Travis Kelce caught 4 TDs against the Raiders; he’ll see them again later this year. Gabe Davis caught 4 TDs at Arrowhead in January; he’ll be there again on Sunday. Makes sense, therefore, to look at some similar matchups from the past.
When a player torches a defense for huge numbers, I wonder, does that put him in line for another big game the next time around? Or does he then have a massive target on his chest, with the opponent hellbent on making sure it does something different in the rematch?
I have called up all such games since the merger in 1970. There have been 21 times that a player has had a rematch game against a defense he caught 4 TDs against. None of those players, remarkably, scored 2 TDs in the next meeting. Only 8 of those 21 scored at all.
As a group, those 21 players caught 91 passes for 1,150 yards. That works out to about 4.3 catches for 55 yards. Only three of the players went over 100 receiving yards.
I’m not trying to talk anyone out of playing Gabe Davis. Good player and a great offense. But my hunch is he won’t put together another monster game on Sunday.
| REMATCHES AFTER CATCHING 4 TD PASSES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Year | Opp | Stats | Next | Stats |
| Bob Hayes, Dall. | 1970 | Hou. | 6-187-4 | none | DNP |
| Harold Jackson, L.A. | 1973 | Dall. | 7-238-4 | 1973 | 1-40-0 |
| Paul Warfield, Mia. | 1973 | Det. | 6-103-4 | none | DNP |
| Ahmad Rashad, Min. | 1979 | S.F. | 7-152-4 | none | DNP |
| Jerry Butler, Buff. | 1979 | NYJ | 10-255-4 | 1980 | 1-20-0 |
| Earnest Gray, NYG | 1980 | at St.L. | 9-174-4 | 1980 | 1-6-0 |
| Kellen Winslow, S.D. | 1981 | at Oak. | 13-144-5 | 1981 | 3-38-0 |
| Roy Green, St.L. | 1983 | Sea. | 6-130-4 | none | DNP |
| Daryl Turner, Sea. | 1985 | at S.D. | 7-121-4 | 1985 | 0-0-0 |
| Jimmie Giles, T.B. | 1985 | at Mia. | 7-116-4 | *1987 | 1-9-0 |
| Wesley Walker, NYJ | 1986 | Mia. | 6-194-4 | 1986 | 5-97-0 |
| Jerry Rice, S.F. | 1990 | at Atl. | 13-225-5 | 1991 | 7-138-1 |
| Don Beebe, Buff. | 1991 | Pitt. | 10-112-4 | 1992 | 8-102-0 |
| Jerry Rice, S.F. | 1993 | at T.B. | 8-172-4 | 1994 | 4-57-0 |
| Sterling Sharpe, G.B. | 1993 | at T.B. | 10-147-4 | 1993 | 6-43-1 |
| Mark Ingram, Mia. | 1994 | at NYJ | 9-117-4 | none | DNP |
| Sterling Sharpe, G.B. | 1994 | at Dall. | 9-122-4 | none | DNP |
| Irving Fryar, Phil. | 1996 | Mia. | 8-116-4 | *1999 | 1-30-1 |
| Isaac Bruce, St.L. | 1999 | S.F. | 5-134-4 | 1999 | 11-93-1 |
| Marcus Robinson, Balt. | 2003 | Sea. | 7-131-4 | *2004 | 1-13-0 |
| Joe Horn, N.O. | 2003 | NYG | 9-133-4 | 2005 | 9-143-1 |
| Randy Moss, N.E. | 2007 | at Buff. | 10-128-4 | 2008 | 5-53-0 |
| Terrell Owens, Dall. | 2007 | Was. | 8-173-4 | 2008 | 7-71-1 |
| Eric Decker, Den. | 2013 | at K.C. | 8-174-4 | *2014 | 9-63-1 |
| Marvin Jones, Cin. | 2013 | NYJ | 8-122-4 | *2018 | 4-54-0 |
| Jamaal Charles, K.C. | 2013 | at Oak. | 8-195-4 | 2014 | 4-42-1 |
| Marvin Jones, Det. | 2019 | Min. | 10-93-4 | 2019 | 3-38-0 |
| Gabe Davis, Buff. | 2021 | at K.C. | 8-201-4 | ? | ? |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 2022 | L.V. | 7-25-4 | ? | ? |
Some of the rematch years are tagged with asterisks. For those players, they were on a new team when the rematch occurred.
—Ian Allan