Lamar Jackson's 5-TD game fell just short of a perfect passer rating

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Lamar Jackson couldn't have performed much better as a passer when he threw five TD passes, only five incompletions and no interceptions while throwing for 281 yards in a victory for Baltimore over Tampa Bay.

It just wasn't perfect, according to the NFL's arcane passer rating formula.

Jackson fell two-tenths of a point short in completion percentage from generating the highest attainable rating of 158.3 for a record-setting fourth time in his career.

That mark has been hit 60 times in the regular season or playoffs in the last 75 seasons for a player with at least 15 attempts in a game. Kyler Murray is the only player to hit it this season, doing so in Week 2 for Arizona against the Los Angeles Rams.

While a passer rating is often referenced, the formula is little understood by even the most avid of NFL fans. It grades players on four metrics — completion percentage, yards per attempt, TD pass percentage and interception percentage — and converts that into a scale from 0 to 158.3 The formula is based on data of how quarterbacks performed from 1960-70 and was adopted for use in the NFL in 1973.

To reach the “perfect” score — more accurately described as the highest attainable rating — a player must complete at least 77.5% of his passes, average at least 12.5 yards per attempt, throw TD passes on at least 11.875% of attempts and have no interceptions.

Jackson came short in only one mark when he completed 17 of 22 passes (77.3%) for 281 yards (12.8 per attempt), five TDs (22.7% of passes) and no interceptions. One additional completion for at least 7 yards would have put Jackson into “perfect” territory for the fourth time in his career.

He did it in Week 17 last season against Miami and twice in 2019: in Week 1 against Miami and in Week 10 against Cincinnati. That's tied for the most for any player ever in the regular season, with Ben Roethlisberger, Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady also doing it. Manning had a fourth in the 2003 wild-card round against Denver for one of two perfect passer ratings in the postseason.

The Kansas City Chiefs haven't lost since a Christmas Day upset at home against the Las Vegas Raiders, with their 12 straight wins in the regular season and playoffs since then just one shy of the franchise record set in 2019-20.

That mark was snapped by the Raiders, who have a chance to do it again when they host Kansas City on Sunday.

If the Raiders can pull it off, it will be just the second time in NFL history that a team had a winning streak of at least 12 games, playoffs included, bracketed by losses to the same opponent, according to Sportradar.

The only other time it happened was in 1933-34 when the Chicago Bears had an 18-game winning streak between losses to the New York Giants.

How Kansas City has gone on this streak has been a bit unusual, as the Chiefs are the only team to win 12 games in a row without scoring more than 28 points in any of them. The previous long was 11 straight by the 1927-28 Giants and 1928-29 Packers.

The Chiefs won their first six games this season — the second-longest season-opening winning streak for a two-time defending Super Bowl champion — despite Patrick Mahomes throwing only six TD passes with eight interceptions.

Mahomes is the sixth starting QB to win the first six games of a season while throwing more interceptions than touchdowns since starts were first tracked in 1950. The last time it happened was in 2015, when Manning had seven TD passes and 10 interceptions for the Denver Broncos, who went on to win the Super Bowl that season.

Jared Goff pulled off another perfect first half last week.

Goff completed all 12 passes in the first half of Detroit's win at Minnesota, marking the third time this season he has completed every pass he threw in the opening half. He went 12 for 12 in Week 3 at Arizona, and in Week 4 against Seattle, he completed all 18 passes in the game.

There have been only 16 other times since 1991 that a QB had a perfect completion percentage with at least 12 attempts in the first half. Manning is the only other quarterback to do it twice in that span, one coming in 2008 and the other in 2009.

Goff finished the win against the Vikings with a 140 passer rating, joining Aaron Rodgers (2011), Warner (1999) and Roger Staubach (1971) as the only quarterbacks with a passer rating of at least 140 in three straight games.

Goff and the Lions have been so efficient the past four games that he has led more touchdown drives in that span (18) than the number of incomplete passes he has thrown (15).

The Philadelphia Eagles are off to a strong start to the season with a 4-2 record, but that's not because of how they have started games on offense.

The Eagles are the only team in the NFL that hasn't scored on its opening drive this season, having three three-and-outs, one turnover and two other punts on six game-opening drives that have generated two first downs and 39 yards. Philadelphia has gone nine straight games in the regular season and playoffs dating to last season without scoring on the first drive.

The first quarter in its entirety has been an issue for the Eagles, who became the 13th team in the Super Bowl era that didn't score a point in the opening quarter in the first six games after being shut out last week by the Giants.

The only other teams to do that this century are the 2021 Jets, the winless Lions in 2008, the 2005 Texans and the 2004 Dolphins.

The New York Jets and Giants get more than their fair share of prime-time games thanks to being in a big television market that brings extra viewers to the screen.

The biggest beneficiaries aren't the TV networks but the opponents.

Since the start of the 2019 season, the Jets and Giants have combined for a putrid 4-31 record in prime-time games, according to Sportradar. The Jets are 2-14 and have the second-worst winning percentage at .125 after losing to Pittsburgh on Sunday night.

