A couple of historical stats highlighted the week 13 schedule. Here is a look at some of the numbers and what they mean as the week wraps up after tonight’s game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
- Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 24 of 38 passes (63.2 percent) for 368 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 112.6 passer rating in the Packers’ 26-21 win over New England. Rodgers extended his NFL-record streaks to 360 consecutive passes at home and 31 touchdown passes in a row at home without an interception. His last interception at home came nearly two years ago on December 2, 2012.
The game was also the first time Rodgers and New England quarterback Tom Brady faced one another. It is only the second time in NFL history that a pair of quarterbacks with at least 200 touchdown passes started against one another for the first time. The other instance was December 14, 1974 between Pro Football Hall of Famer’s Len Dawson and Fran Tarkenton.
- New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees threw five touchdown passes without an interception in the Saints’ 35-32 win at Pittsburgh. Brees has seven career games with at least five touchdown passes and no interceptions, the most in NFL history.
- The Jacksonville Jaguars overcame a 21-0 deficit to beat the New York Giants 25-24, the largest comeback victory in franchise history. The game marked the fourth time in 2014 that a team has overcome a deficit of at least 21 points to win, tied for the most of any season in NFL history.
Jacksonville rookie quarterback Blake Bortles led an 11-play, 55-yard drive that culminated with Josh Scobee’s game-winning 43-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He is the third rookie starting quarterback to help his team overcome a deficit of at least 21 points to win since at least 1970, joining Matthew Stafford (November 22, 2009) and Vince Young (November 26, 2006).
- The Indianapolis Colts scored six touchdowns of at least 30 yards in a 49-27 win against Washington. The Colts are the first team to score at least six touchdowns of 30 yards or more in the same game since Washington (seven) did so on November 27, 1966 against the New York Giants.
Quarterback Andrew Luck passed for 370 yards and five touchdowns for a 137.0 passer rating and leads the NFL with 4,011 passing yards. He joins Peyton Manning and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino as the only players in NFL history to pass for at least 4,000 yards in two of their first three seasons.
Luck has a career-high 34 touchdown passes and joins Manning and Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas as the only players in franchise history with 30+ touchdown passes in a season.
- Houston defensive end JJ Watt had three tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a touchdown reception in the Texans’ 45-21 win against Tennessee. Watt is the first NFL player with at least three offensive touchdowns (three receiving) and two or more touchdowns on takeaways (one interception return, one fumble return) in a season since Joe Golding of the Boston Yanks in 1948.
Watt is the only player in NFL history with three touchdown catches, an interception-return touchdown and a fumble recovery-touchdown in the same season.
- The Minnesota Vikings scored two touchdowns on blocked punts in a 31-13 win over Carolina. Adam Thielen blocked a punt and returned it 30 yards for a score in the first quarter. Everson Griffen returned a punt blocked by Jasper Brinkley 43 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. The Vikings are the first team since the 1975 Detroit Lions (September 21 at Green Bay) to return two blocked punts for touchdowns in a half.
- Louis rookie running back Tre Mason rushed for 117 yards with two touchdowns and had 47 receiving yards with one touchdown in the Rams’ 52-0 win over Oakland. Mason, who had rushing touchdowns of 89 and eight yards and a 35-yard touchdown reception, is the fourth player in NFL history with an 85+ yard TD run and a 35+ yard TD catch in the same game. The other three to accomplish the feat are Jim Spavital (November 5, 1950), Joey Galloway (November 12, 1995) and Chris Johnson (September 20, 2009).