Random statistical thoughts and musings as I revel in the warm afterglow of the Atlanta game.

1. Stat of the Week:

Number of punts, kickoffs, passes or any other foreign objects to hit the Jerrytron in 3 home games: 0

2. Old Surehand.

With crazy offensive stats pouring in - Smiles Austin's record breaking two-game receiving spree, Romo officially entering the NFL record books at No. 3 all-time in career passer rating and No. 3 three all time in career yards per attempt (Fanshot here) - one little nugget went quietly unobserved.

Over the span of the last four games, Tony Romo has exactly one interception. This is only the second time he's done this (after games 8-11 in '06). It is also only the second time he has had two consecutive games without an INT.  With four INT-free games so far this season, he has already matched his season best in his (admittedly short) career. Keep your fingers crossed.

3. Three-and-outs.

Because I am in a festive mood today, I will give you another little obscure stat to feel good about: 3-and outs. On 68 offensive drives this season, the Cowboys recorded a miserly 9 3-and-outs, or 13% of all drives. Rank in the NFL? No.1 of course.

Alas, while our defense recorded 19 on 70 drives (27%), that only ranks them 14th in the league.

Incredible factoid of the week: Oakland has the most 3-and-outs in the league on offense (31) and the least on defense (1).

4. "911 is experiencing technical difficulties, please call 919 for immediate help."

There's no denying that the Romo to Williams connection is experiencing technical difficulties. A 40% catch rate is just inacceptable, but it's not all on Roy. Sure he's dropped his share, but Romo also needs to throw it at him, not over him, and not in the dirt at his feet. But just imagine what a dominant offense we could have if this is fixed ...

5. Power and Precision: Our Kickers aim for the NFL record books.

Exhibit A: David Buehler. Buehler has already amassed 13 Touchbacks on 35 Kickoffs in 6 games. His 13 touchbacks lead the NFL, despite a game in hand for the Cowboys. His TB rate of 37,1% is 4th in NFL.

Why is this number important? About 10% of all NFL kickoffs (excluding onside kicks) are touchbacks. The average starting position for all non-touchback kickoffs is the 32. The average difference between a touchback and a non-touchback is therefore 12 yards. Those 12 yards are one additional first down required for the opponent to score.

Those 13 TB's are more than the Cowboys had in 2006 (8), 2007 (4) and 2008 (0) combined. At this pace, he will have 35 touchbacks after 16 games. That would be 3 more than the Cowboys have scored in 8 consecutive seasons (32 TB's, '01-'08), and would be an NFL record!

Since the league started using the K-ball back in 1999, the record for most TB's is held by Rhys LLoyd (CAR, 2008) with 30. Lloyd's 30 touchbacks out of 88 attempts helped boost the Carolina special teams kickoff coverage from 19th place in '07 to 3rd in the league in '08.

Exhibit B: Mat McBriar: McBriar is currently ranked fourth in the NFL with a 41.3 Net Punting Average (calculated as Gross punting yards, minus Return Yards, minus 20 yards for every Touchback, divided by Total Punts).

Why is this number important? Because, since the NFL began keeping track 30 years ago, only 5 punters have achieved a NPA above 40 over an entire season (Lechler, OAK, 07 & 08 - Lee, SF, 07 - Player, CLE, 07 - Pulescu, DEN 07 - Jones, STL, 08). Also, because the number includes return yards, it is an effective measure of Special Teams' performance on punts - and the Cowboys shine on this one, thank you, Joe D.

If the Cowboys manage to keep the 41.3 through the end of the season, they would best Shane Lechler's NFL Record of 41.2 from last year.

McBriar's precision is also worth noting. The Cowboys are one of only five teams in the NFL that have not kicked a punt out of bounds, have recorded only one touchback on punts so far (that is good, because ideally you want to place the ball at the 1 yard line), and are second in the league in % of punts palced inside the red zone with 58% (15/26).

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A little something to look forward to:

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6. Where are we after 6 weeks?

The obvious answer is, who knows? We're 4-2. Last year, we started 4-2 and ended up 9-7. In 07 we started 5-1 and ended up 13-3. Below are some stats that help put this year into perspective.

We're passing about as well as we were in 2007, so that looks promising. Unfortunately, our secondary remains as challenged against the pass as it was last year, a far cry from the fairly dominant performance in 07.

On points differential, we're about where we were in 2007. Our defense has given up slightly less points, our offense is scoring about two points per game less, cue grumbling about our red zone performance this year.

Passer Rating and Points Differential through first six games, 07-09

7. Whither goest thou, NFC East?

• NFC BEAST: With a .576 win percentage, our division is the winningest in the NFL. It is the only division with three teams with a .500+ winning record, and has a points differential of + 112, overshadowed only by the AFC East with 117, but these numbers are bloated by the 'unclassiest team of the decade' which likes to continue running up points on their opponents even when ahead by more than 30 points.
  
• NFC LEAST: Through week seven our whole division has managed only two wins against a quality opponent (better than .500 record through wk 7). Ironically, one was an intradivision game (NYG vs DAL). The other was our win over Atlanta. The division in total is 2-6 vs. quality opponents. Except for the NFC North, also with 2 wins, all other divisions have more wins against quality opponents.
  
• Tough Schedule still to come: The NFC East has by far the toughest remaining schedule of any division. Based on the W-L records through week 7, Washington has the toughest schedule in the NFL, with an opponent winning percentage of .679, Giants are No. 3 with .629, Eagles No.4 with .619 and the Cowboys are No. 10 with .531. I would not like to be Jim Zorn right now.
• Smooth sailing ahead: By the same measure of opponent winning percentages so far in 2009, the softest schedules are held by Arizona (.333) and New Orleans (.354). Can you spell Division Winner?