NFL Research offers the best nuggets from each week of games in the NFL. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 14 of the 2022 NFL season.
1) Jalen Hurts, Eagles offense cut Giants down to size
Jalen put the "Hurts" on the Giants on Sunday, recording 294 total yards and three scores at MetLife Stadium. It was his 11th game with multiple touchdowns, tied for the most in the NFL in 2022. The hat trick has moved Hurts' total up to 32 on the season, already tied for the fourth-most in Eagles franchise history with four games to play. The only players with more are Randall Cunningham (35 in 1990), Donovan McNabb (34 in 2004) and Carson Wentz (33 in 2017). The 2004 Eagles lost Super Bowl XXXIX, while the 2017 Eagles won Super Bowl LII (both against the Patriots).
Hurts' third-quarter rush touchdown was his 10th this season, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to have double-digit rushing touchdowns in back-to-back seasons (Hurts also had 10 rush TD in 2021). He (two) and Cam Newton (three) are the only players at the position with multiple such seasons in their career.
Hurts leads the NFL with a 108.4 passer rating, though his dual-threat ability has been on display all season. It is encompassed by this: Hurts is on course to be the first player in NFL history to have a passer rating of 100-plus and 10 rushing scores in a season, while he could also become the first player in NFL history with at least 50 pass attempts and 150 carries in a season.
The Eagles offense continued to soar to the tune of a season-high 48 points in Week 14 against the Giants. The team has been the NFL's No. 1 scoring (41.0 PPG) and total (463.3 total YPG) offense since Week 12.
Miles Sanders reset his career-high in rushing yards for the second time in his last three games, putting up 144 yards and two scores on the Giants two weeks after going for 143 rushing yards versus the Packers. Sanders is the first Eagles player with 1,000 rushing yards in a season since LeSean McCoy in 2014. Teammate A.J. Brown crossed the 1,000-yard threshold as well, the first Philadelphia wide receiver to reach the mark since Jeremy Maclin that same 2014 campaign.
The Eagles are the only team in the NFL with three players (Sanders, Brown and Hurts) to score 10-plus scrimmage touchdowns, and their +138 point differential is the largest in the league this season.
2) Eagles defense continues to hunt offenses
The Philadelphia defense showed the Giants why Eagles are birds of prey in Week 14, putting New York on lockdown with seven sacks and a takeaway. Philly leads the NFL in both metrics and remains the only defense to have five players with at least 5.0 sacks in 2022. The Eagles current top five: Haason Reddick (10.0), Brandon Graham (8.5), Javon Hargrave (8.0), Josh Sweat (7.5), and Fletcher Cox (6.0). Reddick has now recorded 10+ sacks in three straight seasons, the second-longest active streak in the NFL behind Myles Garrett (five).
But the Eagles are doing more than getting to the quarterback -- they are creating takeaways when they get there. According to Next Gen Stats, the Eagles have four of the 12 NFL players to have three-plus turnovers caused by their pressure this season. Hargrave and Graham are tied for the NFL lead with four, while Reddick and Sweat each have three.
3) Travis Kelce becomes fifth tight end with 10,000 yards
Kelce continues to transcend the definition of a tight end. On Sunday, he became the fifth tight end in NFL history to record 10,000 career receiving yards, joining Tony Gonzalez (15,127), Jason Witten (13,046), Antonio Gates (11,841) and Shannon Sharpe (10,060). Kelce needs 16 yards in Week 15 against the Texans to pass Sharpe for the fourth-most all-time.
4) Justin Jefferson continues to Griddy through the record book
Despite a Vikings loss, Jefferson continues to make history. Jefferson set a Vikings franchise record with 223 receiving yards in Week 14, the most by any player in a game this season. He did this on his way to becoming the first player in NFL history with 1,400 or more receiving yards in each of his first three NFL seasons. In fact, only Julio Jones (5) and Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison (4) have had longer streaks of 1,400-yard seasons than Jefferson has to start his career.
After his Week 14 outburst, Jefferson leads the NFL with 1,500 receiving yards this season, his second consecutive season reaching that line. He is the sixth player to do so in NFL history. No player has ever done so in three straight seasons.
5) Tyreek Hill created ways to score touchdowns
Hill's speed is almost unfathomable. He was the fastest player on the field on Sunday night… with an injured ankle. His 57-yard fumble-recovery TD covered more yards than the Dolphins' entire offense in the first half (55). The play made Hill the first player in the Super Bowl era to record a touchdown in each of the following ways: receiving, rushing, kick return, punt return and fumble return. He also became the first player to score a 50-yard touchdown in five different ways over that same span.
Hill leads the NFL with 100 receptions and is behind only Justin Jefferson in yards with 1,460, good for the most in Dolphins team history. Hill is 20 yards shy of setting a new career high in receiving yards. His current high is 1,479 in 2018 with the Chiefs.
6) Cowboys win double-digit games in back-to-back seasons for first time since 1990s
In the NFL there is a common adage -- they don't ask you how, they ask you how many. The Cowboys needed a last-minute, game-winning drive to get by the one-win Texans. However, the win gave them 10 on the season, the first time the franchise has reach that threshold in back-to-back seasons since they did so in six straight from 1991-1996. Dallas won three of the six Super Bowls played over that span.
7) Andy Reid reaches 10-plus wins for 17th time
Reid and the Chiefs won their 10th game of the season, but the milestone was more significant to the head coach than the ball club. 2022 is Reid's 17th season with at least 10 wins, which passed Hall of Famer Tom Landry (16) for the third-most by a head coach in NFL history. Only Bill Belichick and Hall of Famer Don Shula (20 each) have more such seasons in NFL history.
Bonus: Brock Purdy entered Week 14 facing the largest age differential (22 years, 146 days) between starting quarterbacks since at least 1950. He was also facing the greatest player of all time. However, he left the stadium with his first career win and became the first quarterback to beat Tom Brady in his first career start. Such quarterbacks were 0-6 against Brady entering Sunday. Purdy became the first Mr. Irrelevant to attempt a pass in an NFL game.
Research shoutouts: Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade), Dante Koplowitz-Fleming (@DanteKopFlem), Matt Okada (@MattOkada), Cole Jacobson (@ColeJacobson32), Michelle Magdziuk (@BallBlastEm), Blake Warye (@bwaryeorblake), John Todd (@therealjohntodd)
