The twelfth 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 Saquon Barkley, who had the best game of his career in the Sunday night matchup against the Rams. The seventh-year player had a career-high 255 rushing yards, two rushing scores and 47 receiving yards. He set the single-game franchise record for rushing yards, passing LeSean McCoy who had 217 in 2013. Barkley also became the first player in Eagles history to total 300 scrimmage yards in a single outing.
Additionally, it was the most rushing yards in a game since Jamaal Charles had 259 in the 2009 season. He is just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 255 or more rushing yards in a game.
Barkley wasn’t the only spectacular thing to happen this weekend. FOX Sports Research broke down ten more eye-opening nuggets for you. Let’s take a look
1. Dynamic Duo
The Lions keep cruising every week behind Jared Goff’s play. But this week, it was the run game that got the job done. Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 90 yards and two scores while David Montgomery added 37 and a touchdown of his own. The two have combined for 21 rushing scores, and are the first running back duo in NFL history to each rush for 10+ touchdowns in consecutive seasons. This was also the ninth game in which Mongomery and Gibbs have each rushed for a touchdown, tied for the third-most among running back duos in NFL history. They trail only Hugh McElhenny and Joe Perry (49ers) and Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor (Packers) who did so 10 times. When removing position from the equation, their 10 games is tied for the sixth-most among all duos.
Takeaway: Same thing we said last week, the Lions are the best team in the NFL. Can anyone stop them?
2. Terrific Tua
Tua Tagovailoa is now 7-0 vs the Patriots in his career, which is the second-best record of any quarterback against New England in NFL history— trailing only John Elway who went 10-0 against them. He’s got 11 pass touchdowns against them for his career, which is more than he has against any other opponent. Tagovailoa currently leads the league in completion percentage among qualified quarterbacks at 73.3%, and has led the Dolphins to three straight wins.
Takeaway: Miami has won three in a row, and the rest of their schedule is manageable. A Wild Card spot is still in play for them.
3. Craziness in Cowboys at Commanders
This was arguably the most exciting game to watch this week, as the Cowboys went up 20-9 in the third quarter before Jayden Daniels led the Commanders down the field on a 69-yard drive that ended in a Zach Ertz touchdown and a two-point conversion to make it 20-17. Immediately after, KaVontae Turpin returned a kickoff for 99 yards to put the Cowboys up 27-17. Shortly after, the Commanders would kick a field goal to make it 27-20. There were only 21 seconds left in the game, but the presumptive offensive rookie of the year launched an 86-yard bomb to Terry McLaurin to make it 27-26.
All Austin Seibert had to do was convert the PAT to tie the game, but he missed— which was his second missed PAT on the day. Washington would be forced to attempt an onside kick, and it would somehow be returned for a touchdown to make it 34-26. So what’s the stat here? This game was the first in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) with two missed PATs, two kickoff returns for touchdowns, and a blocked punt— and yes, there was a blocked punt in this game too.
Takeaway: This loss by Washington really carved out the path for Philly to easily win the division.
4. Peculiarities in Titans at Texans
Another really fun game here, as the Titans got the upset win over the Texans in a 32-27 victory. Houston’s defense had quite the day, sacking Will Levis eight times, forcing three takeaways, and even returning an interception for a touchdown. Entering today, teams that did all of those things were 36-1 in the Super Bowl era. They are now 36-2.
And speaking of Will Levis getting sacked a lot, the second-year signal caller has made the most of his time on the field despite taking so many hits. He has a 109.3 passer rating in his last three games despite being sacked 20 times, making him the first player since the 1970 merger to have a 105+ passer rating in a three-game span in which they were sacked 20+ times.
Nick Folk also hit a 56-yard field goal in this game, which is the tied for the second-longest in Titans history.
Takeaway: Houston has not looked like the team they were last year. Stroud will need to improve his play quickly if they want to comfortably make the playoffs.
5. How ’bout Trey McBride?
Trey McBride had a monster day against the Seahawks, totaling 12 catches for 133 yards— both career highs. He’s now up to 685 receiving yards on the season which is only second to Brock Bowers among all tight ends. His 12 catches actually set the Cardinals single-game record for receptions by a tight end, and this was also the second time he’s recorded over 130 receiving yards in a game in his career. He joins Hall of Famer Jackie Smith as the only Cardinals tight ends with multiple games with 130 receiving yards. Talk about some good company.
Takeaway: McBride is firmly a top three tight end in the league. It’s time to start talking about him like one.
6. Chiefs close win puts them in rare company
The Chiefs almost coughed up a 20-6 lead in this game, as the Panthers were only down 27-25 with 1:46 left in the fourth quarter. But Patrick Mahomes would come to the rescue again, driving down the field for 56 yards in seven plays to set up the game-winning field goal as time expired. Kansas City is now 10-1, their 10th straight season recording 10 wins. They are the third team in NFL history to record 10 wins in 10 consecutive seasons, joining the Patriots (17 from 2003-2019) and the 49ers (16 from 1983-1998).
Takeaway: Kansas City keeps squeaking out wins. Is it time to start questioning whether they’re as good as their record says they are?
7. Bo Nix gets it done on the road
Bo Nix led the Broncos to their first road win against the Raiders since 2015. They were winless in four previous games at Allegiant Stadium, and had lost eight consecutive road matchups against the Raiders. He finished the day with 273 pass yards and two passing scores, putting him at 16 pass touchdowns on the season. He passed Marlin Briscoe (14 in 1968) for the Denver single-season record for pass touchdowns by a rookie.
Nix has four games with a 70% completion rate, two passing scores, and no interceptions, which is tied with Dak Prescott (2016) for most such games by a rookie in the common draft era. He also has the most wins (7), pass yards (2,548), and highest completion percentage (64.9%) by a rookie in Denver history.
Takeaway: Nix has looked incredible over the last couple of weeks. It’s still a bit early to say, but Denver might have found their franchise quarterback.
8. Tampa’s rushing galore
The Buccaneers won 30-7 against the Giants and most of that dominance had to do with the run game. Todd Bowles’ squad recorded four rushing touchdowns, which is just the third time that’s happened in a game in franchise history (other two instances came in 2012 and 2021). A different player scored each of those touchdowns, which is the first time in Tampa’s history that four different players have rushed for a touchdown in a single game. Bucky Irving had himself a day, rushing for 87 yards and a score along with 64 receiving yards. He is the second Buccaneers rookie ever to record 80+ rush yards, 60+ receiving yards, and one scrimmage touchdown in a game— joining Doug Martin who did so in 2012.
Takeaway: Tampa’s final games include Carolina twice, Las Vegas, Dallas, and New Orleans. They are totally still in play to both win the division and make the playoffs.
9. Cleveland gets a big win on Thursday
Cleveland shocked everyone with a win against Pittsburgh on Thursday night. The Steelers were on a five-game win streak before losing to Kevin Stefanski’s squad. Earlier this year, the Browns also beat the Ravens who entered Week 8 on a five-game win streak as well. The 2024 Browns are the only team since the 1970 merger to be below .500 and snap two divisional opponents’ 5+ game win streaks in the same season. The only other teams to do this, regardless of record, were the 1999 Bills, 1992 Colts, and 1991 Cowboys.
Takeaway: It’s that time of year when division games really matter, and Cleveland’s win against Pittsburgh just made the AFC North a lot more interesting.
10. Home woes for Giants
In Tommy DeVito’s season debut, he and the Giants got smashed by the Buccaneers 30-7 as mentioned above. New York has lost six straight home games this season, one shy of tying the single-season franchise record for consecutive losses at home (7 in 1974 and 2003).
Takeaway: Maybe Daniel Jones wasn’t the problem? New York needs to improve in several different areas.
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