The final week of the NFL regular season is in the books, with the playoff bracket set. Several players had incredible performances, along with surprising results from multiple teams.
Arguably the best performance came from Lamar Jackson, who finished with 217 yards passing, two passing touchdowns and 63 yards rushing in his regular season finale against the Browns. While his stat-line doesn’t jump off the page, the performance pushed his season totals enough to cap off one of the most amazing years we’ve ever seen by a quarterback— as he finished with 4,172 pass yards, 41 pass touchdowns, four interceptions, 915 rush yards, and four rushing touchdowns. Below we’ve contextualized just how unique this season from the two-time MVP was:
- Jackson is the first player in NFL history with 40+ pass touchdowns and four or fewer interceptions.
- Jackson is the first player in NFL history with 40+ pass touchdowns and 600+ rush yards.
- Jackson is the first player in NFL history with 4,000+ pass yards and 800+ rush yards.
- Jackson is the first player in NFL history to average 8.5 yards per pass and six yards per carry in the same season.
- Jackson is just the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for 40 touchdowns and rush for four touchdowns in a single season, joining Patrick Mahomes (2022) and Aaron Rodgers (2016).
- Jackson went 3-0 vs Josh Allen and Joe Burrow, with a 10-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Jackson wasn’t the only one to have an incredible performance this past weekend. FOX Sports Research broke down ten more eye-opening nuggets for you. Let’s take a look:
1. Nabers’ historic year
Malik Nabers ended his phenomenal rookie campaign with 64 yards receiving and a touchdown catch against the Eagles. The LSU product finished the season with 109 catches for 1,204 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions. No player in Giants history has caught more passes in a single season than Nabers did this year, and he’s just one of three rookies ever to catch 100+ passes for over 1,200 yards— joining Puka Nacua (2023) and Anquan Boldin (2003). He also ended the season with seven consecutive games with 60+ receiving yards, becoming just the fourth rookie since the 1970 merger to have such a streak along with Odell Beckham Jr., Michael Clayton, and Brian Thomas Jr.
Takeaway: Just imagine what Nabers could do with elevated quarterback play. Expect him to put on a show next year.
2. Buccaneers ball
The Buccaneers won the NFC South for the fourth straight season, and several players set so many milestones that we decided to just list them all below:
- Baker Mayfield got his first career win when trailing by 10+ points in any game; he entered the game 0-41 in his career in such situations (Buccaneers trailed Saints 16-6 at halftime).
- Baker Mayfield eclipsed the 40 touchdown pass mark this season, joining Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson as the only players to do so this season; there have only been two other seasons with three quarterbacks to each throw 40+ touchdowns (2020: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson; 2011: Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees).
- Jalen McMillan has recorded a receiving touchdown in five straight games; the only player with a longer streak in their rookie season is Randy Moss (seven straight).
- Mike Evans eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving for the 11th straight season, tying Jerry Rice for the longest such streak ever.
Takeaway: Tampa Bay is clicking at just the right time. Can they make a serious run in the playoffs this year?
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