Joe Flacco’s 13th pass of Sunday’s game in Tampa Bay was a 56-yard bomb to Steve Smith for his fifth touchdown pass of the day. It was an absolutely ridiculous pace — one that, if he kept it up, would make him the most efficient touchdown machine in NFL history.

Five touchdowns on 13 attempts meant that 38.4 percent of Flacco’s passes went for touchdowns. The highest ever recorded for one game (according to Pro Football Reference) was 35.3 percent, by the Oakland Raiders’ Daryle Lamonica (nicknamed the Mad Bomber in his heyday) on December 21, 1969 against the Houston Oilers in the AFL playoffs. He was 13-for-17 for six touchdowns in a 56-7 win. The sixth, to Billy Cannon, gave the Raiders a 49-0 lead in the third quarter.

Flacco, however, did not throw another touchdown pass Sunday; he didn’t need to in the Ravens’ 48-17 pounding of the Bucs. He finished 21 for 29 for 306 yards, so his scoring throws made up 17.2 percent of his total attempts, tremendous but not in the top-50 all-time.

The Cowboys’ Eddie LeBaron holds the regular-season record of 33.3 percent, five touchdown passes on 15 passes, in a 42-27 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1962.

Flacco’s early outburst did put him in the history books in one category, according to ESPN: He had the quickest five TD performance from the start of a game since the NFL-AFL merger. 

The highest single-game touchdown percentage since 1970 was by the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger against the Ravens in Pittsburgh in 2007, when he set the fastest-to-five-touchdowns record Flacco broke Sunday. Roethlisberger’s five came in a 13-for-16 day in a 38-7 win.

Flacco was sacked four times and Baltimore was just 1 of 11 on third-down conversions a week ago in a disappointing 20-13 loss at Indianapolis, however the offense was in synch from the very start against the Bucs’ porous Tampa2 defense.

With help from Justin Forsett’s 52-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, the Ravens moved 80 yards in four plays to take a quick lead on Flacco’s 15-yard scoring pass to Torrey Smith. His next three TD throws — 9 yards to Torrey Smith, 17 yards to Aiken and 19 yards to Campanaro — came on third-down throws.

Steve Smith is Baltimore’s leading receiver, but was hardly involved until he beat cornerback Alterraun Verner deep down the left sideline for a 56-yard score that made it 35-0 just over a minute into the second quarter.

Contributor: The Associated Press