NFL Research offers the best nuggets from each week of games in the NFL. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments of Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season.
1) Mike McDaniel’s “Madden” offense makes history
“It was like he was playing Madden," Tyreek Hill said of McDaniel’s second-half play calling. Browsing the box score, it reads like something straight out of the video game. Tua Tagovailoa had 469 pass yards and six touchdowns. Hill had 190 receiving yards, while Jaylen Waddle added 171. Each player caught two of Tagovailoa's six touchdown passes.
The Dolphins became the first team in NFL history to have a player (Tagovailoa) record at least 400 pass yards and five touchdowns who also had two teammates each with 170-plus receiving yards and two touchdowns.
2) Tagovailoa ties Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Bob Griese in Dolphins lore
When pondering Dolphins quarterback lore, the top-of-mind names ring bells: Pro Football Hall of Famers Bob Griese and Dan Marino. For at least one game, Tagovailoa can place his name among their ranks. Tagovailoa tied a Dolphins single-game record with six pass touchdowns against Baltimore in Week 2. Griese did so in Week 11 of 1977 in a win over the Rams, while Marino accomplished his in Week 3 of 1986 in a loss to the Jets. Both Griese and Marino were named AP first-team All-Pros that season. Tagovailoa’s 469 pass yards were the fourth-most in Miami team history and the franchise's fifth instance of 450+ pass yards. The list? Tagovailoa and four Marino games.
3) Tagovailoa owns Super Bowl-winning head coaches
Tagovailoa’s list of fallen champions continues to grow. After joining John Elway as the only players to win their first four starts against Bill Belichick, Tagovailoa led a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback win over John Harbaugh’s Ravens in Week 2. The Dolphins were just the sixth team in NFL history to make up a 21-plus point deficit in the fourth quarter and win the game in regulation.
4) Hill ties a record set by Jerry Rice
Hill went nuclear in Week 2 with 11 catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Not only was it the most receiving yards by any player with Tagovailoa as the starter, but it was also Hill’s fourth career game with at least 10 receptions, 150 receiving yards and two receiving scores. This ties Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for the most such games since at least 1950, when official game logs have been tracked. Regardless of the feat, matching any receiving record that has Rice’s name next to it is an accomplishment in itself.
Hill has had 43.4% of his career touchdowns come from 40-yards or longer, the third-highest percentage in NFL history behind DeSean Jackson (59.1) and Bob Hayes (47.4). In fact, Hill is one of just five players with at least 30 such touchdowns in their first seven seasons. Each of the other four are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Hayes (36), Lance Alworth (34), Rice (34), Randy Moss (30).
5) Give him the bag: Lamar Jackson makes history in loss to Dolphins
Despite the loss, Jackson showed again why he’s one-of-one in this game. Jackson became the first player since at least 1950 with at least 300 yards and three touchdowns through the air combined with 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while also setting the record for the most games with 100+ rush yards by a quarterback in NFL history with 11. In Week 2, Jackson became the first player in NFL history with a 75+ yard pass and rush touchdown in the same game. With negotiations on a new contract tabled until after the season, Big Truss that Jackson is continuing to prove his worth in Baltimore.
6) Patrick Mahomes, seventh-round rookie lift Chiefs over Chargers
Through two weeks, the NFL’s all-time leader in passer rating has done what earned him that title -- lead the NFL with a 127.9 passer rating entering Monday Night Football. However, in a career of rare achievements, it is his efficiency that has been exceptional. Mahomes is the third instance in the Super Bowl era to have 70+ completion percentage, 7+ pass touchdowns and no interceptions through a season’s first two games.
The only other two instances both occurred in 2019 and ended in MVP honors. How you say? Jackson did this en route to a unanimous win for the regular season award, and Mahomes did so on his way to becoming the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl MVP award (Super Bowl LIV). The last player to win both versions of the award was Hall of Famer Kurt Warner in 1999.
However, Mahomes and the Chiefs may not have left Week 2 with a victory were it not for cornerback Jaylen Watson, a seventh-round pick out of Washington State. Watson’s 99-yard pick six was the longest go-ahead, fourth-quarter touchdown by a rookie in NFL history. Three players, including Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, tied for the previous record at 96 yards. Each of those touchdowns were on kick returns.
7) Andy Reid becomes fourth coach to go 100 wins over .500
With the Chiefs' win, Andy Reid moved his coaching record to 235-135-1. He’s only the fourth head coach in NFL history to be a century mark over .500 for a career. It’s quite the exclusive club of coaching savants: Hall of Famers George Halas and Don Shula, as well as the consensus greatest coach of all time, Bill Belichick, and now Reid. Though he could fall below the mark with a loss in Week 3, Reid and the Chiefs have won the AFC West in six straight seasons. Only the 1973-79 Rams (seven) and the 2009-19 Patriots (11) have had longer such streaks all-time. Long story condensed -- the Chiefs will not be short on wins in 2022.
8) Justin Herbert continues his historic start to career
Herbert had 334 pass yards and three pass touchdowns in Week 2 at Kansas City. It was Herbert’s 18th career game with 300+ pass yards, now the second-most in a player’s first three seasons in NFL history behind Andrew Luck’s 19. As for the touchdowns, it was his 15th career game with 3+ pass scores. Only Dan Marino (18) has more in a player’s first three campaigns. Barring his status after suffering a rib injury against the Chiefs, Herbert will have 15 more games to break both of those marks.
9) Amon-Ra St. Brown-led Lions offense matches team record set by NFL champion
St. Brown roared his way to a career-high 116 receiving yards and 184 scrimmage yards in Week 2 against the Commanders. His six-game streak of eight or more receptions and at least one receiving touchdown is the longest such streak in the Super Bowl era.
The man getting St. Brown the ball, Jared Goff, not only beat 2016 draftmate Carson Wentz, but he also led the Lions to 35-or-more points in their third straight game dating back to last season. The last time Detroit accomplished that there were 12 weeks in a season. The 1952-1953 Lions reached the threshold in four straight games from Week 10 of 1952 to Week 1 of 1953. The kicker? Both of those Lions teams won the NFL championship.
Research shoutouts: Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade), Dante Koplowitz-Fleming (@DanteKopFlem), Matt Okada (@MattOkada)