NFL Research spotlights the best nuggets from each slate of games. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 14 of the 2024 NFL season.
1) High-scoring affair between Bills and Rams leads to historic loss
The highest-scoring game of the 2024 season -- Rams 44, Bills 42 -- produced several milestones, with Josh Allen and Puka Nacua’s stat lines really standing out (more on those in a minute).
As for the matchup, this was the first game in NFL history in which both teams scored at least 40 points and did not turn the ball over.
Entering Sunday, teams were 245-0 in the Super Bowl era when scoring at least six touchdowns and having zero turnovers in a game (including playoffs) -- meaning the Bills are the first team to lose one of those games.
2) Josh Allen's two trios of TDs almost enough for win
It took a historic performance from No. 17 for the Bills to have a chance at a comeback win at SoFi Stadium -- and despite the result, Allen made history (for the second week in a row).
Allen became the first ever player with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a regular-season game. Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham did so with the Browns in the 1954 NFL Championship Game against the Lions. Allen also joined Michael Vick (in a now-famous 2010 Monday Night Football game against Washington) as the only players with at least three passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, 300 passing yards and 75 rushing yards in a single game. Lowering the threshold to games with at least two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns, Allen now has five in his career -- breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Steve Young for the most in NFL history.
Allen's not the first player to account for six touchdowns in a loss (seven other players in NFL history have had that distinction). He isn't even the only player to account for six touchdowns in a loss to the Rams -- Patrick Mahomes was responsible for six touchdowns in a 2018 Monday Night Football showdown that ended as the highest-scoring game in NFL history.
3) Puka Nacua's winning effort puts him among best WRs over first two seasons
We have already touched on the record-breaking performances in the Bills' loss ... so let's highlight the records set in the Rams' win -- starting with the main engine of the offense in second-year star wideout Puka Nacua.
The 2023 fifth-round pick finished with a team-high 12 receptions for 162 yards and a touchdown, as well as five carries for 16 yards and another score. Nacua joined Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (twice) and Lance Alworth (1964) as the only wide receivers with at least 160 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown and one rushing touchdown in a single game. That rushing touchdown was the first for the Rams this season that wasn’t scored by Kyren Williams.
Week 14 was the fifth game in Nacua’s career in which he amassed at least 150 yards from scrimmage, tying Randy Moss and Jerry Rice for the most such games by a wide receiver in his first two seasons in the Super Bowl era. Nacua has now played in 25 career games and has amassed 159 receptions, the second-most in an NFL player’s first 25 career games, behind only Odell Beckham (176 catches in his first 25 games).
4) George Kittle's best game of 2024 highlights 49ers' first win since Week 10
The 49ers needed a get-right game, and the Bears provided them that opportunity in Week 14.
Kittle led San Francisco with a season-high 151 receiving yards in a 38-13 blowout of Chicago.
For Kittle, it was his fifth career game with at least 150 receiving yards, tying Travis Kelce for the second-most such games by a tight end in league history. Only Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe (six) has more.
5) Justin Jefferson first to record 7,000 receiving yards in first five seasons
Many disgruntled fantasy owners were wondering if Jefferson would ever find the end zone again. Entering Week 14, JJ had gone six consecutive games without scoring a touchdown -- tied for the longest drought in his young career. Well, he finished with 132 yards and a pair of scores in the Vikings' 42-21 win over the Falcons. Jefferson’s 132 yards pushed his career total past the 7,000 mark, making him the first player in NFL history to reach 7,000 career receiving yards within his first five seasons.
Not to bury the lead, but Jefferson’s 132 yards and two touchdowns were not the most on his own team in Week 14. Second-year wide receiver Jordan Addison led the Vikings with eight receptions, 133 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Jefferson and Addison are the second duo in Vikings history to each have at least 100 yards and two touchdowns receiving in the same game, joining ... no, not Randy Moss and Cris Carter, but Steve Jordan (Cameron Jordan’s father) and Hassan Jones in 1986 against the Packers.