No, Week 5 did not set the record for most PPR fantasy points in a single week. That honor belongs to Week 1 -- you read that right, it happened just four weeks prior -- but Week 5 did finish within 440 points in that race, and it claimed another important, historic distinction (it's detailed in the first bullet point below).
So if it felt like scoring was up this week, from a certain perspective you weren't wrong, as the high-end totals were greater than usual. Here are 10 facts highlighting the scoring jamboree that was Week 5:
The week's "perfect lineup" -- taking the highest-scoring player for each of the nine active lineup slots in an ESPN standard league -- would've earned you 344.9 PPR fantasy points, which is the highest such score in any single week since at least 1950. The previous record by a perfect lineup was 340.4 PPR fantasy points (338.9 if AFL players are excluded), set in Week 13 of the 1965 season.
Will Fuller's week-leading 53.7 PPR fantasy points were the most by any individual player in nearly six calendar years (Jamaal Charles scored 59.5 points in Week 15 of 2013), and the most by any wide receiver in nearly 19 calendar years (Terrell Owens scored 54.8 in Week 16 of 2000).
Five players scored at least 40 PPR fantasy points in Week 5, which matched that same Week 13 in 1965 for the most such individuals to do so in any single week since at least 1950. But consider this: all five players who did so in Week 5 were skill-position players -- Will Fuller V, Aaron Jones, Christian McCaffrey, Deshaun Watson and Michael Thomas -- while only four skill-position players did so in Week 13 of 1965, as the Philadelphia Eagles defense/special teams was the fifth "individual" to comprise that list, scoring 50 points.
Christian McCaffrey's 47.7 PPR fantasy points gave him 159.6 through five games this season. That's already the fourth-best start by any player through five games since at least 1950, trailing only Jim Brown's 176.7 in 1958, Priest Holmes' 169.3 in 2002 and Brown's 167.8 in 1963.
Twelve different players scored at least 20 PPR fantasy points and set a new personal best in the process, including all five of the aforementioned players who scored 40-plus. Here are the other seven players to set new career highs while also scoring 20-plus points in Week 5: DJ Chark Jr. (36.4), Josh Jacobs (29.3), Kyler Murray (25.4), Michael Gallup (24.3), Byron Pringle (22.3), Gardner Minshew (21.2) and Gerald Everett (20.6).
With his 23.9 fantasy points on Sunday, Tom Brady took over from Drew Brees as the all-time leading scorer among quarterbacks, as well as the all-time leading scorer among all skill-position players using non-PPR scoring. Here are the top 10 all-time in both PPR and non-PPR leagues:
The 10 highest-scoring wide receivers in Week 5 totaled 343.1 PPR fantasy points, which was the second-largest such total since at least 1950, trailing only Week 3 of the 2015 season (344.9 points).
Among the franchise records set for PPR fantasy points in Week 5 were Fuller's 53.7, most in Houston Texans history, and McCaffrey's 47.7, most in Carolina Panthers history. Jones' 49.2 PPR fantasy points, too, were the most any running back has ever scored against the Dallas Cowboys.
This was the first week since at least 1950 to have at least one quarterback, two running backs and two wide receivers score at least 40 PPR fantasy points, as well as a team defense/special teams score at least 35 points.
With the five games worth 40-plus PPR fantasy points and 11 games worth 30-plus scored in Week 5, the 2019 season has already seen 11 and 38 such performances, putting this year on pace for 36 and 125 of each, respectively. There has never been a season in NFL history with greater than 18 games worth 40-plus PPR fantasy points (2003, 2006 and 2007) or greater than 123 games worth 30-plus (2018). You read that right: The 2019 season is already within seven of the single-season record for 40-point PPR games, and it's only 30.5% complete.