Fun Things to Watch for in the NFL’s Week 17

We’re just two weeks from the NFL playoffs, but we’ve got plenty of things to watch for the next two Sundays in the NFL. Playoff seeding is the biggest, and then we love to see some history made. Good thing for us, plenty of history can be made this week and in Week 18.

Here are some fun things to keep an eye out for this Sunday!

  • Josh Allen is one of the premier quarterbacks in all football, but the 26-year-old Bills quarterback is already on the verge of making a little NFL history. With a rushing touchdown on Monday night against the Bengals, Allen will move into sole possession of fourth place on the NFL’s rushing touchdowns by a quarterback list with 39. Allen currently has 38 and trails Cam Newton (75), Steve Young (43), and Jack Kemp (40) on the all-time list.
  • Patrick Mahomes can log his second 5,000 passing yard season with 280 passing yards against the Broncos. Mahomes would become the third player in NFL history with multiple 5,000 passing yard seasons joining Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
  • Led by Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ rushing attack has been the most potent in football this season, and it’s a big reason they can lock up the NFC East and the NFC’s No. 1 seed with a win on Sunday. If the Eagles score three rushing touchdowns on Sunday against the Saints, they will surpass the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers for the most rushing touchdowns in the post-Super Bowl era.
  • The Eagles can also make history on the defensive side of the ball this week. If Brandon Graham records a sack, the Eagles will become the first team with four players each with at least 10 sacks in a single season since 1982 when the league began recording sacks as an official stat.
  • Nick Bosa has been a man on a mission of late and he can make history this weekend if he records a sack, which would mark his 13th game this season with at least one sack. Bosa would become the fourth player in NFL history to do so, joining Demarcus Ware (14 in 2008), Justin Houston (13 in 2014), and Chandler Jones (13 in 2017).
  • With two weeks left in the season, Tom Brady is just 43 completions away from breaking his single-season record for passing completions. For as iffy as the Bucs have been, Brady leads the NFL in completions with 443 and has 4,178 passing yards.
  • Justin Jefferson is within striking distance of the single-season records for receptions and receiving yards with two games to play. Jefferson enters Sunday’s game with 123 receptions and 1,756 receiving yards. Jefferson is 26 catches and 208 yards from breaking Michael Thomas’ receptions record and Calvin Johnson’s receiving yards record. To accomplish both, Jefferson would need 13 catches and 104 yards in each of the final two games.
  • written by

    Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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