10 Most Shocking Stats of the NFL Season Thus Far

We have officially reached Week 10 of the 2013 NFL season, which means that each of the league's 32 teams has now passed the halfway point of its schedule.

There is still half a season remaining, but 2013 is already shaping up to be one of the wildest years in recent football memory. 

The 2013 season has been full of unusual, unexpected and sometimes unbelievable events. A quick look at the season's statistics will show as much.

While stats can sometimes be deceiving, they never lie. In honor of Week 10, let's take a look at 10 of the most surprising stats of the first half of the season.

*All statistics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required), unless otherwise noted.

2013 Is a Passing Year

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It is commonly accepted as fact that the NFL has become a passing league.

While the ability to run the football is still a coveted asset, it appears that effective passing is a team's best bet at success.

According to Pro Football Focus' team ratings, only two of the top 10 passing teams currently hold a losing record. These teams are the 2-6 Atlanta Falcons (ranked fifth in passing) and 2-6 Pittsburgh Steelers (10th).

Coincidentally, only two of the top 10 rated teams in pass blocking do not currently have a winning record. These teams are the 3-5 Washington Redskins (ranked fourth) and the 3-6 St. Louis Rams (seventh).

Conversely, only half of the top 10 rated teams in run offense hold a winning record. These teams are the Seattle Seahawks (ranked first), Carolina Panthers (fourth), San Francisco 49ers (sixth), Green Bay Packers (ninth) and Chicago Bears (10th).

Only three teams—the Packers, Bears and Seahawks—are rated in the top 10 of both run and pass offense.

Interestingly, the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs are not rated in the top 10 of either.

The Kansas City Chiefs Are Better Than a Third of the 2012 Playoff Teams

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Actually, it might be fair to say that Kansas City is better than every 2012 playoff team considering they are the only NFL team that remains undefeated.

However, the truly shocking fact is that the 9-0 Chiefs have compiled more wins than four of the teams to reach the postseason last year have combined.

While Kansas City stumbled to a 2-14 record in 2012, the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons all found their way into the playoffs.

Apparently, a lot can change in a year.

Through Week 9, the Vikings, Redskins, Texans and Falcons have a combined record of 8-24.

None of these former playoff participants has more than three wins on the season, which is one more game than the Chiefs won in 2012 and one-third of their current win total.

Basketball Players Make Terrific Tight Ends

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Successful basketball players have an uncanny ability to leap, track passes and battle for position with a ball in midair.

These traits also seem to translate well to the football field.

Want proof?

Four of the top five tight ends in Pro Football Focus' pass rankings entered the league with a collegiate basketball background. These players (in order of ranking) are New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (No. 1), Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez (No. 2), Cleveland Browns tight end Jordan Cameron (No. 4) and Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas (No. 5).

Gonzalez is widely regarded as the best tight end to ever play the game. However, fans may have forgotten that Gonzalez helped his University of California basketball team reach the Sweet 16 back in 1997.

Graham was a member of the Miami Hurricanes basketball team from 2005-2009, and he played just one season of collegiate football before being drafted by the Saints in the third round of the 2010 draft.

Thomas and Cameron have exploded onto the football scene in 2013. Thomas was a four-year starter for the Portland State basketball team, while Cameron was a member of Brigham Young's hoops team prior to transferring to USC for football. 

Both Cameron and Thomas were fourth-round draft selections in 2011.

LeSean McCoy Is the Top Rated Running Back in Football

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Who is the NFL's best running back?

Now there's a fun topic to debate. 

Unfortunately, for fans of Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte and Jamaal Charles, there really isn't much room for debate.

According to Pro Football Focus' running back ratings, the top back in football is none other than LeSean McCoy.

McCoy is ranked first in run rating, 10th in pass, first in penalty and 11th in yards per carry (4.6).

Only three running backs have gained more yards after contact than McCoy this season. They are Peterson, Marshawn Lynch and Alfred Morris. Each of the three have fumbled the ball more than McCoy (once).

Therefore, it isn't all too surprising that McCoy ranks first in overall running back rating.

What might be surprising is that Cincinnati Bengals rookie back Giovani Bernard is currently ranked second.

