NFL Research spotlights the best nuggets from each slate of games. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 13 of the 2024 NFL season.
1) Josh Allen caps big week with rare version of multi-TD performance
Allen had a lot of excitement in his life over the past week, but the rarest moment came when he scored a diving touchdown in the snow off a lateral toss from Amari Cooper.
The newly engaged Bills quarterback had a statistically ridiculous performance on Sunday Night Football, throwing for two touchdowns, rushing for another and catching one more … kind of. Allen was not credited with a reception, but he was credited with 7 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.
The list of games featuring players with zero receptions and a receiving touchdown is extremely short -- but this isn't the first time this has come up in the 2024 campaign!
Allen joined Jahmyr Gibbs (Week 3 of this season against the Cardinals) and Allen Rice (1984) as the only players in the Super Bowl era to score a receiving touchdown in a game in which they did not record a reception.
As far as games with a touchdown passing, rushing and receiving, Allen is just the 14th player to do so in the same contest in NFL history -- and the only quarterback.
2) Commanders enter December with rookie QB's record-setting outing
The Commanders snapped a three-game losing streak and put a November-to-forget in the rearview mirror with a dominant 42-19 win against the Titans in Week 13.
Kliff Kingsbury's run game was firing on all cylinders, as Washington totaled 267 yards and three touchdowns on the ground (led by Brian Robinson and Chris Rodriguez Jr., who each rushed for 90-plus yards and a score).
While the run game shone, it was the Commanders' rookie quarterback who again made history. Jayden Daniels finished 25-of-30 passing (83.3 percent) for 206 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The No. 2 overall pick also picked up 34 yards and a TD on the ground. Daniels became the first rookie in NFL history to complete 80 percent of his passes, throw three touchdown passes and run for at least one more score in a single game. It was also the third time this season the reigning Heisman Trophy winner completed at least 80 percent of his passes (while attempting at least 20) in a single game. Daniels is the first rookie in the Super Bowl era with at least three such games.
Safe to say the Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign is back on track.
3) Leonard Williams puts together dominant performance in revenge game
In Week 12 against the Cardinals, Williams had one of the best games of his career, stuffing the stat box with 2.5 sacks, six tackles, three tackles for loss, four QB hits and a pass defensed. In Week 13 against his former team, the Jets, Williams had one of the best games in the NFL this season. The Seahawks defensive lineman finished with 2.0 sacks, three tackles for loss and a historic 92-yard pick-six of Aaron Rodgers.
The former No. 6 overall pick out of USC dropped into coverage, picked off Rodgers and made a house call that cut the Jets' lead to 21-13. Williams' 92-yard touchdown was the longest pick-six in NFL history by a player who weighed at least 300 pounds. The only 300-pounder with a longer touchdown of any kind was Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson (also a former USC Trojan) in 2006 against the 49ers; Patterson picked up a fumble and returned it 98 yards for a score.
Not to be forgotten, Williams also blocked the Jets' first PAT of the day. All in all, he became the only player in the last 30 years to record multiple sacks, return an interception for a touchdown and block a kick in the same game. Julius Peppers is the only other player with at least one sack, one pick-six and one blocked kick in a game in that span.
4) Cardinals TE a bright spot in last two weeks
- Trey McBride in Week 12 against the Seahawks: 12 receptions for 133 yards.
- McBride in Week 13 against the Vikings: 12 receptions for 96 yards.
The Cardinals? 0-2 in that span.
Those are the two highest single-game reception totals by a tight end in Cardinals history and mark the first time in NFL history that a tight end has caught at least 12 passes in consecutive games.
5) Joe Burrow's 309-yard, three-TD outing squandered in another loss
The Bengals have bungled their way to a 4-8 record in 2024, mainly by way of their 31st-ranked scoring defense.
Burrow leads the NFL with 30 touchdown passes and 3,337 passing yards. (Oh, and he has only thrown five interceptions.)
The Bengals' 44-38 loss to the Steelers marked the fifth time this season in which Burrow has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in defeat -- the most such losses by a quarterback in a single season in the Super Bowl era.
Cincinnati has scored at least 38 points in three games this season, but is just 1-2 in those contests. The rest of the NFL is 21-0 when scoring 38-plus in a game in 2024. Those two losses in games with 38-plus points are tied for the most in a season in NFL history, joining the 2018 Chiefs, 1983 Chiefs, 1966 Giants and 1962 Broncos.
Next up for the Bengals? Monday Night Football in Dallas against the equally disappointing Cowboys.
6) Justin Herbert extends INT-less streak in win over Falcons
It was not the prettiest day for Herbert and the Chargers offense, but they did escape Atlanta with a 17-13 win over the Falcons.
For Herbert, it was the 10th consecutive game in which he did not throw an interception. The only other players in NFL history to go at least 10 consecutive games attempting 15-plus passes and remaining interception-free are Tom Brady (11-game streak in 2010) and Derek Carr (10-game streak in 2018).
Herbert also brought his career passing yardage up to 19,774, surpassing Jameis Winston (19,737) for the second-most passing yards by a player in his first five seasons in NFL history. Herbert trails only Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (20,618 passing yards from 1998-2002).
7) T.J. Watt moves up in record books with pair of sacks vs. Cincy
Watt registered 2.0 sacks in the Steelers' 44-38 win against the Bengals in Week 13, bringing his career total to 106.0 sacks in eight seasons, surpassing Jared Allen for the third-most sacks in a player's first eight career seasons since 1982.
The only players with more sacks in their first eight seasons are Hall of Famers Reggie White (124.0) and DeMarcus Ware (111.0).
