NFL Research spotlights the best nuggets from each slate of games. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season.
1) Lamar Jackson has now been perfect more times than anyone else
Jackson was perfect for the fourth time in his career. The Broncos entered Week 9 allowing 15.0 points per game (third-fewest) and 282.6 total yards per game (also third-fewest). That didn’t stop Jackson and the Ravens from scoring 41 points in a blowout win in Baltimore.
Jackson finished the victory with a 16-of-19 passing line for 280 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions -- equaling a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
It was the fourth time in Jackson’s career that he has posted a perfect passer rating in a game, breaking a tie with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger for the most such outings in the Super Bowl era (minimum 15 passing attempts).
Jackson has now thrown 20 touchdowns against just two interceptions this season and is sporting a league-best 120.7 passer rating.
The already two-time NFL Most Valuable Player is just the fifth player in NFL history with at least 20 touchdown passes and a 120 passer rating in his first nine games of the season, joining Drew Brees (2018), Aaron Rodgers (2011 and 2014), Peyton Manning (2004 and 2013) and Tom Brady (2007). Five of those previous six seasons ended in those quarterbacks winning NFL MVP. (Brees finished second in MVP voting in 2018 to Patrick Mahomes.)
2) Ravens' big win leads to more history for Derrick Henry
Unsurprisingly, given that Baltimore won by a whopping 31 points, Lamar Jackson was not the only Raven to make history on Sunday.
Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher, rumbled for another 106 yards and two touchdowns in the Ravens' 41-10 dismantling of Sean Payton’s Broncos. For Henry, it was the 21st time in his career that he rushed for at least 100 yards and two scores, tying Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith for the third-most such games in league history. Henry only trails Hall of Famers Jim Brown and LaDainian Tomlinson (each with 25 games) for the most games of 100 rushing yards and two TDs.
Henry also scored his 100th and 101st career rushing touchdowns while playing in his 128th career game. That ties Adrian Peterson for the fifth-fewest games played to reach 100 career rushing touchdowns all time, behind Tomlinson (93), Smith (99), Brown (113) and Shaun Alexander (119).
While his 11 rushing touchdowns lead the NFL, they also mark the seventh consecutive season in Henry’s career that he has eclipsed double-digit rushing touchdowns. The only other players in NFL history with double-digit rushing touchdowns in seven straight seasons are Tomlinson (2001-09) and Peterson (2007-2013).
3) Jared Goff's torrid stretch is still going
Here are Goff’s numbers in his last six games, presented without context: 6-0 win-loss record, 82.8 completion percentage, 13 touchdowns, one interception and a 140.1 passer rating.
OK, that was a lie -- here is the context: Goff’s completion percentage and passer rating are both the highest in a six-game span since at least 1970 (minimum 100 passes attempted). Goff smashed Hall of Famer Peyton Manning’s record of 78.3 completion percentage from Weeks 12-17 during his 2008 MVP season, and he broke Brock Purdy’s passer rating record of 138.1 in Weeks 10-15, 2023.
Goff’s favorite target in this span has been Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has hauled in a catch on each of the last 30 occasions in which the quarterback has targeted him -- the longest streak by any QB-WR/TE duo in a single season since at least 1991.
This week, Goff will face DeMeco Ryans’ Texans on Sunday Night Football -- meaning he’ll attempt to power the Lions to an 8-1 start while facing the team allowing the lowest completion percentage (54.9) and the third-fewest passing yards per game (167.4) in the NFL.
4) Kamren Kinchens ties 98-year-old rookie mark with pick-six
How is this for the first interception of your career: On the road during the fourth quarter of a tie game, with the Seahawks driving in his red zone, Kinchens picked off quarterback Geno Smith in the end zone and took it back all the way for a 103-yard house call -- tied for the fourth-longest interception return touchdown in NFL history.
The 2024 third-round pick out of Miami finished the game with two all-important interceptions in the Rams' 26-20 overtime win over Seattle.
Kinchens’ interception return tied a nearly 100-year-old record for longest non-special teams touchdown by a rookie. Pete Barnum, a member of the 1926 Columbus Tigers, also returned an interception off the Canton Bulldogs 103 yards for a score in a 14-2 win.
5) Drake Maye matches "The Babe"
Maye’s day was far from perfect, as he threw two interceptions and led the Patriots to just 17 points in an overtime loss to the Titans.
The highs though -- particularly his miracle touchdown heave as time expired to force overtime -- should be enough to give Patriots fans hope for the future.
Maye finished with 206 passing yards and 95 rushing yards, making him the first Patriots player with at least 200 yards passing and 90 yards rushing in a game since Vito “The Babe” Parilli did so for the Boston Patriots in 1964 against the Houston Oilers.
In three of his four career starts, Maye has led the Patriots (or tied for the lead) in rushing yards -- joining Jake Locker and Michael Vick as the only QBs since 1950 to do so in three of their first four starts.
Maye is the first rookie since the 1970 merger with at least five passing touchdowns and 200 rushing yards over his first five career games; he has tallied six passing scores and 209 rushing yards.
Jayden Daniels, Kyler Murray and Robert Griffin III are the only other players with at least 200 rushing yards and four passing touchdowns in their first five games since the 1970 merger.
6) Saquon Barkley hurdles, racks up yardage in historic fashion
Apart from having the coolest backward hurdle (only backward hurdle?) in NFL lore, Barkley made history with his 199 yards from scrimmage in Week 9.
Barkley, whose 1,071 scrimmage yards trail only Derrick Henry's total of 1,145 this season, has surpassed 110 total yards in seven of eight career games with the Eagles, joining Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson (with the Rams in 1983) as the only players in NFL history with 110-plus scrimmage yards in at least seven of their first eight games with a new team.
Research shoutouts: Tony Holzman-Escareno (@FrontOfficeNFL), John Todd and Blake Warye (@bwaryeofblake)