What is it about running backs coming on late in the year? Jamaal Charles scored 5 TDs at Oakland, and he's just the latest in a long line of players at that position who have put together their best games late in the year.
Since the '60s, only 10 running backs have scored 5 TDs in a game. And the vast majority of done it late in the year.
The list appears below. Six of the 10 did it in games played in December (even though the schedule hasn't always run all the way through the month like it does now). That's 60 percent.
Of the others, I'm seeing one January (playoff game), one late November (which was like a December given the way the schedule worked in 1961). One in October and one in September.
Who can explain this?
Notice, by the way, that Gale Sayers (with the only 6-TD game) and Paul Hornung did it on the same day. Not sure how many fantasy leagues were around then, but it would have been pretty special to have those two guys in a starting lineup on that day.
| RUNNING BACKS SCORING 5+ TDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player | Year | Date |
| Abner Haynes | 1961 | Nov. 26 |
| Billy Cannon | 1961 | Dec. 10 |
| Cookie Gilchrist | 1963 | Dec. 8 |
| Gale Sayers | 1965 | Dec. 12 |
| Paul Hornung | 1965 | Dec. 12 |
| Ricky Watters | 1994 | Jan. 15 |
| James Stewart | 1997 | Oct. 12 |
| Shaun Alexander | 2002 | Sept. 29 |
| Clinton Portis | 2003 | Dec. 7 |
| Jamaal Charles | 2013 | Dec. 15 |
--Ian Allan