The fifteenth week of the NFL is nearly in the books, with just one game left to play. Several players had incredible performances, along with surprising results from multiple teams.
Arguably the best performance came from Josh Allen and the Bills, who made a huge statement with their 48-42 win against a Lions team that entered the matchup with a 12-1 record. Allen finished with 362 pass yards, 68 rushing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two rushing scores.
There have been three instances of a player to have a 340+ pass yards, 60+ rush yards, two passing scores, and two rush touchdowns in a game; Josh Allen has two of them, and they’ve both come in the last two weeks (Steve Young has other, in 1991). How remarkable is that?
Additionally, he is now the first quarterback in NFL history with multiple streaks of five-plus games with at least one rushing touchdown, and the first player ever to have two pass touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in consecutive games. And lastly, he became the first quarterback in NFL history with multiple seasons with 25 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing scores.
The Bills also set a few records with the win against the Lions:
- Bills have scored 17 total touchdowns with no sacks and no turnovers in the last three games combined; they are the only team since the 1970 merger with three straight games of five or more touchdowns, zero turnovers, and zero sacks.
- Bills are the second team all-time to snap multiple 10+ game win streaks in a season when including the playoffs, joining the 2009 Jets; they snapped the Lions’ 11-game win streak this past Sunday and snapped the Chiefs‘ 15-game win streak in Week 11.
- Bills now have a 21-3 record in December/January regular-season games over the past five seasons, the best in NFL in that span.
- Bills have scored 30+ points in eight straight games, tied for the longest streak within a single season in NFL history; have scored 40+ points in consecutive games for the third time in franchise history.
- For the above record, they are tied with four other teams— all of which had the MVP that season (2013 Broncos– Peyton Manning, 2010 Patriots– Tom Brady, 2007 Patriots- Tom Brady, 2000 Rams– Marshall Faulk).
Allen and the Bills weren’t the only highlights from this weekend. FOX Sports Research broke down ten more eye-opening nuggets for you. Let’s take a look:
1. Action Jackson
Lamar Jackson was unstoppable against the Giants. The two-time MVP finished the day 21-of-25 with 290 pass yards, five passing touchdowns, no interceptions, and 65 rushing yards. The stat-line was so out-of-this world, that we just went ahead and listed all of the nuggets below to contextualize just how incredible he’s been so far:
- Lamar Jackson is now 24-2 vs NFC opponents in his career
- Lamar Jackson now has 11 games with four-or-more passing touchdowns before his 28th birthday, tied with Brett Favre for the third-most ever and five shy of tying Dan Marino and Patrick Mahomes for the most ever.
- Lamar Jackson has five career games with five-or-more pass touchdowns and five or fewer incompletions; nobody else has more than three such games in NFL history.
- Lamar Jackson has two games with five-or-more passing scores and no interceptions this season; the only two seasons a player had more were Tom Brady’s 2007 MVP season and Jackson’s 2019 MVP season (each had three such games).
- Lamar Jackson went 17-or-19 for 243 pass yards, four pass touchdowns, no interceptions, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating against zone coverage against the Giants, per NFL NextGen Stats.
- Lamar Jackson has six career games with five passing touchdowns and no interceptions, the third-most of any player ever behind Tom Brady and Drew Brees (eight such games each).
- For the above record, Brady recorded his sixth career game with five pass touchdowns and no interceptions at the age of 40 while Brees recorded his at 34 (Jackson turns 28 next month).
Takeaway: Lamar is doing everything he can to contend with Josh Allen for the MVP award.
2. A few notables for the Bengals
The Bengals game against the Titans was an interesting one to say the least. It was the first game in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to see at least 10 combined turnovers and 25 combined penalties. But Joe Burrow was just too good and led Cincinnati to the 37-27 win.
Burrow is on pace to be the second quarterback in NFL history to lead the NFL in pass yards and pass touchdowns on a team with a losing record in the last 50 seasons (Drew Brees, 2012 Saints). He’s now thrown at least three passing scores in six consecutive games, one shy of being the fifth player ever to do so in seven straight. Who would he join? Tom Brady in 2007 (10 straight), Andrew Luck in 2018 (eight straight), Peyton Manning in 2004 (eight straight), and Dan Marino (seven straight from 1986 to 1987).
Sam Hubbard also had himself a day, recording a two-yard touchdown catch. He is now the fourth player since 2000 to record a sack, interception, and receiving touchdown in the same season— joining J.J. Watt (2014), Mike Vrabel (2002 and 2005), Brian Dawkins (2002), and Brian Urlacher. Hubbard is also just the second primarily defensive player for the Bengals to record a scrimmage touchdown in a game in franchise history, joining Bobby Hunt (1968).
Takeaway: It’s unfortunate that the Bengals will likely miss the playoffs despite what will be Burrow’s best season of his career.
3. Mahomes keeps making history
Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a 21-7 victory over the Browns, putting Kansas City at 13-1 on the season— tying the best start in franchise history through 14 games. He finished the day with two passing scores to put him at 241 for his career, which is tied with Dan Marino for the second-most passing touchdowns in a player’s first eight career seasons. Mahomes needs just three more to tie Peyton Manning for the most in NFL history.
What’s more impressive is that he’s done this while taking several hits. In the last three games, Mahomes has taken 11-or-more quarterback hits in each of those contests. For perspective, he took 11-or-more hits in just three of his first 125 career games when including the playoffs.
Takeaway: Don’t take for granted how good this guy is. And don’t forget, the Chiefs are still the top seed in the AFC through fifteen weeks. It’ll also be interesting to see if he misses any time with the injury he sustained this week.
