A look at seven statistical highlights from games played during Sunday afternoon, on the eighth week of the 2023 season.
- With two games remaining in Week 8, 12 of 14 games (85.7 percent) have been within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter, with seven games having been decided by one score.
This season, 70.8 percent of all games (85 of 120) have been within one score in the fourth quarter.
Three teams – CAROLINA, the NEW YORK JETS and SEATTLE – recorded game-winning scores in the final two minutes of regulation or overtime in Week 8.
Carolina earned their first win of the season with a 15-13 victory over Houston, in a matchup that featured the top overall selections in the 2023 NFL Draft – Carolina quarterback BRYCE YOUNG (No. 1 overall), Houston quarterback C.J. STROUD (No. 2) and Houston defensive end WILL ANDERSON (No. 3).
With Young, Stroud and Anderson all appearing in the game, Sunday's contest marked the first game in the common-draft era to feature the top three selections from the most recent NFL Draft in the same game.
With starts by Young and Stroud, it marked the fifth time in NFL history that the top two selections in the NFL Draft met as starting quarterbacks in their rookie season.
- Miami wide receiver TYREEK HILL had eight receptions for 112 yards and one touchdown in the Dolphins' 31-17 win over New England.
Hill has 1,014 receiving yards this season and is the first player in 62 years and fourth player in NFL history with 1,000 receiving yards in his team's first eight games of a season, joining CHARLIE HENNIGAN (1,122 receiving yards in 1961) as well as Pro Football Hall of Famers ELROY “CRAZY LEGS" HIRSCH (1,058 in 1951) and DON HUTSON (1,032 in 1942).
Hill has 2,724 receiving yards in 25 games since joining Miami last season and surpassed ODELL BECKHAM JR. (2,625 receiving yards with the New York Giants) for the most receiving yards in a player's first 25 games with a team in the Super Bowl era.
- Philadelphia quarterback JALEN HURTS passed for 319 yards and four touchdowns with a 135.7 rating and wide receiver A.J. BROWN had eight receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the Eagles' 38-31 win over Washington.
Hurts is the sixth player in NFL history with at least 300 combined passing and rushing yards and two combined passing and rushing touchdowns in six consecutive games, joining ANDREW LUCK (eight consecutive games in 2014), DREW BREES (seven in 2011), AARON RODGERS (seven in 2011; six in 2016), PATRICK MAHOMES (six in 2021; six in 2022) and Pro Football Hall of Famer STEVE YOUNG (six in 1998).
Hurts has 10,046 passing yards and 2,178 rushing yards in his career and joins JOSH ALLEN, KYLER MURRAY, CAM NEWTON and RUSSELL WILSON as the only players in NFL history with at least 10,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in their first four career seasons.
Brown is the first player in NFL history with at least 125 receiving yards in six consecutive games.
Brown has 16 career games with at least 125 receiving yards, tied with ODELL BECKHAM JR. (16 games) for the fifth-most games with at least 125 receiving yards by a player in his first five seasons in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers LANCE ALWORTH (19 games) and RANDY MOSS (17) as well as JUSTIN JEFFERSON (17, in his fourth season) and JULIO JONES (17) have more.
- Cincinnati quarterback JOE BURROW completed 28 of 32 pass attempts (87.5 percent) for 283 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions for a 134.8 rating in the Bengals' 31-17 win over San Francisco.
Burrow has 16 career games with at least three touchdown passes, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer PEYTON MANNING (16 games) and DAK PRESCOTT (16) for the fifth-most such games by a quarterback in his first four career seasons in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers DAN MARINO (27 games) and KURT WARNER (21) as well as JUSTIN HERBERT (17, in his fourth season) and PATRICK MAHOMES (21) have more.
San Francisco running back CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY had 118 scrimmage yards (64 receiving, 54 rushing) and two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) in Week 8.
McCaffrey has a touchdown in 17 consecutive games, including the postseason, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer LENNY MOORE (17 consecutive games from 1963-64) for the longest streak of consecutive games, including the postseason, with a touchdown of any kind in NFL history.
