Randy Moss = Touchdown Machine

Twelve years into his career, New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss remains on pace to break almost all the records held by Jerry Rice, an incoming Hall of Famer. I certainly don't expect him to break many, however, because Rice played for 20 seasons -- and most of them at an extremely high level. Moss may have entered the league at age 21, but he is unlikely to play into his 40s.

That doesn't mean we should ignore that Moss tied Rice on Sunday for the most seasons with 10 or more receiving touchdowns. In a league where scoring touchdowns is the goal, the duo tops an impressive list. Moss and Rice each have reached the milestone nine times, followed by Terrell Owens and Marvin Harrison (eight), and Cris Carter (six). Harrison and Carter are retired, so won't add to their totals, but it's conceivable Owens could reach 10 TDs again.

Granted, 10 receiving touchdowns is somewhat of an arbitrary number that sounds nice because of how many fingers we have on our hands. If the cutoff is nine receiving touchdowns, Rice (12) firmly leads the category followed by Moss and Owens (nine), and Harrison and Carter (eight).

Can Moss break the record? Possibly, considering he has reached the 10-touchdown plateau in each of his three seasons with the New England Patriots. But Rice and Harrison each had an eight-year streak snapped, and Owens is watching his own streak of three straight seasons end.

Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who has four 10+ touchdown years in his first six seasons, is likely the only other active receivers who could join this elite group. Moss had five milestone seasons in his first six years, followed by Rice (four), and Owens and Harrison (three).

Here's the breakdown of the top five receivers on this list:

Randy Moss
Nine times, two teams, four QBs
New England Patriots

2009 13 Tom Brady
2008 11 Matt Cassel
2007 23 Tom Brady
Minnesota Vikings
2004 13 Daunte Culpepper
2003 17 Daunte Culpepper (12); Gus Frerotte (5)
2001 10 Daunte Culpepper (6); Todd Bouman (4)
2000 15 Daunte Culpepper
1999 11 Jeff George (8); Randall Cunningham (3)
1998 17 Randall Cunningham (15); Brad Johnson (2)

Jerry Rice
Nine times, one team, two QBs
San Francisco 49ers
1995 15 Steve Young (11); Elvis Grbac (4)
1994 13 Steve Young
1993 15 Steve Young
1992 10 Steve Young
1991 14 Steve Young (10); Steve Bono (4)
1990 13 Joe Montana (12); Steve Young (1)
1989 17 Joe Montana (14); Steve Young (3); Steve Bono (1)
1987 22 Joe Montana (13); Steve Young (8); Harry Sydney (1)
1986 15 Jeff Kemp (8); Joe Montana (6); Mike Moroski (1)

Terrell Owens
Eight times, three teams, four QBs
Dallas Cowboys
2008 10 Tony Romo (9); Brooks Bollinger (1)
2007 15 Tony Romo
2006 13 Tony Romo (10); Drew Bledsoe (3)
Philadelphia Eagles
2004 14 Donovan McNabb
San Francisco 49ers
2002 13 Jeff Garcia
2001 16 Jeff Garcia
2000 13 Jeff Garcia
1998 14 Steve Young (11); Ty Detmer (2); Terry Kirby (1)

Marvin Harrison
Eight times, one team, one QB
Indianapolis Colts
2006 12 Peyton Manning
2005 12 Peyton Manning
2004 15 Peyton Manning (14); Jim Sorgi (1)
2003 10 Peyton Manning
2002 11 Peyton Manning
2001 15 Peyton Manning (14); Ken Dilger (1)
2000 14 Peyton Manning
1999 12 Peyton Manning

Cris Carter
Six times, two teams, two QBs
Minnesota Vikings
1999 13 Jeff George (11); Randall Cunningham (1); Randy Moss (1)
1998 12 Randall Cunningham (8); Brad Johnson (4)
1997 13 Brad Johnson (8); Randall Cunningham (5)
1996 10 Brad Johnson (8); Warren Moon (2)
1995 17 Warren Moon
Philadelphia Eagles
1989 11 Randall Cunningham (9); Matt Cavanaugh (1); Roger Ruzek (1)

Nota bene: Yes, Moss did throw one of the 13 touchdowns to Carter in 1999 -- a 27-yarder against the New York Giants. ... The next three wide receivers on the list, each with five seasons, are Art Powell, Lance Alworth and Bob Hayes. ... James Lofton is the top player on the career receiving touchdown list (26th overall with 75 touchdowns) without any seasons with 10+ touchdown catches.

Week One Observations

The NFL regular season has finally returned, and so have I. Because I work almost every Sunday, I'm not able to watch nearly enough football. This year, I bought NFL Game Rewind from NFL.com, which allows me to watch any game after the fact. And if I watch more football, I'll do more blogging (which isn't hard to do when I've set the standard at none during the past five months).

This week, I was able to watch the Colts-Jaguars and Packers-Bears live, and the Steelers-Titans and Patriots-Bills on delay. I also watched the NFL.com highlights for each of the other games. Here's some of my thoughts (I'm heavily biased toward the Patriots-Bills because I watched that game most recently):

1. Adrian Peterson (the Vikings version, of course) is the best offensive player in the league today. He had five runs of 10+ yards, including this jaw-dropping 64-yard TD. Running backs wear down quickly, especially when they have a lot of carries, so appreciate now what Peterson is doing in his third NFL season.

2. I'm shocked, and extremely thankful, that I haven't heard people clamoring for changes to overtime after the Steelers beat the Titans on an opening-drive field goal in the extra session. I'll assume people are still actually stupid, and simply felt Pittsburgh deserved to win after Hines Ward' heat-of-the-moment fumble in the final minute of regulation.

3. Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio made the wrong decision going for a two-point conversion at the end of the game. Not because the Jaguars missed, and lost 14-12, but because there was too much time remaining. Failing to convert with 5:30 left meant an Indianapolis touchdown would make it a two-score game. And only New England can overcome that deficit so quickly, right?

4. Three of the most athletic plays of the week came from defensive players in the Packers-Bears tilt. Green Bay defensive tackle Johnny Jolly sniffed out a screen pass and made a great diving interception that would make any cornerback jealous. Chicago safety Danieal Manning broke through the line to sack Aaron Rodgers in the end zone, using his strength to prevent a desperation heave. And Green Bay linebacker Brandon Chillar's hurdle of a running back to sack Jay Cutler was a thing of beauty.

5a. For all the furor over tennis players -- yes, tennis players -- swearing on television, I am surprised nobody noted that Wes Welker audibly dropped the f-bomb after dropping the first pass thrown his way. How can he get attention like Serena Williams and Roger Federer when saying naughty things? Lose?

5b. Randy Moss uses his lengthy arms to block with his hands, never putting his body into a defender a la Hines Ward. He also tries to block quickly and get to the next line of defense on running plays. Moss had three first-half catches on six targets and nine second-half catches on 10 targets, tying a career high with 12 receptions. Maybe Tom Brady, who only threw deep once (incomplete to Joey Galloway), just needed to get warmed up in his return from knee surgery.

5c. On Buffalo's second play from scrimmage, Terrell Owens was utterly confused. The Bills are implementing a no-huddle offense this season, and when Trent Edwards changed the play at the line, Owens threw his hands up in what-am-I-supposed-to-do fashion. After the snap, he jogged while watching the play develop, thankful it was a run.

5d. There were two things I never heard in all the coverage of Leodis McKelvin, who became the unwelcome center of attention after fumbling away a fourth-quarter kickoff return and allowing the Patriots to take the late lead. McKelvin fumbled on his previous kickoff return (although the Bills recovered), and actually took a touchback in a similar situation in the first half.