The Giants are the only team worse, with a 2-17 mark and .105 win percentage headed into a Monday night game against the Steelers.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) tosses the ball as he is brought down by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith (56) in the first half of an NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) avoids New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff throws during warmups before an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) celebrates after a touchdown by Mecole Hardman during the second half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) warms up before an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Lamar Jackson's 5-TD game fell just short of a perfect passer rating

Lamar Jackson's 5-TD game fell just short of a perfect passer rating

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) is pressured by Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (9) during the first half of an NFL football game, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Torrential rain set off by an approaching tropical storm swamped the eastern Philippines with widespread flooding that killed at least nine people, trapped others on their roofs and sparked frantic appeals for help, officials said Wednesday.

The government shut down public schools and government offices — except those urgently needed for disaster response — on the entire main island of Luzon to protect millions of people as Tropical Storm Trami blew closer from the Pacific.

At least nine people died in five northeastern provinces and in the hard-hit city of Naga before the storm's expected landfall on the northeastern Philippine coast. Most of the deaths were caused by drowning and landslides, police and local officials said, adding that about seven were missing.

“People have been stuck on roofs of their houses for several hours now,” former Vice President Leni Robredo, who lives in the northeastern city of Naga, said in a post on Facebook early Wednesday. “Many of our rescue trucks have stalled due to the floods.”

Coast guard personnel have been rescuing residents in flooded villages in the eastern provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes and outlying regions since Tuesday, but provincial authorities said the number of rescue boats and personnel was not enough.

The storm was last tracked about 175 kilometers (109 miles) east of Echague town in the province of Isabela. It had strengthened with sustained winds of 95 kph (59 mph) per hour and gusts of up to 115 kph (71 mph).

The storm was forecast to hit Isabela’s coast Wednesday night to early Thursday, then barrel across northern Luzon before exiting to the South China Sea late Thursday.

Its wide rain band could dump up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rainwater in one day of intense downpours in the most vulnerable provinces on its path, according to state forecasters.

Thousands of villagers have evacuated to emergency shelters in northeastern provinces. Storm warnings were raised in more than 30 northern and central provinces, including in the densely populated capital of Manila, which was not in the storm’s direct path but could be lashed by its pounding rains.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. canceled all his appointments Wednesday and convened an emergency meeting to discuss disaster mitigation efforts, Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez said.

“The worst is yet to come, I'm afraid, so let's all prepare,” Marcos said.

During the meeting, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the military’s aircraft and ships would be used for evacuations and disaster response. He said additional airlift power could be provided by friendly countries, including Singapore, if needed.

Thousands of passengers and cargo workers were stranded in several seaports after the coast guard said it suspended inter-island ferry services and barred fishing boats from venturing into the increasingly rough seas.

"We need national intervention,” Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur province told DZRH radio network, saying his flood-prone province has about 50 rescue boats but needs about 200.

In Quezon province, Gov. Angelina Tan said floods in some areas reached up to 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) and at least 8,000 villagers have evacuated.

About 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines each year. The archipelago also lies in the “Pacific Ring of Fire,” a region along most of the Pacific Ocean rim where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur, making the Southeast Asian nation one of the world’s most disaster-prone.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones in the world, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million in the central Philippines.

Residents negotiate a road covered with volcanic mud that flowed down from Mayon volcano after heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Trami hit Guinobatan town, Albay province, Philippines on Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Residents are ferried on a rubber boat after being rescued from their roofs where they stayed to avoid high floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami hit Libon town, Albay province, Philippines on Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (Michelle Ricasio via AP)

A resident walks beside a van buried by volcanic mud that flowed down from Mayon volcano after heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Trami hit Guinobatan town, Albay province, Philippines on Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

A resident swims despite the strong waves caused by Tropical Storm Trami in Manila, Philippines Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A man wades in floods outside his house caused by Tropical Trami, locally named Kristine, in Polangui, Albay province, Philippines on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Residents collect mud as they start cleaning their area after floods caused by Tropical Trami, locally named Kristine, hit in Polangui, Albay province, Philippines on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Debris from a damaged road and electric posts caused by Tropical Trami, locally named Kristine, in Polangui, Albay province, Philippines on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Residents pass by a muddied road after floods caused by Tropical Trami hit Polangui town, Albay province, Philippines Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

A resident collects mud as they start cleaning their area after floods caused by Tropical Trami, locally named Kristine, in Polangui, Albay province, Philippines on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Debris from damages are gathered along a bridge after floods caused by Tropical Trami, locally named Kristine, hit Polangui, Albay province, Philippines on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

Residents walk along a muddied road as they start cleaning their area after floods caused by Tropical Trami, locally named Kristine, in Polangui, Albay province, Philippines on Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/John Michael Magdasoc)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, residents wait on top of their roofs to avoid floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami in Libon, Albay province, Philippines on Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, rescuers carry a resident to safer grounds as they navigate floods caused by Tropical Storm Trami in Guinobatan, Albay province, Philippines Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)