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The last week of NFL The regular season is now in the books, with the playoff bracket established. 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 touchdown passes and 63 yards rushing in his regular-season finale against the Browns. While his stat line doesn’t jump off the page, the performance boosted his season totals enough to cap off one of the most incredible years we’ve ever seen for a quarterback, as he finished with 4,172 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes, four interceptions, 915 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Below we have contextualized how unique this season of the two-time MVP was:
- Jackson is the first player in NFL history with 40-plus touchdown passes and four or fewer interceptions.
- Jackson is the first player in NFL history with 40+ touchdown passes and 600+ rushing yards.
- Jackson is the first player in NFL history with more than 4,000 passing yards and more than 800 rushing 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 run for four touchdowns in a single season, joining Patrick Mahomes (2022) and Aaron Rodgers (2016).
- Jackson went 3-0 against Josh Allen and Joe Burrow, with a 10-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Jackson wasn’t the only one who had an incredible performance last weekend. FOX Sports Research broke down ten most telling nuggets for you. Let’s take a look:
1. Nabers’ historic year
Malik Nabers finished his phenomenal rookie campaign with 64 receiving yards and a touchdown reception against the Eagles. The LSU product finished this season with 109 receptions for 1,204 yards and seven touchdown receptions. No player in Giants history has caught more passes in a single season than Nabers this year, and he is just one of three rookies to catch 100-plus passes for 1,200-plus yards, joining Puka Nacua (2023) and Anquan Boldin (2003). He also finished the season with seven consecutive games with 60-plus receiving yards, becoming just the fourth rookie since the 1970 merger to have that streak along with Odell Beckham Jr., Michael Clayton and Brian Thomas Jr.
Bottom line: Imagine what Nabers could do with elevated quarterback play. Expect him to put on a show next year.
2. Buccaneer Ball
The Buccaneers won the NFC South for the fourth consecutive season and several players set so many milestones that we decided to list them all below:
- Baker Mayfield earned his first career win when trailing by more than 10 points in any game; He entered the game 0-for-41 in his career in such situations (the Buccaneers trailed the Saints 16-6 at halftime).
- Baker Mayfield eclipsed the mark of 40 touchdown passes 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 throwing more than 40 touchdowns each (2020: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson; 2011: Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees).
- Jalen McMillan has recorded a receiving touchdown in five consecutive games; the only player with a longer streak in his rookie season is Randy Moss (seven in a row).
- Mike Evans eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving for the 11th consecutive season, tying Jerry Rice for the longest such streak.
Bottom line: Tampa Bay is clicking at the right time. Can they make a serious playoff run this year?
3. Bryce flips the switch
Early in the season, it looked like Bryce Young might not be “the guy” in Carolina after being benched in Week 3. But after being forced back into action in Week 8, the former pick overall number one improved his game dramatically. In his final 10 starts of the season, he threw 15 touchdowns to just six interceptions with a 61.8% completion rate and 88.9 passer rating. In his final three games of the season, he finished with 10 total touchdowns and zero turnovers.
His final game of the season was his best, throwing for 251 yards, completing 73.5% of his passes, recording three touchdown passes and adding two on the ground as well. He joined Josh Allen as the only players this season to throw for three touchdowns and rush for two in the same game. They are also the only players since 1982 to have played such a game in their first two seasons.
Bottom line: After a rough start to the season, Bryce Young appears to be Carolina’s quarterback of the future. The board will have to continue building around him.
4. Stellar night for Gibbs
Jahmyr Gibbs went out against the Vikings in Week 18, finishing with 139 rushing yards and four touchdowns from scrimmage (three rushing and one receiving). Gibbs finished the regular season with 20 total touchdowns, setting the Lions’ single-season franchise record. He is also the only player in Lions history to produce more than 1,900 yards from scrimmage and more than 20 touchdowns in a single season. This was also Gibbs’ fifth game of the season with over 100 rushing yards, which is the most by a Detroit player since Hall of Famer Barry Sanders in 1997.
