House of Dread: 2022 NFL House Calls

Another NFL season has already come and gone, and yet another is about to begin; and having watched and enjoyed many of the games of the 2023 season but not yet viewed a box score/game book from any of them, I have no idea how many touchdowns were scored by players with dreads and who scored them. I could only guess. But I most certainly can tell you which player with dreads had the most TD during the 2022 season. Hint: you're looking right at him.

After the scoring free-for-all that was the 2020 season, the defense struck back the next 2 years. Even with 16 more games played in 2021 (with the change from a 16 to 17-game schedule) the total number of touchdowns leaguewide dropped by 50 - from a most-ever 1473 in 2020 to 1423. And then in 2022 the total plunged all the way down to 1315 - the fewest in a season since 2017. Despite that plunge the percentage of touchdowns scored by players with dreads remained above 20% for the 2nd straight season. 272 touchdowns were scored by players with dreads in 2022, with that number equaling 20.7% of all touchdowns scored - not too big of a drop from 21.1% in 2021. 78 different players accounted for the 272 TD, numbers lower than the 82 players and record 300 TD in 2021.

Despite no longer having Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback, WR Davante Adams repeated as the player with dreads with the most touchdowns - and this time he has the crown all to himself. After sharing the crown with RB Cordarrelle Patterson with 11 TD in 2021, Adams scored 14 TD in his first season in a Las Vegas Raiders uniform in 2022 - the most by any player with dreads and third most in the entire league. It was also the 3rd straight year Adams has led all players with dreads in TD receptions (including the 45-yarder vs. the Chargers in Week 13 shown in the photo above). Adams was one of only 4 players with dreads to hit double figures in TD. The other 3 are familiar faces and no strangers to the end zone during their careers. RB Derrick Henry scored 13 TD for the Tennessee Titans to finish a close second to Adams, while RBs Dalvin Cook and Najee Harris had 10 TD each - for the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers respectively.

Surprise, surprise: no Jefferson, no problem. Even without Justin Jefferson (whom I officially kicked out of the house following the 2021 season) the Minnesota Vikings still took the team crown for the most TD scored by players with dreads for the 2nd straight season. In a race that came down to the wire the Vikings edged the Tennessee Titans for the crown 21-20, with the Dallas Cowboys coming in 3rd with 18 TD and the Raiders and New England Patriots finishing tied for 4th with 16. Cook scored roughly half of the Vikings' total with 10, while RB Alexander Mattison (on the right in photo on right, celebrating with Cook after Cook's spectacular TD vs. the Colts in Week 15) had 6 and WR K.J. Osborn had 5 to account for the other half. After TE Chigoziem Okonokwo scored the Titans' 20th TD of the season by a player with dreads on Saturday night of Week 18, the Vikings needed one to tie and two to win in their game at Chicago on Sunday; and it was Mattison who came through with a pair of 1-yard TD runs to clinch it.

With 20 of their 34 touchdowns scored by players with dreads - 58.8% - the Titans were the only team to have more than half of their TD scored by players with dreads. The Vikings were 2nd at 42% and the Patriots 3rd at 41.0%. The 272 TD by players with dreads overall were distributed fairly evenly over the 8 divisions. After finishing in 2nd place in 2021, the AFC South took divisional honors in 2022 with 43 TD scored by players with dreads. The AFC West came in 2nd with 42 and the NFC West 3rd with 37. Even the usually barren NFC East had 27 TD by players with dreads.

The Cowboys and Carolina Panthers had the most different players with dreads make house calls with 5 each, Of the 272 TD: 11 of them were on defense, with Patriots S Kyle Dugger (3) the only player with more than one; and 1 was on special teams, coming on Patterson's record-setting 9th career kickoff return for a TD. 15 rookie players with dreads combined for 38 TD scored, led by RB Kenneth Walker of the Seahawks with 9. The Washington Commanders, Cincinnati Bengals, and Los Angeles Chargers were the only teams that had no TD scored by players with dreads.

Here now are the lists of the 272 TD scored by players with dreads, the first one by player from most to fewest and the one after that by division and team.

Davante Adams (LV)

Derrick Henry (TENN)

Dalvin Cook (MINN)

Najee Harris (PIT)

Tyreek Hill (MIA)

CeeDee Lamb (DAL)

Cordarrelle Patterson (ATL) (photo below of his 17-yard TD run at Seattle in Week 3)

Kenneth Walker (SEA)

Brandon Aiyuk (SF)

Aaron Jones (GB)

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (KC)

Jerry Jeudy (DEN) (photo below of his 20-yard TD reception at Las Vegas in Week 4)

Alexander Mattison (MINN)

Jakobi Meyers (NE)

Rhamondre Stevenson (NE)

Jordan Akins (HOU)

D'Onta Foreman (CAR) (photo below, scoring on a 4-yard run vs. the Lions in Week 16)

K.J. Osborn (MINN)

Isiah Pacheco (KC)

James Robinson (4 w/JAC, 1 w/NYJ)

Michael Gallup (DAL)

Marquise Goodwin (SEA)

Dontrell Hilliard (TENN)

Kareem Hunt (CLEV)

Richie James (NYG)

Alvin Kamara (NO)

David Njoku (CLEV)

MyCole Pruitt (ATL)

Mo Alie-Cox (IND)

Marquise Brown (ARIZ)

Noah Brown (DAL)

James Cook (BUF)

Kyle Dugger (NE)

Gus Edwards (BAL)

JaMycal Hasty (JAC)

Darrell Henderson (LAR)

DeAndre Hopkins (ARIZ)

Chigoziem Okonkwo (TENN)

Rashid Shaheed (NO)

Kadarius Toney (KC)

Quez Watkins (PHIL) (photo below, scoring on a season-long 53-yard reception vs.Vikings in Week 2)

Rachaad White (TB)

Jelani Woods (IND)

Tutu Atwell (LAR)

Melvin Gordon (DEN)

O.J. Howard (HOU)

Julio Jones (TB)

Velus Jones (CHI)

Marlon Mack (DEN)

Laviska Shenault (CAR)

Ameer Abdullah (LV)

Robbie Anderson (CAR)

Brandon Bolden (LV)

Gary Brightwell (NYG)

Marquez Callaway (NO)

De'Vondre Campbell (GB)

Chase Claypool (PIT)

Corey Clement (ARIZ)

Malik Davis (DAL)

Ashton Dulin (IND)

Dre Greenlaw (SF)

Malik Hooker (DAL)

Keaontay Ingram (ARIZ)

Melvin Ingram (MIA)

Donte Jackson (CAR)

Rayshawn Jenkins (JAC)

Brandon Johnson (DEN)

Ronald Jones (KC)

Michael Jordan (CAR)

Zonovan Knight (NYJ)

Jordan Mason (SF)

Ty Montgomery (NE)

Dare Ogunbowale (HOU)

Zach Pascal (PHIL) (photo above, with a 34-yard TD catch in Week 8 for his only TD of the season)

Darnell Savage (GB)

Benny Snell (PIT)

Jameson Williams (DET)

Tarik Woolen (SEA)

AFC EAST (31)

BUF (3) - RB James Cook 3

MIA (10) - WR Tyreek Hill 9, LB Melvin Ingram 1

NE (16) - WR Jakobi Meyers 6, RB Rhamondre Stevenson 6, S Kyle Dugger 3, WR Ty Montgomery 1

NYJ (2) - RB Zonovan Knight 1, RB James Robinson 1

AFC NORTH (23)

BAL (3) - RB Gus Edwards 3

CIN (0)

CLEV (8) - RB Kareem Hunt 4, TE David Njoku 4

PIT (12) - RB Najee Harris 10, WR Chase Claypool 1, RB Benny Snell 1

AFC SOUTH (43)

HOU (8) - TE Jordan Akins 5, TE O.J. Howard 2, RB Dare Ogunbowale 1

IND (7) - TE Mo Alie-Cox 3, TE Jelani Woods (3), WR Ashton Dulin 1

JAC (8) - RB James Robinson 4, RB JaMycal Hasty 3, S Rayshawn Jenkins 1

TENN (20) - RB Derrick Henry 13, RB Dontrell Hilliard 4, TE Chigoziem Okonkwo 3

AFC WEST (42)

DEN (11) - WR Jerry Jeudy 6, RB Melvin Gordon 2, RB Marlon Mack 2, WR Brandon Johnson 1

KC (15) - RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire 6, RB Isiah Pacheco 5, WR Kadarius Toney 3, RB Ronald Jones 1

LV (16) - WR Davante Adams 14, RB Ameer Abdullah 1, RB Brandon Bolden 1

LAC (0)

NFC EAST (27)

DAL (18) - WR CeeDee Lamb 9, WR Michael Gallup 4, WR Noah Brown 3, RB Malik Davis 1, S Malik Hooker 1

NYG (5) - WR Richie James 4, RB Gary Brightwell 1

PHIL (4) - WR Quez Watkins 3, WR Zach Pascal 1

WASH (0)

NFC NORTH (33)

CHI (2) - WR Velus Jones 2

DET (1) - WR Jameson Williams 1

GB (9) - RB Aaron Jones 7, LB De'Vondre Campbell 1, S Darnell Savage 1

MINN (21) - RB Dalvin Cook 10, RB Alexander Mattison 6, WR K.J. Osborn 5

NFC SOUTH (36)

ATL (13) - RB Cordarrelle Patterson 9, TE MyCole Pruitt 4

CAR (10) - RB D'Onta Foreman 5, WR Laviska Shenault 2, RB Robbie Anderson 1, CB Donte Jackson 1, G Michael Jordan 1

NO (8) - RB Alvin Kamara 4, WR Rashid Shaheed 3, WR Marquez Callaway 1

TB (5) - RB Rachaad White 3, WR Julio Jones 2

NFC WEST (37)

ARIZ (8) - WR Marquise Brown 3, WR DeAndre Hopkins 3, RB Corey Clement 1, RB Keaontay Ingram 1

LAR (5) - RB Darrell Henderson 3, WR Tutu Atwell 2

SF (10) - WR Brandon Aiyuk 8, LB Dre Greenlaw 1, RB Jordan Mason 1

SEA (14) - RB Kenneth Walker 9, WR Marquise Goodwin 4, CB Tarik Woolen 1

PLAYOFF TD (8) - LB Nick Bolton (KC) 1, James Cook 1, Michael Gallup 1, CeeDee Lamb 1, K.J. Osborn 1, Isiah Pacheco 1, Kadarius Toney 1, Kenneth Walker 1

If I could, I would have photos of all 280 (including playoffs) of the touchdowns scored by players with dreads during the 2022 season. But for many of the touchdowns you just could not see the player's dreads. Whether they were reduced too much, too short, or some other reason (talkin' about you, Kadarius Toney), those dreads remained within the confines of their helmets and out of sight. Those touchdowns will not be included here (for the most part). But for the touchdowns where you could see the dreads ..... well, you've come to the right place.

This will be my largest dread gallery ever, and I've put the 177 touchdowns featured into several categories. I'll list those here now, which may (or not) assist you if you're looking for one specific touchdown and don't want to scroll through the whole thing.

FIRSTS (photos 1-24)

FIRST AND ONLY (25-34)

CROWN 'EM (35-46)
3 OF A KIND (47-55)
2 FOR THE SHOW (56-81)

HOUSES OF DREAD (82-99)

MOSTS (100-108)

WEEK 8 (109-116)
THE GREAT TIGHT END RACE OF 2022 (117-132)

DEFENSE (133-135)

ROOKIES (136-143)

CAPTAIN LATE (144-151)

MORE HOUSE CALLS (152-167)
LASTS (168-177)

PLAYOFFS (178-182)

I advise viewing in moderation .... i.e. don't try to view the whole thing at once. Go a little bit at a time and take your time.

And away we go ......

FIRSTS

1. The odds were astronomical against this guy scoring the season's 1st TD by a player with dreads, but Dolphins LB Melvin Ingram beat those odds ...... apparently.

I say apparently because from my point of view - watching 2 or 3 games at the same time but not all of them - there was no clear-cut, obvious first TD. Several touchdowns were scored in quick succession in the 2nd quarters of the early afternoon games in Sunday of Week 1, any one of which could possibly have been the first. But I have seen a video that appears to show all of the week's touchdowns in chronological order, and I'm trusting that the video has everything in the correct order. If it does, then Ingram's TD is the first. And it couldn't have been much easier. On 2nd and 10 midway through the 2nd quarter the Patriots failed to block S Brandon Jones on a blitz; and after he hit QB Mac Jones from the blind side and stripped the ball from him at the 6-yard line, Ingram scoops up the convenient, waist-high bounce in stride at the 2 and takes two more steps into the end zone for the Dolphins' 1st TD of the season, increasing their lead to 10-0. It was Melvin's 2nd career TD, with the other one coming in 2017 when he was with the Chargers, and it was the first of 11 defensive TD scored by players with dreads in 2022. Ingram also had 2 tackles in his first game in a Dolphins uniform, including 1 TFL, as the Dolphins opened with a 20-7 home victory over the Patriots .....

2. A couple of minutes later (again assuming the accuracy of that video) at Cincinnati Steelers RB Najee Harris scores the season's first offensive touchdown by a player with dreads. On 2nd and goal from the 1 LB Germaine Pratt is late in coverage (after reacting to a fake handoff to the fullback) in the left flat, and Harris is open to catch Mitchell Trubisky's pass at the 1. Pratt is able to hit Najee before he crosses the goal line but can't keep him out of the end zone, and the 1-yard TD catch ups the Steelers' lead to 17-3 with 8:46 remaining in the 2nd quarter. It was a tough day for Harris, who finished with a season low 26 yards on 12 touches. The Steelers led almost the entire game until the Bengals scored a TD with 2 seconds left to tie it; but the extra point that would have won it for Cincy was blocked, and the Steelers ended up winning 23-20 on a 53-yard FG with :00 remaining in overtime.

3. With Davante Adams traded to them in the offseason, it figured to be a sure thing that the Raiders would end their long drought of having no touchdowns by players with dreads. And it indeed did not take long for them to end that drought. But it wasn't Adams who ended it .... rather it was RB Brandon Bolden - also playing his 1st game in a Raiders uniform - who scored their 1st TD of the season and their first by a player with dreads since Dwayne Harris' punt return TD on Christmas Eve in 2018, ending a streak of 50 games without one. Trailing 17-3 to the Chargers at halftime, the Raiders get 52 yards on the first two plays of their 2nd half opening drive on receptions of 11 and 41 yards by Adams. And 3 plays later Bolden finishes the 75-yard drive, easily beating LB Kyle Van Noy on his route out of the backfield on 3rd and 5 and making an over-the-shoulder catch of the pass from Derek Carr at the 1-yard line on his way into the end zone for an 18-yard TD. It was the only bright spot of the day for Bolden, who gained only 10 yards the other 4 times he touched the ball. And, sadly, it turned out to be his only TD all season .....

4. Later in the 2nd half Davante Adams also gets his 1st TD in a Raiders uniform, opening his account with this highlight-reel catch in the front right corner of the end zone. With the Raiders down 24-13, Adams beats the coverage of CB Asante Samuel Jr. on an out route on 2nd and goal, makes a difficult, hands-only catch with his arms fully extended, and maintains possession as he hits the ground. The 3-yard TD brought the Raiders to within 5 with 4:32 remaining in the 4th quarter, but they missed the 2-point conversion. Davante finished with 10 catches for 141 yards in his Raiders debut, but the Chargers held on for the 24-19 win.

5. After going scoreless in the 10 games he played in the 2021 season, WR Jerry Jeudy gets his 2022 season off to a good start, scoring the Broncos' 1st TD of the season during the 2nd quarter at Seattle on Monday Night Football. On 3rd and 2 Jeudy burned rookie CB Coby Bryant on an out-and-up route but then had to slow down to catch an underthrown pass by Russell Wilson at the 40-yard line. Then after bouncing off Bryant's attempted tackle, Jerry outruns S Josh Jones to the end zone, eluding Jones' last-ditch tackle attempt at the 9-yard line. The 67-yard TD tied the game at 10 and turned out to be his longest gain of the season. It was also the last of the 20 TD scored by players with dreads in Week 1. Jeudy had his 3rd career 100-yard game, finishing with 102 yards on 4 catches; but the Broncos, despite dominating the Seahawks 433-253 in total yards, lost to the Seahawks 17-16, settling for and missing a 64-yard FG attempt on 4th and 5 with :20 to play. I mean, I don't care how great your kicker may be, expecting anyone to make a 64-yard kick with the game on the line is not sensible.

6. Having lost their season opener 19-3, the Cowboys had to wait until Week 2 for their first touchdown of the season. And it comes on this tremendous leaping catch by WR Noah Brown in the end zone after he beats Bengals S Jessie Bates on a crossing route on 2nd and 7. The 9-yard TD capped Dallas' 12-play, 75-yard opening drive. For Brown it was his 1st career TD, after he had gone the first 51 games of his career without one. Of course, it would've looked even better if he hadn't had his dreads reduced. Noah finished with a career high 91 yards on 5 catches, the last of which was a 12-yarder on the game-winning drive. The Cowboys kicked a FG on the final play of the game, improving to 1-1 with a 20-17 home win over the Bengals.

7. With his dreads finally long enough to start creeping out from under his helmet, RB James Robinson begins his 3rd NFL season by scoring the Jaguars' 1st TD of the season, catching a pass from Trevor Lawrence open in the right flat and on the goal line ahead of the late-arriving Commanders D on 2nd and goal. The 3-yard TD capped Jacksonville's 6-play, 80-yard 2nd half opening drive and cut Washington's lead to 14-9 (the 2-point conversion failed). Robinson later scored his first rushing TD of the season to put the Jaguars ahead 22-14 early in the 4th. James finished the game with 66 rushing yards on 11 carries plus the 1 catch for the 3-yard TD. But Washington, playing their first game with "Commanders" as their nickname, scored 2 TD in the 4th quarter, the second one with 1:46 remaining, to come back and defeat the Jaguars 28-22 .....

8. After scoring the Jaguars' 1st TD of the season by a player with dreads, James Robinson does the same for the New York Jets here in Week 9. After being traded by the Jaguars following Week 7, Robinson - in his 2nd game in a Jets uniform - gives the Jets a 17-14 lead over the Bills late in the 3rd quarter, catching a screen pass at the 10-yard line on 1st and goal and powering through the attempted tackle by S Damar Hamlin at the 2 and falling across the goal line. The 7-yard TD reception capped a 19-yard drive set up by an interception by CB Sauce Gardner. The Bills tied the game early in the 4th, but the Jets untied it on a FG of their own with 1:43 to play and held on to win 20-17, improving to 6-3 and dropping the Bills to 6-2.

If you paid attention to the lists at the beginning of this post, then you already know that this was the only touchdown Robinson would score for the Jets.

9. After scoring just 2 TD for the Patriots in his first 3 NFL seasons, WR Jakobi Meyers made 6 house calls in his 4th season in 2022. The first of them came here in Week 5, as he takes a bow after easily beating press coverage by CB Bobby Price (#27) on 1st and 10 and catching the pass from QB Bailey Zappe at the 3-yard line for a 24-yard TD, upping the Patriots lead to 26-0 over the Lions late in the 3rd quarter at Foxborough. Meyers made his only appearance of the season on the dread stars list, finishing with 7 catches for 111 yards as the Patriots picked up their first home win of the season, blanking the Lions 29-0.

10. After suffering a torn ACL injury in practice 4 days before the start of the 2021 season, Ravens RB Gus Edwards missed all of that season and the first 6 games of 2022 while recovering. But here in Week 7 in his first game back Edwards gets his 1st TD of the season and his first since Week 14 of 2020, taking a handoff on 1st and goal and running through a big hole in the left side of the line and into the end zone untouched. The 7-yard run put the Ravens in front of the Browns 13-10 on the first play after the 2-minute warning in the 1st half. Not satisfied with just one, Edwards made it 20-10 midway through the 3rd with his 2nd TD of the day on a 1-yard run on 4th and goal. He led the team with 66 yards rushing on 16 carries as the Ravens improved to 2-2 at home - with all 4 games decided by 4 points or less - defeating the Browns 23-20.

11. In Week 10 WR Julio Jones makes history as he scores the first ever NFL TD in Germany, giving the Buccaneers a 7-0 lead over the Seahawks early in the 2nd quarter of the game played at Munich. After catching the pass from Tom Brady on 3rd and 10 wide open at the 28-yard line (thanks to a miscommunication by the secondary) Jones runs untouched until colliding with S Josh Jones just before the goal line. Jones' momentum carries him into the end zone for the 31-yard TD, his 2nd of the season: youtube.com/watch?v=vMn3e05exjo

He finished the game with 3 catches for 53 yards as the Buccaneers took a 21-3 lead in the 4th quarter before holding off the Seahawks 21-16.

I decided to count this touchdown and the one Jones scored two weeks earlier vs. the Ravens on the list of TD scored by players with dreads even though he did not finish the season with dreads. After having dreads for all 10 regular season games he played, Julio cut them off before the Bucs' playoff game vs. Dallas - probably the 3rd or 4th time during his career he has shed his dreads. This latest edition lasted for 2 seasons.

12. It did not take long for rookie RB Isiah Pacheco, the Chiefs' 7th round draft pick, to take one to the house for the first time. Midway through the 4th quarter of his 1st NFL game Pacheco adds even more to the Chiefs' whipping of the Cardinals in the season opener, scoring on this 3-yard run on 1st and goal untouched except for the arm of LB Devon Kennard that doesn't provide any resistance. The first of Pacheco's 5 TD during the season increased KC's lead to 44-15. Isiah led the team with 62 yards rushing on 12 carries in his NFL debut as the Chiefs began their season with a 44-21 road win on the same field where they would end their season with a win in the Super Bowl.

13. After going without any receptions in his first 2 NFL games (on just 16 total snaps), rookie TE Jelani Woods, the first of the Colts' three 3rd round draft picks, didn't play much more in Week 3 - just 20 snaps. But to say the least he made them count. The Colts went three-and-out on the game's opening possession but got the ball right after the Chiefs muffed the punt return inside the 10-yard line. Then on 3rd and goal from the 1 Woods slips into the end zone unnoticed and uncovered by DE George Karlaftis (#56) and LB Darius Harris and makes his 1st NFL catch in the back of the end zone for his 1st career TD. This alone would've made it a day Jelani will never forget; but he wasn't done yet. His 2nd NFL catch made the day extra special, and we'll take a look at it a little later.

14. 14 of the Seahawks' 44 TD in 2022 were scored by players with dreads. But you never would have known it by watching any of their games ... because all 14 were scored by players with very short dreads. At Detroit in Week 4 it was rookie CB Tarik Woolen who scored the first of them. After picking off a pass by Jared Goff on the first play of the 2nd half, Woolen, a 5th round draft pick, takes the return 40 yards to the house for his 1st NFL TD, cutting back to easily elude Goff at the 5-yard line (photo above) on his way into the end zone. Just by sheer luck you can actually get a bit of a look at Woolen's dreads in these shots (there aren't a lot others where you can). The TD upped the Seahawks' lead to 31-15 and, in the highest-scoring game of the season, they went on to beat the Lions 48-45. Little did either team know it at the time, but the result turned out to be the determining factor for the final NFC playoff spot at the end of the season, with the teams both finishing with 9-8 records and the Seahawks getting the playoff berth thanks to this win over the Lions .....

