NFL Research spotlights the best nuggets from each slate of games. Here are the most eye-popping statistical accomplishments from Week 17 of the 2025 season.
1) Maye makes case for MVP with five-touchdown performance
Drake Maye threw his fifth touchdown pass in Sunday's game against the Jets with 8:16 left in the third quarter and didn't play another snap. He had just two incomplete passes (19-for-21) to go alongside those five scoring strikes in Week 17. He converted a couple of third downs with his legs. Did we mention that he had five TD passes?
The Patriots are 13-3 and have clinched the AFC East (thanks in part to the Bills' loss to the Eagles). Maye currently leads all qualified quarterbacks in completion percentage (71.7 percent), average yards per pass attempt (8.9) and passer rating (112.9). His MVP case has been made.
But in Week 17, albeit against a Jets defense that is still without an interception, Maye was (nearly) perfect. He completed over 90 percent of his passes, threw for 256 yards and five touchdowns and led the Patriots to a 42-10 win. In doing so, Maye became the first player in the history of the NFL to complete over 90 percent of his passes while throwing for at least 250 yards and five touchdowns in a game. One of one. Lowering those statistical thresholds, it was Maye's seventh game of 2025 in which he completed at least 75 percent of his passes while throwing for at least 200 yards and two touchdowns. The only QB in NFL history with more such games in a season? Tom Brady in the Patriots' perfect 2007 regular season. Brady became the first player in Patriots history to be named NFL MVP that season.
Maye (23 years old) currently has 30 passing touchdowns against just eight interceptions on the season, putting him on pace to become just the second player with 30-plus TD passes and fewer than 10 picks in a season before age 25, joining Lamar Jackson (age 22) in his Lamarvelous 2019 MVP campaign.
2) Chase joins elite WR company
Ja'Marr Chase went seven straight games without scoring a touchdown. That is unheard of for the 2024 receiving triple crown winner. (Chase previously had never gone four straight games in a season without a touchdown in his NFL career.)
That streak came to an end in Week 17 against the Cardinals. The first score of the game was a 13-yard touchdown to Chase from Joe Burrow. Chase would add another before the half, raising his season total to seven touchdowns, a number Chase has reached (or surpassed) every season since being drafted fifth overall in 2021. Chase joined Randy Moss as the only players in NFL history with at least seven receiving TDs in each of their first five seasons. Chase is the only player in the history of the league to catch at least 80 passes and score seven touchdowns in each of his first five seasons.
Week 17 was the 13th game of Chase's young career in which he scored multiple receiving touchdowns -- trailing only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (17) for the most such games in a player's first five seasons.
3) Ford makes historic catch vs. Cardinals
The Bengals are known for having one of the most dynamic pairs of receivers in the NFL. In Week 17, that duo looked a little different -- with Ja'Marr Chase catching two touchdowns passes and Cody Ford making history with a 21-yard catch-and-run.
Yes, Ford the backup offensive lineman.
While he's not the heaviest Ford you'll ever see (most pickups weigh a couple of tons), Cincy's Ford, at 345 pounds, is the heaviest player in NFL history to have a 20-yard play from scrimmage.
Disregarding the yardage, Ford is the heaviest offensive lineman with a reception since Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Boller against the Rams in 2003.
One more aspect of Ford's catch that makes it unique: He was split out wide. According to Next Gen Stats, Joe Burrow's pass to Ford traveled 26 yards through the air as the crow flies -- the third-longest completed pass to an offensive lineman in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).
4) Shough making late push for Offensive Rookie of the Year
Despite not making his first start until Week 9, Tyler Shough leads all rookie quarterbacks with five wins in 2025. He has the highest completion percentage (67.8 percent) and passer rating (92.1) among all rookie quarterbacks this season. While he wasn't the highest-drafted quarterback (Cam Ward, whom he beat in Week 17) or the most-discussed (Shedeur Sanders), Shough has quietly made history down in New Orleans.
Shough has won each of his last four starts -- and in that span, he has completed 71.1 percent of his passes for 1,057 yards (top 10 in the NFL over the past month) and a 102.9 passer rating. The Saints' 2025 second-round pick joined Justin Herbert (2020 Offensive Rookie of the Year) and Dak Prescott (2016 Offensive Rookie of the Year) as the only rookies since 1970 to go 4-0 while throwing for 1,000-plus yards and completing over 70 percent of their passes during that win streak.
In each of his last two games, Shough has thrown for over 300 yards and has zero interceptions, becoming just the third rookie QB in the Super Bowl era with back-to-back games of 300-plus passing yards and zero picks, joining Joe Burrow and Prescott.
5) Dart showcases running ability in win over Las Vegas
Another rookie who has flashed in 2025 is Jaxson Dart, who added two rushing touchdowns in the Giants' 34-10 win over the Raiders in Week 17.
Dart has two games with at least 200 yards passing and two rushing touchdowns in 2025 (with his other coming in Week 10 against the Bears), joining Cam Newton as the only rookies in NFL history with multiple such games.
The 25th overall pick in the 2025 draft also joined Newton and Josh Allen as the only players with at least 12 passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns in Year 1. Dart has 13 touchdowns through the air and nine more on the ground.