Gurley’s great game

Todd Gurley gained 118 yards on 22 carries and 158 yards on 10 pass receptions in the Rams’ 27–23 win at Tennessee. Gurley is only the third player in NFL history with at least 150 receiving yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game. The others were Ollie Matson of the Chicago Cardinals (Nov. 28, 1954 at Pittsburgh) and Herschel Walker of the Cowboys (Dec. 14, 1986 against the Eagles).

Veteran Smith reaches 4000 yards for first time

Alex Smith threw for 304 yards in the Chiefs’ 29–13 home win over the Dolphins, reaching 4042 yards on the season. This is the first 4000-yard season for Smith, a 13-year NFL veteran. Only two other quarterbacks threw for 4000 yards for the first time in their 13th season or later. Rich Gannon did it for the first time for the 2002 Raiders, in his 15th season; and Steve Beuerlein did it for the 1999 Panthers, in his 13th season.

Niners top Jags in back-and-forth affair

The 49ers squandered an early 16–0 lead to fall behind, 17–16, late in the first half, only to rally in the second half to defeat the Jaguars, 44–33. Over the last nine seasons, the only other NFL team that came from behind to win a game by double digits after blowing a lead of at least 15 points was the Cowboys at Philadelphia on Dec. 14, 2014. Dallas couldn’t hold an early 21–0 advantage but came back to win, 38–27.

The only other such win for San Francisco was against New Orleans on Sept. 16, 1984. The eventual Super Bowl champions, behind Joe Montana, jumped out to a 17–0 lead, but then Ken Stabler’s Saints stormed back to go ahead, 20–17. Matt Cavanaugh replaced the injured Montana and led San Francisco to a 30–20 win at Candlestick Park.

Eli’s fifth shutout

Eli Manning threw two interceptions in the Giants’ 23–0 loss at Arizona. It was the fifth time that New York has been shutout in a regular-season game started by Manning. (The Giants were also blanked in one of Manning’s playoff starts, by the Panthers in January 2006.) That’s the highest total for any quarterback who debuted in the NFL in the last 25 years.

Winston destroys Newton in passing, but Cam eats the “W”

Jameis Winston's statistics dwarfed Cam Newton's on Sunday. Winston went 21-for-27 for 367 yards, a touchdown, and a 131.1 rating. Newton was 16-for-25 for 160 yards, an interception, and a 65.4 rating. But the Panthers won, 22-19. It was the first time in more than 17 years that an NFL starting quarterback with a rating below 70 defeated one with a rating of 130 or higher (minimum: 14 passes each, the NFL's standard for qualifying).

The last time that happened was on Oct. 22, 2000, when the Saints defeated the Falcons, 21-19. Jeff Blake of New Orleans had a 67.8 rating and Chris Chandler of Atlanta achieved a 147.9 mark. Between the Blake-Chandler game and the Newton-Winston game, the starting quarterbacks with a passer rating of 130-or-higher went 185-0 against their below-70 counterparts!

Lattimore helps Saints win on Christmas Eve

A key play in the Saints’ 23–13 win over the Falcons came with less than a minute remaining in the first half. With New Orleans leading, 6–0, Marshon Lattimore intercepted Matt Ryan; the Saints subsequently scored on a 54-yard pass from Drew Brees to Ted Ginn, Jr.

Lattimore has intercepted a pass in each of his last three games. He and Malik Hooker of the Colts are the only rookies who have intercepted a pass in three straight games this season. Lattimore’s three straight games with an INT tied a Saints’ rookie record, set by Robert Massey in 1989.

Bengal tigers are the real kings of the jungle

Tigers are bigger than Lions, but it was an upset when the home Cincinnati Bengals defeated Detroit, 26–17. It was the Bengals’ sixth consecutive win against the Lions, a winning streak that set a record for the longest between two “cat teams.” It surpassed a five-game winning streak that the Jaguars had over the Bengals from 1998 to 2000.

Coleman’s pick-six is Seattle game-winner

Justin Coleman returned a Dak Prescott interception 30 yards for a touchdown, and the subsequent extra point gave the Seahawks a 14–9 lead in the third quarter of their 21–12 win at Dallas. Only one other Seattle player has scored an eventual game-winning touchdown on an interception return with his team trailing in the second half. On Dec. 5, 2010, the extra point following Lofa Tatupu’s pick-six against Carolina’s Jimmy Clausen gave the Seahawks a 17–14 third-quarter lead and Seattle went on to defeat the visiting Panthers, 31–14.

Petty struggles as Jets’ QB

Bryce Petty passed for no touchdowns and one interception in the Jets’ 14–7 home loss to the Chargers. In each of his six NFL starts, Petty has thrown at least one interception and no more than one touchdown. The last quarterback to start his career with streak as long as Petty’s was Art Schlichter of the Colts. Schlichter, the fourth overall pick in the 1982 draft, was picked off at least once and never threw more than one interception in any of his six NFL starts (1984–85).

Buffalo early leads fizzle against New England

The Bills took early leads of 3–0 and 10–3 against the Patriots, but weren’t able to hold on, losing 37–16 at Foxborough. Over the last 13 seasons, Buffalo is 2–10 against New England in games in which it scored first. Those 10 such losses tie the most by any team to another since 2005. The Bills’ .167 winning percentage against the Patriots in those games is the lowest by any team that has scored first at least 10 times against a particular opponent over that span.

Cousins’ late bombs seal Redskins’ win

Kirk Cousins threw fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 48 yards to Josh Doctson and 31 yards to Vernon Davis in Washington’s 27–11 home win over Denver. No player had thrown two TD passes of at least 30 yards in the fourth quarter of a win since Oakland’s Derek Carr against Houston on Nov. 21, 2016.

Browns buried in Chicago

The Bears defeated the Browns, 20–3, at Soldier Field. Bryce Callahan and Kyle Fuller intercepted DeShone Kizer and the Bears also recovered a fumble. It was the fifth straight game in which Cleveland had no takeaways. That tied an NFL record, previously done six times, most recently by the 2016 Jaguars.

In fact, the Browns have not had a positive turnover ratio in their last 16 games, dating back to last season. The streak is the longest in the NFL since the Browns themselves had a streak of 16 such games over the 1990 and 1991 seasons.