15. One week later - in their 2nd straight indoor road game, this time at New Orleans - another one of the 5 players with dreads the Seahawks selected in the 2022 Draft scores his 1st NFL career TD. This time it's 2nd round pick, RB Kenneth Walker. Seldom used in the first 4 weeks, Walker became the team's starter at RB after Rashaad Penny broke his leg early in the 3rd quarter against the Saints. And the Seahawks' offense did not miss a beat at all with him in there. Here midway through the 4th quarter, if you look close enough, you can barely see his dreads peeking out from under his helmet as he goes 69 yards untouched on 2nd and 1 to put the Seahawks ahead 32-31. Walker checks to see if anyone is coming from behind (photo above) but there's nobody within 5 yards of him. Kenneth didn't have to do much, just a couple of cuts through the holes created by excellent blocking. He finished the game with 8 carries for 88 yards. Unfortunately the Seahawks weren't celebrating his TD for long. The Saints scored a 60-yard TD on the 3rd play of their next drive and then held on to defeat the Seahawks 39-32 .....

16. A little earlier in the afternoon on Week 5 another rookie RB with dreads took one to the house for the first time. Selected by the Bills in the 2nd round - 22 picks after the Seahawks picked Walker - James Cook goes 24 yards untouched early in the 4th quarter to make a big Bills lead over the Steelers even bigger. On a play similar to Walker's, Cook started left after taking the handoff then cut straight ahead through a big hole into the secondary. Whereas Walker then cut to the right into open space, Cook finds his room back to the left and speeds into the end zone well ahead of LB Jamir Jones. The other difference between Cook's and Walker's touchdowns, of course, was that nobody had any trouble seeing Cook's dreads. Cook's TD was the only scoring in the 2nd half. The Bills racked up 552 total yards as they spanked the Steelers 38-3 ......

17. Still earlier in the day on Sunday of Week 5 rookie WR Velus Jones, the Bears' 3rd round pick, made his first house call. On the 8th play of the Bears' 2nd half opening drive at Minneapolis Jones comes in motion left to right on 1st and goal and catches the forward pass from Justin Fields on a jet sweep around right end. A good block by RB David Montgomery (#32) knocks CB Patrick Peterson out of bounds and out of the play; and a good enough block by TE Cole Kmet (#85) delays LB Patrick Jones, and he ends up flat on his face after diving too late to make the tackle. LB Jordan Hicks is unblocked though and gets a hold of Jones at the 2-yard line, but Velus has enough strength to keep going forward and barely makes it into the end zone - with his eyes closed. The 9-yard TD reception, on his only offensive touch of the game, cut the Vikings' lead to 21-16. He also had kickoff returns of 24 and 15 yards. The Bears took a 22-21 lead in the 4th, wiping out a 21-3 deficit, but the Vikings scored with 2:26 to play and held on to win 29-22 .....

18. One week later another rookie WR with dreads scored his 1st career TD on a jet sweep. Rashid Shaheed, undrafted by all 32 teams and unknown by just about everybody after spending the first 5 weeks of the season on the Saints practice squad, takes one 44 yards to the house on his first ever NFL touch from scrimmage to give the Saints a 14-7 lead over the Bengals early in the 2nd quarter. I couldn't find any photos of him actually crossing the goal line, so you'll have to settle for these two (and the video on link below). After taking the perfectly-timed handoff, Shaheed turns the right corner and runs unopposed until he cuts back inside of CB Chidobe Awuzie at the 30-yard line; then he eludes Awuzie again at the 17 (photo above) before speeding into the end zone with a big smile on his face. So excited is Rashid that he tosses the ball away; but I'm sure somebody got it back for him: youtube.com/watch?v=eQQvBc5XXGg

Since he took the handoff from behind QB Andy Dalton, it officially went down as a rushing TD, not a TD reception. Not that it mattered to him. It was Rashid's only touch on offense in the game. He also had a 6-yard punt return and a 20-yard kickoff return in his NFL debut. After he scored the Saints led all the way until late in the 4th, but the Bengals got a Ja'Marr Chase TD with 1:57 to play to take the lead and held on to win 30-26 .....

19. Rashid Shaheed scored his 2nd TD just 5 days later, on Thursday night of Week 7 (stay tuned, we'll see it later); and also in that game rookie RB Keaontay Ingram scored his 1st NFL TD. Drafted by the Cardinals in the 6th round, Ingram made the team but was inactive for the first 5 weeks, not needed until an injury to starting RB James Conner allowed him to get on the field. After making his debut in Week 6, Ingram makes his first house call in the next game on this 2-yard run up the middle on 1st and goal, with S Tyrann Mathieu trying to no avail to stop him from behind and with WR DeAndre Hopkins (#10) trying to give him a helpful shove from behind. It was the Cardinals' 1st TD of the night and the 2-point conversion that followed tied the game at 14-14 with 2:28 remaining until halftime. The Cardinals went on to score two more TD before halftime, both on interception returns, 64 seconds apart. The Cardinals rushed for 137 yards in the game, but Keaontay had just 14 of them on 9 carries as they beat the Saints 42-34.

After this game Ingram carried the ball only 15 more times during the rest of the season and did not score again.

20. Yes, I included rookie RB Zonovan Knight's 1st NFL TD as one of the 272 by players with dreads - even though he was no longer with dreads when the season ended. Knight did have dreads all the way through Week 17 though before cutting them off before the final game of the season. After signing with the Jets as an undrafted free agent, Knight spent the first 7 weeks of his rookie season on the practice squad and the next 4 on the team but inactive before debuting in Week 12 ... and making the dread stars list in his first 2 games. Then in his 3rd game here vs. the Bills in Week 14 he finishes the Jets' 72-yard 2nd half opening drive with a 13-yard run on 1st and 10, breaking two tackles along the way and going into the end zone standing up to tie the game 7-7. Zonovan, aka Bam, did not make the dread stars list for the 3rd straight week, finishing with 71 yards rushing on 17 carries and 2 catches for 6 yards. With the score 7-7, the Bills responded with a TD and 2 FG on their next 3 drives and went on to defeat the Jets 20-12.

21. It wasn't until Week 17 - New Year's Day - that rookie RB Jordan Mason got his 1st NFL TD. And it was a big one. With starter Christian McCaffrey on the bench for a breather after picking up 38 yards on the preceding play, Mason runs off left tackle, cuts through a hole at the 10-yard line and scores. LB Luke Masterson tried to wrap him up at the 5 but neither he nor S Tre'Von Moehrig were going to deny him: youtube.com/watch?v=IHPScyAtMS8

...... The 14-yard run with 2:17 to play broke a 27-27 tie and might have been the game winner. But then the Raiders tied it right back up with a TD just 66 seconds later before the 49ers won it 37-34 on a short FG in overtime.

Mason, not picked in the 2022 Draft, played in 16 games as a rookie, more often on special teams than on offense, and rushed for 258 yards on 43 carries (6 yards per carry) and this lone touchdown.

22. Entering the Rams' Week 11 game at New Orleans with 1 reception in his first 13 career NFL games, WR Tutu Atwell, you'd think, hardly seemed a likely candidate to be making his first house call. Then again, with the great speed that he has, Atwell is a threat to score any time he's on the field .... as the Saints found out. On the first play from scrimmage after the Saints took a 3-0 lead, Atwell (whose real first name is Chatarius) comes in motion right to left then takes off on a go route, runs past CB Chris Harris, catches Matthew Stafford's perfect deep pass in stride at the 15-yard line, eludes Harris' last-ditch tackle attempt at the 5 and breezes into the end zone to give LA a 7-3 lead in the 1st quarter. The 62-yard reception turned out to be his biggest gain of the season. And it was the only time he touched the ball all day (in 7 snaps on offense) as the Rams dropped to 3-7 with a 27-20 loss to the Saints. Sorry about the dreads. Tutu didn't have dreads during his 2021 rookie season, getting them started in 2022; and obviously they're too short to be seen outside of his helmet, although you can almost see them in these shots. Atwell finished the season with 2 TD, not scoring again until Week 18 ......

23. ...... From Atwell we go to Brightwell. Gary Brightwell, that is, whose dreads you have no trouble seeing, even when they're reduced. The 2nd year RB had a bunch of special teams snaps but very little offense (3 carries for 18 yards) to show for during his first 16 career games. But with starter Saquon Barkley on the bench with a shoulder injury, Brightwell found himself on the field in London in Week 5 with the Giants trailing the Packers in the 4th quarter. After Barkley was injured on the first play of the drive, Brightwell played the last 6 snaps on the drive, scoring his 1st NFL TD on a 2-yard line plunge up the middle on 2nd and goal. Gary actually ran into the backs of his O-lineman at the line of scrimmage before they finally pushed the Packers' D-line into the end zone, scoring standing up before going down in a pile a couple of yards beyond the goal line. The TD completed a 15-play, 91-yard drive and tied the game at 20 with 10:08 to play. It also was only the 2nd TD ever by a Giants running back with dreads, with Devonta Freeman scoring the only other one in 2020. Down 20-10 at halftime, the Giants scored touchdowns on their first 3 drives of the 2nd half and then held on to defeat Green Bay 27-22 and improve to 4-1.

24. Having not played one single offensive snap in his first 97 career games, LB De'Vondre Campbell can be forgiven for having never taken one to the house. But as we all know, good things come to those who wait (sometimes); and after waiting until Week 7 of his 7th NFL season Campbell finally scored his 1st NFL TD. After intercepting a Taylor Heinicke pass on 3rd and 5 early in the 2nd quarter, Campbell runs 63 yards untouched right down the sideline and into the end zone. De'Vondre wanted to high step the last 10 yards but had to change plans when Heinicke suddenly came over and dove under LB Quay Walker's attempt to block him and got in the way. De'Vondre successfully avoids Heinicke on his last two steps and stays on his feet, increasing the Packers' lead to 14-3. Campbell also had 12 tackles (7-5) in the game, including 3 TFL. But the Packers blew a double-digit lead for the second time in 3 weeks, falling to 3-4 with a 23-21 road loss to the Commanders.

For those of you ..... er, I mean to say if there are any of you who have followed this blog from day 1, you might remember this wasn't the first time Campbell had ever had a pick six. He had one in college to, against Michigan, which I mentioned during my report for Week 5 of the 2014 season.

FIRST AND ONLY

Some of the touchdowns seen above in the "FIRSTS" category we're actually only's too and could have landed in this section. But they didn't. Let's now take a look at the ones that did.

25. After scoring 19 TD in 4 seasons with the Buccaneers, RB Ronald Jones signed with the Chiefs as a free agent .... only to find himself not needed. 4th string on the depth chart, Jones made it to Week 18 with only 7 carries for 25 yards all season. So in the regular season finale at Las Vegas the Chiefs decided to make sure he didn't go through the entire season empty handed. On the first play of the 2nd quarter Jones takes the handoff on 1st and goal and runs up the middle, and the blocking is just good enough that he doesn't run into his O-linemen until he's right at the goal line; and he continues forward for his 1st and only TD of the season. The 2-yard run capped a 3-play, 44-yard drive following a turnover and upped the Chiefs' lead to 14-3. Ronald finished the (Saturday) afternoon with 45 yards rushing on 10 carries as the Chiefs clinched the #1 seed for the AFC playoffs (as usual) with a 31-13 victory over the Raiders.

26. After enjoying a breakout season in 2021 in which he led the Saints in receiving, WR Marquez Callaway was on the sideline more than he would have liked in 2022. With the arrival of 1st round draft pick Chris Olave and the unexpected emergence of rookie Rashid Shaheed, Callaway had only 32 passes thrown to him after having 84 targets and 6 TD the year before. Marquez made only 1 house call in 2022, but at least it was of the highlight reel variety. On 1st and goal late in the 4th quarter at Charlotte in Week 3 TE Juwan Johnson thinks the pass from Jameis Winston is intended for him (maybe it was) and CB Jaycee Horn thinks he's going to get an INT. Nah. It's Callaway who ends up with the ball, going up and plucking it out of the air with one hand for the 4-yard TD: youtube.com/watch?v=8rP7Ud24ZLg

...... In case you didn't watch the video, it was Marquez's first reception of the season, and sadly it turned out to be his only TD of the season. It brought the Saints to within 22-14 with 2:22 to play; but after the ensuing onside kickoff was recovered by the Panthers, the Saints didn't get the ball back until only 17 seconds were left, and Carolina held on.

27. After taking the lead on a Najee Harris touchdown midway through the 1st quarter in Week 6, the Steelers maintained the lead for the rest of the day; but after a bunch a field goals by both teams they were up only 1 in the 4th quarter at 13-12 until WR Chase Claypool took center stage. Here on 2nd and 5 Claypool finds an open spot in the Buccaneers' zone coverage and catches the pass from Mitchell Trubisky for a 6-yard TD, as CB Carlton Davis, who began the play covering WR George Pickens, can't get over to Claypool in time. That upped Pittsburgh's lead to 20-12 with 9:55 remaining. Claypool was an even bigger factor on the Steelers' next drive, after the Bucs had pulled to within 20-18 with 4:38 to play. Chase had a 17-yard reception on 3rd and 15 and then a 26-yard reception on 3rd and 11 on the drive, the first two of three first downs on the drive as the Steelers ran out the clock without letting the Bucs (and Tom Brady) get the ball back. Claypool finished with 7 catches for 96 yards and had 8 yards rushing to make the dread stars list for the only time all season.

Chase played only two more games for the Steelers before being traded after Week 8. When the Bears offered a 2nd round draft pick for him, the Steelers couldn't get him to the airport fast enough. He then proceeded to produce practically nothing for the Bears, catching 14 passes for 140 yards in the 7 games he played for them the rest of the season and finishing the year with only this 1 TD.

28. I have to apologize for the almost complete lack of visibility of the dreads here; but Texans RB Dare Ogunbowale kept his long dreads way too far reduced for every game during the 2022 season, and the angle from which these shots were taken makes them look almost non existent. But these are the best two angles I could find of his 1st TD of the season, coming late in the 3rd quarter at Miami Gardens in Week 12. With the score 30-0, Ogunbowale finally gets the Texans on the board with this 2-yard run up the middle on 1st and goal to cap a 6-play, 64-yard drive. Entering the game with all of one carry all season for 8 yards, Ogunbowale carried 4 times for 14 yards rushing in this one in the Dolphins' easy 30-15 win. After scoring 2 TD for Washington in 2019 and 2 for Jacksonville in 2021, this was Dare's only TD of 2022 in his first season in a Texans uniform .....

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29. About an hour or so after Ogunbowale's TD, in the opposite corner of the country from Miami RB Ameer Abdullah was scoring his 1st TD in a Raiders uniform and his 1st and only TD of the season in Seattle. After S Quandre Diggs' INT on the first play from scrimmage set up a short TD drive for the Seahawks, the Raiders tie it up 7-7 as Abdullah beats Diggs on a wheel route on 3rd and 5 and catches David Carr's pass in stride in the right front corner of the end zone for an 18-yard TD. Ameer had his best game of the season, with 16 yards rushing (on his first 3 carries of the season) and 3 catches for 39 yards for 55 total yards. The Raiders won on the road in overtime for the second week in a row, beating the Seahawks on a Josh Jacobs 86-yard TD run with 4:20 remaining.

Abdullah finished the season with 1 TD for the 2nd straight year and for the 4th time during his 8 seasons in the league ......

30. ..... Also in Week 12 ... with starting RB Travis Etienne sidelined by an early 1st quarter injury, JaMycal Hasty found himself on the field for a career high 49 offensive snaps during the Jaguars' home game vs. the Ravens. And he certainly made the most of the opportunity. On 2nd and 13 in the 2nd quarter (after he was tackled for a 3-yard loss on the preceding play) Hasty scores his 2nd TD of the season. With CB Marcus Peters (#24) deciding to cover the short out route run by WR Christian Kirk (#13, in background in left photo), Hasty easily runs right past him on a deeper route, catches the pass from Trevor Lawrence in stride at the 9-yard line, and beats S Chuck Clark to the right front corner of the end zone. The 28-yard TD was the 1st and only TD catch of Hasty's career as well as his 1st and only career TD in a home game. Of course, it's a very small sample size, as he had only 3 career TD before this one. JaMycal finished with a career high 95 total yards - 28 yards rushing on 12 carries and 5 catches for 67 yards. In a game in which the teams combined for 33 points in the 4th quarter it was the Jaguars getting a TD and a 2-point conversion with 14 seconds to play and improving to 4-7 with a 28-27 win over the Ravens.

31. In his 3rd NFL season 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk scored a career high 8 TD. But this one in Week 14 was the 1st and only one of them of the season at home. On 1st and 10 - after a Buccaneers INT on the preceding play was nullified by a questionable holding penalty - with only 22 seconds to play until halftime and with the 49ers out of timeouts, Aiyuk takes advantage of two mistakes by CB Jamel Dean (#35) to get into the end zone. First, Dean bites on a pump fake by QB Brock Purdy and allows Aiyuk to run past him on a stop-and-go route. This late in the half a DB should never get beat deep. Second, after Purdy is pressured into underthrowing Aiyuk - who has to come to a complete stop to make the catch at the 3-yard line - Dean races back and tries to break up the pass (and fails) instead of trying to tackle Aiyuk inbounds and before he gets into the end zone. With Dean flat on his face, Aiyuk cruises across the goal line to increase the 49ers lead to 28-0 with :15 on the clock. Brandon finished the day with 2 catches for 57 yards as the 49ers easily defeated Tampa Bay 35-7.

32. And now back to Week 12 for our next first and only. This one was the first and only TD of the season on the road for Falcons TE MyCole Pruitt. And it couldn't have been much easier. On 2nd and goal Pruitt lined up at TE on the right side of the line. Then, after first throwing a block, he sneaks out to the left unnoticed and uncovered by the Commanders' defense and catches the pass from Marcus Mariota for an easy 4-yard TD and a 10-7 Falcons lead midway through the 2nd quarter. Pruitt, in his 1st season with the Falcons, finished the day with 2 catches for 9 yards. But the Commanders outscored the Falcons 12-3 the rest of the way to win 19-13 for their first home win over the Falcons in 29 years, ending a streak of 4 straight L's that began in 1994. For Pruitt, the 2022 season was his 4th in a row with 1 TD on the road.

33. After picking up 0 first downs on their first 4 possessions in Week 8, the Broncos finally get going on their 5th drive. And one play after WR Jerry Jeudy got the 4th first down of the drive on a 25-yard catch and run to the 6-yard line, Jeudy gets the TD, catching the forward flip from Russell Wilson on a jet sweep and speeding around right end and leaping the last 2 yards into the end zone - helped in no small part by RB Melvin Gordon's (#25) block on Jaguars CB Tre Herndon (#37). The 6-yard TD catch cut Jacksonville's lead to 10-7 with 2:44 remaining until halftime. Jeudy finished with 6 catches for 63 yards as the Broncos - in a battle of teams with 2-5 records - won the Jaguars' annual home game at Wembley Stadium in London 21-17.

What's the first and only, you ask? It was Jeudy's 1st and only TD of the season that came in a game that the Broncos won.

34. And now back to Week 12 one more time for our last first and only. After the Steelers blew their 16-3 lead to trail the Colts 17-16 in the 4th quarter, RB Benny Snell puts them back in front with his 1st and only TD of the season, finishing an 11-play, 75-yard drive. Having been stopped on 1st and 2nd down inside the 3-yard line, the Steelers line up with 4 WRs on 3rd and goal but hand the ball to Snell; and after finding no room up the middle, he cuts outside off left tackle and into the end zone standing up. The 2-yard run (plus a 2-point conversion) made the score 24-17 and was the final TD of Week 12. And the final points of the game. The Colts punted on their next drive and got only as far as the Pittsburgh 26-yard line on their final drive as the Steelers held on. Entering the game with 0 offensive snaps played all season, Benny was on the field for 28 snaps on offense in this one and led the Steelers with 62 yards rushing on 12 carries.

CROWN 'EM

The section that features a handful of the touchdowns scored by the player with dreads with the most TD in 2022 - Davante Adams - and the team that had the most TD scored by players with dreads in the 2022 season - the Minnesota Vikings.

35. After finishing in 2nd place in TD scored by players with dreads in 2020 and finishing tied for 1st in 2021, WR Davante Adams took solo 1st place honors for the first time in 2022. In his first season wearing a Raiders uniform Adams picked up right where he left off in Green Bay, finishing with 14 TD and hitting double figures in TD for the 6th time in his 9 NFL seasons.

Here in Week 2 Davante scores the first TD ever by a Raiders player with dreads at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, coming in motion on 3rd and goal and getting open on a legal pick by WR Mack Hollins (#10), catching the pass from Derek Carr a yard behind the line of scrimmage and then bouncing off a hit by S Budda Baker (#3) on the goal line. The 1-yard TD was Adams' shortest TD of the season and capped a 15-play, 75-yard opening drive as the Raiders held the ball for the first 9:38 of the game. Davante finished with just 2 catches for 12 yards. The Raiders led 20-0 at halftime but couldn't hang on, as the Cardinals tied the game with a TD and 2-point conversion with :00 remaining in the 4th quarter then won it 29-23 on a defensive TD in overtime .....

36. One week later Davante Adams makes it 3 TD in 3 games to begin the season on the road against the Titans. After reaching the 2-yard line before settling for a FG on their opening drive, the Raiders do not settle for another FG on their 2nd drive, as Adams makes the leaping grab against decent coverage by S Kevin Byard on 1st and goal and comes down inbounds before going out of the back of the end zone. The 5-yard TD catch cut Tennessee's lead to 14-10 with 9:44 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Other than this Davante had another quiet afternoon, finishing with 5 catches (on 10 targets) for 36 yards and only 2 first downs. The Raiders never led but had to chance to tie late. But they missed a 2-point conversion attempt following their TD with 1:14 to play and dropped to 0-3 with a 24-22 L to the Titans.

37. After going punt, missed FG on their first two drives at Denver in Week 11, the Raiders finally get on the board on their 3rd drive on a TD with 5:36 to play until halftime. 5 plays after getting the drive going with a 23-yard reception on 2nd and 19, Davante Adams finishes the drive with this 31-yard reception for the TD. On 1st and 10 Adams lines up along the numbers on the left side of the field and runs a deep corner route all the way to the numbers on the right side. And with QB Derek Carr having all day to throw, Adams is able to easily run away from CB Patrick Surtain II and S Kareem Jackson and make the catch just across the goal line and maintain possession after hitting the ground. The TD cut Denver's lead to 10-7. Davante had a really good game in this one, as all but one of his 7 catches went for first downs. After his first 8 touchdowns of the season came in games lost by the Raiders, this was the first one that contributed to a W.

