Mahomes remains undefeated vs 49ers, plus 10 more incredible stats from Week 7

By , FOX Sports Research

Published October 21, 2024

The seventh week of the NFL is nearly in the books, with just two games left to play. Several players had incredible performances, along with surprising results from multiple teams.

Arguably the most impressive performance of the week came from Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who took down the 49ers in a rematch of last season's Super Bowl.

This was the 10th regular season rematch of the previous season’s Super Bowl, and with Kansas City's win— the reigning Super Bowl champion is now 7-3 in those games. Mahomes also improved to 5-0 in his career vs the 49ers, with three regular season wins and two victories in the Super Bowl.

The two-time MVP didn't play his best game, and actually recorded the worst passer rating of his career at 44.4. He now has six touchdown passes and eight interceptions on the year, oddly putting him in rare company. Since 1985, he joins Peyton Manning (2015) as the only quarterbacks in that span to throw more interceptions than touchdowns while leading their team to a 6-0 start.

Manning would go on to lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl title that season. A sign of things to come, perhaps? The Chiefs are the second team ever to start 6-0 after winning two straight Super Bowls, joining the 1990 49ers.

Kansas City's dominant performance wasn't the only spectacular thing to happen this weekend. FOX Sports Research broke down ten more eye-opening nuggets for you. Let's take a look.

1. Jordan's got the juice

Jordan Love has been on an absolute tear this season, throwing for multiple touchdown passes in every game he's played. Going back to last year, he's recorded nine straight games with multiple touchdown passes— the longest active streak in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers (13 in 2011) and Brett Favre (12 in 1994-95) are the only Packers quarterbacks ever with longer streaks. When you include the postseason, he's done so in 11 straight games— which is the second-longest streak of any player in the last five seasons, behind only Tom Brady (13 straight from 2020-21).

Since the beginning of last season, Love also leads the league in games with three or more touchdown passes with eight.

Takeaway:

The only thing stopping Love from being in the conversation as a top five quarterback in the league is the number of interceptions he throws. If he can lower that number, the rest of the NFC North is in trouble.

2. Hurts' Heroics

In Week 7, the Eagles became the first NFC team with 0 points scored in the first quarter through the first six games of the season since the 0-16 Lions in 2008. But Jalen Hurts put points on the board quickly after that.

He finished the game with three total touchdowns, throwing one and rushing for two. This was his 20th career game with both a passing and rushing score, the third most in a player's first five seasons in NFL history— trailing only Cam Newton (31) and Josh Allen (25). But remember, Hurts had two scores on the ground. This was his sixth career game with a pass touchdown and multiple rushing touchdowns, tied with Allen for the second-most all-time— trailing only Newton (eight).

Takeaway:

Hurts will need to continue to be a threat on the ground if the Eagles want to make it back to the Super Bowl. Sunday was a step in the right direction.

3. Super Saquon

Before Sunday, Saquon Barkley said that playing the Giants would not be a "revenge game" for him.

But he sure ran like it was.

He finished the day with 176 rushing yards, which is the second-most in NFL history by a player vs their former team. The only player with more was Cedric Benson in 2009 vs the Bears (189 yards). He now has 658 rushing yards this season, passing LeSean McCoy (630 in 2013) for the most through the first six games of the season in franchise history. After Sunday night, he is third in the league in rushing behind Derrick Henry (704) and Jordan Mason (667).

Takeaway:

Barkley is one of the best running backs in the league. Despite the Commanders' stellar play, his play makes them the favorite in the NFC East.

4. Can't stop Goff

This was a highly anticipated matchup that delivered. It was the first Lions-Vikings game all-time in which the two teams had eight or more combined wins and one or fewer combined losses. Jared Goff continued his incredible play, finishing with a 140.0 passer rating— his third straight game eclipsing that mark. Since the 1970 merger, he joined Aaron Rodgers (2011), Kurt Warner (1999) and Roger Staubach (1971) as the only players to record a passer rating of 140 or higher in three consecutive games. For perspective, Rodgers and Warner both won the MVP award in the seasons they did that.