McCaffrey has recorded a touchdown in 14 consecutive regular-season games, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer O.J. SIMPSON (14 consecutive games in 1975) for the third-longest streak of regular-season games in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers LENNY MOORE (18 consecutive games in 1963-65) and LADAINIAN TOMLINSON (18 in 2004-05) have longer such streaks.
- Tennessee rookie quarterback WILL LEVIS, making his first career start, completed 19 of 29 attempts (65.5 percent) for 238 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions for a 130.5 rating in the Titans' 28-23 win over Atlanta.
Levis is the third player in NFL history with four touchdown passes in his NFL debut, joining MARCUS MARIOTA (September 13, 2015) and Pro Football Hall of Famer FRAN TARKENTON (September 17, 1961).
Levis, with a 130.5 passer rating in Week 8, recorded the second-highest passer rating ever (minimum 25 pass attempts) by a player in his NFL debut, trailing only ROBERT GRIFFIN III (139.9 rating on September 9, 2012).
Six rookie quarterbacks have started a game this season, tied with 1971 (six) and 2021 (six) for the most rookie quarterbacks to start a game through the first eight weeks of a season since 1970 (excluding 1987).
- Minnesota quarterback KIRK COUSINS, appearing in his 150th career game, passed for 274 yards and two touchdowns with a 122.2 passer rating and rookie wide receiver JORDAN ADDISON had seven receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown in the Vikings' 24-10 win over Green Bay.
Cousins has 39,471 career passing yards and surpassed DREW BREES (39,297) for the third-most passing yards in a player's first 150 career games in NFL history. Only MATTHEW STAFFORD (41,322) and MATT RYAN (39,858) had more.
Addison has seven touchdown receptions this season and is the sixth player in the Super Bowl era to record at least seven receiving touchdowns in his first eight career games, joining CHARLIE BROWN (eight receiving touchdowns in 1982), MARTAVIS BRYANT (seven in 2014), JA'MARR CHASE (seven in 2021), MARQUES COLSTON (seven in 2006) and CALVIN RIDLEY (seven in 2018).
- Denver quarterback RUSSELL WILSON recorded three touchdowns with no interceptions and a 119.3 rating in the Broncos' 24-9 win over Kansas City.
Wilson has 43 career games with at least three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 100-or-higher, tied with TOM BRADY (43 games) for the third-most such games by a player in his first 12 seasons in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer PEYTON MANNING (48 games) and AARON RODGERS (48) have more.
- Additional notes from Sunday include:
- Los Angeles Rams rookie wide receiver PUKA NACUA had three receptions for 43 yards in Week 8.
Nacua has 61 receptions this season and surpassed SAQUON BARKLEY (58 receptions in 2018) for the most receptions by a player in his first eight career games in NFL history.
Nacua has 795 receiving yards in 2023 and surpassed JA'MARR CHASE (786 receiving yards in 2021) for the most receiving yards by a player in his first eight career games in the Super Bowl era.
- New Orleans running back ALVIN KAMARA had 110 scrimmage yards (59 rushing, 51 receiving) and two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) in the Saints' 38-27 win over Indianapolis.
Kamara has 11 career games with both a rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer JIM BROWN (11 games) for the fifth-most such games in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers MARSHALL FAULK (15 games) and LENNY MOORE (12) as well as CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY (14) and BRIAN WESTBROOK (12) have more.
- Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle AARON DONALD had two sacks in Week 8.
Donald has 10 tackles for loss this season and is the second player since 2000 to record at least 10 tackles for loss in each of his first 10 seasons, joining JARED ALLEN.
- Dallas cornerback DARON BLAND returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown in the Cowboys' 43-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Bland, who has returned an interception for a touchdown in Weeks 1, 4 and 8, is the third player ever with three interception-return touchdowns in his team's first seven games of a season, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer DERRICK BROOKS (2002) and DARREN SHARPER (2009).'
(Photo by Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers) |