A.J. Green Is the League's Most-Targeted Wide Receiver

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Which NFL wide receiver is the most important to his team?

Is it Calvin Johnson, Dez Bryant or Wes Welker?

If you ask Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, he will probably tell you that it is third-year wideout A.J. Green.

No wide receiver has been targeted more than Green, who has been thrown at 100 times in nine games.

This is probably why Green currently leads all wide receivers in yards receiving (862), broken tackles or missed tackles (11) and is tied for second in dropped passes (eight).

Unfortunately, Green's reception percentage of 57 is only good for 72nd in the league.

Alex Smith Leads All Quarterbacks in Scrambles

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When you think of running quarterbacks, you naturally envision Chiefs signal-caller Alex Smith.

No?

Well, according to Pro Football Focus, Smith has scrambled with the football more than any other quarterback in the entire NFL this season.

Smith leads the league with 33 runs after dropping back to pass. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is next with 32 and Terrelle Pryor of the Oakland Raiders is third with 25.

Perhaps the least surprising ranking on the list is Peyton Manning, who finds himself last with zero scrambles on the year.

More Than a Third of Week 1 Starting QBs Have Missed Time

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There are 32 NFL teams, which naturally means that there were 32 quarterbacks who started under center in Week 1. However, not all of them have started every week since.

The quarterbacks who started in Week 1 and have missed at least one start due to injury or benching are:

EJ Manuel, Buffalo Bills

Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns

Jake Locker, Tennessee Titans

Matt Schaub, Houston Texans

Blaine Gabbert, Jacksonville Jaguars

Terrelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders

Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles

Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears

Christian Ponder, Minnesota Vikings

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a fractured collarbone in his Week 9 matchup with the Bears, which makes him unlucky No. 12.

This means that 37.5 percent of the league's opening-week starters have missed at least one game this season, which proves that having a good backup is always a good idea.

The Jacksonville Jaguars Are Really, Really Bad

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Everyone knows that the Jaguars are having a down year this season.

However, it is still a bit surprising to see just how bad the team has performed through the first nine weeks.

According to Pro Football Focus' team ratings, the Jaguars are ranked dead last in overall offense, passing offense and overall defense. 

Jacksonville also ranks in the bottom five teams in categories like run offense (31st), run defense (31st), pass rush (28th) and special teams (30th).

Coincidentally, Jacksonville is also ranked dead last in points per game (10.8), yards per game (286.5) and points allowed per game, defensively (33.0).

The Jaguars are a somewhat more respectable 27th in yards allowed per game (392.2).

In an era where every teams appears to do at least something well, it is surprising to see Jacksonville so uniformly bad across the board.

Peyton Manning Is Very, Very Good

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While Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has cooled off a bit since his seven-touchdown performance against the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL season opener, he is still having a heck of a year.

Manning has played arguably the best football of his career this season in is on pace for possibly the best passing season ever.

He is currently averaging 29.6 completions, 364.8 yards and 3.6 touchdowns per game.

This puts Manning on pace for a 474-completion, 5,838-yard, 58-touchdown season. 

In case you were not aware, these would all be new NFL single-season records.

New Orleans Saints quarterback currently holds the records for completions (468) and yards passing (5,476), both of which were obtained in 2011.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady set the record for passing touchdowns in a season with 50 in 2007.

The fact that Manning is a legitimate threat to break all three of these highly coveted records in only a single season is a true testament to his greatness.

Manning Has Already Thrown More Touchdowns Than Most Quarterbacks Did in 2012

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We understand if you're already sick of hearing about Manning's remarkable season, but an individual performance this historic is worth recognizing.

Through Week 9 of the 2013 season, Manning has attempted 333 passes and has produced 2,919 yards and 29 touchdowns,

To put this into perspective, only five quarterbacks threw for more scores in all of last season.

One of them was Manning.

The other four quarterbacks to top 29 touchdown passes in 2012 were Drew Brees (43), Aaron Rodgers (39), Tom Brady (43), and Matt Ryan (32).

All four of these quarterbacks appeared in 16 games last season.