NFL Research offers the best nuggets from each week of games in the NFL. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 12 of the 2023 NFL season.
1) Jalen Hurts runs Eagles to comeback, passes Cam Newton
Here are Hurts' numbers in the first half Sunday against the Bills: 33 passing yards, one interception, 22 rushing yards, one touchdown -- and a double-digit deficit.
Now looks at Hurts in the second half and overtime: 167 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, zero turnovers, 43 rushing yards and a walk-off touchdown run.
This was Hurts' 11th career game with multiple rushing touchdowns, breaking a tie with Cam Newton for the most such games by a quarterback in NFL history.
Hurts now has 11 rushing touchdowns on the season, marking his third consecutive campaign with double-digit rushing touchdowns. No other quarterback in NFL history has had 10-plus rushing touchdowns in even two consecutive seasons.
2) Josh Allen makes history despite continued overtime misfortune
Allen is not in this article because of his 0-6 career record in overtime (the third-longest OT losing streak by a quarterback to begin a career in NFL history).
He is here because he made history when he scored his eighth touchdown on the ground this season, making 2023 the fourth time in his career that he's had eight or more rushing touchdowns.
That tied Cam Newton for the most seasons with eight-plus rushing touchdowns by a quarterback all-time.Â
Allen also tied Drew Brees (11) for the third-most games with at least 300 yards passing and one rushing touchdown in the Super Bowl era. He now trails only Aaron Rodgers (13) and Tom Brady (17).
3) C.J. Stroud's 300-yard streak
Another quarterback with a historic performance in a losing effort, Stroud became the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 300-plus yards in four consecutive games.
Stroud also passed Justin Herbert (3,224) for the second-most passing yards in a player's first 11 games in NFL history. The only player with more in their first 11 games was Patrick Mahomes, with 10 of those 11 games coming in his sophomore season.
Stroud leads the NFL with six games of 300-plus passing yards, tied with Andrew Luck for the second-most by a rookie (behind Herbert's eight such games). It was the fifth time this season that Stroud totaled 300-plus passing yards and threw multiple touchdowns in a game, which is tied with Luck and Herbert for the most by a rookie.
4) Lamar Jackson shatters pace for QBs with 5,000 rushing yards
In the history of the NFL only four quarterbacks have rushed for 5,000 yards in their career: Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson -- and, now, Lamar Jackson.
Action Jackson reached 5,000 career rushing yards on Sunday Night Football against the Chargers in what was just his 84th career game.
The other three quarterbacks all needed over 100 games to reach that mark.
Baltimore gets to ride the high of a prime-time win into the bye week, and it does so holding the best record in the AFC at 9-3.
5) Patrick Mahomes moves past Dan Marino
The Chiefs trailed, 14-0, in the second quarter against the Raiders. They ended up winning by 14 points. I would like to call this a "Mahomes" moving forward.
Speaking of, this was the Chiefs superstar's 66th game (of 91 played) with multiple passing touchdowns. That broke Hall of Famer Dan Marino's record of 65 multi-touchdown games in a player's first seven seasons.
A scheduled reminder that Mahomes played in only one game during his rookie season.
6) Travis Kelce becomes fastest TE to 11,000 receiving yards
While he did not catch either of Patrick Mahomes' touchdown passes, Kelce did total 91 yards receiving in Week 12 against the Raiders.
He brought his career receiving yards total up to 11,076, good for the fourth-most by a tight end in NFL history (behind Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jason Witten).
Kelce reached 11,000 receiving yards in his 154th career game. The only other tight end to do so before playing in his 200th career game was Gonzalez -- but it took him 191.
7) Mike Evans keeps climbing ranks among gold-jacket pass catchers
Evans is putting together an impressive season ahead of his impending free agency.
In Week 12, the 30-year-old wideout added another pair of receiving touchdowns to his resume, bringing his career total to 90.
Evans tied Hall of Famer Don Hutson for the sixth-most receiving touchdowns in a player's first 10 career seasons. He trails just Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens and 2014 draft-mate Davante Adams.
That is elite, gold-jacket-level company.
8) T.J. Watt is in league of his own with multi-sack games
In a win that will be remembered as the day the Steelers finally totaled 400 yards of offense, Watt recorded two-plus sacks for the 20th time in his career (the most in the NFL since 2017).
Watt has now played in 98 career games and has 91.0 sacks to his name. Only one other player (since sacks started being recorded in 1982) has brought down opposing quarterbacks at least 90 times within his first 100 games -- Hall of Famer Reggie White, who had 105.0 career sacks in his first 100 games.
Entering Monday, Watt leads the NFL with 13.5 sacks this season.
9) Derrick Henry finds end zone, Hall of Fame company
The Titans snapped a three-game losing streak with a 17-10 win over the Panthers in Week 12, and both Tennessee touchdowns were scored by Henry.
King Henry (21 games with multiple rushing touchdowns) tied Hall of Famer Franco Harris and future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson for the seventh-most games with two-plus rushing touchdowns in a player's first eight career seasons.Â
He also became the eighth player in NFL history with 9,000-plus rushing yards and at least 80 rushing touchdowns within his first eight seasons.
10) Kyren Williams returns, dominates same Cardinals team he last faced
Williams made his return from injured reserve in Week 12 and did so with a bang, totaling 204 yards from scrimmage and finding the end zone twice in a 37-14 win over the Cardinals.
Williams became the first player in NFL history with at least 140 yards rushing, six catches, 60-plus receiving yards and multiple receiving touchdowns in a single game.
This was not the 23-year-old running back's first time going off against the Cardinals. In fact, his most recent game played prior to his ankle injury was also against Arizona.
Williams had 158 rushing yards in Week 6 during that 26-9 win over the Cards.
Williams is the first player in NFL history to play in consecutive games against the same opponent and have 150-plus scrimmage yards in each of them.
Quirky? Yes. But notable nonetheless!
