FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10/31/17 http://twitter.com/NFL345
THE WEEK THAT WAS – WEEK 8
RISING ROOKIES: Through the first eight weeks of the season, rookies have accumulated 10,980 yards from scrimmage, the most by rookies through Week 8 since 1970.
The seasons with the most yards from scrimmage by rookies through Week 8 since 1970 (excluding 1987 season):
SEASON MOST SCRIMMAGE YARDS BY ROOKIES THROUGH WEEK 8* 2017 10,980 2014 10,977 2013 9,399 1983 9,139 1971 8,920 *Excludes 1987 season
The rookies with the most scrimmage yards in 2017:
PLAYER TEAM SCRIMMAGE YARDS Kareem Hunt Kansas City 1,070 Leonard Fournette Jacksonville 732 Alvin Kamara New Orleans 500 Christian McCaffrey Carolina 495 Tarik Cohen Chicago 462
Rookies have also totaled 79 touchdowns through Week 8, tied for the most through the first eight weeks of a season since 1970.
The seasons with the most touchdowns by rookies through Week 8 since 1970 (excluding 1987 season):
SEASON MOST TOUCHDOWNS BY ROOKIES THROUGH WEEK 8* 2017 79 2014 79 1983 73 2013 71 1971 66 1984 63 *Excludes 1987 season
The rookies with the most touchdowns in 2017:
PLAYER TEAM TOTAL TDS Leonard Fournette Jacksonville 7 Kareem Hunt Kansas City 6 JuJu Smith-Schuster Pittsburgh 4 Many tied 3
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UNMATCHED: Houston rookie quarterback DESHAUN WATSON passed for 402 yards with four touchdowns and added 67 rushing yards in the team’s Week 8 loss at Seattle.
Watson is the first player in NFL history to register at least 400 passing yards, four touchdown passes and 50 rushing yards in a single game.
Watson, who is tied for the league lead with 19 touchdown passes, passed Pro Football Hall of Famer KURT WARNER (18) for the most passing touchdowns by a player in his first seven career games.
The players with the most passing touchdowns in their first seven career games:
PLAYER TEAM TD PASSES Deshaun Watson Houston 19 Kurt Warner^ St. Louis 18 George Ratterman New York Yanks 16 Mark Rypien Washington 16 Dan Marino^ Miami 15 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer
Watson, who is the first rookie in NFL history to throw at least three touchdown passes in four consecutive games, has the most touchdown passes by a rookie in his first seven games.
The rookies with the most touchdown passes in his first seven games:
PLAYER TEAM SEASON TD PASSES Deshaun Watson Houston 2017 19 Dan Marino^ Miami 1983 15 Marcus Mariota Tennessee 2015 13 Greg Cook Cincinnati 1969 13 Mike Glennon Tampa Bay 2013 11 Ben Roethlisberger Pittsburgh 2004 11 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer
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RAINING OFFENSE IN SEATTLE: Seattle quarterback RUSSELL WILSON passed for 452 yards with four touchdowns and Houston rookie quarterback DESHAUN WATSON threw for 402 yards with four touchdowns in the Seahawks’ 41-38 win over the Texans in Week 8.
The game marked the sixth time in NFL history that opposing quarterbacks each passed for at least 400 yards and four touchdowns in the same game.
The games with opposing quarterbacks passing for at least 400 yards and four touchdowns:
DATE PLAYER TEAM YDS TDS PLAYER TEAM YDS TDS 10/29/17 Russell Wilson Seattle 452 4 Deshaun Watson Houston 402 4 11/3/13 Tom Brady New England 432 4 Ben Roethlisberger Pittsburgh 400 4 10/6/13 Peyton Manning Denver 414 4 Tony Romo Dallas 506 5 1/1/12 Matt Flynn Green Bay 480 6 Matthew Stafford Detroit 520 5 9/4/94 Dan Marino Miami 473 5 Drew Bledsoe New England 421 4 9/21/86 Ken O’Brien NY Jets 479 4 Dan Marino Miami 448 6
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COMPLETE PERFORMANCE: New Orleans quarterback DREW BREES completed 23 of 28 passes (82.1 percent) for 299 yards in the Saints’ 20-12 win over Chicago last week.
