Lamar Jackson caps off historic season, plus 10 more incredible stats from Week 18
2025-01-08
Category: sports

The final week of the NFL regular season is in the books, with the playoff bracket set. 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 passing touchdowns and 63 yards rushing in his regular season finale against the Browns. While his stat-line doesn't jump off the page, the performance pushed his season totals enough to cap off one of the most amazing years we've ever seen by a quarterback— as he finished with 4,172 pass yards, 41 pass touchdowns, four interceptions, 915 rush yards, and four rushing touchdowns. Below we've contextualized just how unique this season from the two-time MVP was:  Jackson wasn't the only one to have an incredible performance this past weekend. FOX Sports Research broke down ten more eye-opening nuggets for you. Let's take a look: 1. Nabers' historic year Malik Nabers ended his phenomenal rookie campaign with 64 yards receiving and a touchdown catch against the Eagles. The LSU product finished with this season with 109 catches for 1,204 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions. No player in Giants history has caught more passes in a single season than Nabers did this year, and he's just one of three rookies ever to catch 100+ passes for over 1,200 yards— joining Puka Nacua (2023) and Anquan Boldin (2003). He also ended the season with seven consecutive games with 60+ receiving yards, becoming just the fourth rookie since the 1970 merger to have such a streak along with Odell Beckham Jr., Michael Clayton, and Brian Thomas Jr.&nbsp; Takeaway: Just imagine what Nabers could do with elevated quarterback play. Expect him to put on a show next year. 2. Buccaneers ball The Buccaneers won the NFC South for the fourth straight season, and several players set so many milestones that we decided to just list them all below:&nbsp;  Takeaway: Tampa Bay is clicking at just the right time. Can they make a serious run in the playoffs this year? 3. Bryce flips the switch Early in the season, it was looking 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 No. 1 overall pick improved his play dramatically. In his final 10 starts of the season, he threw 15 touchdowns with just six interceptions with a 61.8% completion rate and 88.9 passer rating. Over his final three games of the season, he finished with 10 total touchdowns and zero turnovers.&nbsp; His last 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 had such a game within their first two seasons.&nbsp; Takeaway: After a rocky start to the season, Bryce Young looks like he's the future quarterback in Carolina. The front office will need to continue to build around him. 4. Stellar night for Gibbs Jahmyr Gibbs went OFF against the Vikings in Week 18, finishing with 139 rushing yards and four scrimmage touchdowns (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 1,900+ scrimmage yards and 20+ touchdowns in a single season. This was also Gibbs' fifth game of the season with with 100+ rushing yards, which is the most by a Detroit player since Hall of Famer Barry Sanders in 1997. Takeaway: People were shocked when the Lions selected a running back with the 12th overall pick in the 2023 draft. They couldn't have been more right, as Gibbs is an absolute game-changer. 5. Rookie QBs shine Rookie quarterbacks really shined this year. Below we've listed some nuggets to show just how good they were:  Takeaway: With this much success from rookie quarterbacks, it will be very interesting to see if any other quarterbacks outside of Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward will be taken in the first round of this year's draft.  6. Parsons joins 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+ sacks in each of his first four seasons, joining Hall of Famers Dwight Freeney, Derrick Thomas, and Reggie White.&nbsp; Takeaway: 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 passing touchdown, Buffalo reached 30 scores through the air along with 32 on the ground— making them the first team in NFL history to reach 30 in both categories in a single season.&nbsp; Takeaway: It's all there for the taking for the Bills. They just have to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs. 8. Rodgers reaches 500 Aaron Rodgers finished off the 2024 season with a bang, 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.&nbsp; Takeaway: If this was the last game of his career, don't take for granted just how special Aaron Rodgers was for nearly 20 seasons. 9. Tough break for Burrow Joe Burrow had the best year of his career, finishing with 4,918 pass yards and 43 passing scores. He is the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for 40 pass touchdowns in a season and not make the playoffs that year, joining Drew Brees (2012) and Dan Marino (1986). He also put up 10 games this season with 250+ pass yards and three or more passing touchdowns. The only three other players who have had 10 such games in a single season all won MVP that season— Tom Brady in 2007, Peyton Manning in 2013 and Patrick Mahomes in 2018. Burrow also became just the third quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,500 pass yards and 40 passing scores with a 70% completion rate in a season, joining Drew Brees (2011) and Baker Mayfield (2024). Takeaway: The Bengals were arguably the biggest disappointment of the year, and none of that had to do with Burrow. He's a future MVP. 10. Steelers lose again With the Steelers losing to the Bengals in Week 18, they dropped their fourth straight game. Pittsburgh is now the third team in NFL history to enter the postseason on a four-plus game losing streak, along with the 1986 Jets and 1999 Lions (neither made a conference title game). On a positive note, Cameron Heyward became the only player in the NFL this season with 10+ tackles for loss and 10+ passes defensed. Takeaway: Can Mike Tomlin right the ship against the Ravens in the Wild Card? Â