Week 8 NFL Preview

NEW YORK – There have been 58 games decided by seven-or-fewer points this season, the most through Week 7 of a season in NFL history. Seven teams have had five-or-more games decided by seven-or-fewer points: Indianapolis (seven), Baltimore (five), Cincinnati (five), Cleveland (five), Green Bay (five), Houston (five) and the Los Angeles Rams (five). The Colts are one of four teams to have each of their first seven games of a season decided by seven-or-fewer points since 2000, along with the 2019 Indianapolis Colts, 2016 Detroit Lions and 2008 Jacksonville Jaguars.

Here’s a look at a few interesting storylines entering Week 8:

• Champs on a roll:The Kansas City Chiefs (6-0) are the last remaining undefeated team and with a win at Las Vegas (2-5) on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS), can become the seventh reigning Super Bowl champions to win each of their first seven games, joining the 2015 and 2019 New England Patriots, 2011 Green Bay Packers, 2007 Indianapolis Colts, 1998 Denver Broncos and 1990 San Francisco 49ers.
  • Since making his first career start in the regular-season finale of the 2017 season, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a .792 winning percentage [95-25 (80-22 in regular season, 15-3 in postseason)] as a starting quarterback in his first eight NFL seasons.
    • With his next win, Mahomes will surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (80 wins) and Ben Roethlisberger (80) for the third-most wins by a starting quarterback in his first eight seasons in NFL history. Only Tom Brady (86 wins) and Russell Wilson (86) have more.
    • With his next win, Mahomes will surpass Russell Wilson (95 wins) for the second-most wins, including the postseason, by a starting quarterback in his first eight seasons in NFL history. Only Tom Brady (100 wins) has more.
    • With a win on Sunday, Mahomes can become the third quarterback ever to record three career winning streaks of 12-or-more games, including the postseason, joining Tom Brady (five such streaks) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (three).
  • In six career starts at Las Vegas/Oakland, Mahomes is 6-0 with 1,992 passing yards (332 per game) and 18 touchdown passes against one interception for a 119.4 rating, registering a passer rating of 100-or-higher in each contest.
  • Kansas City enters Week 8 with a 12-game winning streak, including the postseason, with its last loss coming in Week 16 against Las Vegas last season. In that contest, Raiders running back Zamir White rushed for 145 yards and Las Vegas registered two first-half defensive touchdowns to defeat the Chiefs, 20-14, in Kansas City.
  • Las Vegas rookie tight end Brock Bowers leads all tight ends with 47 receptions and 477 receiving yards this season and is coming off a 10-reception, 93-yard performance in Week 7. Bowers can become the first rookie tight end in NFL history with five games of eight-or-more receptions and the third rookie tight end ever with four games of 90-or-more receiving yards, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka (six games in 1961) and Charle Young (four in 1973).

• Lions on the prowl: The Detroit Lions (5-1) enter Week 8 atop the NFC North and with a win against Tennessee (1-5) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX), can win six of their first seven games of a season for the first time since 1956.
  • Lions quarterback Jared Goff ranks second in the NFL with a 111.5 passer rating this season and in his past three contests (Weeks 4, 6 and 7), became the fourth quarterback in NFL history with a passer rating of 140-or-higher in three consecutive games, joining Aaron Rodgers (Weeks 7-10, 2011), as well as Pro Football Hall of Famers Roger Staubach (Weeks 11-13, 1971) and Kurt Warner (Weeks 3-5, 1999).
  • Detroit wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown recorded eight receptions for 112 yards and one touchdown last week and has a touchdown catch in four consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL.
    • St. Brown has 354 receptions for 3,989 yards and 25 touchdowns since entering the NFL in 2021 and with 11 receiving yards, can become the fourth player in NFL history with at least 350 receptions, 4,000 receiving yards and 25 touchdown receptions in his first four seasons, joining Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Michael Thomas.
  • Lions defensive back Brian Branch has 11 passes defensed in five games this season, becoming the first player since 2011 (Brandon Browner) to record multiple passes defensed in five consecutive games.
    • In his first 20 career games, Branch has 24 passes defensed and seven interceptions. The only players with more passes defensed and interceptions than Branch in their first 20 games since 2000 are Marcus Peters (34 passes defensed, 12 interceptions) and Trevon Diggs (26 passes defensed, 10 interceptions).
      