But it wasn't his only TD of the day .... which we'll see later.

38. Early in the 2nd half in Week 13 the Raiders immediately cash in a turnover to take the lead against the Chargers. On the first play after the Raiders recovered a fumble by RB Austin Ekeler, Davante Adams gets behind CB Asante Samuel Jr. deep on a stop-and-go route. Samuel still has good coverage and even gets away with pass interference, as he grabs Adams' right arm before the ball arrives; but it doesn't matter, as Davante simply makes the catch using only his left hand and arm for the touchdown: youtube.com/watch?v=YVITKQFWhKg

..... The 31-yard TD gave the Raiders a 17-13 lead and put them ahead to stay .......

39. Then on the 2nd play of the Raiders' next drive, after the drive started near midfield following a Chargers missed FG, Davante Adams strikes again. On a trick play on 1st and 10 on which Derek Carr handed off to RB Josh Jacobs then got the ball back from Jacobs, Adams beats CB Bryce Callahan deep, catches the pass from Carr in stride at the 6-yard line and prances through the end zone. The 45-yard TD upped the lead to 24-13. It was Davante's 12th TD catch of the season, his 3rd vs. the Chargers, and his 2nd in 3 snaps. He took my "head dread" player of the week award for Week 13, finishing with 8 catches for a season high 177 yards. The Raiders won their 3rd straight following their 2-7 start, defeating the Chargers 27-20.

We're done with Davante for now; but stay tuned to see a couple more of his touchdowns turn up later in this DG.

While Davante Adams took individual honors for the most TD scored by a player with dreads for the 2nd straight year, the Minnesota Vikings repeated for the 2nd year in a row as the team with the most TD by players with dreads. And their crown for the 2022 season was legit this time because I didn't count the touchdowns scored by Justin Jefferson as I did during his first two seasons in the league. The Vikings were one of two teams with 20 or more TD by players with dreads, with their total of 21 just barely beating out the 20 by the Titans. But their path to the crown didn't exactly get off to a smooth start ......

40. After going the first 9 quarters of the season without any, it wasn't until late in the 2nd quarter of Week 3 that RB Dalvin Cook finally scored the Vikings' 1st TD of the season by a player with dreads. On 1st and goal penetration by the Lions' D-line forces Cook to find an alternate path to the end zone other than up the middle, and he cuts outside into the open and beats DE Charles Harris to the left front corner of the end zone. The 4-yard TD tied the game at 14 with 1:12 remaining until halftime. Dalvin just barely missed making the dread stars list, finishing with 96 yards rushing on 17 carries and accounting for 7 of the Vikings' 9 rushing first downs ......

41. ..... RB Alexander Mattison had the Vikings' other 2 rushing first downs. From the upper decks of U.S. Bank Stadium it might have been difficult to tell the difference between Mattison and Cook, both with their long dreads spilling far down outside of their helmets. But up close you know it's Mattison by the little touch of pink in his dreads.

After the Vikings went punt, missed FG, fumble, and punt on their first four 2nd half possessions they found themselves trailing the Lions 24-14 before getting their act together. And it's Mattison who caps a 6-play, 57-yard drive with a 6-yard TD run on 2nd and goal, as he makes two quick cuts in the backfield, then forward through a hole, runs over S Juju Hughes at the 3 and crosses the goal line before either S Will Harris (#25) or DE Austin Bryant (#2) can get their hands on him. That made it 24-21 with 7:50 to play. Mattison finished with 7 carries for 28 yards rushing and 1 reception for 16 yards.

And so the stage was set for the 3rd TD of the day by a player with dreads; but I'm saving that one for later. Spoiler alert: that TD gave the Vikings a 28-24 victory, starting a streak of 7 wins in a row, with all 7 by 8 points or less.

42. Bloody knee and all, Dalvin Cook scores his 8th TD of the season and the first TD of the game in Week 13 vs. the Jets, giving the Vikings a 10-3 lead early in the 2nd quarter. On a 1st and goal run up the middle DT Nathan Shepherd tries to trip up Cook at the 2-yard line (photo above), but he is able to stay on his feet long enough to cross the goal line. Hard to detect without watching it in slow motion and not captured in any photo I've seen, LB C.J. Mosley tries to prevent the TD by grabbing a handful of Dalvin's dreads - that's probably why his eyes are closed (photo on right) - but it was too late. The 4-yard TD capped a 14-play, 74-yard drive. Cook finished with 86 yards rushing on 20 carries. An Alexander Mattison TD finished another long drive on the Vikings' next possession to make the score 17-3; but by the end the Vikings were - as usual - just barely hanging on as they defeated the Jets 27-22.

43. The late-season splurge by WR K.J. Osborn in 2021 - when he scored 5 TD in the final 6 weeks of the season - did not carry over to the next season. Entering Week 14 of 2022 Osborn had only 2 TD. But here he ends a streak of 5 straight games without a TD with his 1st TD on the road of the season. And what better place to get it. The Ypsilanti, MI, native scores vs. the Lions at Ford Field for the 2nd straight year, beating CB Mike Hughes on a corner route on 3rd and 5, catching the pass from Kirk Cousins, and leaving absolutely no doubt that both of his feet are inbounds. It was a 15-yard TD reception, and it brought the Vikings to within 31-23 with 2:50 remaining in the 4th quarter. But for the 2nd straight year it was a bittersweet homecoming for Osborn ... because once again his TD came in a Vikings loss, this time 34-23, their first road loss since Week 2, dropping their record to 10-3.

44. In the first of 3 Saturday games in Week 15 the Vikings were at home against the 4-8-1 Colts, and shockingly they fell behind 33-0 at halftime. Then just as shockingly they came roaring back. It was 36-28 with 2:31 to play when the Colts, needing 1 yard to clinch the victory, were stopped on 4th and 1. And here on the very next play Dalvin Cook is diving into the end zone at the end of his sensational 64-yard catch and run for a TD on a screen pass, taking advantage of some good blocking and some really bad tackling. The Vikings tacked on the 2-point conversion to tie the game with 2:15 remaining: youtube.com/watch?v=8BsQs_pppSc

.... Cook finished with a season high 190 total yards - 95 rushing on 17 carries and 95 on 4 receptions. The Vikings kicked a FG with 3 seconds left in overtime to win it 39-36, with the comeback from a 33-point deficit setting a new record for the largest comeback in NFL history.

45. As mentioned near the beginning of this post, the Vikings didn't clinch the crown for the most team TD by players with dreads until Alexander Mattison scored their last 2 touchdowns of the season at Soldier Field in Week 18. This was the first of them. Mattison picks up the final 10 yards on the last 3 plays of a 66-yard drive early in the 2nd quarter, including the 1-yard TD run behind the right side of the O-line on 2nd and goal, going in standing up before S DeAndre Houston-Carson makes the tackle way too late. It was Mattison's 5th TD of the season - a new career high - and it upped Minnesota's lead to 13-0 .....

46. ..... And then on their 2nd half opening drive the Vikings get their last TD of the season and their 21st by a player with dreads - the most in the league, finishing one ahead of the 20 scored by the Titans. Actually, the Cowboys, playing later in the day, still had an outside shot at the crown. But they needed 4 TD by players with dreads in their meaningless game at Washington to tie the Vikings and got only one.

At first I thought both of these photos were shots of Alexander Mattison's 2nd TD of the game. But then after viewing them several times, the obvious finally became obvious to me: Mattison is in sunshine in one photo and not the other, so they can't be from the same play, duh. It turns out that in the photo above Alexander is stopped inside the 1-yard line on 1st and goal on a desperation tackle by S Elijah Hicks (#37) and DE Dominique Robinson, both of whom were injured on the play. Then on 3rd and goal (after a QB sneak was stopped on 2nd down) Mattison barely makes it into the end zone (photo on right) on a line plunge to the left for the 1-yard TD, upping the Vikings' lead to 23-6. Mattison was the game's leading rusher with a season high 54 yards on 10 carries. The Vikings won 29-13 to finish 13-4, with this being their first win by more than 8 points since Week 1.

3 OF A KIND

The most TD in a game by any player with dreads during the 2022 season was 3. And it happened on three occasions, once each by three different players.

47. Thanks to a rib cartilage injury suffered in Week 1 RB Alvin Kamara got off to a slow start in 2022. But after missing 2 of the Saints' next 3 games he made the dread stars list in Weeks 5,6, and 7. Despite that though he went all the way until Week 8 before scoring his 1st TD of the season. Here late in the 1st quarter Kamara (with dreads seriously reduced) makes his way through a bunch of Raiders defenders on a 3-yard TD run up the middle. S Tre'von Moehrig (dreads not visible) is the last defender with a chance to make the tackle, but Alvin goes right over the top of him and lands on the goal line. CB Anthony Averett (red dreads) comes in with a hit that's too little and too late. Kamara touched the ball 6 times for 24 yards on the 11-play, 84-yard drive, with the TD putting the Saints in front 7-0 .....

48. ...... Then after going nearly 2 months without a TD, Alvin Kamara makes it 2 in less than 10 minutes. With the score now 10-0, Kamara runs a short route from the backfield over the middle and is wide open as he makes the catch just past the line of scrimmage at the 14-yard line (the LB assigned to cover him was expecting an outside route and then bumped into the TE, leaving himself out of position). Then after bouncing off a couple of would-be tacklers inside the 5, Kamara encounters Tre'von Moehrig just short of the end zone (again). As Moehrig tries to knock him back, Kamara just extends his arm forward and reaches the ball over the goal line. The 16-yard TD reception capped a 6-play, 45-yard drive and extended the Saints' lead to 17-0 midway through the 2nd quarter. Kamara accounted for 31 yards on 4 touches on the drive, which began after an INT by S Tyrann Mathieu ......

49. ...... And on the 8th play of the Saints' 2nd half opening drive Kamara gets his hat trick. On a play very similar to his 2nd TD Alvin catches a short pass from Andy Dalton wide open over the middle on 1st and 10 and runs for 25 yards after the catch before anyone has a chance to stop him. He easily breaks a tackle at the 7 and is into the end zone after three more steps, with a block by WR Kevin White (#17) on the goal line preventing CB Rock Ya-Sin from having any chance at a last-ditch tackle. The 36-yard TD reception made the score 24-0 and turned out to be Kamara's second biggest gain of the season. It was the 6th time in his career he scored at least 3 TD in one game.

There would be no touchdown for Alvin in the 4th quarter, and no points by anybody else either for the rest of the game. He made the dread stars list for the 4th week in a row, finishing with 62 yards rushing on 18 carries and 9 catches for 96 yards. His 158 total yards were only 25 fewer than the 183 gained by the entire Raiders team. Coming into the game the Raiders had scored at least 19 points in all of their games and the Saints had allowed at least 20 in all of theirs. But in a game in which Davante Adams had 1 catch for 3 yards (his least productive game in 7 years) the Raiders were blanked by the Saints 24-0, ending a streak of 123 games since the last time they were shut out in Week 13 of 2014.

50. At the same time that Alvin Kamara was scoring his first 3 TD of the season in New Orleans, about 425 miles or so to the northeast Panthers RB D'Onta Foreman was scoring his first 3 in Atlanta - and with his long dreads flowing at full blast at that. Foreman had never scored 3 touchdowns in an NFL game before and had a total of only 7 in his first 5 years in the league. But after the Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey following their game in Week 6, D'Onta became their starting RB and had the best year of his career, finishing with 914 yards rushing (after getting just 37 in the first 6 games).

Foreman scores his 1st of the season and the Panthers' first of the day vs. the Falcons here in the 2nd quarter, taking the handoff on 3rd and goal and patiently waiting for a hole to open before sliding to the left and running into the end zone standing up. The 2-yard TD run put the Panthers in front 10-7 with 4:51 remaining until halftime ......

51. Then early in the 4th quarter D'Onta Foreman gets his 2nd TD of the day, landing on his back in the front of the end zone after scoring on a 1-yard line plunge on 4th and goal to complete a 75-yard drive. After taking the handoff D'Onta was hit hard short of the 1-yard line but stayed on his feet and just powered his way into the end zone. Being a 235-pound running back has its advantages. Foreman added a 2-point conversion on the next play on another line plunge up the middle to tie the game at 21 with 11:46 to play ......

52. After the Falcons kicked a short FG on their next drive the Panthers come right back with a 60-yard TD drive to take the lead. On 2nd and 11 from the 15-yard line D'Onta Foreman takes the handoff, cuts through a hole up the middle, breaks a tackle at the 4, then loses his balance while bouncing off another defender at the 3 but stays on his feet, spins, plants his foot just short of the 1 and launches himself over the goal line to put the Panthers in front 28-24 with 3:06 remaining. Foreman finished with 118 yards rushing for the 2nd week in a row, and on some Sundays his 3rd TD of the game would have made him the hero. But on this particular Sunday there was lots more football still to be played. The Falcons regained the lead 52 seconds later and were ahead 34-28 after adding a FG with :36 on the clock. But then it looked like the Panthers would win when the Falcons' D inexplicably allowed WR DJ Moore to beat them deep for a sensational 62-yard TD catch with :12 on the clock. But then Moore, in his excitement and in one of the most idiotic moments of the season, immediately took off his helmet while celebrating the TD and was hit with a 15-yard penalty, making the would-be game winning extra point a dicey 48-yard kick instead of the usual 33-yarder. The Panthers missed, of course, and the game went into overtime. And after the Panthers got an INT but missed an easy 32-yard FG that (again) would have won it, the Falcons ended up kicking a FG with 1:55 to play to win 37-34.

53. It wasn't until 2 weeks before Christmas - Week 14 on the NFL calendar - that anyone else with dreads scored 3 TD in a game. And with only 6 TD scored in his first 36 career games - including no games at all with more than 1 TD - Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy was hardly the player anybody would have thought would be the one to do it. But on a beautiful, 60-degree day in Denver Jeudy produced his first career multi-TD game. And to be honest it never should have happened. What should have happened is that he should have been ejected from the game late in the 2nd quarter after bumping into an official while protesting a non-call against a Chiefs DB. But with the official (somehow) not throwing the flag (Jeudy was later fined) Jeudy remained in the game and started getting busy on the Broncos' next drive. Two plays after making a 17-yard reception he finishes the 4-play, 42-yard drive with this 18-yard TD, beating press coverage by CB Joshua Williams on 2nd and 6 and making an over-the-shoulder catch of Russell Wilson's pass in the front left corner of the end zone. The TD got the Broncos on the board with 1:35 remaining until halftime and started their comeback from a 27-0 deficit ......

54. The Broncos got the ball back 29 seconds later after intercepting Patrick Mahomes and quickly went 60 yards in 7 plays. Jeudy finishes the drive with this 5-yard TD catch with :09 left on the clock, running an out route from the slot and being left wide open on the right sideline in the end zone thanks to a blown coverage. CB Trent McDuffie tries to recover but is too late, as Jeudy already has made the catch with both feet down before he can knock him out of bounds. Two touchdowns by Jeudy 86 seconds apart, and all of a sudden what looked like was going to be a blowout maybe won't be one, with the Broncos pulling to within 27-14 at halftime .....

55. The Broncos made it 27-21 on their 2nd half opening drive but then punted on their next two possessions. And then the Chiefs finally came to their senses and made it 34-21. But the Broncos would not go away, striking back with a 75-yard drive early in the 4th quarter. The drive stayed alive when Jeudy drew a 40-yard pass interference penalty on McDuffie on 4th and 4, moving the ball to the 15-yard line. And 7 plays later the Broncos finally get the TD, as Jeudy beats CB Jaylen Watson on a post route on 4th and goal and catches the pass from Brett Rypien in the back of the end zone for his 3rd score of the afternoon. The 7-yard reception made the score 34-28 with 10:49 remaining. But the Broncos picked up no first downs on their next two drives, and then the Chiefs kept the ball for the final 4:21 of the game to hang on, defeating the Broncos for the 14th straight time. Jeudy finished with a career high 8 receptions, and although they went for only 73 yards, he still made the dread stars list thanks to the 3 touchdowns. But the best game of his NFL career ended up bittersweet, and the Broncos lost again, dropping to 3-10.

2 FOR THE SHOW

While hat tricks were hard to come by, pairs were much less rare. 40 times during the 2022 season a player with dreads took one to the house at least twice in the same game. We've already seen one such occurrence, Davante Adams in Week 13 in photos #38 and 39. Now here are a few more of them.

56. The Cleveland Browns were one of 10 teams to have a player with dreads score their 1st TD of the season. Here in the 2nd quarter at Charlotte in Week 1 the Browns and Panthers were scoreless in the 2nd quarter until RB Kareem Hunt puts the Browns in front. Hunt lined up as a fullback in an I-formation on 1st and goal, and after a play-action fake to tailback Nick Chubb, Hunt runs into the right flat and is ignored and left all alone by the Panthers' defense. Kareem starts falling down backward just as the pass from Jacoby Brissett comes to him but is able to hang on for the 1-yard TD. It was his first touchdown since Week 5 of 2021, just before a couple of injuries ruined the rest of that season.

57. The Browns were one of 5 teams to have their first 2 touchdowns of the season scored by a player with dreads. On their next possession - following a three-and-out by the Panthers - Kareem Hunt finishes a 78-yard drive with this 24-yard TD run. After taking the handoff on 2nd and 5 Hunt runs through a hole right up the middle untouched by the Panthers' defense then cuts to the right at the 15-yard line away from S Xavier Woods and into the end zone to make it 14-0 with 4:46 to play until halftime. Hunt played 45 snaps in the game and finished with 70 total yards on 15 touches. The Browns led until the Panthers went ahead on a FG with 1:13 remaining in the game. But then the Browns came right back with a 58-yard FG with 8 seconds left to win it 26-24. It was the Browns' first win in a season opener in 18 years (ending a 0-17-1 streak) and it was their first road win in Week 1 since the franchise restarted in 1999, ending a streak of 6 straight L's.

58. The Houston Texans also had their first 2 TD of the season scored by a player with dreads, and you would have made a lot of money had you bet that TE O.J. Howard would be that player. Howard wasn't even on the Texans' roster until they signed him 9 days before the start of the season (after he was cut by the Bills) and was on the field for only 12 snaps in the season opener vs. the Colts. But here he is scoring the Texans' first TD and also the first TD reception of the season by any player with dreads in the league. With his dreads just barely long enough to be visible, Howard makes a leaping catch of the pass from QB Davis Mills on 1st and 10 at the 2-yard line. S Julian Blackmon throws his body at Howard but doesn't knock the ball loose and doesn't keep O.J. out of the end zone either. The 16-yard TD put the Texans in front 10-3 with 2:37 remaining until halftime.

59. Then on the Texans' 2nd drive of the 2nd half Julian Blackmon is again on the losing end of a close encounter with O.J. Howard. The Colts don't bother to cover Howard on a play-action pass on 2nd and 5; and after he makes the catch at the 5-yard line Blackmon tries to make the tackle at the 1, but O'Terrius (real first name) easily powers his way into the end zone. The 22-yard TD catch gave Houston a 20-3 lead midway through the 3rd quarter. The 2 TD catches were O.J.'s only 2 catches of the game. The Texans blew the lead though, as the Colts scored 17 points in the 4th quarter, and the game ended in a 20-20 tie.

Just as surprising as Howard scoring the Texans' first 2 TD was the fact that they would be his only 2 TD of the season, as he went scoreless in the other 12 games he played.

60. A running back with dreads scored the Tennessee Titans' first 2 TD of the season. But probably not the one you would have bet on. Instead of Derrick Henry it was Dontrell Hilliard giving the Titans a quick 7-0 lead over the Giants in the season opener. After the Giants opened with a three-and-out, the Titans returned the punt 46 yards to the Giants' 45-yard line; and 5 plays later on 1st and goal Hilliard beats LB Austin Calitro on a seam route out of the backfield for the 7-yard TD catch. There were no photos of Hilliard landing inbounds before going out of the back of the end zone; so the image on the right is a screenshot of the replay from the Fox telecast that (kind of) shows him getting his feet down in the end zone). That's why it's blurry.

61. After the Giants scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the 2nd half to tie the game at 13, the Titans strike back as Dontrell Hilliard finishes a 9-play, 75-yard drive with a 23-yard TD catch to make it 20-13. Hilliard runs a wheel route down the left sideline on 1st and 20 and catches the pass from Ryan Tannehill at the 15-yard line; and with LB Tae Crowder (if you look really close, you can see a couple of his locks inside his helmet) coming over way too late to cover him, he easily makes it to the end zone without being touched. It was the first 2-touchdown game of Hilliard's NFL career. He finished with 69 total yards (8 rushing, 61 receiving) on 5 touches. But it was an unhappy ending for Dontrell and his teammates. The Giants scored a TD and a 2-point conversion with 1:06 to play, and then the Titans missed a FG on the final play of the game, allowing the Giants to escape Nashville with a 21-20 victory.

After these two, Hilliard scored two more touchdowns in the Titans' next 12 games before missing the last 4 games of the season due to injury. The 4 TD - all receiving TD by the way - were a new career high and equaled the total of 4 he had in his first 4 NFL seasons.

62. Way back during his rookie year of 2017 Packers RB Aaron Jones scored his 1st NFL TD against the Bears, and ever since then he's made it a habit of scoring against the Bears. The Sunday night game in Week 2 of 2022 was his 3rd career game with 2 touchdowns vs. the Bears. Here on the first play of the 2nd quarter after taking a sideways flip from QB Aaron Rodgers on 2nd and 11, Jones follows his good blocking all the way to the end zone, somehow squeezing his way between the last two defenders - LB Nicholas Morrow (#53) and S Eddie Jackson - to go in standing up. Officially it was a 15-yard TD run and it put the Packers ahead (to stay) 10-7.

63. Later in the 2nd quarter, after the teams combined for 3 straight three-and-out possessions, Aaron Jones scores his 2nd TD of the night to cap a 9-play, 54-yard drive. After coming in motion on 2nd and 5 Jones catches a jet sweep pass and runs around right end, once again letting his blockers make it easy for him. S Jaquan Brisker almost spoils things though at the last second, nearing stripping the ball from Jones just before he crosses the goal line; but Aaron is able to barely hang on for the 8-yard TD catch to make the score 17-7. It was his 55th career TD and his 9th against the Bears, his most against any opponent. Jones made his first (of 6) appearance on the dread stars list, finishing with 132 yards rushing on 15 carries along with 3 catches for 38 yards. The Packers beat the Bears for the 7th straight time, 27-10, and improved to 6-0 vs. the Bears in the 6 games Jones has scored against them.

64. Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson had 2 games with a pair of touchdowns during his 2021 rookie season, coming against the Browns and Jaguars. And in Week 6 of 2022 he hits the Browns for 2 again.

