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When it comes to getting big games from playmakers, the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers have been lacking at a historic level.
The Patriots and Packers are the only teams in the NFL without a 100-yard receiving game from any player with JuJu Smith-Schuster’s 90 in Week 14 against Pittsburgh the high for New England and Dontayvion Wicks’ 97 last week against Tampa Bay the most for Green Bay.
Compounding the issue is the fact that the Patriots and Packers also haven’t gotten a single 100-yard rushing game from a player this season with Rhamondre Stevenson’s 98 yards the best for New England and AJ Dillon’s 76 yards the top game for Green Bay.
The only other teams without a 100-yard rusher this season are Cincinnati, Denver, Washington and New Orleans.
The other 30 teams have combined for 155 performances of at least 100 yards receiving and 62 of at least 100 yards rushing.
If the Patriots and Packers don’t have a player reach that mark in the final three games it would be the first time a team failed to have a 100-yard rusher or receiver in a single game in a season of at least 16 games.
The last team that did it was the 1982 Baltimore Colts in a strike-shortened nine-game season. The last time it happened in a full season came in 1977 when Washington had no 100-yard performances in a 14-game season.
20-20 CLUB
Christian McCaffrey and Raheem Mostert have formed the rare 20-20 club this season.
The two talented backs are tied for the NFL lead with 20 touchdowns this season, marking the seventh time two players reached that mark in the same season.
The last time it happened came in 2021 when Jonathan Taylor and Austin Ekeler each finished the season with 20 touchdowns.
Jalen Hurts is next in the NFL this season with 14 TDs scored, making it unlikely that 2023 will match 2005 with a record three 20-TD scorers. In that season, Shaun Alexander led the NFL with 28, followed by Larry Johnson with 21 and LaDainian Tomlinson with 20.
Only one season in NFL history has had two players reach 22 touchdowns in a season with O.J. Simpson (23) and Chuck Foreman (22) doing it in a 14-game season in 1975.
Mostert is also the third undrafted player in the common draft era to score 20 TDs in a season, joining Ekeler and Priest Holmes, who scored 27 TDs in 2003 and 24 in 2002.
ROARING ROOKIES
The Detroit Lions got some impressive production from a pair of rookies last week.
Tight end Sam LaPorta caught two TD passes and running back Jahmyr Gibbs added two scores in a 42-17 victory over Denver on Saturday.
The Lions became the third team since the merger to get at least five touchdowns from rookies in a single game, joining the Bills, who did it Sept. 23, 1979, against the New York Jets, and the Chargers, who did it against the Browns on Nov. 3, 1974.
LaPorta’s nine touchdown catches are tied with Junior Miller for the third most ever for a rookie tight end, trailing only Rob Gronkowski (10 in 2010) and Mike Ditka (12 in 1961).
Gibbs has eight TDs so far this season, making the Lions the fifth team since the merger to get at least eight TDs from two rookies in the same season. The last team to do that was the 2006 Saints with Reggie Bush and Marques Colston.
TURNAROUND TEAM
The Las Vegas Raiders went from zero to 60 at an impressive pace.
Four days after losing 3-0 to Minnesota, the Raiders set a franchise record for scoring in a 63-21 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night.
The Raiders became the third team in NFL history to score at least 60 points in the game following a shutout, joining the 1934 Eagles, who beat the Cincinnati Reds 64-0, and the 1922 Akron Pros, who beat the Oorang Indians 62-0.
One other team had a bigger week-to-week improvement in scoring with Washington beating the New York Giants 72-41 a week after losing 14-3 to the Browns in 1966.
The Raiders are the second team to score at least 63 points in a game this season after Miami beat Denver 70-20 in Week 3. No other team had scored that many in a game since Washington in 1966.
Las Vegas got touchdowns from eight players, becoming the first team to do that since the Rams did it in a 70-27 win over the Colts on Oct. 22, 1950.
One of those TDs came on a 44-yard fumble return by defensive tackle John Jenkins. That marked the fourth time since 1991 that a player listed at 300 pounds or more scored on a TD of at least 40 yards with Linval Joseph doing it for Minnesota in 2018, Shaun Rogers for Detroit in 2007, and Jerry Ball for Oakland in 1996.
The performance by the Chargers led to the firing of coach Brandon Staley. The Raiders had previously fired coach Josh McDaniels after Week 8, making this the first time since 2008 that two teams in one division fired coaches during the season.
The Rams fired Scott Linehan after four games that season and the 49ers fired Mike Nolan after seven games.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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