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It was a memorable Sunday of NFL action in Week 14 with multiple players across the league hitting record-breaking marks.
There were also losses for some of those returning to familiar places and a last-second victory for the reigning Super Bowl champions.
Sunday also saw arguably the game of the season with the Los Angeles Rams beating the Buffalo Bills in this campaign’s highest scoring contest so far.
Here are the main storylines from Sunday’s action.
The best photos from the 2024 NFL season
Justin Jefferson reaches historic mark as Kirk Cousins’ return to Minnesota ends in heavy defeat
Justin Jefferson hit a historic mark during the Minnesota Vikings’ big victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday as Kirk Cousins’ return to U.S. Bank Stadium went sourly.
Jefferson had 132 receiving yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings won 42-21 to improve to 11-2, handing the Falcons their fourth straight defeat.
Thanks to his big outing, Jefferson surpassed 7,000 career receiving yards and became the first player in NFL history to reach the milestone within his first five seasons in the league.
The historic achievement highlights Jefferson’s impact since entering the league in 2020, although his two-score performance did end a run of six weeks without a touchdown for the 25-year-old.
Second-year receiver Jordan Addison led the scoring for Minnesota, finishing with 133 yards and three touchdowns off eight receptions.
As a result, Jefferson and Addison are the second duo in Vikings history to each have at least 100 yards and two touchdowns receiving in the same game and just the fifth duo to have 130-plus receiving yards and two-plus receiving touchdowns in a game during the Super Bowl era.
The pair of star wide receivers made life easier for quarterback Sam Darnold, who threw for 347 passing yards and five touchdowns, while running back Aaron Jones rushed for another score.
Afterwards, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke about the improvement he’s seen from Darnold this year, in particular after the team’s narrow win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10 when the 27-year-old threw three interceptions.
“I think there can be incredible growth in moments where maybe on the outside, it seemed leaving Jacksonville like there’s something really wrong,” O’Connell told reporters. “They didn’t score a touchdown.
“What it was, in my opinion, was an incredible growth moment for him to just come back the next week and start stacking some things that are leading into a layered kind of success type approach, which is what happened to a lot of quarterbacks in this league, especially the ones that their trajectory over the course of a season or their career is pointing sky-high.”
While the Vikings offense warmed up as the game progressed, their defense put the clamps on Falcons quarterback Cousins, who was playing in Minnesota for the first time since leaving in the offseason.
Cousins – who spent six seasons in Minnesota before moving to Atlanta – threw two interceptions, including a brilliant one-handed catch from Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy, as his mid-season slump continued and the Falcons’ winless run went on.
Atlanta trailed by a point midway through the third quarter before Minnesota’s offensive explosion and Cousins’ turnovers halted any hopes of a Falcons victory on the road.
Cousins said afterwards that he believes the Falcons have the ability to get their season back on track.
“I think you just play your schedule and you begin to feel like it’s a week-to-week league,” the 36-year-old told reporters. “When you are playing well, you usually aren’t as good as people are telling you when they’re patting you on the back, and if you are in a rut, you’re usually not as bad as people kind of leaving you for dead.
“The reality is usually somewhere in the middle. We just have to keep playing and see where the dust settles when we get to January.”
Other records broken across league
Outside of Jefferson’s historic mark, there were several other noteworthy records broken across Sunday’s games.
In what was a largely underwhelming defeat for the Las Vegas Raiders at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there was a moment to celebrate for rookie tight end Brock Bowers as he set a new record for the most receptions by a tight end in their first season in the NFL.
Bowers’ third catch of the 28-13 loss was his 87th this season, taking him past the previous record of 86 set by Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions set last year.
While the 2024 season has been a largely forgettable one for the Raiders, Bowers has offered a ray of optimism.
The 21-year-old leads the NFL in receptions and, if that pace continues, would become the first ever rookie tight end to achieve that feat at the end of the season.
At his current rate, he is also on track to become the third rookie tight end to surpass 1,000 receiving yards after Kyle Pitts in 2021 and Mike Ditka in 1961.
Elsewhere, Saquon Barkley’s outstanding debut season in Philadelphia saw him reach another milestone as he broke the Eagles’ single-season rushing record during their narrow victory over the Carolina Panthers.
The 27-year-old had 124 yards in the 22-16 win, meaning he now has 1,623 yards on the ground this season to take him past LeSean McCoy’s previous record of 1,607 set in 2013.
“I think it’s pretty cool, the most important thing was getting a win, and we got the win,” Barkley said afterwards. “Being a fan of Shady (McCoy) growing up and seeing the spectacular things he was able to do with the ball in his hands and to be mentioned with him definitely means a lot.
“Gotta give credit to the guys up front. They’ve made my job a lot easier so far this year. Hopefully, it will continue.”
Barkley’s big game was vital in the Eagles’ winning their ninth game in a row, although Carolina could have snatched a late victory if rookie receiver Xavier Legette hadn’t dropped a pass in the final seconds of the game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Chiefs use ‘doink for the division’ field goal to beat Chargers
Like many of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 12 wins this season, Sunday’s victory over the Los Angeles Chargers wasn’t a classic. But at the end, they once against found a way to win.
After a tight affair at Arrowhead Stadium, a 31-yard field goal as time expired from Matthew Wright bounced off the upright and through the goalposts to give the Chiefs a 19-17 victory.
The so-called “Doink for the Division” kick from Wright – who had been signed earlier in the week – clinched the AFC West division for the reigning Super Bowl champions as they improved to 12-1.
“I’m just glad it went in,” Wright said during a postgame interview on NBC. “I wish it went right down the middle, but three is three.”
It is the ninth year in a row that Kansas City has won the division, the second longest run ever of consecutive division victories behind the 11-year run from the New England Patriots during Bill Belichick and Tom Brady’s time with the team.
The game-winning kick from Wright was his fourth field goal of the game against the Chargers and capped off another tight win for the Chiefs.
The first half saw a combined eight punts for the two teams with the Chiefs leading 13-0 at the break.
Two touchdowns in the third quarter – a three-yard run from Gus Edwards and four-yard reception from Quentin Johnston – closed the gap.
A 37-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker gave the Chargers a one-point lead with 4:35 remaining. But as has become tradition, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were able to manufacture a drive and worked the remainder of the clock to set up Wright to win the game.
The Chiefs are now 10-0 this season in one-possession games.
“We keep the ratings, baby. Keep the ratings,” defensive lineman Chris Jones said. “Getting prepared for later on in the playoffs when every game is going to be tight. Every game is going to be similar atmosphere to this. Very tight, very close. Maybe come down to a field goal to win the game and we know how to close.”
Between their victory and the Bills’ loss to the Rams earlier in the day, the Chiefs now hold a two-game lead atop the AFC conference and lead the race for the No. 1 seed and the first-round bye that comes with it.
“We won the division, it’s the first step,” Mahomes told NBC afterwards. “We’ve got a lot more goals that we want to go for.”
Full Week 14 Sunday results
Away vs. home (winners in bold)
New York Jets 26-32 OT Miami Dolphins
Atlanta Falcons 21-42 Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints 14-11 New York Giants
Carolina Panthers 16-22 Philadelphia Eagles
Cleveland Browns 14-27 Pittsburgh Steelers
Las Vegas Raiders 13-28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars 10-6 Tennessee Titans
Seattle Seahawks 30-18 Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills 42-44 Los Angeles Rams
Chicago Bears 13-38 San Francisco 49ers
Los Angeles Chargers 17-19 Kansas City Chiefs