Brees, who has 6,011 career completions, joined Pro Football Hall of Famer BRETT FAVRE (6,300) and PEYTON MANNING (6,125) as the only players in NFL history with at least 6,000 completions.
Brees reached the milestone in his 240th career game and is the fastest in NFL history to accomplish the feat (Manning, 259 games and Favre, 286).
The players with the most completions in NFL history:
PLAYER TEAMS CAREER COMPLETIONS Brett Favre^ Green Bay, New York Jets, Minnesota 6,300 Peyton Manning Indianapolis, Denver 6,125 Drew Brees San Diego, New Orleans 6,011 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer
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MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Indianapolis running back FRANK GORE totaled 101 scrimmage yards (82 rushing, 19 receiving) in the Colts’ Week 8 loss at Cincinnati.
Gore, who has 17,015 career scrimmage yards, became the ninth player in NFL history to record at least 17,000 scrimmage yards. The other eight players to accomplish the feat are all enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The players with the most scrimmage yards in NFL history:
PLAYER TEAM(S) CAREER SCRIMMAGE YARDS Jerry Rice^ San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle 23,540 Emmitt Smith^ Dallas, Arizona 21,579 Walter Payton^ Chicago 21,264 Marshall Faulk^ Indianapolis, St. Louis 19,154 LaDainian Tomlinson^ San Diego, New York Jets 18,456 Barry Sanders^ Detroit 18,190 Marcus Allen^ Los Angeles Raiders, Kansas City 17,654 Curtis Martin^ New England, New York Jets 17,430 Frank Gore San Francisco, Indianapolis 17,015 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer
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SACK MASTERS: Carolina defensive end JULIUS PEPPERS had a sack and forced fumble in the Panthers’ 17-3 win at Tampa Bay last week.
Peppers, who has 151 career sacks, passed Pro Football Hall of Famer CHRIS DOLEMAN (150.5) for the fourth-most sacks since the individual sack because an official statistic in 1982.
The players with the most sacks since 1982:
PLAYER TEAM(S) CAREER SACKS Bruce Smith^ Buffalo, Washington 200 Reggie White^ Philadelphia, Green Bay, Carolina 198 Kevin Greene^ Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh, Carolina, San Francisco 160 Julius Peppers Carolina, Chicago, Green Bay 151 Chris Doleman^ Minnesota, Atlanta, San Francisco 150.5 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer
Minnesota defensive end EVERSON GRIFFEN registered one sack in the Vikings’ 33-16 win over Cleveland at Twickenham Stadium in London in Week 8.
Griffen, who is tied for second in the NFL with 10 sacks and has recorded at least one sack in all eight of Minnesota’s games this season, became the third player to record a sack in each of his team’s first eight games to start a season since the sack became an official statistic in 1982.
The players to record at least one sack in each of their team’s first eight games of a season since 1982:
PLAYER TEAM SEASON Everson Griffen Minnesota 2017 Dwight Freeney Indianapolis 2009 Robert Mathis Indianapolis 2005
Los Angeles Chargers defensive end JOEY BOSA had a sack in the team’s Week 8 loss at New England.
Bosa, who is tied for second in the AFC with 8.5 sacks, has 19 sacks in 20 career games, the most sacks by a player in his first 20 games to begin a career since the individual sack became an official statistic in 1982.
The players with the most sacks in their first 20 career games since 1982:
PLAYER TEAM SACKS Joey Bosa Los Angeles Chargers 19 Aldon Smith San Francisco 18.5 Clay Matthews Green Bay 17.0 John Abraham New York Jets 16.5 Von Miller Denver 16.5 Leslie O’Neal San Diego 16.5
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STILL KICKING: Indianapolis kicker ADAM VINATIERI converted all three of his field-goal attempts and both extra-point attempts in the Colts’ Week 8 loss at Cincinnati.
Vinatieri, who has 56 points this season, is tied with GARY ANDERSON (2,434) for the second-most points scored in NFL history.
The players with the most points scored in NFL history:
PLAYER TEAM(S) CAREER POINTS Morten Andersen^ New Orleans, Atlanta, New York Giants, Kansas City, Minnesota 2,544 Adam Vinatieri New England, Indianapolis 2,434 Gary Anderson Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Minnesota, Tennessee 2,434 ^Pro Football Hall of Famer