Looks and Touches: Week 2

The following is a list of the Week 2 leaders in looks and touches. It defines those running backs and receivers who received the most attention this past weekend.

Touches is defined as the number of times a running back carried or caught the football.
Looks is defined as the number of times a player was the intended target of a pass.

TOUCHES
• Broncos coach Mike Shanahan appears to have found a RB that he likes. Travis Henry led all players with 28 touches (26 carries, two receptions) in Week 2, despite sustaining an ankle injury in the third quarter; his 54 touches (49 carries, five catches) after two weeks is the most in the league, as is his 319 yards of offense (267 rushing, 52 receiving). Cecil Sapp, Selvin Young, and Mike Bell have combined for 18 touches (14 carries, four receptions) through two games.

• Rudi Johnson and Jamal Lewis each had 27 touches in the AFC North shootout that gained more notoriety for its combined totals of 11 TD passes and 729 passing yards. Lewis led the league with 216 yards of offense on his 27 carries (no catches), while Johnson finished fourth with 151 yards (118 rushing on 23 carries, 33 receiving on four catches).

• Edgerrin James turned in his most productive game as a Cardinal in Week 2, compiling 150 yards of offense (128 rushing, 22 receiving) on his 26 touches (24 carries, two receptions). James' 54 touches after the first two games of the season have him tied with Travis Henry for the league lead.

• LaMont Jordan recorded 159 yards of offense for the second consecutive week, albeit with a completely different method – he gained all of his yards on 25 carries in Week 2 while failing to record a catch, something of a strange follow-up to his Week 1 performance which included 70 rushing yards and nine catches for 89 receiving yards. Jordan's 318 yards of offense (229 rushing, 89 receiving) after two weeks is just one less than Travis Henry's league-leading total.

• Can you say "Buy Low?" The "Big 3" all struggled for the second consecutive week – LaDainian Tomlinson totaled just 58 yards (43 rushing, 15 receiving) on his 22 touches (18 carries, four catches); Steven Jackson had 96 yards of offense (60 rushing, 36 receiving) on 24 touches (21 carries, three receptions); and Larry Johnson had 87 yards (55 rushing, 32 receiving) on 19 touches (16 carries, three catches). All three failed to score a TD in Week 2.

• The platoon watch notes when a team's RB2 is given at least half as many touches as the RB1, regardless of the reason. Platoon watch for Week 2 included: Atlanta (Warrick Dunn 14, Jerious Norwood 10), Carolina (DeShaun Foster 13, DeAngelo Williams 13), Dallas (Julius Jones 16, Marion Barber III 16), Detroit (Tatum Bell 13, Brian Calhoun 8), Green Bay (Brandon Jackson 21, DeShawn Wynn 12), Houston (Ron Dayne 19, Ahman Green 15), Jacksonville (Fred Taylor 17, Maurice Jones-Drew 12), Kansas City (Larry Johnson 19, Michael Bennett 10), Miami (Ronnie Brown 13, Jesse Chatman 7), New England (Laurence Maroney 15, Sammy Morris 10), New Orleans (Reggie Bush 16, Deuce McAllister 11), and Tennessee (LenDale White 15, Chris Brown 13).

• Mewelde Moore led all players with at least 10 touches in yards-per-touch, as he gained 86 yards of offense (50 rushing, 36 receiving) on 10 touches (six carries, four catches), good for an 8.6-yard average. Jamal Lewis deserves mention here, as his 216 yards on 27 carries (no catches) was good for an 8-yard average. Carnell Williams brought up the rear in Week 2, managing just 61 rushing yards on 24 carries (no receptions), a 2.54-yard average – his two one-yard scoring runs helped make up for an otherwise unproductive day. Amazingly, Williams eked out the distinction just ahead of LaDainian Tomlinson, who averaged just 2.64 yards of offense on his 22 touches in Week 2.

LOOKS
• Chris Chambers gained notoriety last season for his 154 looks, the fourth-highest total in the league. Actually, he gained notoriety for converting them into just 59 catches for 677 yards and 4 TD, as he managed more than six catches or 66 receiving yards in a game just once last season. During Week 2 action, Chambers registered a league-high 16 looks, which led to nine catches for 109 yards. After two weeks of play, Chambers is second in the league in looks (27), sixth in receptions (15), and ninth in receiving yards (201).

• More than half (45) of the 83 combined pass attempts in the Cincinnati/Cleveland scoring-fest went to just three players – Chad Johnson (16 looks), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (15), and Braylon Edwards (14). The three players combined for 27 catches, 424 receiving yards, and 6 TD in the game.

• Deion Branch rebounded nicely from his Week 1 0-fer in which he had no catches on just three looks. Branch was targeted 13 times in Week 2, catching seven passes for 122 yards.

• It appears that Randy Moss for a fourth-round draft pick may end up being a decent trade for the Patriots, does it not? After two weeks of play, he's tied for the league lead in receptions (17) and is second in receiving yards (288) and TD (3). What makes those numbers that much better is the fact that he's done it on 18 looks, just 18th-most in the league, and his catch rate of 94 percent is best among players with at least seven looks on the season.

• Joey Galloway certainly made the most of what passes he saw in Week 2, turning five looks into four catches for 135 yards and two TD.

• Donovan McNabb has yet to establish much of anything with his WR1 and WR2. After two weeks, Reggie Brown has just three catches for 41 yards on 14 looks (21 percent catch rate) while Kevin Curtis has six catches for 81 yards on 15 looks (40 percent), and neither has scored a TD. Meanwhile, WR3 Jason Avant has eight catches for 109 and a score on nine looks (89 percent).