After scoring a total of just 3 points on their first 3 possessions, the Patriots go 87 yards on their 4th drive. Stevenson accounts for the last 31 of them here, as a draw play on 3rd and 10 catches the Browns' defense by surprise. After Stevenson breaks through the line untouched, he cuts to the left and easily eludes CB Martin Emerson at the 23-yard line then has clear sailing the rest of the way into the left front corner of the end zone. It was the 7th career TD for Rhamondre but his first ever on the road; and it put the Patriots ahead (to stay) 10-3 with 3:23 remaining until halftime .....

65. Then late in the 4th quarter Stevenson puts the icing on the Patriots' cake with his 2nd TD of the day. Three plays after the Patriots began a drive at the Cleveland 8-yard line following a turnover Stevenson takes it up the middle on a routine line plunge on 3rd down and picks up 4 yards before LB Sione Takitaki tries to tackle him at the 2. But Rhamondre continues forward while going down and has the ball over the goal line as his knee hits the ground. The 6-yard TD run was New England's 4th TD of the 2nd half and accounted for the final points of the game. Stevenson was a bit short of having enough yards to make the dread stars list, finishing with 91 (76 rushing, 15 receiving), as the Patriots improved to 3-3 with a 38-15 win over the Browns.

66. After recording 3 games with at least 2 TD in 2021, RB Cordarrelle Patterson had just one such game in 2022, scoring both of the Falcons' touchdowns in their Week 9 home game vs. the Chargers. Back in action after missing 4 games due to a knee injury, Patterson had 4 touches on the game's opening drive and finishes the drive with this 1-yard TD run on 3rd and goal, getting across the goal line and landing on the back of G Chris Lindstrom before LB Kenneth Murray arrives too late to stop him.

The Falcons upped their lead to 10-0 on their 2nd drive but were behind 14-10 in the 3rd quarter until .....

67. ..... Cordarelle Patterson put them back in front with a highlight reel TD. On 3rd and goal Patterson takes the handoff and starts left, but a blitzing LB charges toward the hole and forces him to cut up the middle ..... and right into the path of LB Drue Tranquill. Cordarrelle, weighing 220 pounds - about 10 less than Tranquill - lowers his head and absolutely pancakes Tranquill at the line of scrimmage, leaving him flat on his back, then lunges forward and into the end zone. The 3-yard TD finished a 10-play, 53-yard drive, and it certainly had the home fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium buzzing a little longer than normal. Patterson finished the game with 53 total yards on 14 touches. But the Falcons went scoreless on their two possessions in the 4th quarter while the Chargers got two FGs in the 4th, including a 37-yarder on the final play of the game, to defeat the Falcons 20-17 .....

68. At Atlanta 3 weeks earlier the Falcons led the 49ers 14-0 in the 2nd quarter before Brandon Aiyuk had his 5 minutes of fame, getting the first 2-TD game of his career. After going three-and-out on their first drive and then turning the ball over for a Falcons touchdown on their second, the 49ers go 79 yards in 8 plays on their third, picking up at least 5 yards on every play. Aiyuk, who picked up 9 and 12 yards on receptions earlier in the drive, finishes things here with a 12-yard catch and run for the TD on 2nd and 5, going almost untouched on a well-executed WR screen pass to make the score 14-7 with 11:34 remaining until halftime ......

69. And less than 5 minutes later - following a 35-yard punt return - it takes the 49ers 4 plays to go 32 yards, with Aiyuk here accounting for the last 14. After getting away from CB AJ Terrell on a whip route on 2nd and 9, Aiyuk makes the catch 2 yards past the line of scrimmage and then outraces him to the end zone, tying the game with 7:07 remaining until halftime.

With the 49ers scoring so easily twice in a row, you might have thought they were on their way to a victory, or at least a lot more points. Nope. They didn't score another point the rest of the game. Aiyuk finished with 8 catches for 83 yards (both season highs at that point of the season); but the 49ers, despite having a 346-289 advantage in total yards, lost to the Falcons 28-14, leaving both teams with 3-3 records.

70. No stranger to games with multiple touchdowns, Titans RB Derrick Henry entered the season with 19 career games scoring at least 2 TD. And he added 3 more to that total in 2022. The third of those games came in Week 9, and like Aaron Jones and Brandon Aiyuk above, both touchdowns came back-to-back and in the 2nd quarter. Immediately after the Chiefs scored a TD to go up 9-0, the Titans strike back, going 74 yards in 7 plays. After picking up 26 yards on 3 carries earlier in the drive, Henry picks up the touchdown too, taking the shotgun snap on 3rd and 1 and running behind the right side of his O-line and getting not only the 1st down but also the TD as he crosses the goal line while in the arms of LB Leo Chenal, who made first contact at the 2-yard line but couldn't make the tackle in time. The 4-yard TD run with 10:48 remaining until halftime was Derrick's 8th TD of the season ......

71. And following a punt by the Chiefs on their ensuing drive, Derrick gets his 9th TD of the season to complete a 5-play, 79-yard drive. Henry began the drive with a 56-yard run, his biggest gain on a rushing play all season. And 4 plays later he takes the handoff on 2nd and goal and finds no one in his path until S Juan Thornhill hits him after he's already in the end zone. The 1-yard TD with 5:24 remaining until halftime gave the Titans a 14-9 lead, a lead they held until late in the 4th quarter. Derrick made the dread stars list for the 6th straight game, finishing with 115 yards rushing on 17 carries; but it wasn't enough. On a night on which they were without starting QB Ryan Tannehill, the 12-point underdog Titans were outgained 499-229 in total yards but still nearly pulled off the upset before falling to the Chiefs 20-17 in overtime.

72. After scoring his first 2 touchdowns of the season vs. the Bears in Week 2, Aaron Jones didn't reach the end zone again until Week 7 when he scored two against the Commanders. After both teams punted on their opening drives, the Packers drive 42 yards on their 2nd possession, scoring the first points of the day on the 7th play of the drive. On 2nd and goal Jones catches the pass 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage at the 5-yard line and charges toward the end zone until being hit by two defenders inches short of the goal line. But he stays on his feet, bounces away, turns toward the end zone again and a third defender grabs him at the 1 but is unable to stop him ......

73. After De'Vondre Campbell's pick six (photo #24) upped Green Bay's lead to 14-3 early in the 2nd quarter, the Packers didn't score again until late in the 4th, as the Commanders went on a 20-0 run. On 1st and 10 a pump fake by QB Aaron Rodgers allows Aaron Jones to get behind S Kamren Curl on an out-and-up route; and after lifting off at the 4-yard line, Jones makes the catch midair at the 1 and lands in the end zone with both feet inbounds and then (most importantly) hangs onto the ball as he hits the ground. The 21-yard TD reception made it 23-21 with 3:26 to play. But the Packers didn't get the ball back until only 23 seconds were left, and the Commanders were able to hang on.

74. After scoring the Cowboys' 1st TD of the season in Week 2 (photo #6), Noah Brown didn't score again until Week 15, when he scored their 46th TD of the season. On the first play after the 1st half 2-minute warning Brown lines up in the TE position on 2nd and goal and spends the first couple seconds of the play blocking DE Dawuane Smoot; then after turning Smoot loose to rush the QB, Noah is open in the front of the end zone for the catch as LB Devin Lloyd is too late on the coverage. The 1-yard TD finished a 66-yard drive and upped the Cowboys' lead over the Jaguars to 21-7 ......

75. The Cowboys increased their lead 27-10 in the 3rd quarter, but then the Jaguars, suddenly and shockingly, wiped that lead out entirely in less than 10 minutes, scoring 3 touchdowns in a span of 13 snaps on offense. The Cowboys finally answered, driving 75 yards in 13 plays to regain the lead. And it was Noah Brown who finished the drive with his 2nd TD of the game. With QB Dak Prescott scrambling out of the pocket to buy extra time on 3rd and 6, Brown is able to get away from the coverage of CB Tyson Campbell and makes the diving catch in the front of the end zone - leaving Campbell, who initially had excellent coverage, exasperated. The 13-yard TD put Dallas back in front 34-31 with 3:02 remaining in the 4th. Brown finished with 6 catches (tying his career high) for 49 yards. But the day would not have a happy ending for Noah. A little later he was front and center during the play that lost the game for the Cowboys 40-34 in overtime. We'll take a look at that play in Part 2.

76. After T.Y. Hilton signed with them on Dec. 11, the Cowboys had 5 wide receivers with dreads on their roster for the rest of the season. Three of them had multi-touchdown games. And one of them had 2 games with 2 TD. That one was CeeDee Lamb, of course. His 2nd game with 2 TD came on Christmas Eve (Week 16) vs. the Eagles. On 3rd and 6 early in the 2nd quarter Lamb runs a corner route from the slot and is ignored by the Eagles' secondary. And after making the catch at the 6-yard line he immediately slams on the brakes to avoid being tackled by S Reed Blankenship (#32), then eases into the end zone, spinning himself halfway around as he hops across the goal line. The 36-yard TD reception put the Cowboys in front 14-10 and completed their comeback from an early 10-0 deficit.

From there the Eagles regained their 10-point lead at 27-17; and after the Cowboys tied it at 27, the Eagles went ahead again 34-27. And then ......

77. ..... 4 plays after the Cowboys' next drive stayed alive on a 52-yard reception by Hilton on 3rd and 30, the Cowboys tie it up again, as Lamb comes in motion left to right on 2nd and goal and beats CB James Bradberry outside for the catch near the right sideline in the end zone. You'll have to take my word for it that he indeed did make the catch .... because, surprisingly, I couldn't find any decent photos of him with the ball actually in his possession. Usually there are so many photos of CeeDee's touchdowns available that I have to choose which ones are the best to use. But not this time. Anyway, this 7-yard TD catch made it 34-34 with 5:49 to play; and it was Lamb's 8th TD of the season, a new career high for him.

From there the Eagles had turnovers on their next two possessions, and the Cowboys cashed in both of them with FGs. And on their final drive the Eagles reached the Dallas 19-yard line but were stopped on 4th and 10. Lamb finished with 10 catches for 120 yards as the Cowboys won 40-34 to stop the Eagles' 5-game winning streak and hand them their only road loss of the season.

78. Monday Night Football in Week 11 featured the 49ers vs. the Cardinals from Mexico City, and Brandon Aiyuk did not become the first player with dreads to score a touchdown in a NFL regular season game in Mexico. But he did become the first to score 2 TD in one game. Way back during his 2nd NFL season in 2005 Larry Fitzgerald scored a TD to help the Cards beat the Niners 31-14 in the NFL's first ever regular season game outside of the USA. 17 years later Aiyuk did Fitzgerald one better.

After picking up just 1 first down combined on their first 2 drives, the 49ers put points on the board on 6 of their next 7 possessions. Aiyuk got the party started here early in the 2nd quarter with a 7-yard TD catch. After leaving CB Antonio Hamilton (#33) behind on a whip route on 3rd and 5, Brandon goes way up to pull in the pass from Jimmy Garoppolo that gets there just in time before CB Trayvon Mullen can come over and break it up. Aiyuk's 5th TD of the season finished an 82-yard drive and put the 49ers ahead (to stay) 7-3 ......

79. Then late in the 3rd quarter Brandon Aiyuk shows off his hops again on his 2nd touchdown of the night. With CB Marco Wilson giving him a 10-yard cushion, Aiyuk runs a quick slant on 2nd and 10 and is open in front of Wilson as he makes the catch 6 yards downfield at the 8-yard line; he then runs right through Wilson's attempted tackle at the 6, lifts off at the 2, and lands 2 yards past the goal line. The 13-yard TD catch upped San Francisco's lead to 31-10. These 2 TD came on Brandon's only 2 catches of the game. The 49ers won their 3rd in a row 38-10 - and from then on the 49ers won all of their remaining regular season games, while the Cardinals lost all of theirs.

80. Not only did Davante Adams take the crown for most TD by a player with dreads, he also was king of the 2-touchdown game for players with dreads. 5 times during the 2022 season Adams scored twice in the same game - Weeks 5, 9, 11, 13, and finally here in Week 17. At 6-9 and with their playoff hopes on life support, the Raiders gave the 49ers all they could handle in their final home game of the season, aided by Adams' back-to-back touchdowns. Here on 1st and goal late in the 1st half the coverage by CB Charvarius Ward is good on the fade route to the back left corner of the end zone, but the throw by QB Jarrett Stidham (making his 1st career NFL start) and the catch are better, as Davante makes a beautiful leaping grab and gets the toes on both feet inbounds. The 4-yard TD gave the Raiders a 17-14 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the 1st half ......

81. Then after the 49ers go three-and-out on the 2nd half opening drive, the Raiders drive 84 yards on 6 plays to increase their lead. On 3rd and 4 Davante Adams runs a short route near the line for the 1st down; but with Jarrett Stidham scrambling out of the pocket near the left sideline, Adams drifts downfield and the 49ers secondary inexplicably loses track of him. Davante is behind everyone by 5 yards as he makes the catch wide open at the 35-yard line and easily outraces CB Jimmie Ward to the house. Yes, the Raiders should have been called for a holding penalty on the play; but they weren't, and the 60-yard TD made the score 24-14. It was Adams' longest gain of the season as well as his 14th and last TD of the season.

Later, after the 49ers took the lead on a Jordan Mason touchdown (photo #21) Adams made a spectacular catch for a 45-yard gain to set up the tying TD. Davante finished with 7 catches for 153 yards, making the dread stars list for the 8th time. But the Raiders came up short and were officially eliminated from playoff contention with the 37-34 loss in OT.

HOUSES OF DREAD

Let's lead off this section with the award for the 2022 season's game with the most touchdowns by players with dreads. There was a 6-way tie for the runner up, as 6 games had 4 TD scored by players with dreads. They were all beaten by ......

82. ..... the Week 13 Sunday night game between the Colts and Cowboys. So the single game house of dread award goes to AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, home of the Cowboys, where there were 6 TD by players with dreads during the Cowboys' 54-19 victory. 3 of the 6 were the only touchdowns of the season by the players who scored them. Though the player who scored the game's first touchdown was hardly a surprise. CeeDee Lamb's 20-yard catch and run was his 6th TD of the season. After Lamb makes the catch on a short crossing route on 3rd and 9, it appears he is tackled by S Rodney McLeod at the 17-yard line, 6 yards short of the first down. But as he is tackled, CeeDee lands on top of McLeod, doesn't touch the ground, then bounces back up to his feet and keeps on going all the way to the end zone, with CB Isaiah Rodgers knocking him out of bounds after he's already across the goal line: youtube.com/watch?v=tvv95JbLTws .....

The 20-yard TD completed a 12-play, 73-yard drive and put the Cowboys ahead 7-3 with 4:50 remaining in the 1st quarter. They didn't stay ahead for long ......

83. ..... as the Colts regained the lead on the 5th play of their ensuing possession. CB Trevon Diggs falls for QB Matt Ryan's pump fake on 2nd and 9 as WR Ashton Dulin pretends to run a slant route; and when Dulin turns back toward the corner, Diggs isn't even in the picture nor is anybody else anywhere near him either. The pass is a bit further outside than Dulin is expecting, but he gets his body turned around in time and has no problem making the leaping catch for the 14-yard TD. It was the 4th career TD for Dulin and his only one of the 2022 season. And it put the Colts in front (temporarily) 10-7 with 2:37 remaining in the 1st quarter.

84. The Cowboys were back in front 14-13 when they began a drive at the Indy 26-yard line following a turnover in the final minute of the 1st half. And on the 5th play of the drive they up their lead to 21-13. WR Michael Gallup runs a short crossing route on 3rd and 9 and makes the catch in stride at the 7-yard line, about 3 yards short of the 1st down line; and with nobody close enough to him to make the tackle, he turns forward toward the end zone, gets a nice little brush block from RB Tony Pollard (#20) and then squeezes between two defenders at the 2 before diving across the goal line. The 13-yard TD with :13 on the clock was the 2nd TD of the season for Gallup and his first since Week 4. But if you're trying to see his dreads, don't waste your time. I officially welcomed Michael to the house in 2021, when he freeform dreads started to actually look like dreads. By this point of the 2022 season they were long enough to be visible (barely) outside of his helmet, but only if he had them flowing full blast. But for this game he had them bunched into a ponytail, so there was no chance at all to see them.

85. The game was still close as the 3rd quarter ended, with the Cowboys leading 21-19. But then the 4th quarter happened - no doubt one of the worst quarters in Colts history. Things started innocently enough, with the Cowboys finishing the drive that began after the Colts scored late in the 3rd quarter. CeeDee Lamb almost got the TD but was stopped 3 yards short of the end zone on a 17-yard catch and run that converted a 3rd and 10. And on the next play it's Michael Gallup getting the TD instead, as he makes the catch on a fade route against the not-good-enough coverage of Isaiah Rodgers. Not shown here are Gallup coming down inbounds and maintaining possession after hitting the ground - so you'll have to take my word for it. The 3-yard TD made the score 28-19 with 13:52 remaining .... and on the very next play from scrimmage ......

86. .... It's S Malik Hooker racing down the sideline in front of the Colts' bench and scoring the 5th touchdown of the game by a player with dreads. After making his 1st catch of the night on a screen pass, TE Mo Alie-Cox went for a 6-yard gain before having the ball stripped from him by LB Damone Clark; and Hooker scoops up the ball on a convenient bounce and goes 38 yards the other way without any Colts player having any chance to stop him. It was the 1st career TD for Hooker, and it upped the Dallas lead to 34-19 (the 2-point conversion failed).

Things did nothing but get worse and worse from there for the Colts, as they turned the ball over on their next three possessions as well; and after each turnover the Cowboys scored a touchdown to turn the game into a rout. And on the 3rd play after the last of those 4 straight turnovers ......

87. ..... Here's rookie RB Malik Davis scoring the Cowboys' 5th touchdown of the quarter and the 6th touchdown of the game by a player with dreads. After running for 0 and 6 yards on the first two plays of the drive, Davis runs untouched through a hole up the middle on 3rd and 4 then cuts to the left and away from S Rodney Thomas and into the end zone for his 1st career TD. The 23-yard run made the score 54-19 with 2:25 to play and finished the scoring for the night, as the Colts managed to not turn the ball over again. I'm too lazy to check it, but I'm sure it's a safe bet to say that this was the first time two players with dreads named Malik scored touchdowns in the same game. The 35-point defeat for the Colts equaled the margin of defeat on their last trip to Dallas, when they lost to the Cowboys 42-7 in 2014 .....

88. After the game Malik Hooker and Michael Gallup have those special game balls that NBC hands out to the players of the game of their Sunday night games. I felt the need to show a photo of Gallup with his helmet off just as a confirmation that he does have dreads. He finished with only 4 catches for 23 yards, but his 2 touchdowns came when the game was still close and were big plays in the game. As for Hooker, in addition to his fumble return for a TD he also got his 2nd interception of the season - near the end of the 1st half and just before Gallup scored his 1st TD. For Malik it might have been the most satisfying game of his career .... since it was his first time ever playing against the Colts, the team that drafted him in the 1st round in 2017 then let him leave as a free agent following the 2020 season. Nothing like biting the hand of the team that showed you the door.

89. There was a 3-way tie for the stadium winning the most weekly house of dread awards during the 2022 season. One of them was the home of the Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium. 3 times - in Weeks 3, 4, and 18 - the most touchdowns by players with dreads were scored at Indianapolis. Here in Week 4 Derrick Henry scores the first of 4 TD by players with dreads in the Titans' 24-17 win over the Colts. After taking the handoff on 1st and 10 Henry immediately cuts outside to the right and right past CB Brandon Facyson behind the line of scrimmage, then gets past Rodney Thomas to score untouched. Henry accounted for 48 of the 75 yards on the drive, with the 19-yard TD increasing the Titans' lead to 14-0 with 3:46 remaining in the 1st quarter. Derrick took my head dread award for the week, finishing with 114 yards rushing on 22 carries and 3 catches for 33 yards. The game's other 3 TD by players with dreads were scored by tight ends - Chigoziem Okonkwo for the Titans and Mo Alie-Cox had 2 for the Colts.

90. Also with the most house of dread awards were the end zones at Lambeau Field. In Weeks 2, 10, and 11 the most TD of the week by players with dreads were scored at the home of the Packers. Here in Week 10 there were 3 TD by players with dreads in the Packers' 31-28 come-from-behind victory in overtime over the Cowboys. The first was by CeeDee Lamb. After opening with two three-and-out drives, the Cowboys pick up 7 first downs on their 3rd possession and drive 83 yards. On the 17th play of the drive Lamb lines up as a running back on 2nd and goal and after catching the pass from Dak Prescott at the line of scrimmage in the left flat, slams on the brakes to elude a pair of DBs, then lunges forward into the end zone ahead of the late-arriving LB Isaiah McDuffie. The 3-yard TD reception put Dallas in front 7-0 with 9:52 to play in the 2nd quarter and was the first of 2 touchdowns in the game for Lamb. CeeDee finished with career highs of 11 catches and 150 yards, but it went for naught as the Cowboys failed to score the last 4 times they had the ball. The other TD by a player with dreads was scored by Aaron Jones for Green Bay.

91. And to the surprise of nobody, the other stadium to finish in a 3-way tie for the most weekly house of dread awards was U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. In consecutive home games in Weeks 3, 5, and 8 the Vikings' game had the most TD of the week by players with dreads, with Vikings players accounting for 8 of the 10 total touchdowns in the three games. On the opening drive against the Bears in Week 5 WR Justin Jefferson was doing his end zone dancing after the officials ruled he scored the first touchdown of the day. But after a replay review ruled him down at the 1-yard line, Dalvin Cook happily claims the TD for himself on the next play, scoring standing up on 1st and goal thanks in no small part to the block by TE Johnny Mundt on LB Roquan Smith. There were 3 TD by players with dreads in the game. Cook scored another in the 2nd quarter, and Velus Jones (photo #17) scored in the 3rd for Chicago. Dalvin ending up making the dread stars list for the week, finishing with 121 total yards (94 rushing, 27 receiving) on 20 touches. The Vikings blew a 21-3 lead before coming back to defeat the Bears 29-22.

92. If you include both home and away games, 6 different teams finished tied for the most weekly house of dread awards. 4 times during the season the Cowboys, Vikings, Cardinals, Colts, Raiders, and Chiefs played games that had the most touchdowns of the week by players with dreads. The first 5 of those teams mentioned were at home for at least 2 of their 4 times winning, everyone except the Chiefs. Not even once at home, but in 4 of their 9 road games the Chiefs' game took the weekly HOD award - and not always of their own doing. In those 4 games - Weeks 1 (at Arizona), 3 (at Indy), 14 (at Denver), and 18 (at Las Vegas) - Chiefs players with dreads scored 7 TD and the Chiefs' opponents players with dreads also had 7. Here in Week 18 it was all Chiefs, as they accounted for all 3 TD by players with dreads in the end zone at Allegiant Stadium. After RB Ronald Jones (photo #25) and WR Kadarius Toney scored in the 2nd quarter, Isiah Pacheco makes it 3 TD by players with dreads with this 1-yard run up the middle in the 4th quarter, scoring standing up on 3rd and goal after TE Travis Kelce was stopped inches short on the preceding play. It was Pacheco's 5th TD of the season and it upped the Chiefs' lead to 31-6. They went on to defeat the Raiders 31-13. I don't include postseason stats but .... the Chiefs also were involved in the playoff game that had the most TD by players with dreads - that being their Super Bowl win over the Eagles that had 3 TD scored by players with dreads.

