NFL Research spotlights the best nuggets from each slate of games. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season.
1) Jackson joins elite club with five-TD performance
Lamar Jackson’s performance in 2024 may not win him his third NFL MVP, but it has added several more mentions of his name to the league's record books.
In Week 15 against the two-win Giants, Jackson and the Ravens did not hesitate to pile on the points, as the dynamic quarterback threw five touchdown passes and the Ravens walked away from MetLife Stadium with a 35-14 win.
Jackson, who completed 21 of his 25 throws for 290 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions, logged his sixth career game with at least five touchdown passes and zero picks -- moving him into third place for the most such games in an entire career. Only Tom Brady and Drew Brees have more such games in the history of the league (each had eight such games). Some added context: Brady was 40 years old when he had his sixth such game and Brees was 34. Jackson turns 28 next month.
It was also the fifth time in Jackson’s career that he threw at least five touchdown passes and five or fewer incompletions -- no one else in NFL history has more than three of those games.
If his performance through the air was not enough, Jackson also added 65 yards on the ground in Week 15, moving his career total up to 6,001 rushing yards. Jackson joined Michael Vick (6,109) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with 6,000 career rushing yards.
2) Allen continues to lead Bills offense to new heights
Josh Allen has now gone three consecutive weeks with a game that puts him in the “first player in NFL history to do X, Y and Z” category.
We had the snow game where he caught his “own” touchdown via lateral, the game where he accounted for six touchdowns in a loss, and finally a simple 48-42 win on the road against the top-seeded team in the NFC.
In Allen’s last three games, he has totaled 14 touchdowns (adding his passing, rushing and receiving TDs together), tied for the third-most in any three-game span in NFL history. Only Tom Brady (16 touchdowns in October of 2007) and Peyton Manning (15 in November of 2004) had more touchdowns in a three-game span. Allen became the first player in NFL history with multiple passing touchdowns and multiple rushing touchdowns in consecutive games. (That’s a lot of fantasy points.)
The Bills' offense has scored 17 touchdowns, surrendered zero giveaways and has not allowed a sack in its last three games. Buffalo is the only team since the 1970 merger to score 15-plus touchdowns and have zero giveaways and zero sacks in a three-game span. Pretty good run for Joe Brady’s unit.
3) Giants rookie WR Nabers chasing OBJ's records
It was a loss, but Malik Nabers has continued to make history despite a dismal season in New York with three different starting quarterbacks.
Nabers finished with 10 receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown in a Week 15 loss to the Ravens. It was the former LSU superstar’s third game this season with at least 10 receptions, trailing only former LSU superstar and 2014 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Odell Beckham Jr. for the most 10-catch games by a rookie (Beckham had four such games in 2014).
Nabers has 90 career receptions through 12 games, just one fewer than Beckham’s NFL record of 91 receptions through a player's first 12 games.
4) Aaron Rodgers turns back the clock with vintage performance in road win
Don’t look now, but the Jets are … well, they’re still eliminated from playoff contention. That being said, Week 15 against the Jaguars was the best the Jets offense has looked all season. Rodgers had three touchdowns and zero turnovers, and Davante Adams had an eye-popping 198 yards and two touchdowns (all of which came after halftime).
As for the Jets' leading rusher? Breece Hall it was not. Instead, 41-year-old Rodgers paved the way with 45 yards in six carries. Rodgers joined Tom Brady as the only players in NFL history to lead their team in rushing yards in a game after turning 40 years old. Rodgers also joined Doug Flutie as the only players with at least 40 rushing yards in a game after turning 40 years old.
5) Daniels strengthens his case for Offensive Rookie of the Year
The Commanders barely avoided blowing a 20-7 fourth-quarter lead to a fifth-round rookie quarterback who came in off the bench ... but avoid it they did, with a 20-19 win in New Orleans.
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 25 of his 31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns -- while also leading the team with his 66 yards on the ground. It was Daniels’ fourth game this season completing at least 80 percent of his passes (minimum 20 attempts), tying Dak Prescott (2023), Trevor Lawrence (2022), Kirk Cousins (2019) and Drew Brees (2018) for the most such games in a single season.
Daniels also surpassed 3,000 passing yards and has 656 rushing yards, making him just the fourth rookie in NFL history with at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards (the others: Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III and Kyler Murray, all of whom won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors).