NFL Research offers the best nuggets from each week of games in the NFL. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments of Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season.
1) Lamar Jackson continues historic start to his season
Jackson's bet on himself continues to look more and more like he'll be hitting the jackpot. The 2019 unanimous AP NFL Most Valuable Player threw for 218 passing yards and four touchdowns with an interception and ran for another 107 yards and a score in the Ravens' 37-26 win over the Patriots. Jackson became the first player in NFL history with three passing touchdowns and 100 rushing yards in consecutive games (three passing TDs, 119 rushing yards versus Dolphins in Week 2).
Jackson had his seventh career game with at least 200 passing yards and 100 rushing yards. No other player since 1950 has more than three such games. He's averaged 249.7 passing yards and 80.1 rushing yards per game in 2022. No player in NFL history has ever averaged 240-plus passing and 80-plus rushing yards per contest in a single season.
Jackson's thrown 10 touchdowns and has a 119.0 passer rating this season, both tops in the NFL. His 243 rushing yards are tied for fourth in the NFL with Christian McCaffrey entering Monday (Saquon Barkley needs 8 yards to put them in a tie for fifth). Jackson is the first player in NFL history with 10-plus pass touchdowns and 200-plus rushing yards in the first three games of the season. The only other player to do that over any three-game span? Also, Jackson during his 2019 MVP season.
2) Will Lamar stay on course that hasn't happened since 1944?
Speaking of remarkable feats Lamar Jackson is on pace to accomplish, Jackson leads the NFL in touchdown passes (10) and is in the top five in rushing yards (243) this season. Only seven players since 1932 have ranked in the top five in passing touchdowns and rushing yards in the same season. The last instance happened during World War II -- the Lions' Frankie Sinkwich in 1944. The first player to do it was Hall of Famer Bronko Nagurski for the 1932 Bears.
No player has ever led the NFL in passing touchdowns and ranked top five in rushing yards.
3) Jalen Hurts' unique season continues in easy win over Commanders
Hurts continued to roll with 318 yards and three touchdowns through the air in a 24-8 victory over the Commanders in Week 3. This pushed his season totals to 916 passing yards and 167 rushing yards. Hurts is the first player with at least 900 passing and 100 rushing yards through three games since at least 1950. Hurts has averaged 305.3 passing yards and 55.7 rushing yards per game in 2022 -- no player has ever put up 300 passing yards and 50 rushing yards per game for an entire season.
4) Aaron Donald joins John Randle on exclusive list
Donald has done just about everything in his nine-year career: Eight-time Pro Bowler, seven-time first-team All-Pro, three-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and Super Bowl LVI champion. In Week 3, Donald became just the second player to primarily play defensive tackle to record 100-plus sacks in their career (individual sacks recorded since 1982). The other is Hall of Famer John Randle.
Donald is one of 11 players with 100-plus career sacks in their first nine seasons and the only to primarily play inside. He leads the NFL in sacks, quarterback hits (229) and tackles for loss (153) since entering the league in 2014.
5) Tua Tagovailoa and Dolphins continue winning ways
After beating the Bills for the first time in their last eight matchups, the Dolphins sit atop the AFC as the conference's lone undefeated team in 2022. Miami lost seven of its first eight games in 2021. The team's skid ended in Week 9, and since that point, the Dolphins have the NFL's highest win percentage in the regular season with an 11-1 record (.917) over that span. Tagovailoa has the highest quarterback win percentage since then with a 9-1 win-loss mark (.900). Patrick Mahomes' 10-2 record (.833) ranks second since that point last season.
6) Josh Allen and Bills lose despite dominating box score
Allen threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions on a career-high 63 pass attempts, and the Bills ran 90 plays to the Dolphins' 39 in a 21-19 loss in Week 3. Allen's 63 passes were tied for the fourth-most in NFL history by a player to throw no interceptions in a game, while his team's plus-51 play differential was the second-highest in a loss, including playoffs, since at least 2000. The 2002 Steelers ran 55 more plays than a Texans team led by David Carr that would defeat Pittsburgh 24-6 in Week 14.
7) Lions record almost-record in almost-win against the Vikings
Entering the fourth quarter against the Vikings in Week 3, the Lions had scored in 18 consecutive quarters, one shy of tying the NFL record of 19 set by a 1942 Packers team coached by Hall of Famer Curly Lambeau and led by Hall of Famer Don Hutson. However, the Lions failed to score in the final quarter and relinquished a 10-point lead in a 28-24 loss in Minnesota.
The Lions did score on each of their first 11 possessions in 2022. It's the longest streak to start a season, excluding overtime, in NFL history (per Elias). Detroit broke a record previously held by the 1920 Buffalo All-Americans and the 1998 San Francisco 49ers, coached by NFL Media's Steve Mariucci.
8) Nick Chubb continues to eclipse the century mark
Chubb rushed for 113 yards in a 29-17 win over the Steelers on Thursday Night Football. It was Chubb's 24th career game with 100-or-more rushing yards, passing Derrick Henry (23) for the most since the former entered the NFL in 2018. Chubb trails only Hall of Famer Jim Brown for the most 100-yard games in a player's first five seasons in Browns team history. Brown had 32 such games from 1957-1961.
Bonus: The St. Brown brothers in a class of their own thus far in 2022
Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown have more in common than just genes and NFC North pedigrees. Entering Sunday Night Football, the brothers are the only players in the NFL with a reception and carry of 30-plus yards this season.
Research shoutouts: Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade), Dante Koplowitz-Fleming (@DanteKopFlem), Joel Smyth (@FFSmyth)_
