Week 18 is a puzzle unlike any other in fantasy football. Motivation for teams and players is all over the board, with some games carrying playoff-level intensity while others are simply hoping to get out healthy. Players can carry their own motivation, especially on teams outside of the playoff hunt. We scour the league for players chasing significant financial and statistical milestones.
Make sure to check out NFL Week 18 Team-by-Team Motivation for a full rundown of every game.
Quarterback Numbers Chase
Players In Must-Win Games
- Drake Maye, New England
- Bo Nix, Denver
- C.J. Stroud, Houston
- Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville
- Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore
- Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay
- Bryce Young, Carolina
- Brock Purdy, San Francisco
- Sam Darnold, Seattle
Players Who Could Sit
- Josh Allen, Buffalo
- Caleb Williams, Chicago
- Matthew Stafford, LA Rams
- Jared Goff, Detroit
- Joe Burrow, Cincinnati
- Dak Prescott, Dallas
- Jaxson Dart, NY Giants
Players Expected To Sit
- Justin Herbert, LA Chargers
- Jordan Love, Green Bay
- Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia
Caleb Williams, Chicago - 108 Passing Yards / 270 Passing Yards, 4 Touchdown Passes
Williams has a chance to break the Bears' record for passing yards and touchdowns. He has 3,730 yards with 25 touchdowns. Erik Kramer holds both franchise records, with 3,838 passing yards and 29 touchdowns. Obviously, no Bears quarterback has crossed the 4,000-yard or 30-touchdown mark. Both are in play for Williams.
The Bears are going to play their starters to try to beat Detroit. They are competing with Philadelphia for the #2 seed in the NFC. The Eagles have announced they will sit key starters.
Sam Darnold, Seattle - 100 Passer Rating / 28 Passing Touchdowns / 4,000 Passing Yards / 67.5% Completion
Contract Incentive: Darnold earns $500,000 for each category he hits in passer rating, passing touchdowns, yards, and completion percentage. He needs 150 yards and three passing touchdowns for the counting stats. He is running just under the efficiency and completion numbers, at 67.5% completion and a 99.2 rating. Through Darnold’s first nine games, he was at 71.1% with a 116.5 rating. Over the last seven, he is at 63.2% and an 81.5 rating.
Darnold has a long shot chance to set the Seahawks' single-season passing yardage mark, needing 470 to hit Geno Smith’s 4,320.
Darnold faces a former team in San Francisco and a coach, Kyle Shanahan, who helped resurrect his career. The winner will earn the #1 seed in the NFC.
Josh Allen, Buffalo - 1 Touchdown (Passing or Rushing) / 1 Rushing Touchdown
Allen has accounted for 40+ touchdowns (passing + rushing) in five consecutive seasons, a record. Drew Brees is the only other player to hit that mark over three consecutive seasons. Aaron Rodgers holds the record with six total seasons of 40+ touchdowns, a mark Allen could tie.
Allen has 14 rushing touchdowns, one short of the 15 for a quarterback that he shares with Jalen Hurts. They both set the mark in 2023. Allen already holds the NFL record for most career quarterback rushing touchdowns. His next will be his 80th.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars - 79 / 248 Passing Yards, 4 Passing Touchdowns, 1 Rushing Touchdown
Lawrence is 79 passing yards away from moving into second in the Jaguars' career passing yards. Mark Brunell is first (25,698), and Blake Bortles is second (17,646). Lawrence is also third in touchdown passes with 95, trailing Brunell (144) and Blake Bortles (103).
Lawrence can reach his third 4,000-yard passing season; he stands at 3,752. He is the only Jaguars quarterback with multiple 4,000-yard seasons. He needs 264 yards for the fourth most in a Jaguars season and 361 to set a career high. He has a career high of 26 passing touchdowns, the second most in Jaguars history. Bortles’ 35 is the team record.
Lawrence needs one rushing touchdown to hit ten on the season. He is currently tied with six others for the eighth most rushing touchdowns in a Jaguars season and holds the team record for quarterback rushing touchdowns.
Josh Allen and Cam Newton are the only players in NFL history with 4,000 passing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in a season.
Dak Prescott, Dallas - 421 Passing Yards, 5 Passing Touchdowns
Prescott has the opportunity for some significant achievements, though it would take a massive game.
He is five touchdowns from tying Tony Romo for the franchise's all-time passing touchdown leader. He passed Romo’s yardage total earlier this season. Romo is 30th in NFL history, with 248. Prescott is 33rd. John Hadl (244) and Boomer Esiason (247) are between the two.
Prescott could become the Cowboys' single-season passing yardage leader. He sits at 4,482 and would need 421 yards to get to Romo’s 4,903. Prescott already has the second-highest total, coming one yard short of Romo’s mark in 2019.
Prescott (4,482), Matthew Stafford (4,448), Jared Goff (4,233), and Drake Maye (4,203) are competing for the NFL lead in passing yards.