This was also the first time the Lions have beaten a 5-0 team since Oct 20, 1974… which is exactly 50 years ago from Sunday! And what's even more wild, is that the win in '74 also came against none other than the Vikings.

Takeaway:

Simply put, the Lions are serious Super Bowl contenders.

5. BTJ joins rare company

With players like Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze getting all the shine among rookie receivers, Brian Thomas Jr. is quietly having a stellar season for the Jaguars. As of Sunday night, he ranks fifth in the league with 513 receiving yards on just 30 receptions. He is the first player with 500+ receiving yards on 30 or fewer receptions through his first seven career games since none other than Randy Moss in 1998.

Takeaway:

Jacksonville has found their new No. 1 option. It'll be very interesting to see how his numbers look at the end of the season in comparison to other receivers taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

6. Daniel Jones' struggles

It's been a tough season for Daniel Jones. He's 2-5 and has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of six-to-four. His struggles have been extra apparent when playing at home, as he's failed to throw a touchdown pass in his last six starts at MetLife Stadium. He's just the fourth quarterback since 2000 to go five or more straight home games without throwing a touchdown, joining Lamar Jackson (2022-23), Colt McCoy (2014-22) and Brett Hundley (2017).

He's also lost six consecutive home starts (going back to last season), one shy of tying the franchise record— which is also held by him (lost seven straight from 2019 to 2020). Jones is the only quarterback since at least 1950 to lose six consecutive home games and not throw a single touchdown in that stretch. This is just the fifth time in Giants history that they've started 0-4 at home, and just the third time it's happened in the 21st century (2018, 2017).

Takeaway:

Drew Lock got some action in the loss to the Eagles this past week. If Jones continues to struggle, we might be seeing a lot more of him.

7. Green Bay ballin'

The Packers pulled off an impressive win against the Texans on Sunday, but what was even more impressive was that they did so despite having a turnover differential of -3. After games played on Sunday, teams with a turnover differential of -3 or worse are 1-12 this season, with the lone win coming from the Packers. When you go back to the beginning of 2023, teams are 5-60 when losing the turnover battle by three or more, and if you go back to the start of 2022— it drastically falls to 6-97. It was a rare win for Matt LaFleur's squad.

Takeaway:

Given the above numbers, the Packers will need to commit less turnovers to keep winning. Sunday was an outlier.

8. Russ cooks

Much was discussed about whether or not Mike Tomlin was making the right choice in benching Justin Fields in favor of Russell Wilson, but after the Sunday night dominance displayed against the Jets, it looks like the right call (for now at least). Wilson had 264 pass yards in his first start as a Steeler, the most in a debut in franchise history. He threw two touchdown passes and added one on the ground, his 17th career game with two passing scores and one or more on the ground. That is tied with Steve Young for the fourth most in NFL history, trailing only Cam Newton (22), Josh Allen (21) and Aaron Rodgers (20).

Takeaway:

Can Russ keep this up, or will Fields be thrust back into action? Only time will tell.

9. Tough times in Carolina

The 2024 Panthers are the first team all-time to trail by 20+ points at halftime in four of their first seven games games. They're allowing 34.7 points per game, which is on pace to be the worst by a team since the 1966 Giants, who allowed 35.8 points per game.

Takeaway:

The Panthers are likely looking at a top three pick in next year's draft unless there's a drastic change in their play.

10. Browns offensive woes

With Deshaun Watson's injury, the Browns became the first team to have three different players have 10+ pass attempts in a game since the Chiefs in Week 7, 2008.

They've failed to score 20 points in each of their first seven games, becoming the first team to do that since the 2009 Commanders. Only four teams since 2000 have failed to score 20 points in each of their first seven games of the season (2024 Browns, 2009 Washington, 2005 Ravens, 2004 Washington).

Takeaway:

With Watson likely out for the year, it's going to be an uphill battle the rest of the season.

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