NFL Research offers the best nuggets from each week of games in the NFL. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments of Week 4 of the 2022 NFL season.
1) Aaron Rodgers joins the 500 Club
Rodgers threw his 499th and 500th career pass touchdowns, including playoffs, in Week 4 against the Patriots. Rodgers is the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 pass touchdowns in his career, joining Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. The newest member of the 500 Club still needs 45 pass touchdowns to join the same four on the exclusive regular-season list.
2) Josh Allen ties Peyton Manning in 17-point comeback win over Ravens
Allen led the largest comeback of his career, bringing the Bills back from a 17-point, first-half deficit against Baltimore. It was Buffalo's first comeback win of that margin or more since Weeks 2 and 3 in 2011, when Ryan Fitzpatrick was the Bills' starting quarterback.
Allen had his 22nd career game with at least one pass and rush touchdown, the second-most by a player in his first five seasons in the Super Bowl era (Cam Newton had 31 from 2011-15). The 2018 first-round pick now has 147 career offensive touchdowns, tied with Peyton Manning for the fourth-most in a player's first five seasons in NFL history. Allen needs 25 touchdowns in his final 13 games of 2022 to break Hall of Famer Dan Marino's NFL record of 171. He would also pass Cam Newton (160) and Patrick Mahomes (159) on that list should he do so.
3) Ravens make the wrong kind of history after another blown lead
The Ravens found another way to lose a large lead in Week 4, marking their second loss this season after having a lead of at least 17 points in the game. It was the Ravens' second consecutive home loss after having a 17-plus point lead in the game (Baltimore had a 21-point lead over Miami in Week 2). They tied seven other teams for the most such home losses in a season in NFL history. The 2003 Falcons and the 2020 Chargers (three such games) are the only teams in NFL history with more blown leads of 17+ points in an entire season.
Lamar Jackson threw an interception on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 4:09 remaining and the score tied at 20. Baltimore never saw the ball again. The Ravens are the first team since play-by-play data was tracked in 1991 to be tied or leading and have the ball inside the opponent's 5-yard line to then turn the ball over and lose the game without retaining possession again.
4) Lions games offering historic scoring
Through four weeks, some of the best fantasy football advice could be this: Start any players you have involved in Lions games. The Lions lead the NFL in scoring offense (35.0 PPG) and are last in scoring defense (35.3 PPG allowed) in 2022. The only team to do that for an entire season was the 2000 Rams, led by Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. The Rams lost in the Wild Card Round that season and did so between Super Bowl appearances in 1999 (won SB XXXIV vs Titans) and 2001 (lost SB XXXVI vs Patriots).
The Lions have scored 140 points and allowed 141 points in 2022. That 281-point total is the most combined points and points allowed through four games in NFL history. The 2022 Lions have lost two games in which they scored at least 35 points, tied for the most in a single season in NFL history.
5) Cooper Rush makes Cowboys history
On an all-time roster that features Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, Rush is the first quarterback to win each of his first four starts in Cowboys history. The Cowboys' win over the Commanders was their third straight win in as many Rush starts this season. There's no quarterback controversy in Dallas. However, Dak Prescott was thrust into action as a rookie for an injured Tony Romo. He started 11-1 and never gave the job back to the current CBS commentator.
6) Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce continue to chase records and Hall of Famers
Mahomes threw three touchdowns and scored more points on his first two drives (14) in Week 4 than he did against the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV (9). The Chiefs' generational star has 162 pass touchdowns in his career, trailing only Hall of Famers Dan Marino (196) and Peyton Manning (167) for the most in a player's first six seasons in NFL history (Mahomes played one game as a rookie in 2017). He and Marino are the only players with at least 30 games with three-plus passing scores that early over that span. Mahomes also reached 20,000 career passing yards in the fewest games (67) in NFL history against Tampa Bay.
Kelce (9,328) passed former Buccaneer Rob Gronkowski (9,286) for the fifth-most receiving yards by a tight end all-time. The only players at the position ahead of Kelce: Hall of Famers Tony Gonzalez (15,127) and Shannon Sharpe (10,060), as well as likely future Hall of Famers Jason Witten (13,046) and Antonio Gates (11,841).
7) Justin Herbert throws for 300 passing yards ... again
Herbert recorded his 19th career game with 300 pass yards, tying Andrew Luck's record for the most in a player's first three seasons in NFL history. Herbert's affinity for 300-yard games has been particularly strong on the road. He's hit the mark in seven straight road games, the second-longest streak in NFL history behind former Rich Gannon over the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Gannon won NFL MVP and made a Super Bowl appearance in 2002. Herbert visits Cleveland in Week 5.
8) Young quarterbacks Zach Wilson & Kenny Pickett make history not throwing the football
Wilson and Pickett each made their own kind of debut in Week 4. Wilson played the first game of his sophomore season, and Pickett played the first game of his NFL career. The two combined to throw five interceptions (Mitchell Trubisky also threw an INT) in the Jets' 24-20 win over the Steelers. However, each of the young signal callers made their own bit of history...not throwing the football. Wilson did the Griddy after the first touchdown catch by a quarterback in Jets franchise history, while Pickett became the first quarterback since the 1970 merger to have multiple rushing touchdowns in his first career game.
Bonus: Rookie running back Dameon Pierce had a 75-yard rushing touchdown, the longest by a rookie in Texans history and the longest by a rookie since 2019. The only rookies with longer rush touchdowns over the last five seasons are Nick Chubb (92-yard TD in 2018) and Saquon Barkley (78-yard TD in 2018). Barkley (463) and Chubb (459) are the two leading rushers in the NFL this season. Pierce now ranks 10th with 313 rushing yards in 2022.
Research shoutouts: Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade), Dante Koplowitz-Fleming (@DanteKopFlem), Joel Smyth (@FFSmyth), Matt Okada (@MattOkada), Blake Warye (@Bwaryofme).