4. Jets show some life
The Jets recorded just their second win in the last 11 weeks, taking down the Jaguars 32-25. Davante Adams had 198 receiving yards which is the second-most of his career, and all of them came in the second-half. That is the most by a Jets player in the second half of a game since at least the merger. Aaron Rodgers also finished the day with 45 rush yards, which actually led the Jets on Sunday. He became the second player to be 41 years or older and lead his team in rushing in a game, joining Tom Brady who did so at 44 years old in 2021 for the Buccaneers.
Takeaway: If New York can close out the season strong, will it serve as the catalyst for a successful 2025 campaign?
5. Jonathan Taylor already an all-time Colt?
Despite losing 31-13 to the Broncos, Jonathan Taylor still put up 107 rushing yards for the Colts. He is now up to 5,493 career rush yards, passing Lydell Mitchell for the second-most in Colts history. Taylor now only trails Edgerrin James, who had 9,226 during his seven-year career with Indianapolis. The fifth-year player is also up to 21 career games with 100+ rushing yards, three shy of tying Eric Dickerson for the second-most in franchise history (James also holds that record with 49).
Takeaway: With how dominant some of the other top backs in the league have been this year, don’t forget that Taylor is in that conversation. Availability and his team’s success have kept his name under the radar the last few seasons.
6. Eagles keep rollin’
The Eagles took down the Steelers 27-13 to win the “battle of Pennsylvania” on Sunday. It was their 10th straight victory, which is the longest win streak in Eagles history. Jalen Hurts had another strong performance, finishing 25-of-32 with 290 pass yards, two pass touchdowns, no interceptions, 45 rushing yards, and a rushing score. It was his ninth game this season with two scores through the air and one on the ground, which is the most of any quarterback. Hurts has 14 rushing touchdowns this season, which is two shy of breaking the single-season record by a quarterback— held by him and Josh Allen, who both had 15 last season.
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith also joined the fun with each of them catching a touchdown, marking the ninth time they’ve done that in the same game since 2022— more than any duo in the league in that span. Smith also had a career-high 11 catches in the outing.
Takeaway: Have the Eagles dethroned the Lions as the best team in the NFC? If they keep this up, they just might be.
7. Alvin Kamara and Jayden Daniels join elite company
The Saints lost 20-19 against the Commanders, but Alvin Kamara scored a receiving touchdown to give him 25 for his career— making him the fourth player in NFL history with 50+ career rushing scores and 25+ career receiving scores, joining Lenny Moore, Christian McCaffrey, and Marshall Faulk.
Jayden Daniels also eclipsed over 3,000 yards passing after his performance, making him the fourth rookie in NFL history to record 3,000 pass yards and 500 rushing yards in a season— joining Kyler Murray (2019), Robert Griffin III (2012), and Cam Newton (2011). He’s also got the Commanders at 9-5, their best start through 14 games since 1992. Talk about some elite company for both of these stars.
Takeaway: Just like Taylor, Kamara is often forgotten as one of the best backs in the league. The only difference is that he’s been terrorizing defenses since 2017. Jayden Daniels continues to look like a superstar.
8. Takeaways from Buccaneers at Chargers
How about the Buccaneers? After losing four straight, Todd Bowles and Co. went on bye and have rattled off four straight wins since. They had 506 total yards in their dominant 40-17 victory over the Chargers, and held Los Angeles to 206 yards. It was the first time since 2003 that the Chargers were outgained by over 300 net yards by their opponent, and the first time since 2020 that Tampa Bay outgained their opponent by over 300 net yards.
The Buccaneers also recorded their fourth straight game with 400+ yards of total offense and 150+ rushing yards, which is the first time that’s happened in franchise history. Both of these teams are now 8-6, and each have an 87% chance to make the playoffs according NFL Next Gen Stats.
Takeaway: Don’t look now, but the Buccaneers have firm control of the NFC South. And remember, this is the same team that took down the Eagles in the Wild Card last postseason.
9. Can Mike Evans do it?
Entering this year, Mike Evans had 10 straight seasons with 1,000+ receiving yards. The NFL record for consecutive seasons eclipsing that mark is 11, held by Jerry Rice. Evans was on his way to tying that mark, but then missed three games due to injury from Weeks 8 to 10. With 335 receiving yards up to that point, he needed to average 95 a game over the last seven games of the season to reach 1,000. After his 159-yard performance against the Chargers that included two touchdowns as well, Evans is now up to 749 on the season— and needs 251 receiving yards in the next three games (83.7 per game) to get to 11 straight 1K seasons.
This was also his 23rd career game with two receiving scores, which is the fifth most all-time by a player with a single team (Jerry Rice- 41, Marvin Harrison- 29, Don Hutson- 28, Cris Carter- 25).
Takeaway: Evans is most likely going to tie Rice’s record (barring injury), and it’s time we start talking about him like a Hall of Famer— because that’s what he is.
10. Historic low for Giants
At 2-12, the Giants are having a historically bad season. With the Falcons, Colts, and Eagles left on their schedule— they could easily finish 2-15. If that happens, it would be the second-worst single-season win percentage in franchise history— trailing only the 1966 season (went 1-12-1). Even if they manage to win one of those games, a 3-14 record would still be the fifth-lowest win percentage in a season in Giants history.
New York has not led for a single second after the first quarter at home this year, a feat no team has accomplished for an entire season since at least 2000. This is also the first time in Giants history that they have lost eight home games in a single season.
Takeaway: The only thing New York is thinking about right now is whether or not they’ll take a quarterback with their draft pick— which is likely to be in the top three. Currently, they hold the first overall choice.
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