NFL Research spotlights the best nuggets from each slate of games. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 7 of the 2024 NFL season.
1) Barkley flies high to get revenge against former team
Saquon Barkley returned to MetLife Stadium for the first time since signing in free agency with the Eagles during the offseason. During HBO's Hard Knocks this summer, Giants general manager Joe Schoen's phone call with Barkley's agent was recorded and included, with one question from Schoen (who had just told Barkley's agent that the Giants would not match the offer he reportedly received from another team) standing out: "Is it in the division?"
Yes, Joe -- it was in the division. Barkley, who is second in the NFL in rushing yards per game (109.7) behind Derrick Henry, has been the Eagles' engine this season.
That was certainly the case in Week 7. Barkley, in his first game against the Giants, rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown (and added 11 yards receiving) in Philadelphia's 28-3 win. Barkley had more total yards (187) than the Giants did as a team (119).
Barkley's 176 rushing yards are the second-most in NFL history by a player in a "revenge game" against a former team. Only Cedric Benson, who faced the Bears as a member of the Bengals in 2009, had more yards in such a matchup (189).
2) Goff's historic streak continues in win over Vikings
You want to talk about an all-time heater, you have to start with Jared Goff's last three games. Three wins, a completion percentage over 85, seven touchdowns to zero interceptions and a 153.1 passer rating.
The former Rams No. 1 overall pick became just the fourth quarterback with a passer rating of 140-plus in three consecutive games, joining Aaron Rodgers (2011), Kurt Warner (1999) and Roger Staubach (1971). Rodgers and Warner both won NFL MVP that season, while Staubach finished second in MVP voting. (Don't worry, Staubach "saved" that season by winning Super Bowl MVP.)
Goff's 83.5 completion percentage over his last four games is the highest since at least 1950 among quarterbacks with 90-plus pass attempts in a four-game span.
3) Love joins elite QB company with multiple-touchdown performance
Dating back to last season, and including playoffs, Jordan Love has tossed multiple touchdowns in 11 consecutive games. That makes him the third quarterback age 25 or younger (Love turns 26 on Nov. 2) to have such a streak, joining Patrick Mahomes (11 games in 2018) and Dan Marino (an 11-game span in 1983-84).
Love has averaged three touchdown passes and 1.6 interceptions per game in 2024, both the most among all qualified passers. If that holds, Love would join Cleveland's Brian Sipe (1979) and the Seahawks' Jim Zorn (1977) as the only players since the 1970 merger to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns per game and interceptions per game in the same season.
4) Packers RB finally catches first TD pass in his sixth NFL season
Josh Jacobs has had a fulfilling NFL career already. Jacobs was a first-round draft pick of the Raiders in 2019 and led the league in rushing in 2022. This past offseason, Jacobs signed a multi-year contract with the Packers in free agency. One thing he had never done in his NFL career? Catch a touchdown.
That is, until the third quarter of Week 7 against the Texans, when Jacobs scored on an 8-yard reception from Jordan Love to give the Packers a 21-19 lead (after a successful PAT).
Jacobs' 211 receptions prior to his first career receiving touchdown were the second-most in NFL history, trailing only former Pro Bowl running back Thomas Jones (242 receptions). In terms of yards, Jacobs had the third-most (1,556) prior to a first career touchdown catch (behind Jones' 1,578 and former teammate Jakobi Meyers' 1,560).
5) Chiefs remain lone undefeated squad despite Mahomes' slow start
The Chiefs are 6-0, their defense has looked just as dominant as last year's unit, and Patrick Mahomes is off to the worst start to a season in his career.
Mahomes has his fewest passing yards (1,389) and passing touchdowns (six) through six games in a season -- but he also has his most wins (six). In Week 7 against the 49ers, Mahomes set a new career low with a 44.4 passer rating. The good news? Brock Purdy set a lower career-low with a 36.7 passer rating. (The two Super Bowl LVIII quarterbacks combined for zero passing touchdowns, five interceptions ... and three rushing scores. That's weird, per NFL Research.)
The Chiefs are the NFL's lone remaining undefeated team (something the reigning Super Bowl champion hasn't done since 2011, when the Packers started 13-0). Mahomes told reporters postgame that he is proud of how the team has won games, but that he "[just doesn't] think it's normal for what you've seen from us because there's not a lot of passing touchdowns. There's been a lot of turnovers, especially by me."
One thing that is definitely not normal in the NFL is a quarterback leading a team to a 6-0 start despite throwing more interceptions than touchdown passes. In fact, Mahomes is just the second quarterback to do so in the last 30 seasons -- joining 39-year-old Peyton Manning, who threw seven touchdown passes against 10 interceptions during the Broncos' 6-0 start in 2015. The good news? Old Manning and Denver capped that season off with a Super Bowl 50 victory.
The last undefeated team in the NFL has not won the Super Bowl since 2006 (Manning's Colts started 9-0 and went on to win Super Bowl XLI). No team has ever won three consecutive Super Bowls. Mahomes and the Chiefs will look to keep winning, even if it's in ugly fashion, in order to become the first.
6) Raiders rookie makes history
Brock Bowers and the Raiders may not be getting a lot of attention, but the 13th overall pick has been off to an impressive start in his career.
Bowers leads all tight ends with 47 receptions (13 more than anyone else) and 477 receiving yards (over 100 more than second-place George Kittle).
Through seven career games, Bowers has 47 receptions -- more than any other tight end in his first seven games in NFL history.
Bowers now has three games with at least nine receptions, already the most ever by a tight end in his rookie season.
7) Washington shines in London
The Jaguars held a narrow 14-10 lead over the Patriots late in the second quarter when New England punter Bryce Baringer booted one down to the Jaguars' 4-yard line. Special teams standout Parker Washington fielded the punt and took off. Ninety-six yards later, Parker had increased the Jaguars' lead and put himself into the history books while doing so.
Parker's touchdown was the first ever special teams score in an international game. It was also the longest touchdown of any type in the history of NFL international play.
Oh, and the 96-yard play was the longest punt-return TD in Jaguars history.
Research shoutouts: Tony Holzman-Escareno (@FrontOfficeNFL), John Todd and Blake Warye (@bwaryeofblake)