Bottom line: People were shocked when the Lions selected a running back with the 12th pick in the 2023 draft. They couldn’t have been more right, as Gibbs is an absolute game-changer.
5. Rookie quarterbacks shine
The rookie quarterbacks really shined this year. Below we list a few nuggets to show how good they were:
- Bo Nix completed 18 consecutive passes in the season finale against the Chiefs, the most of any rookie to start a game in NFL history; Nix also helped the Broncos to their first playoff berth since 2015.
- Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels are the only two rookies in NFL history to have 10+ wins, 30+ total touchdowns and 4,000+ total yards in a season.
- Jayden Daniels led the Commanders to their fourth 12-win season in franchise history, and first since going 14-2 in 1991.
- Caleb Williams finished with 3,541 passing yards this season, fifth most of any Bears quarterback; He is also just the eighth rookie since the 1970 merger to win at Lambeau Field.
- Drake Maye had eight total touchdowns in the first five starts of his career, which is tied with Steve Grogan (1975) for the most of any Patriots rookie quarterback; He also ran for 95 yards in a game this season, which is the third-most by a Patriots quarterback (only Steve Grogan (103 vs. Jets in 1976) and Babe Parilli (96 vs. Oilers in 1964) have had more.) .
- Michael Penix passed for a season-high 312 yards against the Panthers, becoming just the third Falcons rookie since the merger to throw for more than 310 yards in a game.
Bottom line: With so much success from rookie quarterbacks, it will be very interesting to see if quarterbacks other than Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward will be selected in the first round of this year’s draft.
6. Parsons joins an elite company
Micah Parsons had one sack against the Commanders, putting him at 12 on the year. He joined Hall of Famer Reggie White as the only players to have 12 or more sacks in each of their first four NFL seasons. Parsons is also just the fourth player with 10-plus sacks in each of his first four seasons, joining Hall of Famers Dwight Freeney, Derrick Thomas and Reggie White.
Conclusion: Parsons is a generational talent and future Hall of Famer. Plain and simple.
7. Bills make history
Despite the loss to New England, the Bills still made history in Week 18. With Mitch Trubisky’s touchdown pass, Buffalo reached 30 touchdowns through the air along with 32 on the ground, making them the first team in the NFL history of reaching 30 in both categories. in a single season.
Bottom line: It’s all there for the Bills to take. They just have to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs.
8. Rodgers reaches 500
Aaron Rodgers finished the 2024 season strong, throwing for 274 yards and four touchdowns. Having entered the game with 499 career passing scores, the performance put him in the 500 club, making him the fifth player in NFL history to reach that mark, joining Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady. It was also his 34th career game with four touchdown passes, the fourth most in NFL history.
Bottom line: If this was the last game of his career, don’t take for granted how special Aaron Rodgers was for nearly 20 seasons.
9. A hard blow for Burrow
Joe Burrow had the best year of his career, finishing with 4,918 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns. He is the third quarterback in NFL history to throw 40 touchdown passes in a season and not make the playoffs that year, joining Drew Brees (2012) and Dan Marino (1986). He also appeared in 10 games this season with over 250 passing yards and three or more touchdown passes. The only three other players to have 10 such games in a single season won the MVP that season: Tom Brady in 2007, Peyton Manning in 2013 and Patrick Mahomes in 2018. Burrow also became just the third quarterback to the history of the NFL in throwing for 4,500. passing yards and 40 passing scores with a 70% completion rate in a season, joining Drew Brees (2011) and Baker Mayfield (2024).
Bottom line: The Bengals were arguably the biggest disappointment of the year, and none of that had to do with Burrow. He is a future MVP.
10. The Steelers lose again
With the Steelers’ loss to the Bengals in Week 18, they lost their fourth straight game. Pittsburgh is now the third team in NFL history to enter the postseason with a streak of more than four consecutive losses, joining the 1986 Jets and 1999 Lions (neither reached a conference title game ). On a positive note, Cameron Heyward became the only NFL player this season with 10+ tackles for loss and 10+ passes defended.
Conclusion: Can Mike Tomlin right the ship against the Ravens in the wild card?
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