93. Where were the most touchdowns by players with dreads scored for the entire season? Again the answer is more than one stadium. The end zone at SoFi Stadium was one of 3 end zones that saw 15 house calls by players with dreads. Of course, SoFi "cheated" to get its share of the honor. With the venue being the home of both the Rams and the Chargers, there were 17 NFL games played there instead of the 8 or 9 hosted by almost all of the other teams. 10 TD by players with dreads were scored in the Chargers' home games and 5 were scored in the Rams' home games. The first of the Rams' 5 came here in Week 2, as RB Darrell Henderson finishes the Rams' 2nd drive of the day with their 2nd TD of the day. On 1st and goal the Rams' O-line opens a hole, and 4 yards downfield a crushing block by WR Cooper Kupp keeps S Jaylinn Hawkins from filling that hole (see far left side of the photo above left), allowing Henderson to score standing up and untouched. The 8-yard TD run made it 14-0 Rams with 9:30 to play until halftime. Darrell finished with 47 yards rushing on 10 carries. The Rams built a 28-3 lead and then barely held off a Falcons rally, improving to 1-1 with a 31-27 victory.

94. Lucas Oil Stadium was another one of the stadiums whose end zone had 15 TD scored by players with dreads. This one in Week 11 was scored against the Colts, as WR Quez Watkins gets the Eagles' comeback from a 13-3 deficit started with his 2nd TD of the season early in the 4th quarter. Held to 3 points on their first 7 possessions, the Eagles drive 60 yards after a missed 50-yard FG by the Colts. On 2nd and 10 on the 5th play of the drive Watkins, with his dreads just barely long enough to be seen outside his helmet, lines up in the right slot and beats CB Kenny Moore on a crossing route, making a leaping catch at the 2-yard line and getting into the end zone just before being hit by Rodney Thomas. The 22-yard TD pulled the Eagles to within 13-10 with 13:31 to play. The 2nd TD of the season marked a new career high for Quez, who entered the season with just 2 TD in his career - one each in 2020 and 2021. He would get his 3rd TD of the season the next week vs. the Packers. The Eagles finished their comeback with a Jalen Hurts TD run with 1:20 to play to defeat the Eagles for the 4th straight time (with the wins coming by margins of 1, 2, 3, and 4 points) 17-16.

95. Also part of the 3-way tie for the end zone with the most TD by players with dreads in 2022 was the end zone at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. TE MyCole Pruitt contributed 3 TD to the total of 15 scored by players with dreads in the Falcons' 9 home games ..... including this one in Week 13. After running the ball on the first 7 plays of the drive, the Falcons go to play action on play #8. Pruitt pretends to block then releases, catches the pass from Marcus Mariota at the 6-yard line, then gets hit by S Minkah Fitzpatrick at the 2. But as he goes down, he spins his body and dives toward the end zone and gets the ball barely over the goal line. The 7-yard TD reception finished the 75-yard drive and cut the Steelers' lead to 19-13 late in the 3rd quarter. And with his 3rd TD of the season, Pruitt (briefly) took the lead in the great race of 2022 for the tight end with dreads with the most touchdowns. It was MyCole's only catch of the game. The Steelers held on to win 19-16.

Almost making it a 5-way tie but coming up 1 short were the end zones at Reliant Stadium and U.S. Bank Stadium. 14 TD by players with dreads were scored in the Raiders' and Vikings' home games.

96. Next up, we have the stadium that had the most number of games with at least one TD by a player with dreads. And again, we have to go to Atlanta, where there were touchdowns scored by players with dreads in all 9 of the Falcons' home games. Here in Week 18 Cordarrelle Patterson scores the Falcons' last touchdown of the season and their 10th of the season at home by a player with dreads on a 2-yard run on 1st and goal. Rookie LB J.J. Russell, playing his first defensive snaps of the season in the game that was meaningless for the Buccaneers, tries to make the tackle; but it's too late and too little, as Patterson breaks the tackle and stays on his feet. Cordarrelle's 9th TD of the season upped the Falcons' lead to 27-17 with 8:07 remaining in the 4th quarter. With Tom Brady on the bench for the entire 2nd half, the Falcons outscored the Bucs 20-0 in the half and won it 30-17, ending their 5-game losing streak against the Bucs (a streak that began, of course, with the arrival of Brady in Tampa in 2020).

There also were touchdowns scored by players with dreads in 9 games at SoFi Stadium (5 Chargers' games and 4 Rams' games), but I'm not including a photo of any of them here.

97. The end zone were the most touchdowns were scored by the home team's players with dreads was ...... well, there were two of them. One was at U.S. Bank Stadium, where here in Week 13 Alexander Mattison is scoring one of the Vikings' 12 TD by players with dreads at home. After Dalvin Cook scored on the preceding drive (photo #42), Mattison finishes an 86-yard drive with a 14-yard TD run to make the score 17-3 with 3:35 to play until halftime, running through a hole created by good blocking by a TE and a WR then cutting to the right away from S Lamarcus Joyner and into the purple-painted end zone.

The total of 12 TD at home could and should have been higher. Somewhat incredibly those 12 TD were scored in only 5 games, while their other 4 home games didn't have any Vikings touchdowns by players with dreads ......

98. The same was true of the other end zone with the most touchdowns by the home team's players with dreads. The Cowboys' 12 TD by players with dreads at AT&T Stadium were scored in 5 games, with none scored in the other 4. It wasn't until their 3rd home game (in Week 4) that CeeDee Lamb scored his 1st TD at home. With the Cowboys leading the Commanders by 5 at the start of the 4th quarter, Lamb fakes a post route on 2nd and 5, then fakes a corner route on his next step, then runs back to the post after all, burning CB William Jackson. And with both safeties covering the tight end, Lamb is wide open as he catches the pass from Cooper Rush in stride at the 2 and into the end zone for his 1st career TD vs. Washington (in 5 games). The 30-yard TD catch on the first play of the 4th gave the Cowboys a little breathing room at 22-10. They went on to win 25-10, with Lamb (6 catches for 97 yards) barely missing the dread stars list.

The Falcons' 10 TD by players with dreads at home was good for 3rd place, and the Patriots (9) were 4th.

99. Even though the Commanders didn't have a single TD scored by one of their players with dreads, there was no shortage of TD by players with dreads in their home game. In their 9 games at FedEx Field the Commanders allowed 11 touchdowns by players with dreads, the most by any team allowed to the visiting team's players with dreads. This one in Week 18 was the last one of the 11, and it's CeeDee Lamb again. With :10 on the clock until halftime and the Cowboys out of timeouts, S Bobby McCain (#20) should be all over Lamb on 2nd and 10 but instead gives him a 5-yard cushion and then just lets him run unhindered into the end zone; and CeeDee catches the pass from Dak Prescott before S Percy Butler can get there to break it up. The 15-yard TD with 6 seconds left cut the Commanders' lead to 13-6 (the extra point was missed). But it was the Cowboys' only TD of the game. With nothing to gain or lose, the Cowboys' heart wasn't in it in the 2nd half, and the Commanders won easily 26-6.

Again SoFi Stadium actually was the place where the most visiting teams' TD by players with dreads were scored; but again they were split between two teams, with the Chargers' allowing 10 TD to the visiting team's players with dreads (second most in the league) and the Rams giving up 2 for a total of 12.

MOSTS

100. While Davante Adams had the most total touchdowns by players with dreads, he did not have the most at home. The leader among players with dreads in home TD was Cordarrelle Patterson, who scored 7 TD (one each in 6 different games and 2 vs. the Chargers (photos #66 and 67)). This one vs. the Cardinals in Week 17 was his 8th of the season and 6th at home. After a blocked punt on the first play after the 1st half 2-minute warning, it takes the Falcons 1 play to drive 5 yards. After taking the handoff and starting off right tackle, Patterson then cuts straight ahead. And with Cordarrelle going with a full head of steam, LB Ezekiel Turner has no chance to stop him short of the goal line. The 5-yard run put the Falcons ahead 14-10. Cordarrelle finished with 84 total yards (42 rushing, 42 receiving) on 15 touches. From there it was all field goals, and the Falcons kicked the last one on the final play of the game to win a thriller between teams already eliminated from the playoff picture, 20-19.

Adams and Dalvin Cook each had 6 TD at home to tie for 2nd place. CeeDee Lamb and Najee Harris had 5.

101. As for the player with dreads with the most TD on the road ... that was Derrick Henry, who scored 10 of his 13 TD in Titans road games. The last of the 10 was at SoFi Stadium vs. the Chargers in Week 15. After picking up first downs on gains of 11, 37, and 11 yards earlier in the drive, Henry takes the shotgun snap on 2nd and goal and cuts to the left and runs into the end zone, with CB Michael Davis making the tackle too late to prevent the touchdown. Henry accounted for all 63 yards on the drive, with the 4-yard TD run tying the game at 7 with 10:09 to play until halftime. Derrick made the dread stars list for the 10th time, leading the Titans in rushing (104 yards on 21 carries) and receiving (4 catches for 59 yards). But the Titans continued their late-season slide. The Chargers kicked a FG with 4 seconds remaining to win 17-14 and hand the Titans their 4th straight loss, dropping them to 7-7.

102. The most TD by a player with dreads vs. one team? D'Onta Foreman is that player. Foreman scored 5 TD in 2022, and 4 of them were against the Falcons. After hitting the Falcons for 3 in Week 8 (photos #50-52) Foreman tormented them again 11 days later. On Thursday night of Week 10 the Panthers answer the Falcons' first TD of the game with an 84-yard TD drive in 7 plays. Foreman finishes the drive, taking the handoff on 1st and 10, running off right tackle and running right through an attempted tackle by LB Rashaan Evans at the 7-yard line and into the end zone standing up. The 12-yard TD upped the Panthers' lead to 19-9 late in the 3rd quarter. D'Onta rushed for 130 yards on a career high 31 carries as the Panthers avenged their Week 8 loss at Atlanta with a 25-15 home win over the Falcons.

103. Dalvin Cook was one of two running backs who tied for the most consecutive games with a TD by a player with dreads. Cook scored in 5 straight Vikings' games from Weeks 5 to 10 (Week 7 was a bye). This one, his 6th TD of the season, came in Week 9. After an opening drive TD, the Vikings went scoreless on their next 7 possessions and trailed the Commanders 17-7 early in the 4th quarter. Then they got busy. After a FG made the score 17-10, the Vikings pull even 3 minutes later after cashing in a Washington turnover. On the 2nd play after an INT gave the Vikings the ball at the 12-yard line Cook runs an out and up route from the backfield on 2nd and 10 and beats S Kamren Curl - just barely but just enough. Curl grabs onto Cook's right arm, leaving Dalvin with no choice but to make the catch one handed, and he does! The 12-yard TD was Cook's 1st TD catch of the season and tied the game at 17 with 7:46 to play. After the Commanders went three-and-out on their ensuing drive, the Vikings kicked a FG with 12 seconds left on their next drive to win it 20-17 and improve to 7-1.

Kenneth Walker was the other player with dreads with touchdowns in 5 straight games, scoring in each of the Seahawks games from Weeks 5 to 9. And with Walker and Cook doing most of the heavy lifting .....

104. ..... the Seahawks and Vikings finished tied for the team having the longest streak of games with touchdowns scored by players with dreads. They both went 7 straight games with at least one TD by a player with dreads - the Vikings in Weeks 3-10 and the Seahawks in Weeks 5-12. WR Marquise Goodwin, who tied his career high with 4 TD in 2022, had 3 of those during the streak. After going scoreless in his first 5 games in a Seahawks uniform Goodwin made a pair of house calls in his 6th game, at SoFi vs. the Chargers in Week 7. On 3rd and 14 midway through the 1st quarter CB Asante Samuel Jr. lines up giving Goodwin a 9-yard cushion but still lets Marquise get past him on a corner route to catch the perfect pass from Geno Smith in the back right corner of the end zone. The 20-yard TD gave the Seahawks a 7-0 lead and put them ahead to stay. Goodwin finished with 4 catches for 67 yards. The photo on the right (postgame) is included to show proof of Marquise's dreads, which he had reduced and were therefore too short to be seen with his helmet on. All 4 Seattle touchdowns in the game were scored by players with dreads, as Kenneth Walker also had 2 as the Seahawks defeated the Chargers 37-23.

105. There also was a 2-way tie for the team going the most consecutive games allowing touchdowns by players with dreads. In their 6 games between Weeks 6 and 11 the Cardinals allowed 10 TD by players with dreads, with players from all three of their NFC West division rivals accounting for 6 of those. Kenneth Walker (Seahawks) had 3, Brandon Aiyuk (49ers) had 2 (photos 78 and 79), and there's this one by Darrell Henderson of the Rams in Week 10. After scoring an opening drive FG, the Rams picked up all of 2 first downs and 0 points on their next 5 drives before finally getting their first touchdown of the day. On 3rd and goal Henderson runs it up the middle, easily breaks a tackle by S Jalen Thompson (on the ground at far right side of photo) at the 2-yard line, and goes into the end zone, aided by OT Ty Nsekhe's block that keeps LB Zaven Collins (#25) from having a chance to make the tackle. The 4-yard TD run finished a 59-yard drive and cut the Cardinals' lead to 17-10. But the Rams got no closer as the Cardinals held on to win 27-17. This was the last of Henderson's 3 TD on the season. After playing in the game the following week, he was released by the Rams ......

106. The Colts were the other team that allowed touchdowns by players with dreads in 6 straight games. They gave up 12 in those 6 games between Weeks 9 and 15. Here in Week 15 K.J. Osborn gets the Vikings' record-setting comeback started midway through the 3rd quarter. 3 plays after his 63-yard catch and run moved the ball to the 4-yard line, Osborn goes in motion right to left on 3rd and goal then runs his route straight toward the front corner of the end zone. Undecided about who to cover, Stephon Gilmore decides way to late he better the one to cover Osborn, leaving K.J. wide open for the 2-yard TD catch, cutting the Colts' lead to 33-7. It was the first of 5 touchdowns by the Vikings in a span of 21 minutes, with a TD by Dalvin Cook (photo #44) completing the comeback. Osborn finished with a career high 10 catches for a career high 157 yards to make the dread stars list for the first time in his NFL career. The Vikings improved to 11-3 with their crazy 39-36 overtime victory over the Colts...

107. The Colts also were the team allowing TD to players with dreads in the most different games. In 13 of their 17 games one of their opponent's players with dreads made a house call. Davante Adams was the one who scored against them in Week 10, diving across the goal line at the end of his 48-yard catch and run to give the Raiders their first lead of the game with 11:36 remaining in the 4th quarter. After catching the pass over the middle at the 26-yard line on 3rd and 10, Adams runs toward the right corner before cutting back inside at the 5 to elude Stephon Gilmore then lifts off at the 3 and into the end zone. Davante's 8th TD of the season put the Raiders ahead 20-19. He finished with 9 catches for 126 yards. But the Colts regained the lead on a TD with 5:07 to play and held on for a 25-20 road win over the Raiders, who fell to 2-7.

108. Considering that the Colts allowed 5 TD by players with dreads in one game and allowed TD by players with dreads in the most consecutive games and allowed TD by players with dreads in the most different games, it comes as no surprise at all that they also allowed the most TD by players with dreads for the whole season. The Colts allowed 50 touchdowns all season, and a league-high 22 of them were scored by players with dreads. The gametime temperature at Gillette Stadium was 75 degrees on Nov. 6 (Week 9) when Rhamondre Stevenson scored the first touchdown of the day and the Patriots' only offensive TD of the game. On 2nd and goal Stevenson beats LB Bobby Okereke on an out route, makes a nice one-handed catch just short of the goal line and then steps sideways into the end zone before Okereke can knock him out of bounds. The 3-yard TD catch was the 1st career receiving TD for Stevenson and completed a 2-play, 2-yard drive that began after the Patriots blocked a punt. It increased the New England lead to 13-0 with 6:12 remaining until halftime. The Patriots went on to win 26-3, holding the Colts to only 121 total yards.

The Cardinals finished in 2nd place, allowing 17 TD by players with dreads, and the Chargers allowed third most with 16.

WEEK 8

The most touchdowns scored by players with dreads in one week was 20. That happened twice, in Week 1 and again in Week 8. Since we've already seen several of the Week 1 touchdowns, Week 8 gets a section all to itself.

Week 8 featured the 3-TD games of Alvin Kamara and D'Onta Foreman shown earlier in photos #47-52. Here now are a few more scores from the week.

109. There were only two games all season in which touchdowns were scored by at least 4 different players with dreads. 5 different players with dreads scored in the Week 13 game between the Colts and Cowboys. The other was in Week 8, when 4 different players with dreads had one TD each in the Cardinals-Vikings game at Minneapolis.

After being suspended for the first 6 games of the season, WR DeAndre Hopkins debuted in Week 7 with 10 catches for 103 yards. And the next week he scored his 1st TD of the season. Late in the 2nd quarter the Vikings were leading 14-3 (on a pair of touchdowns not scored by players with dreads) when Hopkins - as he often does - made the spectacular look simple. Tight coverage by S Harrison Smith doesn't matter at all on 3rd and 2 as Hopkins reaches out with one hand and brings in the pass from Kyler Murray for a 6-yard TD: youtube.com/watch?v=2Y6-K9khc7U .....

With receptions of 16 and 13 yards earlier in the drive, DeAndre accounted for 35 of the 72 yards on the drive as the Cardinals pulled to within 14-10 with 47 seconds remaining until halftime. He finished with 12 catches for a season high 159 yards ......

110. After the Cardinals took the lead in the 3rd quarter the Vikings struck back immediately with a 75-yard drive. On the 8th play of the drive Alexander Mattison runs up the middle on 2nd and goal and is hit by LB Ben Niemann (#56) at the 2-yard line but keeps driving forward. Niemann and Jalen Thompson finally bring Mattison to a stop, but not until after he gets across the goal line (barely). The 7-yard run was Mattison's 3rd TD of the season and put the Vikings back in front 21-17 with 5:47 remaining in the 3rd. He finished the game with 40 yards rushing on 5 carries.

Then, after the Cardinals turned the ball over on the first play of their ensuing drive ......

111. ..... The Vikings go 31 yards in 4 plays, with Dalvin Cook finishing the drive with a 4-yard TD run through a hole up the middle on 2nd and goal, going untouched until S Budda Baker makes the tackle too late. It was Cook's first ever house call against the Cardinals. The two touchdowns 100 seconds apart made the score 28-17. Dalvin made the dread stars list, finishing with 111 yards rushing on 20 carries and 5 catches for 30 yards.

The Cardinals answered back quickly with a TD then added a FG early in the 4th to pull within 28-26. And then forced a three-and-out by the Vikings. But a muff on the punt return gave the ball back to the Vikings, and .......

112. ..... It takes them only 4 plays to go 25 yards, with K.J. Osborn getting the 4th TD of the game by a player with dreads. Osborn beats Jalen Thompson on an out route on 3rd and 2 and once again makes it clear and obvious that he has both feet inbounds as he makes the catch in the right front corner of the end zone. The 5-yard reception was the 2nd TD of the season for Osborn and increased the Minnesota lead to 34-26 (the extra point was missed) with 8:36 to play. The Cardinals, however, didn't make it past the Vikings' 37-yard line on their final three possessions of the game, and the Vikings held on to win 34-26. It was the 9th straight meeting between the teams that was won by the team playing at home.

113. Week 8 also featured Derrick Henry's 4th straight game against the Texans with 2 or more touchdowns (with 3 of them coming on the road at NRG Stadium). With rookie Malik Willis making his first career start at QB (in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill), the Titans decided to rely on the running game rather than Willis' arm - to the tune of 10 passes attempted all game by Willis and a season high 32 carries for Henry. After accounting for all of the yards on the Titans' 37-yard TD drive in the 2nd quarter (including a 29-yard TD) Henry here scores the Titans' only other TD of the day in the 3rd. After Dontrell Hilliard picked up the first 2 first downs of Tennessee's 2nd half opening drive on runs of 21 and 30 yards, Henry finishes the drive with a 1-yard run off right tackle untouched on 4th and goal. I mean, where is the defense? C'mon Texans, it just can't be this easy on 4th down. With the Titans being called for 3 false start penalties on the drive, they ended up rushing for 80 yards on the 65-yard drive, with Henry's TD making the score 14-3 midway through the quarter. Henry took my head dread award for the 3rd time in the month of October (Weeks 4, 5, and 8) as he outgained the Texans entire team all by himself, 228-161. Derrick finished with a season high 219 yards rushing (his 6th career game with 200+ rushing yards) and 1 catch for 9 yards as the Titans beat the Texans in Houston for the 4th season in a row, 17-10.

114. In his first career game vs. the Bears CeeDee Lamb scores a touchdown on his first reception of the day. On 3rd and 9 Lamb goes in motion right to left then runs a post route and is wide open between S Eddie Jackson and S Jaquan Brisker as he catches the pass from Dak Prescott in the end zone for a 21-yard TD, completing a 69-yard drive and upping the Cowboys' lead to 14-0 with 5:19 remaining in the 1st quarter. CeeDee finished the afternoon with 5 catches for 77 yards, all of them coming on touchdown drives. The Cowboys scored touchdowns on their first 4 drives to move out to a 28-7 lead before the Bears rallied back to 28-23 before the Cowboys pulled away again and won 49-29.

115. Brandon Aiyuk's 8 TD in 2022 came on passes from 3 different players - 5 from Jimmy Garoppolo, 2 from Brock Purdy, and this one in Week 8 from RB Christian McCaffrey. Early in the 2nd quarter at SoFi the 49ers fool the Rams' defense on 2nd and 8, as McCaffrey catches a backwards pass in the right flat and makes it look like he's going to run, which allows Aiyuk to run past both CB Troy Hill and then S Nick Scott (#33) and make the catch wide open and in stride at the 2-yard line for the easy TD: youtube.com/watch?v=94oFPzq6zsE .....

The 34-yard TD tied the game at 7 and turned out to be Brandon's second longest gain of the season. He finished the afternoon with a game high 81 receiving yards on 6 catches. After trailing 14-10 at halftime the 49ers held the Rams to 4 first downs and outscored them 21-0 in the 2nd half to win 31-14.

