Like touchdown passes? You had a good time on Sunday, didn’t you? Pardon the old cliché, but the NFL was filling the air with footballs, and most of them came down in the end zone.

Good quarterbacks, bad quarterbacks, everybody had a party. Ryan Fitzpatrick, benched earlier this season by the Houston Texans, threw a club record six TD passes in a win over the Tennessee Titans. New Orleans’ Drew Brees and Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck threw five apiece.

Johnny Manziel didn’t have that kind of good fortune when the Cleveland Browns brought him in to replace a struggling Brian Hoyer in a loss to the Buffalo Bills, but the Johnny Football Era seems ready to dawn. Manziel scored the Browns’ only touchdown on a run.

At the miserable end of the spectrum was the hapless Oakland Raiders. They lost 52-0 to the St. Louis Rams, marking the second-worst defeat in their history (behind a 55-0 drubinski by the Houston Oilers in 1961). Dishonorable mention to the New York Giants, who blew a 21-3 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars and lost their seventh consecutive game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

 
What do you get for winning nine games a year for seven consecutive seasons? Fired. Nebraska dumped coach Bo Pelini on Sunday despite a 9-3 record. The Cornhuskers never won a conference title and embarrassed themselves in many of their high-profile games. … Alabama jumped to No. 1 in the AP poll, passing Florida State. FSU has twice this season lost the top spot despite not losing any games. FSU has won 28 games in a row, but many of them narrowly. Alabama will play Missouri in the SEC Championship game. FSU meets Georgia Tech in the ACC title game.

NBA

 
The Philadelphia 76ers, pursuing a model of ineptitude, are 0-16. It’s their worst start in franchise history. If they can make it to 0-19, they’ll own the worst start in league history, currently held by the New Jersey Nets of 2009-2010.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .