NFL offenses put on airs like never before

The Denver Broncos like to throw, throw, throw.

And if that doesn’t work, they throw some more.

“We’re expecting a ton of it,� Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine told the New York Daily News last week during a break from preparations to play the Broncos on Sunday. He said Denver Coach Josh McDaniels -- a former Patriots assistant -- has “the New England mentality that if you can’t run it, let’s throw it every snap.

“It’s something that we’re going to get, given the struggles we’ve had defending the pass, and given their struggles in the run game. It does add up to a lot of passes.�

It’s no wonder Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton has surpassed the 300-yard passing mark in four consecutive games and ranks second to San Diego’s Philip Rivers with 1,733 yards through the air.

And Orton and Rivers are not alone. Quarterbacks all over the NFL are putting up gaudy numbers. Through the first five weeks of the season, passing yardage is at an all-time high -- a net total of 33,452 yards so far. Most passing yards through the first five weeks:

YEAR, YARDS
2010, 33,452
2009, 33,275
2002, 32,982
2007, 32,551
2005, 31,628

The 400 club

There have been seven individual 400-yard passing games this season, and two belong to Rivers. Already, that ties him for third-most in a season, putting him behind only Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who had four of those in 1984 and three in 1986.

“He’s done everything you could ask a guy to do,� Chargers Coach Norv Turner said of Rivers, “and he’s playing right now as good as I’ve seen him play.�

The 400-yard passing games in 2010:

PLAYER, TEAM, DATE, YARDS
Matt Schaub, Houston, Sept. 19, 497
Kyle Orton, Denver, Sept. 26, 476
Philip Rivers, San Diego, Sept. 26, 455
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, Sept. 12, 433
Philip Rivers, San Diego, Oct. 10, 431
Donovan McNabb, Washington, Sept. 19, 426
Tony Romo, Dallas, Oct. 10, 406

Losing their heads

At the owners meetings in Chicago last week, Rich McKay, Atlanta Falcons president and co-chairman of the Competition Committee, said the league is going to look into how frequently players lose their helmets during plays. That appears to be happening more often.

In the interest of safety, the NFL added a rule during the off-season that says the play is instantly blown dead when the ball carrier loses his helmet.

McKay also said that moving the umpires from the middle of the defense to the offensive backfield, on the side of the quarterback’s nonthrowing shoulder, has led to more offensive holding calls.

There was concern when the umpires were moved that it would be more difficult to spot defensive holding, however.

“Everybody’s mentioned defensive holding, and they should, because we had a person positioned where it was probably a little easier to see than it is now,� McKay said. “But I think I saw through three weeks where the defensive-holding numbers were identical this year and last year. Now the umpire himself, his numbers were down, but other officials made up the difference.�

Maxed out

How remarkable was the feat of little-known Cardinals quarterback Max Hall last week, when he led his team to a 30-20 victory over New Orleans? Hall became the first undrafted rookie quarterback to start and win against the defending Super Bowl champion since Pittsburgh’s Kent Nix beat Green Bay in 1967.

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