116. And here's the last of the 20 TD scored by players with dreads in Week 8 - and if you look close enough you can barely see the dreads of the player who scored it. Two plays after getting the ball on Richie James' 2nd fumble of the game on a punt return (both were fumbles, not muffs) the Seahawks cash in the turnover, as Kenneth Walker gets his 5th TD of the season. After taking the handoff on 1st and 10 and finding no running room on the right, Walker tries the left side and eludes one defender at the line of scrimmage, breaks a tackle at the 10-yard line, and scores standing up past the last-ditch tackle attempt by DE Jihad Ward. The 16-yard TD run was the biggest gain of the day on the ground for either team, and it increased the Seattle lead to 27-13 with 5:22 to play in the game. Kenneth finished with 51 yards rushing on 18 carries. The 27-13 home victory was the Seahawks' 3rd straight W and it ended the Giants' win streak at 4 in a row.

THE GREAT TIGHT END RACE OF 2022

Travis Kelce of the Chiefs led all tight ends with 12 TD scored during the 2022 season, and George Kittle of the 49ers was 2nd with 11. Those numbers make it seem like it was a close race all season for the top spot. But the reality says otherwise. At the time Kelce scored his 12th TD it was Week 12, and Kittle at the time had only 4. Then as Kelce went scoreless over the Chiefs' last 6 games Kittle closed the gap with 5 TD between Weeks 15 and 17. But he was still 3 touchdowns behind with one game to play, and his 2 TD in the regular season finale were too little to catch Kelce.

However, if you wanted some real excitement, a race that was close from Week 1 until the final quarter of Week 18, you would have been following the race for the top scoring tight end with dreads. Entering the final week of the regular season there were no fewer than 6 TEs with dreads battling to see who would be the one to score the most touchdowns.

One of those was not O.J. Howard. After taking the early lead with his 2 TD on opening day (photos #58 and 59), Howard didn't score another one the rest of the season. And near the end of the season he hardly even played at all, as he was inactive for 4 of the Texans' last 6 games, including Week 18. As for those who were in the thick of the race ......

117. David Njoku, who tied for the lead for TD by tight ends with dreads in 2021, enters the race for 2022 here on Thursday night of Week 3. On 1st and goal Njoku lines up outside on the numbers to the right and beats S Terrell Edmunds on a post route in the end zone. The pass from Jacoby Brissett is high and David bobbles it for a moment but gets a handle on it in time to land inbounds in the back of the end zone. The 7-yard TD was Njoku's 3rd reception on the 12-play, 79-yard drive, and it gave the Browns a 13-7 lead (the extra point was missed) over the Steelers with 8:58 to play until halftime. David finished the night with 89 yards on a career high 9 receptions, helping the Browns pick up their 1st home win of the season 29-17 over the Steelers .....

118. Three days later, on Sunday afternoon of Week 3, Jordan Akins enters the race with his 1st TD of the season. With the Texans already down 10-0 in the 1st quarter at Soldier Field, Akins beats CB Kindle Vildor on a crossing route through the back of the end zone on 2nd and goal and catches the pass from Davis Mills to get the Texans on the board. For Akins, who spent the first 2 weeks of the season on the practice squad, the 4-yard TD reception finished a 7-play, 75-yard drive and was his first touchdown since the 2020 season opener. With his dreads looking like they're reduced but actually just bunched tightly together and held together with several bands, Akins finished with 3 catches for 31 yards in his season debut, but the Texans dropped to 0-2-1, losing to the Bears 23-20 on a last-second FG.

119. In Week 4 Mo Alie-Cox, whose 4 TD in 2021 tied him with David Njoku for the most by a tight end with dreads, let it be known he would be back to defend his crown, scoring his first 2 touchdowns of 2022. This was the first of them. After touchdowns by Derrick Henry and Chigoziem Okonkwo helped the Titans take a 24-3 lead, Alie-Cox scores the 3rd TD of the game by a player with dreads, catching the pass from Matt Ryan on a short crossing route at the 10-yard line on 2nd and goal, bouncing off a hit by CB Kristian Fulton (#26) at the 4, and falling forward into the end zone before LB Dylan Cole (#53) can stop him. The 14-yard TD made the score 24-10 with 2:13 to play until halftime. It was the 3rd year in a row that Alie-Cox scored a TD in Week 4. His 2nd TD of the day came midway through the 3rd quarter and made it 24-17. Mo had one of the best games of his career, finishing with 85 yards on a career high 6 catches. But it came in a losing cause, as the Colts lost at home to the Titans for the 4th straight season, 24-17.

120. In Week 6 MyCole Pruitt, who scored 3 touchdowns for the Titans in 2021 to finish 1 behind the leaders, throws his hat into the ring for the 2022 race. After spending the first 4 weeks of the season on the Falcons' practice squad and playing only 12 snaps in Week 5, Pruitt scores on the very first pass thrown to him all season. Before Brandon Aiyuk scored his 2 TD (photos #68 and 69) the Falcons gained positive yards on all 11 plays of the game-opening 74-yard drive. Pruitt finishes the drive on 2nd and goal, running a quick post-corner route and making the catch against the coverage of S George Odum for a 2-yard TD and a 7-0 Atlanta lead. The Falcons went on to upset the 49ers 28-14.

This was the only reception for MyCole for the first 8 weeks of the season; but despite that he would finish the season with a new career high of 16 receptions ......

121. A couple of hours or so after Pruitt's TD, Colts rookie Jelani Woods takes the lead in the great tight end race of 2022, scoring his 3rd TD of the season early in the 4th quarter against the Jaguars. Woods got his first 2 touchdowns in Week 3 (first one in photo #13, second one still to come) then went scoreless the next two games before striking again here in Week 6. On 2nd and goal Jelani is open on a fade route and makes the catch falling backward and fully focused on making sure he comes down in bounds. The Jaguars furiously protested after the TD because Woods most definitely was not open when the pass left Matt Ryan's hand. While the ball was in the air LB Devin Lloyd at first had tight coverage on Woods - until a blatant two-handed shove by Woods knocked him down - a rather obvious offensive PI penalty. But Jelani got away with it, as no flag was thrown. The 10-yard TD catch gave the Colts their first lead of the day at 26-21. The lead would change hands two more times, with the Colts scoring a TD with 17 seconds to play to win it 34-27.

Woods finished with 2 catches for 27 yards, and at this point he had 5 receptions for the season, with 3 of them going for touchdowns.

122. Scoreless since Week 3, Jordan Akins has his dreads looking much better as he scores his 2nd TD of the season here in Week 12. After the Dolphins score the first 30 points of the game, the Texans make it touchdowns on 2 straight drives, as Akins catches a short pass from Kyle Allen at the 20-yard line on 2nd and 6, eludes a defender at the 10, and carries S Jevon Holland with him the last 5 yards and across the goal line. The 25-yard TD catch and run made it 30-12 early in the 4th quarter; but it didn't really make up for his highlight reel fumble in the 2nd quarter that resulted in a Miami touchdown. Akins was the Texans' leading receiver for the day with 61 yards on a season high 5 catches. But the Texans lost their 6th in a row, 30-15 to the Dolphins.

123. In Week 14 David Njoku makes it a 3-way tie for the lead (with Jelani Woods and MyCole Pruitt), scoring his 3rd TD of the season and the Browns' only TD of the day at Cincinnati. Held to 3 points on their first 7 possessions, the Browns drive 71 yards in 10 plays, with Njoku picking up first downs on the last 3 plays of the drive - a 6-yard reception on 4th and 5, followed by a 14-yard catch and run, followed by a 13-yard catch and run for the TD, as he makes the catch open in the right flat and foils S Jessie Bates' attempt to knock him out of bounds short of the goal line. It was QB Deshaun Watson's first ever TD pass in a Browns uniform, and it cut the Bengals' lead to 20-10. But the Browns got no closer. Njoku finished with 7 catches for 58 yards, but the Browns lost 23-10 - their first loss to the Bengals since 2019, ending a streak of 5 straight wins ......

124. And the next week Jordan Akins makes it a 4-way tie for the lead with his 3rd TD of the season. The Texans drive 49 yards in 7 plays late in the 3rd quarter, with the first 3 first downs of the drive coming courtesy of penalties against the Chiefs. Then on 3rd and goal Akins makes a leaping catch at the 2 and powers his way through the tackle attempt by LB Willie Gay and into the end zone. The 12-yard TD reception put the Texans back in front 21-16. It also was the Texans' first 3rd down conversion of 11 or more yards all season, after failing on their first 28 attempts. It also was Akins' first ever NFL TD in a home game, after his first 5 were on the road. He finished the day with 3 catches for 22 yards. The Texans gave the Chiefs a run for their money before falling 30-24 in overtime for their 9th straight L, dropping their record to 1-12-1.

The 4-way tied held for 2 weeks, as there were no touchdowns by tight ends with dreads in Weeks 16 and 17. And then on Saturday of Week 18 .......

125. ...... It turned into a 5-way tie, with Titans rookie Chigoziem Okonkwo getting his 3rd TD of the season. Despite riding a 6-game losing streak, the Titans were still alive for 1st place in the AFC South, needing a road victory over the Jaguars to take the division crown. And in the 2nd quarter Okonkwo scores the first touchdown of the night, lining up in the backfield as a FB, beating LB Foyesade Oluokun on a wheel route and catching the pass from Joshua Dobbs in the front left corner of the end zone. The 21-yard TD upped the Titans' lead to 10-0. The photo on the right - taken just before the start of the 2nd half according to the caption - is for proof of Okonokwo's dreads, which as you can see are too short to be visible with his helmet on. Chig finished the game with 3 catches for 42 yards and finished his rookie season with 32 catches for 450 yards and 3 TD. The Titans led all the way until the Jaguars scored a defensive TD late in the 4th quarter to steal the game 20-16 and steal the division title. After Week 11 the Titans were 7-3 and the Jaguars 3-7. And as the Titans crashed to 7 straight losses, the Jags won 6 of their last 7, including their last 5 in a row.

With all of the tight ends in the race playing the next day, Okonkwo was pretty much going to need a miracle to remain tied for the lead. And he didn't get one .......

126. It does not take long for MyCole Pruitt to break the 5-way tie and move into the lead on Sunday, as he finishes a 91-yard Falcons drive in the 1st quarter with this 2-yard TD catch on 3rd and goal. With QB Desmond Ridder rolling right to buy time, Pruitt bounces off a couple of defenders on his crossing route before finally finding an open spot and making a leaping catch in the front of the end zone. I couldn't find any photos of him actually landing in the end zone, so you'll have to take my word for it. The TD tied the game at 7, and it was the first career TD pass for Ridder. It also was MyCole's 4th TD of the season, a new career high for him. But would it be enough to win the great tight end race? .......

127. Pruitt's lead lasted for about a half hour (or so), only until David Njoku scored his 4th TD of the season. And just as he did in Week 3 (photo #117) Njoku has a close encounter with Terrell Edmunds as he scores against the Steelers. After pretending to stay in for pass protection for about a second on 1st and goal, Njoku begins his route and is open as the Steelers' coverage doesn't notice him until it's too late. After the catch at the 2-yard line, Edmunds collides with Njoku right at the goal line and almost gets his helmet knocked off for his trouble. Njoku already is across the goal line as he is hit but extends the ball forward anyway to leave no doubt. The 10-yard TD completed a 10-play, 71-yard drive and gave the Browns a 7-0 lead midway through the 2nd quarter. David finished the afternoon with 4 catches for 42 yards.

Attention then turned to the Texans-Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium. A meaningless game a far as the playoff race was concerned, with the teams having an aggregate record of 6-24-2. But it turned out to be the game that would decide the great tight end race ......

128. Stuck on 3 TD since Week 6, Jelani Woods has not one but two chances to move back into a tie for the lead bounce of of his hands. On 2nd and 9 from the Houston 13 in the 2nd quarter (photo above) Woods, who is 6-foot-7, is open in the end zone above the double coverage by CB Tremon Smith (#1) and S Jalen Pitre; but the pass from Sam Ehlinger is too high and he can get only his left hand on the ball and it deflects off of it and lands out of bounds and incomplete. Ehlinger then threw an interception on the next play, ending the Colts' threat and keeping the Texans' lead at 17-7.

Then in the 3rd quarter the Colts were going to settle for a FG on 4th and goal on their 2nd half opening drive; but after an encroachment penalty before the attempt moved the ball from the 6-yard line to the 3 they decided to go for it; and they called Woods' number again. This time (photo on right) Jelani is open on an out route against CB Desmond King, but again the pass bounces off his hands and falls incomplete. Although the pass wasn't perfectly on target, it was catchable; but Jelani couldn't make the difficult catch, so the score remained 17-7. These were Woods' only two chances to score during the game. The only other passes thrown to him were at the very end of the game, and he finished with 1 catch for 9 yards ......

129. The Colts scored on their next drive to pull within 17-14, and the Texans answered immediately with a 75-yard drive in 5 plays. And it's Jordan Akins finishing the drive with his 4th TD of the season to turn the great tight end race a 3-way tie for the lead once again. On 3rd and 8 Akins runs an out and up route; and with S Rodney McLeod covering but with his back to the play, Akins is able to catch the pass from Davis Mills in the end zone, maintaining possession after hitting the ground. The 19-yard TD gave the Texans a 10-point lead again at 24-14 with 3:51 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

On the Texans' next drive a pass intended for Akins on 3rd and 8 was intercepted by McLeod and returned for a touchdown to make the score 24-21. And after the Texans' next drive ended with another INT .......

130. The Colts drive 58 yards in 7 plays early in the 4th quarter to take their first lead of the day. Mo Alie-Cox - absent from the end zone since his 2 touchdowns way back in Week 4 - finishes the drive with this 4-yard TD reception on 3rd and goal, getting wide open in the end zone thanks to a blown coverage by the defense, making the leaping catch, and turning and nicely getting both feet inbounds before Desmond King can push him out of bounds. Alie-Cox's 3rd TD of the season made it 28-24 Colts with 10:30 to play, and it pulled him to within 1 of the lead in the great tight end race. But this was the first - and last - pass thrown to him all day, giving him no chance to score again.

The Colts kicked a long FG on their next drive to make it 31-24, and the Texans began what would be their final drive with 3:29 to play. And just when it seemed liked they would come up short on that final drive and the great tight end race would end in a 3-way tie ......

131. ..... It's Jordan Akins to the rescue! Under pressure on 4th and 20 from the 28-yard line, Davis Mills just throws it up for grabs in desperation. It looks like a sure interception - or at least an easy PBU - for Rodney Thomas (not pictured). But Thomas mistimes his jump, the ball gets past him, and comes down right in the hands of Akins in the end zone. Startled and surprised that the ball actually came to him, Jordan nearly lets it slip through his grasp before securing possession. And just like that Akins had his 5th TD of the season to finish in 1st place in the great tight end race of 2022. It also was the last of the 40 times during the season that a player with dreads scored at least 2 TD in one game.

But Jordan wasn't done just yet.

With the score 31-30 with 50 seconds to play and with both teams out of the playoff picture, it made no sense for the Texans to tie the game and risk it going into overtime. So they went for 2-point conversion and the lead .......

132. ..... And Jordan Akins delivers again. Open on a post-corner route on which Rodney Thomas (#25) falls down, Akins tries to make a leaping catch of a pass slightly behind him. The ball initially is in neither one of his hands (photo above) but he is able to gain possession as he comes down and then maintain possession as he does a backward somersault in the end zone. That put the Texans in front 32-31; and the Colts, unable to get into FG range on their last ditch drive, tried a Hail Mary in the end zone that was incomplete on the final play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwvsOQvZ1hk

As mentioned in the video, Akins' game-winning 2-pointer moved the Texans (3-13-1) up to the second worst record in the league and allowed the Bears (3-14) to get the #1 pick in the Draft. This, of course, and we can see in hindsight, drastically changed the fortunes of three franchises - the Bears and Texans, and the Panthers, who acquired that #1 pick from the Bears. Leaving everyone to wonder what might have been had the Texans gotten the top pick.

DEFENSE

As mentioned earlier there were 11 defensive touchdowns scored by players with dreads in the 2022 season. We've already seen a couple of them earlier - and we'll see a couple more later. So this section will be a quickie, featuring only three of them.

133. S Kyle Dugger, who scored 6 touchdowns during the last three seasons (2017-19) of his college career at Division 2 Lenoir-Rhyne, takes one to the house for the first time in the NFL at Gillette Stadium in Week 5. As LB Matthew Judon (foreground in right photo) does his familiar sack celebration, Dugger finishes off his fumble return TD, high-stepping it the last 15 yards. With the Lions trailing the Patriots by 6 late in the 2nd quarter, Coach Campbell eschews the 50-yard FG attempt on 4th and 9 and goes for it instead; and after Judon strip sacks Jared Goff, Dugger scoops up the fumble on one hop and takes it 59 yards untouched to the house for the first TD of the game, upping the New England lead to 13-0. The only other TD of the day was scored by another player with dreads, Jakobi Meyers (photo #9), as the Patriots whipped the Lions 29-0.

Dugger wasn't done with the house calls yet, no sir ......

134. In Week 15 he scored his 2nd TD of the season - and his 1st career pick 6, as he eases into the end zone unopposed at Allegiant Stadium early in the 3rd quarter for the Patriots' first TD of the game. And it happened in a flash - just 4 seconds from snap of ball 'til he crossed the goal line. Either Kyle guessed right or he was in the Raiders' huddle, but he knew exactly what play was called; and that was a bad thing for the Raiders. Just before the snap, Dugger starts sneaking forward from his safety position, and just after the snap he breaks on the ball as Derek Carr throws a quick sideways pass intended for Davante Adams. And Kyle gets to the ball before it gets to Adams, tipping the pass a yard behind the line of scrimmage at the 16-yard line, gathering it in at the 13 and taking it to the house. We'll look at the video of the play in Part 2. The 16-yard interception return for a TD got the Patriots' comeback started, cutting the Raiders' lead to 17-10. But by the time the game was over Dugger's big play was long forgotten. Although the Patriots eventually went ahead 24-17, the Raiders came back to win it 30-24, scoring 2 TD in the final 32 seconds, including that unforgettable and bizarre defensive TD by Chandler Jones on the final play of the game.

The following week Kyle made it 3 touchdowns for the season. And we'll look at that one in Part 2 also.

135. In Week 6 Panthers CB Donte Jackson scored his long overdue 1st career TD against the Rams - with a big assist to DE Brian Burns. On the 13th INT of his career - and his 1st in 2022 - Jackson finally returns one to the end zone. On 2nd and 7 on what turned out be the last play before the 1st half 2-minute warning it is the close coverage by Burns on a short pass to WR Cooper Kupp that causes the ball to deflect off of Kupp's fingers and then a couple of yards further downfield right into the hands of Jackson. After Donte - and his hair - break away from the attempted tackle by Kupp, he takes the return 30 yards to the house untouched to put Carolina ahead 10-7. Video of this play coming up in Part 2. There were no photos of him actually crossing the goal line, so you're getting the before (photo above, when he's at the 10-yard line) and after (right photo) of it. It was one of the few things Panthers fans had to celebrate in this game. On a day their offense was held to 203 total yards and 8 first downs, Jackson's pick six was their only touchdown in a 24-10 road loss to the Rams.

ROOKIES

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, rookies accounted for roughly 1 out of every 7 touchdowns scored by players with dreads during the 2022 season, with 15 different rookies contributing 38 of the 272 TD by players with dreads, or 13.97%. We've already seen some of the 38 TD back in the FIRSTS section of the DG. Now here are a few more.

136. Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker, with his dreads too short to be seen in almost every photo of him during his rookie season, was the rookie player with dreads with the most TD, and he tied for the lead (with Packers WR Christian Watson) among all rookies. Appropriately the player wearing jersey #9 finished the season with 9 touchdowns. And on this play in Week 7 Walker gets the better of another #9, LB Kenneth Murray. After Marquise Goodwin started the scoring (photo #104), Walker ups the Seattle lead to 14-0 with this 12-yard TD run in the 1st quarter, cutting through a hole up the middle on 1st and 10 and not being deterred by Murray's attempted tackle at the 3-yard line as he gets his 3rd TD of the season. Walker added another TD in the 4th quarter, going 74 yards on his final carry of the day to give him a season high 167 yards rushing. The Seahawks won 37-23.

Kenneth also scored 2 TD in Weeks 9 and 12. And for the season he led all rookies in yards rushing with 1,050. Tyler Allgeier of the Falcons (1,035) was the only other rookie over 1,000.

137. With his total of 5 TD in 2022, RB Isiah Pacheco ranked #2 in TD among players with dreads. This one in Week 13, his 3rd of the season, gave the Chiefs their first lead of the game at Cincinnati. On the 7th play of their 2nd half opening drive, the Chiefs run the ball on 3rd and 4, and Pacheco not only gets the 1st down, he gets the touchdown, taking the handoff on a draw play, slipping a tackler at the 5-yard line, and then powering through the attempted tackle by CB Eli Apple (#20) and S Vonn Bell (#24) at the 1 and into the end zone. The TD capped a 7-play, 77-yard drive and put the Chiefs in front 17-14. Pacheco finished with 82 total yards (66 rushing, 16 receiving) on 16 touches. But the Bengals came back, outscoring the Chiefs 10-0 in the 4th quarter to win it 27-24, improving to 8-4 and dropping the Chiefs to 9-3.

Isiah finished his rookie season with 830 yards rushing on 4.9 yards per carry and 13 catches for 130 yards. And with a Super Bowl ring too.

138. 5 players scored 3 TD to finish tied for 3rd place in TD scored by rookies with dreads, one of them being RB James Cook. Here on Saturday night in Week 15 Cook scores for the first time since Week 5, and it's his most important TD of the season. With :08 remaining in the 1st half, QB Josh Allen rolls right on 1st and goal and keeps moving toward the sideline and holds onto to the ball so long that there won't be time for another play. After running an out route from the slot that was meant to be a decoy, Cook barely stays inbounds then runs to the back middle of the end zone. And after he finally gets just far enough away from the coverage of LB Jerome Baker (#55, with dreads too short to be seen) to be open, Allen hits him with the pass for the 4-yard TD. Cook's 1st career receiving TD upped the Bills' lead over the Dolphins to 21-13 at halftime. James finished the night with 39 total yards on 7 touches. The Dolphins came back strong in the 2nd half and went ahead 29-21, but the Bills scored the final 11 points, including a short FG on the final play of the game to win 32-29 and improve to 11-3, remaining tied with the Chiefs for best record in the AFC.

The other 4 players tied for 3rd place were Jelani Woods, Chigoziem Okonkwo, Rashid Shaheed, and Rachaad White.

