WEEK 8 REVIEW

This week the Kansas City Chiefs steal the spotlight from the Denver Broncos with another win keeping alive the undefeated season and holding on to the lead in the AFC West Division. The Chiefs defeated the Cleveland Browns 23-17 to keep the streak alive.

Dallas Cowboys took an opportunity to win the game on Sunday against the Detroit Lions and opened the door with just 45 seconds left.  Matthew Stafford moved the ball with ease and put the Lions into scoring position at the 1 yard line. A confused Cowboy Defense left the middle open and Stafford, rather than spike the ball to stop the clock, quick snapped the ball and dove headfirst over the middle scoring the winning Touchdown and narrowly beating the Dallas Cowboys 31-30. The Individual Effort Award goes to Calvin Johnson who caught 14 passes for a career high 329 Receiving Yards in a single game, just 7 yards short of Flipper Anderson’s Record 336 Receiving Yards in a single game.

The Denver Broncos regained some momentum going into thier Bye week which happens to come at a good time with Peyton Manning being a little banged up over the past few weeks. The loss of Ryan Clady is evident when the rush comes from the left side but the team is working hard to protect their leader. The Broncos exceeded their average score of 42 points per game so far this season by 3 points in their Week 8 win over the Washington Redskins 45-21. The game marked Mike Shanahans first return to the Mile High City since he was the Coach and a short tribute was given prior to the game which was a very nice gesture to a Coach that went to 5 Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos and won 2 Super Bowls with John Elway and Terrell Davis as MVPs in consecutive years.

SCORES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Kansas City Chiefs won over the Cleveland Browns 23-17 and remain the only undefeated team at 8-0 for the season
• New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles 15-7
• Detroit Lions narrowly defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-30
• New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 27-17
• New Orleans Saints handily defeat the Buffalo Bills 35-17
• San Francisco 49ers worked the Jacksonville Jaguars 42-10
• Cincinnati Bengals beat the New York Jets 49-9
• Oakland Raiders defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18
• Denver Broncos beat the Washington Redskins 45-21

WEEK 8 HIGHLIGHTS

• Calvin Johnson had a monster game in Week 8 catching 14 passes for 329 yards and 1 Touchdown catapulting him to the top of the receiving yards list for the 2013 NFL Season with 821 Yards.
• Drew Brees breaks through the 2,000 yard mark for the season completing passes for 331 total yards with 5 Touchdowns.
• Josh Brown kicked 5 Field Goals in the New York Giants 15-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Andy Dalton threw for 325 yards and 5 Touchdowns.
• Peyton Manning threw 4 more Touchdowns bringing him to 29 Passing Touchdowns and 2,919 Passing Yards this season leading the league in both categories. Peyton Manning is 7 Touchdowns ahead of Drew Brees who has thrown 19 Touchdowns this season.
• Wes Welker had another good game with 81 yards receiving and he caught 1 Touchdown pass bringing his total for 2013 to  9 Touchdowns which leads the league half way through the 2013 NFL season.
• Jordy Nelson posted 123 receiving yards and 2 Touchdowns.
• Matthew Stafford threw for 488 yards and 1 Touchdown along with 1 Rushing Touchdown to win the game.
• Andre Ellington racked up 154 receiving yards and 1 Touchdown.
• Cincinnati Bengals Defense had 4 Sacks, 2 Interceptions and scored 2 Touchdowns.
• Josh Gordon posted 132 receiving yards and 1 Touchdown.
• Knowshon Moreno ran for 43 yards and caught passes for 89 Yards and 1 Touchdown.

Wes Welker caught 1 Touchdown in Week 8 and still leads the league in 2013 with 9 receiving Touchdowns. Following close behind is teammate Julius Thomas with 8 receiving Touchdowns for the year. Further down the list is Demaryous Thomas at 6 Touchdowns and Eric Decker at 3 accounting for 26 of Peyton Manning’s 29 Passing Touchdowns through Week 8 of the 2013 NFL Season. Knowshon Moreno leads the league with 8 Rushing Touchdowns adding to the domination the Denver Broncos are displaying this season so far.

QUARTERBACK LEADERS – WEEK 8 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Eli Manning moved past John Hadl into the #23 slot for Career Passing Yards behind Steve DeBerg.

• Ben Roethlisberger passed John Brodie to take the #33 slot for Career Passing Yards behind Mark Brunell. Roethlisberger also threw 1 Touchdown in Week 8 and moved into a tie with Phil Simms at #32 with 199 Career Passing Touchdowns.

• Carson Palmer moved past Steve McNair to #35 for Career Passing Yards behind John Brodie.  He also threw 2 Touchdowns and moved past Ken Anderson into a tie with Phil Simms and Ben Roethlisberger at #32 with 199 Touchdowns.

• Tom Brady moved past Hall of Fame Quarterback Fran Tarkenton into the #3 slot with 343 Career Passing Touchdowns behing Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino.

• Drew Brees threw 5 Touchdown passes in Week 8 and moved past Fran Tarkenton into the #3 slot tied with Tom Brady behind Dan Marino for Career Passing Touchdowns.

• Tony Romo threw 3 Touchdowns and moved up 2 spots to #35 passing Bob Greise and Ken Stabler for Career Passing Touchdowns.

RUNNING BACK LEADERS – WEEK 8 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Frank Gore continues to have a good season and moved up 2 slots to #30 on the Career Rushing Yards list moving past Hall of Fame Running Back Earl Campbell and Shaun Alexander. Gore also scored 2 Touchdowns moving into the #32 slot tied with Jamal Lewis and Mike Alstott. He moved past Ernest Byner, Roger Craig, Curt Warner and Stevan Jackson on the Career Rushing Touchdown list.

• Adrian Peterson moved past Earl Campbell to #32 behind Shaun Alexander. He also scored 1 Touchdown in Week 8 moving past Ottis Anderson into a tie at #13 with Corey Dillon at 82 Touchdowns.

WIDE RECEIVER LEADERS – WEEK 8 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Larry Fitzgerald moved past Gary Clark to #30 behind Joey Galloway with 10,833 Career Receiving Yards. Fitzgerald caught 1 Touchdown on Sunday moving him past Art Powell into the #14 slot for Career Receiving Touchdowns.

• Anquan Boldin moved into a tie with Stanley Morgan at the #32 slot with 10,716 Career Receiving Yards.

• Santana Moss joined the Top 40 Career Receiving Yards list behind Eric Moulds with 9,949 yards and is on path to break through 10,000 receiving yards this season.

• Calvin Johnson, on top of his personal best 329 receiving yards in Week 8, caught 1 Touchdown and moved up to the #32 slot tied with Mike Quick, Hall of Fame Pete Pihos, Billy Howton, Antonio Freeman and Donald Driver for Career Receiving Touchdowns.