Matthew Stafford, LA Rams - 438 Passing Yards, 1 Passing Touchdown, 6 Passing Touchdowns
Stafford passed Ben Roethlisberger for seventh on the career passing yardage list in Week 17. He also set a new Rams franchise record and personal career high with 42 touchdown passes.
Stafford needs 438 yards to tie his own Rams team record for single-season passing yards. His next touchdown will tie him with Dan Marino for seventh on the career list, at 420. Stafford needs five touchdown passes to tie Jim Everett for second on the Rams franchise record book. Philip Rivers is six touchdowns ahead in sixth place all-time.
Jared Goff, Detroit - 455 Passing Yards, 4 Passing Touchdowns
Add Goff to the list of players one massive game away from doing some neat things. His career high in passing yards is 455 away. He needs 418 yards for the third most in a Lions season. He is four touchdown passes from tying his high of 37, set in 2024. His current 33 is third in Lions history, while his high of 37 is second to Stafford’s 41 from 2011.
Drake Maye, New England - 1 Rushing Touchdown
Maye joined Josh Allen and Jeff Garcia as the only players in NFL history with 4,000+ passing yards, 30+ passing touchdowns, 400+ rushing yards, and 4+ rushing touchdowns. One more rushing touchdown and Garcia would fall out of the sample, leaving just Allen and Maye as the only players in the 4,000-30 / 400-5 club.
Maye can post a Top 5 Patriots season in both passing yards and touchdown passes, needing 374 yards and four touchdowns.
Bo Nix, Denver - 210 Passing Yards, 2 Passing Touchdowns
Nix ranks 11th on the Broncos' single-season passing yardage list at 3,790 and 10th in passing touchdowns with 25. The Broncos have six 4,000-passing-yard seasons. Nix can move into the Top 5 in the single-season list for both yards and touchdowns, needing 300 passing yards and two passing touchdowns to catch Jake Plummer’s 2004 season in both categories.
Nix can become the seventh different player to pass for 4,000 yards and run for 300 with five rushing touchdowns. Players who have accomplished those numbers: Josh Allen (4x), Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Deshaun Watson, Steve Young, and Don Majkowski. Drake Maye would join this club with another rushing touchdown.
Jaxson Dart, NY Giants - 133 Passing Yards, 1 Passing Touchdown, 45 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing Touchdown
Dart can move into second place in Giants rookie passing yards, needing 133 to pass Charlie Conerly. His next touchdown pass will break a tie with Phil Simms for the third most in team history by a rookie. Daniel Jones is first in both categories.
With 45 rushing yards, Dart would become the ninth rookie quarterback to rush for 500 yards. One rushing touchdown would make Dart the third rookie quarterback with ten rushing touchdowns, tying him with Billy Kilmer. Cam Newton holds the quarterback rookie record with 14 rushing touchdowns. Dart could become the 14th player in Giants history with 10 rushing touchdowns. Dart’s 455 rushing yards are the second most by a Giants quarterback; Daniel Jones ran for 708 in 2022.
Cam Ward, Tennessee - 270 Passing Yards, 4 Passing Touchdowns
Ward has 3,117 passing yards and 15 touchdown passes. His yardage total is already the Titans' rookie record. He can post a Top 10 yardage season in the Titans' record books. He is still chasing Marcus Mariota for the team record in passing touchdowns. Mariota posted 19 in his rookie season.
Ward has 2+ touchdown passes in four straight games. Extending that to five would put him into an eight-player tie for the third-longest streak by a rookie. Justin Herbert had seven consecutive games as a rookie while Brock Purdy had six.
C.J. Stroud, Houston - 128 Passing Yards, 2 Passing Touchdowns
Stroud is just shy of 3,000 passing yards (2,872) and 20 touchdowns (18), marks he hit in both of his first two seasons. There have been nine quarterbacks who hit those marks in each of their first three seasons. That list drops to just five players who did it each of their first four seasons. Justin Herbert, Peyton Manning, and Russell Wilson are the only players who accomplished it in each of their first five seasons.
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta - 91 Passing Yards, 3 Passing Touchdowns
With 297 career touchdown passes, Cousins needs four to hit an even 300 and tie him with John Elway for the 14th most in NFL history. Cousins is 20th in passing yards (44,520), and Drew Bledsoe is next on the list (44,611).
Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh - 2 Passing Touchdowns
Rodgers has 23 touchdown passes. He currently sits tied with Drew Brees for the third-most 25-touchdown seasons at 14. Tom Brady holds the record with 17, while Peyton Manning has 16. Ben Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw are the only Steelers quarterbacks to throw 25 touchdown passes in a season.
Mac Jones, San Francisco - 50% of Snaps
Contract Incentive: Jones receives a $550,000 bonus if he plays 50% of the snaps. He is currently at 50.5%. Barring injury, Brock Purdy should knock him below this number in a game for the NFC’s #1 seed.