139. After scoring his 1st career TD in Week 5 (photo #17), Velus Jones doesn't score again until Week 18. And just as it was in Week 5 it's against the Vikings .... although you can't tell by this photo. But with no Minnesota defenders giving chase, thinking/hoping Jones stepped out of bounds, Velus takes it to the house 30 yards away from the closest defender. After picking up a total of 3 first downs on their first 4 possessions, the Bears suddenly get 3 in a row on a 3-play, 75-yard drive. Jones finishes the drive, taking the ball on a reverse that at first looks like will gain about 10 yards. But thanks to FB Khari Blasingame, who blocks two defenders almost at the same time, Jones is untouched as he turns the corner, barely staying inbounds, and then sprinting down the sideline for what turned into an easy TD. The 42-yard run cut the Minnesota lead to 16-6 with 3:31 to play until halftime. It also was one of the few bright spots in a game in which the Vikings dominated 482-259 in total yards and 29-13 on the scoreboard, as the Bears finished 3-14, their most losses ever in one season.

Jones, the team's 3rd round draft pick, had a disappointing rookie season with 103 yards rushing on 9 carries and only 7 catches for 107 yards. On the positive side, he had the 3rd best average in the league on kickoff returns at 27.6 yards per return.

140. After scoring a TD on his first touch from scrimmage in his 1st career game in Week 6 (photo #18), Rashid Shaheed of the Saints makes it a touchdown on his first 2 touches from scrimmage 5 days later on Thursday night of Week 7. On the 4th play of the game's opening drive Shaheed beats CB Marco Wilson on a deep post route on 2nd and 11, catches the on-the-money pass from Andy Dalton in stride at the 8, and takes it to the house with Wilson hanging onto to his undershirt the rest of the way: youtube.com/watch?v=1Ghi68_Ow4k ......

Shaheed's 54-yard TD on his 1st career reception gave the Saints a quick 7-0 lead. It was his only touch from scrimmage in the game. His other three were on special teams. Once again though Rashid's TD did not contribute to a victory, as the Cardinals stormed back in the 2nd quarter to lead by 14 at halftime. In the season's only game that had touchdowns by two rookies with dreads (see Keaontay Ingram, photo #19) the Saints dropped to 2-5 with a 42-34 road loss to the Cardinals.

141. After tearing an ACL while playing for Alabama in the championship game of the College Football playoffs, WR Jameson Williams spent the first 11 games of his rookie season on the NFI list. He finally debuted and played 8 snaps in Week 13. And then in Week 14 he is heard from for the first time. After the Vikings were stopped on 4th down near midfield on their opening drive, it takes the Lions 2 plays to go 46 yards. Williams, the second of the Lions' two 1st round draft picks, lines up as a TE on 2nd and 5 and runs a deep post, and the Vikings don't bother to cover him. Williams almost comes to a complete stop to catch the underthrown pass at the 4-yard line but is so far behind the secondary that there are no defenders in the picture as he crosses the goal line. It's a 41-yard TD catch for his 1st career TD on his 1st career reception, giving Detroit an early 7-0 lead. The Lions went on to win 34-23.

Now, what about his dreads, you ask? Where are they? Well, I'm glad you asked .......

142. ..... Jameson kind of spoiled the occasion by keeping his dreads completely covered up in this game. Ugh! At least in all the excitement of scoring his 1st TD he still remembered to wait until he got back to the bench before taking his helmet off, thus avoiding a penalty.

And speaking of penalties ......

143. I'm including these photos from Sunday night in Week 18 for proof of Williams' dreads, which are plenty long enough to be seen when he doesn't have them completely covered up. In the 2nd quarter at Lambeau Field Jameson is well ahead of S Adrian Amos at the 20-yard line as he speeds to the end zone for a 66-yard catch and run for a TD ..... only to end up holding his head in disbelief after finding out the TD isn't going to count because of a penalty. Eliminated from playoff contention by the Seahawks' victory a few hours earlier, the Lions made sure the Packers were going home too with 20-16 victory, giving them a better record (9-8) than the Packers (8-9) for just the 2nd time in the last 17 seasons.

So Jameson scored only 1 TD, not 2, in his rookie year, with the TD coming on his only reception of the season (on 9 targets). He also had a 40-yard run in a Week 17 win over the Bears.

CAPTAIN LATE

The category named in honor of James Silas, the great guard for the San Antonio Spurs back in the 1970's and early '80's, who was nicknamed Captain Late for his propensity to come up with big, clutch plays during the closing moments of games. So now let us take a look at some of the touchdowns by players with dreads - 4th quarter and later - that were a big reason why their teams won.

144. After he was denied the TD on the preceding play on a 26-yard catch and run to the 1-yard line, the Cowboys go right back to CeeDee Lamb on the next play to take the lead midway through the 4th quarter in the final game of Week 3. The coverage by CB Adoree' Jackson isn't bad, but really there isn't any kind of coverage that would've prevented the TD here, as Lamb reaches out with his left arm and gathers in the pass from Cooper Rush with one hand along the left sideline in the end zone, then controls it with both hands and gets both of his feet inbounds: youtube.com/watch?v=39A8VoPSBaA ....

It was Lamb's 1st TD of the season, and it gave the Cowboys a 20-13 lead with 8:37 to play. CeeDee was the game's leading receiver with 8 catches for 87 yards. The Cowboys improved to 2-1, and dropped the Giants to 2-1, with a 23-16 road victory on Monday Night Football to wrap up Week 3.

145. Trailing 13-9 at Baltimore in Week 17 and held without a touchdown for the first 59 minutes, the Steelers pull a rabbit out of their hat to take the lead. It looks like QB Kenny Pickett will be sacked on 3rd and 8, but he escapes and moves out of the pocket to the left; and as he does, Najee Harris catches LB Roquan Smith dozing off for a second, runs right past him, and is open for the catch in the front left corner of the end zone to put the Steelers ahead: youtube.com/watch?v=Ku6OgtuCMOY .....

The 10-yard TD reception made the score 16-13 with 56 seconds to play, and it was Harris' 9th TD of the season. Najee finished with his only 100-yard rushing game of the season, gaining 111 yards on 22 carries. An interception on the Ravens' ensuing drive clinched the game for the Steelers, as they defeated the Ravens in Baltimore for the 3rd straight season 16-13 and improved to 8-8, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

146. K.J. Osborn, who scored an overtime game-winner in 2021, gets a late 4th quarter game-winner for his 1st TD of 2022 against the Lions in Week 3. With the Vikings trailing by 3 and starting at their own 44 with 1:10 to play and 0 timeouts left, Osborn picks up 28 yards on the 2nd play of the drive to move the ball into FG range. And on the very next play a busted coverage by the Lions leaves K.J. wide open on a corner route for an easy 28-yard TD catch: youtube.com/watch?v=fOdRBL8rIXU .....

It doesn't get much easier than that. Following touchdowns by Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison (photos #40-41), Osborn's TD with :45 on the clock was the 3rd one of the game by a player with dreads. K.J. finished with 5 catches for 73 yards. The Vikings held on to win 28-24.

147. At Cleveland in Week 12 the Browns were down by 7 and about to lose to the Buccaneers until David Njoku came to the rescue. On 4th and 10 in the final minute Njoku goes way up and above the coverage of LB Devin White and somehow makes a sensational one-handed catch in the end zone, and then hangs onto the ball for dear life as he returns to earth: youtube.com/watch?v=2IV609vMZig .....

After getting a TD on their opening drive, the Browns didn't get another one until this 12-yarder with 32 seconds remaining that tied the game at 17. It was Njoku's 2nd TD of the season and his first since Week 3. The Browns went on to win 23-17 on a Nick Chubb touchdowns in the closing seconds of overtime.

148. After scoring a TD earlier in the game on his 1st career reception (photo #13), Jelani Woods scores a TD on his 2nd career reception too! On 2nd and 10 in the closing seconds at Indianapolis in Week 3 Woods thwarts S Juan Thornhill's attempt to break up the pass from Matt Ryan, somehow managing to gain control of the ball for a 12-yard TD and a 20-17 Colts lead with :24 on the clock: youtube.com/watch?v=H-hQTUHGua4 .....

The game-winning drive went 76 yards in 16 plays and took 8:14 off the clock, leaving the Chiefs little chance to come back. And an INT on the 3rd play of the Chiefs' final drive clinched the game, as the Colts upset the Chiefs 20-17 to pick up their 1st win of the season.

Woods would score only one more TD (photo #121) the rest of the season and finished his rookie season with 25 catches for 312 yards.

149. On Monday night in Week 13 the Buccaneers trailed the Saints 16-3 with 5 minutes left and were threatening to fail to score a TD at home vs. the Saints for the 3rd year in a row. But then a TD with 3 minutes left made it 16-10, and on their next drive the Bucs went 63 yards in 11 plays, with rookie RB Rachaad White finishing it with a with a 6-yard TD reception with only 3 seconds remaining. White catches the pass from Tom Brady on 3rd and goal just far enough away from LB Demario Davis that Davis is unable to make the tackle in time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM553kQYBws .....

It was the 2nd of 3 touchdowns White scored during the season, and it atoned for a fumble he lost earlier in the 2nd half. The Buccaneers improved to 6-6 with the big 17-16 win over the Saints. Rachaad finished the season with 481 yards rushing (3.7 yards per carry) and had 50 catches for 290 yards .....

White's TD was not the latest game-winning TD by a player with dreads in 2022. There were two even later, in overtime .....

150. In Week 11 after tying the game at Denver on a FG with 16 seconds left, the Raiders waste no time settling things in overtime, taking the OT opening kickoff and going 67 yards in 3 plays. On 1st and 10 Davante Adams completely fakes out the usually great CB Patrick Surtain II and has him beaten by 10 yards as he catches the pass from Derek Carr at the 5 and cruises into the end zone for a 35-yard TD and a 22-16 Raiders win: youtube.com/watch?v=jEMUkmsKuZA .....

The victory was the Raiders' 6th straight over the Broncos, giving them a head-to-head sweep of the Broncos for the 3rd year in a row. Adams finished with 7 catches for 141 yards and 2 TD (see photo #37 for the other) to earn head dread honors for Week 11. The 2 touchdowns upped his season total to 10, making it 3 straight seasons reaching double figures in TD scored. And the game-winner was his 3rd career overtime TD, with the others one coming in 2017 and 2018. In his first season in a Raiders uniform Davante had 100 catches (on a career high 180 targets) for 1,516 yards (37 short of his career high) and 14 TD (second highest total of his career). His 15.2 yards per reception also was a career best.

151. The only other overtime TD by a player with dreads came at Jacksonville in Week 15, during the Jaguars' season-ending 5-game winning streak that vaulted them to the AFC South division crown. And what a touchdown it was! On 3rd and 4 with the Cowboys just about 15 yards away from moving into range for the game-ending FG, a pass is bobbled by WR Noah Brown and deflects over to S Rayshawn Jenkins, who alertly grabs the ball about a foot above the ground. Jenkins then heads for the end zone; and after QB Dak Prescott gets blocked out of the way at the Dallas 40, he has clear sailing as he takes the return 52 yards to the house, right in front of those Cowboys fans in the front row, for the 40-34 Jaguars win. I'm saving the video of the play for Part 2, so check it out there or just Google it yourself. Playing in his 89th career game (not including playoffs), it's Rayshawn's 1st career TD. And it capped an incredible game in which he had a career high 18 tackles and 2 INT, earning AFC defensive player of the week honors as well as my head dread award for Week 15.

MORE HOUSE CALLS

152. There were 12 offensive touchdowns by players with dreads that covered 60 yards or more during 2022. This 61-yarder by RB JaMycal Hasty vs. the Colts in Week 6 wasn't the longest of them. Not even close. But it was the longest run of his career. On 3rd and 1 early in the 2nd quarter it's a running back's dream as Hasty, on his 2nd carry of the season, runs off tackle and finds no defenders in his path at all, bursting through the hole and going all the way untouched: youtube.com/watch?v=pAyc05eaz_s .....

According to an article in the Florida Times Union, Next Gen Stats measured JaMycal's top speed at 20.9 MPH during the run before he slowed down for the last 10 yards and came to a stop in the front right corner of the end zone. That was that fastest time of the week by any running back on a play from scrimmage. Hasty finished with 57 yards rushing - which means he had -4 yards combined on his other 2 carries. But the 57 still tied his career high, first set in 2020. The TD upped the Jaguars' lead to 14-3; but by the end of the game it was the Colts, not the Jaguars, celebrating after pulling out a 34-27 victory. On JaMycal's TD in Week 12 (photo #30) he went for a career longest gain on a reception (28 yards).

153. The Jaguars' new coaching staff evidently did not have a high opinion of WR Laviska Shenault, and so he was traded just before the start of the season. And in his first year in a Panthers uniform he recorded both his career-longest run and reception, just like JaMycal Hasty. The longest reception came here in Week 3, although it was mostly a run. With the Panthers clinging to a 13-7 lead after the Saints got a TD on their preceding drive, Shenault almost immediately makes it a two-possession game once again, as he catches a pass in the left flat on 2nd and 10, makes one defender miss at the line of scrimmage, then makes another miss 15 yards downfield, and then races all the way to the end zone without being touched and with a huge smile on his face: youtube.com/watch?v=uM7_bQTf57Y .....

The 67-yard TD on his 1st reception of the season made the score 19-7; and despite the TD by Marquez Callaway 10 minutes later on his first reception of the season (photo #26) the Panthers held on for their 1st win of the season, defeating the Saints 22-14.

Kenneth Walker's 74-yard run in Week 7 and WR Robbie Anderson's 75-yard catch for his only TD of the season for the Panthers in Week 1 were the third and second longest touchdowns from scrimmage by players with dreads. And the longest? ......

154. ..... The gold medal goes to Dalvin Cook against the Bills in Week 10. With his little brother in a Bills uniform on the opposite sideline and family members looking on in the front row, and with the Vikings down by 17 points late in the 3rd quarter, Cook gets the Minnesota comeback started. On the first play after a Bills FG, Cook follows his good blocking on a run off left tackle, makes a man miss 5 yards downfield, and then outruns everybody else as he takes it 81 yards to the house: youtube.com/watch?v=sfHwD6nkj-4 ...... Not only was it the longest run of Dalvin's career, it was the longest run by a Vikings player in 10 years. And it cut the Buffalo lead to 27-17. Dalvin made the dreads stars list with 119 yards rushing on 14 carries and 3 catches for 27 yards. His brother, James, had 5 carries for 22 yards. The comeback looked like it would stall out at 27-23 after the Vikings were stopped on 4th down at the 1-yard line in the final minute. But then the Bills decided to hand the game to the Vikings - here, you take it, we don't want it - and the Vikings ended up getting the W in OT, improving to 8-1 with a 33-30 win over the Bills in one of the wildest games of the season.

As for the short of it .....

There were 31 1-yard touchdowns by players with dreads - 23 runs and 8 receptions. But none of them was the shortest yardage TD of the season by a player with dreads ......

155. The one even shorter than all those 1-yarders came at New Orleans in Week 18. And it was the only touchdown of the season by an O-lineman with dreads, Michael Jordan. No, not the Michael Jordan. I'm talking about the one with dreads and wearing jersey #73 for the Panthers. On 3rd and goal from the 3-yard line on the 14th play of the Panthers 2nd half opening drive QB Sam Darnold tries to score on an option keeper but loses control of the ball at the 1 while being tackled by S Tyrann Mathieu. Darnold tries to regain control while he continues forward into the end zone but can't find the handle, and it bounces away from him. Having completed his blocking assignment, Jordan is standing off to the side and has a clear view of the fumble, so he starts moving toward the ball. Two other players (one from each team) try and fail to recover the ball, and it's just lying there when Jordan arrives and falls on top of it for the 0-yard fumble recovery TD: youtube.com/watch?v=ahP_vxZ1kbU ......

Had Jordan not gotten the TD, TE Ian Thomas (#80) probably would have, as he arrived on the scene just after Jordan ......

156. I'm including this screenshot of Jordan from just after he scored the TD for proof of his dreads, which are difficult to see in photos #155. Apparently he was overcome by all the excitement and needed a whiff of oxygen when he got back to the bench. 1st career touchdown - yeah, you think?

It was the only TD the Panthers scored all day. The game remained tied 7-7 until the Panthers won it on a FG on the last play of the game, giving them their first head-to-head sweep of the Saints since 2015 (the season they went to the Super Bowl) and also giving them 2nd place (beating out the Falcons and Saints on a tiebreaker) in the NFC South.

157. It was in Week 14, when the Titans lost at home to the Jaguars and had their division lead cut to 2 games, that it became obvious that the Titans were in trouble and in danger of missing the playoffs (after starting 7-3). But before things started going their way the game had an all-to-familiar beginning for the Jaguars, as the Titans took the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards in 10 plays. Derrick Henry finished the drive with a TD, of course, here scoring on a 3-yard run up the middle on 1st and goal for an early 7-0 lead. It was Henry's 16th career TD against the Jaguars, the NFL team closest to hometown of Yulee, FL (Jacksonville is about 25 miles away); and it was the 7th straight season he scored at least one TD against the Jaguars. But this time the rout was not on. The Titans had beaten the Jaguars in Nashville 8 seasons in a row, but this time not even the sight of the Jaguars (4-8) on the opposing sideline could help them. The Jaguars scored 20 points off of 4 Titans turnovers, two of which were fumbles by Henry. Derrick finished with 155 total yards (121 rushing, 34 receiving) on 20 touches, but it did not matter. The Titans lost 36-22 to drop to 7-6, with the 14-point margin of defeat being their second largest home loss to the Jaguars ever.

158. WR Tyreek Hill was spectacular in his first season in a Dolphins uniform (after playing his first 6 seasons with the Chiefs), finishing with career highs in receptions (119) and receiving yards (1,710); but unfortunately the return of his dreads (for the first time since he cut them off early in the 2019 season) was far less impressive - mostly because he had them reduced almost every week, making it almost impossible to see them. On occasion though a lock or two escaped the confines of his helmet to become visible, like here in Week 15. After James Cook scored for the Bills at the end of the 1st half (photo #138), Hill gets the 2nd TD of the game by a player with dreads late in the 3rd quarter, beating press coverage by CB Tre'Davious White on a go route and catching the pass from Tua Tagovailoa 5 yards deep in the end zone, as S Damar Hamlin comes over but gets there too late to help. The 20-yard reception was Tyreek's 8th TD of the season, and it put the Dolphins in front for the first time at 26-21. Hill finished with 9 catches but for only 69 yards. And the Dolphins couldn't hold the lead, as the Bills came back with a TD and a FG on their final two possessions. The Dolphins dropped their 3rd in a row, 32-29, leaving them 3 games behind the Bills in the AFC East with 3 to play.

159. Jakobi Meyers took one for the team big time on this play in Week 17. On 3rd and goal at the 2-yard line Meyers runs into the huddle late, and the Patriots catch the Dolphins with no cornerbacks on the field, leaving LB Duke Riley to cover Meyers. Jakobi goes way up to make the catch 2 yards deep in the end zone but is knocked off balance by Riley and has a hard, face-first landing. His head slams into the turf, and he is unable to get up, even with the help of his teammates. Trainers eventually helped him to the sideline, but he did not return, finishing with 6 catches for 49 yards. The damage was done though as far as the Dolphins were concerned. Meyers' 2-yard TD upped the New England lead to 23-14 with 4:37 remaining in the game. And the Patriots held on for a huge 23-21 home win over the Dolphins, leaving both teams at 8-8.

160. In the Week 12 Sunday night scorefest between the Packers and Eagles 2 of the game's 9 touchdowns were scored by players with dreads. This was the first. On 2nd and 20 Aaron Rodgers escapes the pocket to buy time (probably by design), and that allows Aaron Jones to escape the coverage by S Marcus Epps and make the catch in the back middle of the end zone, getting both feet inbounds and foiling Epps' attempt to knock him out of bounds. The 23-yard TD was Jones' 4th TD reception of the season and 6th TD overall, and it tied the game 20-20 midway through the 2nd quarter. The Eagles regained the lead just before halftime on a Quez Watkins TD catch and kept the lead for good. In his first career game at Lincoln Financial Field Jones missed making the dread stars list by 1 yard, as he finished with 99 total yards (43 rushing, 56 receiving) on 15 touches. The Packers fell to 4-8 with a 40-33 loss to the Eagles (10-1).

161. As was mentioned in photo #135 .... after Donte Jackson's TD, it was all Rams in the 2nd half at SoFi in Week 6. Here midway through the 4th quarter Darrell Henderson puts the finishing touches on the Rams' 17-0 2nd half run with a 2-yard run up the middle on 2nd and goal, breaking a tackle by LB Shaq Thompson (#7) at the line of scrimmage and then struggling forward and not allowing S Juston Burris (#31) and CB Tae Hayes (#32) to keep him from getting barely across the goal line.

In 2020 Henderson scored only 1 of his 6 touchdowns at home and in 2021 just 1 of his 8 TD at home. This one, which upped the Rams' lead to 24-10 was his 2nd TD of the season at home. 10 players with dreads scored touchdowns at SoFi in 2022, and Darrell was the leader among them with 3 - his only 3 TD of the season.

162. Those of you who bet the point spread on the Giants-Cowboys game in Week 12 on late Thanksgiving afternoon no doubt will never forget the 2nd TD of the season by WR Richie James. The Giants trailed 28-13 with 12 seconds left .... and if you're down two scores with enough time for two plays, technically you still have a chance. Realistically? Well, at that point the Cowboys' win probability was at 99.9%, so realistically the Giants had no chance. But with the point spread having the Cowboys favored by 10, for bettors the game was hanging in the balance. And when James crossed the goal line with this 1-yard TD catch - on a play on which CB DaRon Bland (#26) had no chance because the Giants ran a legal pick to get James open - to make the score 28-19, well, your Thanksgiving dinner all of a sudden didn't taste so good if you had the Cowboys minus the 10 points, while you were giving thanks to heaven if you had the Giants plus the 10. After the extra point was good the final score ended up being 28-20. James finished with 41 yards on a team high 5 catches.

Interestingly, not just this one but James' first three touchdowns of the season came late in the 4th quarter of games in which the Giants were way behind - before his 4th of the year (in Week 17) finally contributed to a victory. The 4 TD was a career high and equaled the number Richie had scored in the first 4 years of his career.

163. In the first game of Week 10 before D'Onta Foreman scored the Panthers 2nd TD of the night (photo #102), Laviska Shenault scored their first. The Falcons and Panthers combined for 4 punts and a FG on the game's first 5 possessions; and then all of a sudden Shenault was in the end zone. On the 2nd play of a drive that began at the Atlanta 43 after a bad punt, Shenault goes in motion behind QB P.J. Walker and catches a sideways pass 6 yards behind the line of scrimmage, then breaks into the open at the 40 thanks to blocks on the outside by fellow WRs DJ Moore and Terrace Marshall, then leaves LB Rashaan Evans and S Jaylinn Hawkins in the dust at the 20 (photo above) and scores untouched in the front left corner of the end zone - just like his TD in Week 3 (photo #153), except it was at the other end of the field at Bank of America Stadium. Since it was not a forward pass, it went down as a 41-yard TD run, and it upped the Carolina lead to 10-0 with 4:34 remaining until halftime. The Panthers never trailed in their 25-15 win, as the teams split their two games for the 3rd year in a row.

