 in 3-year span since at least 1950. Rookie quarterbacks EJ MANUEL of the Buffalo Bills and GENO SMITH of the New York Jets will make their first NFL starts this Sunday. Since 2011, teams have started nine rookie quarterbacks in Week 1, the most during a three-year span since at least 1950.

On Kickoff Weekend 2011, the Cincinnati Bengals started rookie quarterback ANDY DALTON, while No. 1 overall selection CAM NEWTON started for the Carolina Panthers.

In 2012, five rookie quarterbacks – ROBERT GRIFFIN III of the Washington Redskins, ANDREW LUCK of the Indianapolis Colts, RYAN TANNEHILL of the Miami Dolphins, BRANDON WEEDEN of the Cleveland Browns and RUSSELL WILSON of the Seattle Seahawks – made their debut as starters on Kickoff Weekend, the most rookie quarterbacks to start a team’s opening game since at least 1950.

The nine rookie quarterbacks to start their team’s first game of the season since 2011:

*Projected starter

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