7 major NFL milestones in sight ahead of season's final stretch
Several star players could make NFL history in the final stretch of the 2025 regular season. Here are seven major milestones that could be reached over the last five weeks of the campaign.
JSN chasing Megatron 👀
Jaxon Smith-Njigba's been virtually unstoppable this season, and the Seattle Seahawks star could rewrite the record books.
He leads the league with 1,336 yards in 12 games, good for an average of 111.3 yards per contest. The Pro Bowler is coming off a quiet 23-yard outing, but if JSN catches fire again (he averaged 130 yards per game from Weeks 5-12), he could break Calvin Johnson's single-season record of 1,964 receiving yards set in 2012. At his current pace, Smith-Njigba would finish the season with 1,892 yards, the third most in a single NFL campaign.
More history for Garrett 😤
This season, Myles Garrett has already become the first player in NFL history with 12-plus sacks in six straight campaigns. He's passed Reggie White for the most sacks before the age of 30. Now the Cleveland Browns superstar, who's racked up 19 sacks in 12 games, is expected to shatter Michael Strahan's and T.J. Watt's single-season sacks record. They each posted campaigns with 22.5 sacks, with Strahan doing so in 2001 and Watt in '21.
Garrett is on pace to finish this season with 27 sacks. He's been even better in recent games, posting 15 sacks in his last six appearances. The Browns' next opponent is the Tennessee Titans, who've allowed the most sacks in the league.
Can Rodgers catch Manning? 🎯
Aaron Rodgers didn't throw any touchdowns Sunday in his return from injury and still ranks fourth all time with 522 career TD passes. The 41-year-old is 17 touchdown throws behind Peyton Manning, who's third on the all-time list behind Tom Brady and Drew Brees.
| # | QB | TD | INT | Yds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brady | 649 | 212 | 89214 |
| 2 | Brees | 571 | 243 | 80358 |
| 3 | Manning | 539 | 251 | 71940 |
| 4 | Rodgers | 522 | 123 | 65038 |
| 5 | Brett Favre | 508 | 336 | 71838 |
Rodgers is unlikely to pass Manning with five games left for the Steelers, as he'd need to average more than three touchdown passes per contest. But he did have two four-touchdown performances - and three other multi-TD outings - in the first half of the season.
Stafford's special season 🤩
As Matthew Stafford seeks the first MVP trophy of his career, he'll likely continue moving up the NFL's all-time passing yards list.
The Los Angeles Rams star just passed Matt Ryan and is now eighth with 62,882 career passing yards. The 37-year-old is only 558 yards behind Philip Rivers (63,440), who's seventh. Even Ben Roethlisberger (64,088) at No. 6 isn't that far ahead. If Stafford maintains his 2025 average of 256 passing yards per game, he'll conclude his 17th pro campaign with 64,162 career yards.
King Henry still reigns 📈
Derrick Henry looked good in November, and he could continue to rise up the all-time rushing lists if he stays hot in the season's final stretch. The 31-year-old, who ranks 11th in NFL history with 12,354 career rushing yards, is 385 yards behind Tony Dorsett at No. 10. King Henry needs to average 77 yards per game to pass Dorsett this year.
Additionally, Henry needs four more rushing scores to catch Adrian Peterson (120) for the fourth-most TD runs ever. Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen is third on that list with 123. Henry found the end zone four times in his last three games. Could he potentially catch both Peterson and Allen this year?
Another one for Davante? ⭐
The race for most receiving touchdowns in the NFL this season is all but wrapped up. Davante Adams' 14 TD receptions represent a big lead over Amon-Ra St. Brown, who ranks second with nine but is expected to miss time due to an ankle injury.
Assuming the Rams wideout keeps his lead, this will be the third time he leads the league in single-season TD catches. He'll also become the first player to ever do it for three different teams. Adams caught a league-high 18 touchdowns with the Green Bay Packers in 2020 and topped the NFL again with 14 TD receptions as a Las Vegas Raider in '22.
CMC does it again 🔥
McCaffrey is one of only three players in NFL history to collect 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. He accomplished that with the Carolina Panthers in 2019 to join Roger Craig (1985) and Marshall Faulk (1998). Now CMC needs just 151 yards on the ground and 194 receiving yards in four games to become the first player to ever record multiple 1,000-1,000 seasons.
Oh, and Faulk's single-season running back record of 1,048 receiving yards in the Super Bowl era is also within reach: McCaffrey is on pace to finish the 2025 regular season with 1,054.