164. In Week 10 in between the 2 TD by CeeDee Lamb (see photo #90) was this one by Aaron Jones late in the 2nd quarter. And it wasn't about the touchdown itself as much as it was how he scored the touchdown. On 2nd and 5 from the 12-yard line Jones takes the handoff and runs through a huge hole in the Dallas D-line then cuts left to avoid LB Micah Parsons (#11) and outruns him to the front left corner of the end zone. But instead of just running it in, Jones decides to do it Marshawn Lynch-style, lifting off at the 1-yard line, spinning around in midair and putting his hand on his crotch while crossing the goal line, as CB Trevon Diggs looks on: youtube.com/watch?v=p3gF6SllwkU .....

The NFL, of course, has deemed this an act of vulgarity and, therefore, illegal. But Aaron got away with this one, as it went either undetected or ignored by the officials. The TD gave the Packers a short-lived 14-7 lead. The Cowboys scored the game's next 3 TD, but the Packers still came back to win it. Jones made the 4th of his 6 appearances on the dread stars list, finishing with 138 yards rushing on a season high 24 carries and also 2 catches for 18 yards and helping the Packers end a 5-game losing streak with a 31-28 overtime home win over the Cowboys.

165. Having been burned by him before and then in later years having seen him burn other teams while wearing their uniform, the Bears knew firsthand how dangerous it is to kick off to Cordarrelle Patterson. But they decide to do it anyway - and get burned again. In Week 11 the Bears had just upped their lead over the Falcons to 17-7 on a Justin Fields TD, only to then have Patterson take the ensuing kickoff return 103 yards to the house, crossing the Bears' 35-yard line in the photo above and falling into the end zone (photo on right) after S Elijah Hicks tries to trip him up at the 5: atlantafalcons.com/video/new-nfl-record-patterson-s-103-yard-kick-return-td-breaks-nfl-career-kick-off-re ......

For those of you who didn't click the link to the video ...... it was the 9th kickoff return TD by Patterson in his career, the most by anyone in the history of the league. And it was the 3rd time he had taken one to the house against the Bears, the same Bears he scored 2 kickoff return TD for during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. It was his 6th TD of the 2022 season, and it pulled the Falcons to within 17-14 with 4:18 remaining until halftime. It also atoned for the fumble he lost on the Falcons' preceding possession. Cordarrelle finished with 59 yards from scrimmage on 12 touches in addition to his fumble and TD in the Falcons' 27-24 home win over the Bears ......

166. ..... In the first game of Week 11 three days earlier Derrick Henry, who was stopped by LB Quay Walker for a 2-yard loss on 4th and 1 on the Titans' preceding drive, is not denied this time as he runs through Walker's attempted tackle and into the end zone on a run off left tackle on 1st and goal, completing a 41-yard drive. The 4-yard TD run upped to Titans' lead over the Packers to 14-6 with 32 seconds remaining in the 1st half. It was Henry's 10th TD of the season, making 5 years in a row he has scored at least 10. Derrick finished the night with 132 total yards (87 rushing, 45 receiving) on 30 touches and also threw a TD pass, the 2nd of his career. The 27-17 win was the first in Green Bay in 18 years for the Titans, who had been blown out by an aggregate count of 95-21 on their previous two games at Lambeau Field.

167. For the 2nd straight season Najee Harris finished with exactly 10 TD; and for the 2nd straight season his 10th TD came at home in a win vs. the Browns ..... in Week 17 in 2021, and here in Week 18 in 2022. After fumbling the ball at the 1-yard line to end the Steelers' opening drive, Harris makes amends late in the 3rd quarter, scoring on a 4-yard run up the middle despite being hit by three Browns defenders to increase the Steelers' lead to 20-7. Najee fell a bit short of what would have been his 3rd appearance on the dread stars list, finishing with 90 total yards (80 rushing, 10 receiving) on 24 touches. The Steelers won 28-14, defeating the Browns in Pittsburgh in the regular season for the 19th season in a row, to finish 9-8; but they failed to make the playoffs, losing a tiebreaker to the Dolphins for the last spot.

LASTS

168. Earlier we saw James Robinson's 1st TD of the season (photo #7) and his 1st TD for the Jets (photo #8). Now here's his last TD for the Jaguars. It came already in Week 3. On the 5th play of their first 2nd half possession the Jaguars go for it on 4th and 1 and hit the jackpot, as Robinson takes the handoff off left tackle and easily runs 50 yards into the end zone without being touched by any Chargers defenders, increasing the Jacksonville lead to 23-10. Half of Robinson's rushing yards came on this play, as he made the dread stars list for the first and only time all season, finishing with 100 yards rushing on 17 carries and 3 catches for 16 yards. Entering the game, the Jaguars were 3-15 all time in their games on the West Coast, with all three victories coming in Oakland. But things were different this time. With Chargers QB Justin Herbert hampered by an injury, the Jaguars easily handled the Chargers at SoFi. The final score of 38-10 made it by far the largest margin of victory ever for the Jaguars on the West Coast.

It hardly seemed this would be Robinson's last TD for the Jaguars. At this point he had 4 touchdowns in their first 3 games. But with the team convinced that Travis Etienne (their 1st round pick in 2021 who missed his entire rookie season) was fully healthy in his recovery from a torn ACL, they decided they could make do without Robinson and traded him to the Jets after their game in Week 7. Other than the one game in which he scored his only TD James was pretty much no factor for the Jets, as he was inactive for the final 5 games of the season.

169. Just the same as with James Robinson, the last TD of the season came far too early for Kareem Hunt. After his 2 opening day touchdowns (photos #56-57) Hunt scored only 2 more, with the last of them coming at Baltimore in Week 7. Penetration by the Ravens D-line forces Hunt to cut up the middle on 2nd and goal, and he unexpectedly finds running room. LB Josh Bynes tries to stop him at the 1 and ends up face down in the turf (photo on right) as Kareem bounces off the hit and spins and falls backwards into the end zone. The 2-yard TD run cut the Ravens' lead to 23-20 with 9 minutes to play in the 4th quarter; but the Browns didn't score again, and the final was 23-20. Hunt's 4 TD were his fewest in a season since he score 3 in 2019, which was the year he was suspended for the first half of the season. In 2022 he was healthy for all 17 games, but the Browns leaned heavily on Nick Chubb, who had 302 carries to just 123 for Kareem.

170. With the gametime temperature of 9 degrees and the winds at 26 MPH, Miami native James Cook probably thought he was on the North Pole instead of Soldier Field on Christmas Eve (Week 16). But despite the chill, he had his most productive game of the season, which included his 3rd and last TD of the (regular) season. Trailing the lowly Bears 10-6 at halftime, the Bills finally woke up, scoring touchdowns on their first 2 possessions in the 2nd half. Cook accounted for all 35 yards on the second of them, which began after a Bears turnover - an 8-yard run on 2nd and 10 followed by this 27-yard run for a TD on 3rd and 2 on a play where he met very little resistance from the defense. The TD upped the Bills' lead to 21-10 with 7:57 remaining in the 3rd quarter. James made the dread stars list for the 2nd time in his rookie season, finishing with a season high 99 yards rushing on 11 carries along with 1 reception for 9 yards. The Bills, who lost on their first 5 visits to Chicago, made it 2 straight road wins over the Bears with a 35-13 victory, improving to 12-3 and dropping the Bears to 3-12.

171. In Week 18 Jakobi Meyers' last TD of the season was spectacular enough that I need to include the video of it. After the Bills took the lead on the opening kickoff return, the Patriots tied it up on their 2nd possession, driving 74 yards in 9 plays. Meyers, who converted the 1st first down of the drive with a catch and run for a 20-yard gain on 3rd and 1, finishes the drive with a leaping catch in the back left corner of the end zone on a fade route on 2nd and goal, somehow barely getting his right foot down (the photographer in the photo above needed to be zoomed out a bit farther) and then his left (photo on right) before being pushed out of bounds by CB Taron Johnson: youtube.com/watch?v=U1qv2cDpHJI .....

It was Jakobi's 6th TD of the season, extending his career high, which was 2 prior to the 2022 season. But the day did not have a happy ending for Patriots fans. Needing a win to make the playoffs, the Patriots were within 5 of the Bills early in the 4th quarter despite giving up two kickoff return touchdowns (yikes!). But the Bills held on, adding another TD for a 35-23 victory that eliminated New England (8-9) from playoff contention. It turned out to be Meyers' final game in a Patriots uniform. He scored 0, 0, 2, and 6 touchdowns for a total of 8 in his 4 years in New England.

172. After avoiding the last-ditch tackle attempt by LB Kenneth Murray inside the 5-yard line, DeAndre Hopkins takes the last steps on his 33-yard TD reception in Week 12. On 3rd and 5 Hopkins is open on a post route and makes the catch at the 20, immediately spins away from a would-be tackler and has clear sailing until encountering Murray, who gets a hand on his helmet but cannot stop him. The TD gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead late in the 1st quarter. DeAndre contributed receptions of 21 and 29 yards on the Cardinals' other two TD drives in the game, finishing with a game high 87 yards on 4 catches. But the Chargers had the last laugh, scoring a TD and 2-point conversion with 15 seconds to play in the game to win 25-24, loss #2 for the Cardinals during their season-ending 7-game losing streak. 2022 began with a 6-game suspension for Hopkins and didn't get a whole lot better after he returned. Following his touchdowns in Week 8 (photo #109) and 9, this one was his last in 2022, with his season total of 3 TD being his fewest since he had 2 in his rookie season way back in 2013. This also was his final TD in an Arizona uniform. After beginning his career with 54 TD in 7 seasons with the Texans, he scored 17 in his 3 seasons with the Cardinals and now is working on Chapter 3 of his career with the Titans.

173. Similar to DeAnde Hopkins the 2022 season had Alvin Kamara making far fewer house calls than he's used to. After his 3-TD game in Week 8 (photos #47-49) he didn't score again until here in Cleveland in Week 16. After taking the handoff on 1st and goal Kamara bounces off one defender 1 yard behind the line of scrimmage and slides through an opening, then bounces of a hit by S Grant Delpit (#22) at the 1 and falls forward into the end zone, getting the ball over the goal line just as he arm hits the ground. The 4-yard TD run put the Saints in front 17-10 late in the 3rd quarter and turned out to be the game-winning score. In the same arctic conditions that James Cook excelled in in Chicago (photo #170) Kamara made the dread stars list for the 6th time, finishing with 110 total yards (76 rushing, 34 receiving) on 22 touches to help the Saints defeat the Browns 17-10. The TD by Kamara was the 72nd of his career, tying him for the most in Saints franchise history. But he would have to wait until 2023 to have the record to himself, as he did not score in the final 2 games of the season. Alvin's 2022 totals of 897 yards rushing and 490 yards receiving weren't that far off his career averages. But the touchdowns just weren't there. His 4 TD scored were a career low, 2 less than his previous low of 6 in 2019.

174. We've already seen the touchdowns by Jordan Mason (photo #21) and Davante Adams (photos #80-81), and now here is first of the 4 TD by players with dreads in the 49ers-Raiders game in Week 17. It was the last TD of the season for Brandon Aiyuk. After the Raiders scored on their opening drive, so do the 49ers, as Aiyuk runs a post route against CB Nate Hobbs (#39) and is open for the catch in the middle of the end zone. Uh .... Hobbs is so far away from Aiyuk because Brandon pushed off and knocked him off balance, which had Hobbs pleading - in vain - for an offensive PI penalty to be called. The 2-yard TD catch tied the game 7-7 midway through the 1st quarter, and it was Aiyuk's 8th TD of the season - a new career high, surpassing the 7 he scored during his 2020 rookie season.

It looked like Aiyuk was going to be the star of the game. After the Raiders tied the game on a TD with 1:11 to play in the 4th quarter, Brandon accounted for all 52 yards on the 49ers' ensuing drive - on receptions of 12, 18, 11, and 11 yards - singlehandedly moving the ball into FG range. Only to watch the would-be game-winning 41-yard FG attempt be missed on the final play of the 4th. That final splurge put Brandon over 100 yards for the day (9 catches for 101) and onto the dread stars list for the first time all season. The 49ers ended up winning in overtime 37-34 .....

175. Earlier in the day on New Year's Day (Week 17) you actually didn't have to strain your eyes (much) to see Tyreek Hill's dreads for a change as they made their best showing of the season in the Dolphins' game at New England ...... especially on this play. On the first play of the 2nd quarter the TD celebration is more spectacular than the TD itself as Hill catches a sideways pass 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage on 2nd and goal, runs around left end and gets the ball inside the pylon just before S Devin McCourty can push him out of bounds ..... and then punctuates everything with a back flip in the middle of the end zone, sticking the landing perfectly: miamidolphins.com/video/tyreek-hill-gets-a-touchdown-x5540 ......

Officially a 2-yard rushing TD, Hill's 9th and last TD of the season finished a 13-play, 75-yard drive and tied the game at 7. And after Melvin Ingram scored the season's 1st TD by a player with dreads (photo #1), this was the only other TD all season by a player with dreads against the Patriots. The 2 allowed by New England were the fewest by any team. The Dolphins ended up losing to the Patriots 23-21, dropping their 5th in a row. But the Dolphins got the last laugh, eking out an 11-6 win over the Jets the following week (while the Patriots were losing to the Bills) to clinch the final AFC playoff spot. Although this wasn't one of his better performances (4 catches for 55 yards in addition to the TD) Hill finished the season tied with Davante Adams for the second most appearances on the dread stars list with 8 .....

176. And here's one more "last" from Week 17, the last TD of the season for JaMycal Hasty. The Jaguars get off to a good start in their game at Houston, with their defense getting a stop on 4th and 1 on the Texans' opening drive and then their offense driving 45 yards in 8 plays. And with Travis Etienne taking himself out of the game on 3rd and goal, it is Hasty who gets the TD on his first touch of the day, as the Jaguars catch the Texans by surprise with a run up the middle. DT Rasheem Green tries to wrap up Hasty at the 2, but JaMycal has enough forward momentum going that he's able to keep going and power his way into the end zone for a 5-yard TD run and an early 7-0 lead. The Jaguars had lost to the Texans 9 straight times, having been swept 4 straight years (2018-21). But not this time. They led 21-0 at halftime and cruised to a 31-3 victory. And with the Titans having already lost (again) on Thursday night, the Jaguars moved into sole possession of 1st place in the AFC South at 8-8.

You know me. I'm never going to approve of anyone having their dreads reduced. But with JaMycal's dreads being so long, they would be too easy for defenders to grab if he didn't reduced them. So, without approving it, let's just say I can understand it.

After scoring 1 TD in each of his first 2 NFL seasons (both with the 49ers), Hasty scored a career high 3 TD in his first season in Jacksonville.

177. And for the last "last" we go back to Week 16. The Christmas Eve big freeze gripping the Great Lakes region was also in Nashville, where the gametime temperature of 20 degrees was the coldest ever for a Titans home game. Going for his 5th straight multi-TD game vs. the Texans, Derrick Henry gets the game off to a good start for the Titans, finishing their 2nd possession of the day as he takes the handoff on 1st and 10 and runs through a huge hole off right tackle, makes a man miss at the 40 and goes untouched the rest of the way, with CBs Desmond King and Tavierre Thomas arriving too late to prevent the TD. The 48-yard TD run was Henry's longest TD of the season and his 4th longest gain of the season. Henry, who led everyone with 12 appearances on the dread stars list for the season, made it again in Week 16, finishing with 126 yards rushing on 23 carries. But for the second home game in a row he also had a costly fumble. And the team's struggles continued as the Titans lost their 5th straight, 19-14 to the Texans, who ended their 9-game losing streak.

Derrick failed to score in the Titans' last 2 games and finished with 13 TD for the season, leaving him 1 behind Davante Adams in the race for the league's top scoring player with dreads. It was the 3rd time in the last 4 years he finished 1 TD behind the leader(s).

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how wonderful it was to actually see Derrick's dreads during the 2022 season. After 5 years of having them hopelessly reduced - so much so that they could be barely recognized as dreads - and 5 years of me complaining about it, he finally unleashed them and they made their best showing since 2016. Yes, he still had them reduced, but only a little bit. And it turned out they had grown so long (which we suspected) that they often were spectacular, even reduced. Thank you, Derrick.

As for the last TD of the 272 regular season touchdowns by players with dreads, I'm as unsure who scored it as I was with who scored the first. It very probably was the one by CeeDee Lamb (photo #99) with :06 left in the 1st half vs. the Commanders in Week 18; but it also could be the 11-yard TD run by Tutu Atwell with 39 seconds to play in the 1st half at Seattle. I didn't include a photo of that one because ...... of course, you couldn't see his dreads.

PLAYOFFS

Almost done, but not quite yet. Let's take a look at a few of the 8 TD scored by players with dreads during the postseason .....

178. The first of the 8 came in the first game of the playoffs. After the 49ers scored a FG and TD on their first 2 drives, the Seahawks strike back as Kenneth Walker takes a run off left tackle 7 yards to the house on 1st and goal, and with surprisingly little resistance from the 49ers D. The TD got the Seahawks on the board and put some wind in their sails and before you knew it, they were going in at halftime with a 17-16 lead. But a critical fumble by QB Geno Smith on a sack late in the 3rd quarter turned the game in the 49ers' favor for good, and they ended up routing the Seahawks 41-23. Walker had 15 carries for 63 yards rushing in his 1st career playoff game.

179. The next day another rookie scored a TD in his playoff debut, as James Cook finishes a 4-play, 23-yard drive set up by a Dolphins turnover. On 1st and 10 the Bills' O-line pulls to the right but Cook, by design runs to the left and beats LB Elandon Roberts (#52) around the corner at the 5-yard line. CB Keion Crossen (#27) tries to strip the ball from Cook at the 1 but James covers up with two hands and spins into the end zone. The 12-yard run upped the Bills' lead to 14-0 with 5:07 remaining in the 1st quarter and was their second TD in less than 3 minutes. Cook finished with 39 yards rushing on a game high 12 carries. The Dolphins hung tough all day; but after pulling within 3 on a TD early in the 4th quarter, they never made it into Bills territory on either of the final two drives, and the Bills held on to win 34-31 .....

180. A few hours later K.J. Osborn makes it 3 players with dreads in the 1st round with a TD in their first playoff game. After the Giants went up 17-7 in the 2nd quarter on a 20-play TD drive that took nearly 11 minutes off the clock, the Vikings answer back in just 2:40 to get back within 3. On 1st and goal Osborn runs his route to the middle 5 yards downfield and is left uncovered by the Giants, who are more interested covering all the other receivers. K.J., with his dreads reduced even more than usual, makes the catch at the 4 and turns and gets into the end zone as S Xavier McKinney tries to strip the ball from him at the goal line. The 9-yard TD catch made the score 17-14 with 45 seconds remaining until halftime. Osborn finished with just 2 catches for 20 yards.

The Vikings had been playing with fire all season, seemingly playing close games every week and winning every one of them. But their magic ran out here. The Giants dominated in total yards 431-332. And after the Giants scored a TD to take the lead midway through the 4th quarter, the Vikings did not threaten on their final two possessions of the game. After finishing 13-4 during the regular season, the Vikings dropped their playoff opener at home to the Giants 31-24.

181. In the final game of the 1st round CeeDee Lamb scored the last of 5 TD scored by players with dreads in the 1st round. And it could hardly have been any easier. After the Buccaneers finally scored a TD at the end of the 3rd quarter to pull within 24-6, the Cowboys crush any hopes for a miracle comeback, immediately responding with a 66-yard TD drive. Going for it on 4th and 4 (because their kicker missed the extra point after all 4 of their touchdowns) the Cowboys get more than just the 1st down, as a busted coverage leaves three DBs covering the tight end over the middle and nobody anywhere near Lamb as he runs his route to the corner. CeeDee makes the catch at the 3 and eases into the end zone to make it 31-6 (hey, they made the extra point this time) with 10:13 to play. Lamb, who had only 1 reception for 21 yards in his playoff debut in the 2021 (season) playoffs, did a little better this time, finishing with 4 catches for 68 yards, with all 4 receptions coming on TD drives. Favored by 3 on the road, the Cowboys took care of business, defeating the Buccaneers 31-14 at Raymond James Stadium for their first playoff road win in 30 years, ending a streak of 8 straight road losses in the playoffs.

No TD were scored by players with dreads in the 6 games over the next two weekends. But with the Chiefs making it to the Super Bowl, there was a decent chance we would have somebody with dreads score in the Super Bowl for the first time since LeGarrette Blount did for the Eagles 5 years earlier in Super Bowl 52. Little did we expect that somebody to be .......

182. ..... Nick Bolton, as in linebacker Nick Bolton ......

The Eagles had the lead and the ball for the first time early in the 2nd quarter, and at that point I was worried that the Chiefs' defense wasn't going to be able to stop them. At all. But then on 3rd and 5 (after the Eagles were going to run their famed "brotherly shove" QB sneak on 3rd and inches but were called for a false start penalty instead) on the 6th play of the drive QB Jalen Hurts thinks he's going to pick up the 1st down on a QB draw up the middle, only to be startled to find Bolton directly in his path. Hurts quickly cuts sideways trying to avoid Bolton but loses control of the ball, which then hits his foot and bounces away into open field 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Bolton stays on his feet after tackling Hurts and hurries over and scoops up the ball on a convenient hop (photo above) at the 36-yard line and takes it all the way to the house: youtube.com/watch?v=XMalhNDopoA .....

How sweet that was. Instead of the Eagles possibly going up by two scores, all of a sudden the game was tied at 14. In addition to scoring a TD Bolton was the game's leading tackler with 9 (8-1). The TD was the first ever Super Bowl defensive TD by a player with dreads; and as you know by now, it was just the beginning of things. Later there were two more touchdowns scored by players with dreads for KC - Isiah Pacheco in the 3rd quarter and Kadarius Toney in the 4th - making Super Bowl 57 the first Super Bowl ever with 3 TD by players with dreads. Toney nearly made it 4 but had to settle for just the record for the longest punt return in Super Bowl history when he was tackled at the 5-yard line at the end of a 65-yard punt return. The Chiefs got the TD 3 plays later instead to up their lead to 35-27. In one of my most satisfying Super Bowls to watch ever the Chiefs defeated the Eagles 38-35 on a FG with 8 seconds to play to take home their 2nd championship in 4 years.

That's all for Part 1. I didn't think it was going to take me all summer (and spring) to finish it. But since it did, I'm going to have to put Part 2 on hold for a while .... not to mention the 2023 house calls. The 2024 season is just around the corner, and I have to get my predictions ready for that. Whenever I do get to Part 2, it will feature some of the defensive stats and highlights by players with dreads from 2022. Hopefully I'll have it done in a couple of months or so, but honestly I have no idea when.

House of Dread

Monday, August 26, 2024

2022 NFL House Calls - Part 1

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