NFL Research offers the best nuggets from each week of games in the NFL. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 15 of the 2022 NFL season.
1) Jalen Hurts tracking down Cam Newton rushing records
Hurts scored three touchdowns on the ground Sunday, bringing his total for the season up to 13. Hurts needs two more to pass Newton for the most by a quarterback in a single season in NFL history (Newton scored 14 during his 2011 rookie season). It was also Hurts' eighth career game with multiple rushing scores, the second-most by a quarterback since at least 1950. Again, Newton is the only quarterback with more such games in a career at 10.
2) Justin Herbert makes history on game-winning drive against Titans
Herbert struggled for the majority of the Chargers' matchup with the Titans in Week 15. However, he delivered when the Chargers needed him most. After the Titans tied the game at 14 with 48 seconds remaining, Herbert led a six-play, 57-yard drive that resulted in Cameron Dicker's game-winning field goal with no time remaining. During that game-winning drive, Herbert surpassed 4,000 passing yards for the season, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to start his career with three straight 4,000-yard passing seasons. The win brought the Chargers to 8-6 on the season and lifted them into the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoffs.
3) Andy Reid, Chiefs win seventh consecutive AFC West title
Reid and Kansas City have won the AFC West for the seventh straight season, tied for the second-longest streak in NFL history. Only the Patriots, who won their division for 11 straight seasons from 2009-2019, have had a longer streak all-time. Reid's tight end, Travis Kelce, also extended his new NFL record with his 34th career game with 100 receiving yards, the most by a tight end in NFL history, while also passing Shannon Sharpe (10,060) for the fourth-most receiving yards by a tight end all-time. He needs 1,692 more to pass Antonio Gates (11,841) for third-most all-time.
4) Justin Fields becomes third quarterback with 1,000-yard rushing season
Fields threw two pass touchdowns and ran for another 95 yards in the Bears' Week 15 loss to the Eagles. It was his fifth straight game with at least 70 rushing yards, the longest streak by a quarterback since at least 1950. The total also pushed Fields to exactly 1,000 rush yards this season. He joins Lamar Jackson (2019, 2020) and Michael Vick (2006) as the only players at the position to reach that threshold. The game was Fields' fifth loss when scoring multiple offensive touchdowns, tied for the second-most in the NFL behind Derek Carr.
5) T.J. Watt joins fitting company
It was once thought that Watt's season was over with a pectoral injury. However, last season's Defensive Player of the Year is doing DPOY things. On Sunday, he became the third-fastest player (84 games) to reach 75.0 career sacks since the stat became an official NFL statistic in 1982. The only other players to do so faster were Hall of Famer Reggie White (65) and Watt's older brother, J.J. Watt (82). The next thing Watt wants to match those two with: multiple Defensive Player of the Year trophies.
Bonus: With the Patriots' mind-boggling situational mishap in their loss to the Raiders, Josh McDaniels became the only one of Bill Belichick's former Patriots assistants to beat him in each of their first two matchups. McDaniels also beat his mentor in Week 5, 2009 as the Broncos head coach. The loss drops Belichick to 11-12 against his former Patriots assistants as head coaches.
Research shoutouts: Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade), Dante Koplowitz-Fleming (@DanteKopFlem), Matt Okada (@MattOkada), Cole Jacobson (@ColeJacobson32), Michelle Magdziuk (@BallBlastEm), Blake Warye (@bwaryeorblake), John Todd (@therealjohntodd)