• Ravens flying high: The Baltimore Ravens (5-2) visit the Cleveland Browns (1-6) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) and enter Week 8 with the league’s top offense, averaging 31.1 points and 461.4 yards per game. The Ravens, who had 41 points at Cincinnati in Week 5 and 41 points at Tampa Bay in Week 7, can become the first team in the Super Bowl era and the second team in NFL history to score 40-or-more points in three consecutive road games, joining the 1961 Houston Oilers.
  • Baltimore leads the NFL with 1,476 rushing yards, tied with the 2006 Atlanta Falcons for the fourth-most rushing yards by a team in its first seven games of a season since 1970. The 1975 Buffalo Bills have the most rushing yards by a team in its first eight games of a season since 1970, with 1,716.
  • Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson passed for 281 yards and five touchdowns with a 158.1 rating and added 52 rushing yards in Week 7. There have been five games in NFL history in which a player has recorded at least five touchdown passes and 50 rushing yards – Jackson has three of them. With his Week 7 performance, Jackson became the fourth quarterback in NFL history with five games of five-or-more touchdown passes in his first seven seasons, joining Patrick Mahomes (six) and Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning (six) and Dan Marino (five).
  • Jackson who has 455 rushing yards this season, can become the first quarterback in NFL history with at least 500 rushing yards in seven consecutive seasons and the second quarterback ever with at least 500 rushing yards in seven career seasons, joining Cam Newton (seven).
  • Ravens running back Derrick Henry rushed for 169 yards and added a 13-yard touchdown reception in Week 7. It marked Henry’s 16th career game with 150 rushing yards and a scrimmage touchdown, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famers Barry Sanders (16 games) and LaDainian Tomlinson (16) for the third-most such games in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famers Jim Brown (21 games) and Walter Payton (17) have more.
  • Henry leads the league with 873 rushing yards, the most rushing yards by a player in his team’s first seven games of a season since DeMarco Murray (913 rushing yards in 2014) and the second-most rushing yards by a running back over the age of 30 in his team’s first seven games of a season in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Walter Payton (875 rushing yards in 1984).
  • Henry, who leads the NFL with 935 scrimmage yards and 10 scrimmage touchdowns, can join Priest Holmes (1,079 scrimmage yards and 15 scrimmage touchdowns in 2004) as the only players over the age of 30 with at least 1,000 scrimmage yards and 10 scrimmage touchdowns in his team’s first eight games of a season in NFL history.
    
• Rookie quarterbacks: Between Washington’s Jayden Daniels (five wins), Denver’s Bo Nix (four) and Chicago’s Caleb Williams (four), rookie quarterbacks have combined for 13 wins this season, tied with 1987 (13 combined wins) for the second-most by rookie quarterbacks in the first seven weeks of a season in NFL history, trailing only 2012 (14).
  • In NFL history, there have only been two previous seasons in which three rookie quarterbacks each had five-or-more wins: 2012 (Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden and Russell Wilson) and 2018 (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield).
  • The Chicago Bears (4-2) visit the Washington Commanders (5-2) on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) and should Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and Daniels, the No. 2 selection, both start, it would mark the sixth time in NFL history that the top two selections in the NFL Draft will meet as starting quarterbacks in their rookie season.
    • The previous games to feature rookie starting quarterbacks that were selected No. 1 and No. 2 overall in the NFL Draft: Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud (Week 8, 2023), Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson (Week 16, 2021), Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota (Week 1, 2015), Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf (Week 5, 1998) as well as Drew Bledsoe and Rick Mirer (Week 3, 1993).
      
• Interconference meeting between division leaders: The AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills (5-2) visit the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks (4-3) on Sunday (4:05 p.m. ET, FOX).
  • Bills quarterback Josh Allen has a 21-6 record and 75 touchdowns (53 passing, 22 rushing) in 27 career games against the NFC. In his last game against Seattle, he recorded 415 passing yards and four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).
  • Seattle quarterback Geno Smith leads the NFL with 1,985 passing yards while running back Kenneth Walker has seven touchdowns (six rushing, one receiving) in five games this season. Walker can become the third running back in the past 15 seasons (2010-24) with nine-or-more scrimmage touchdowns in each of his first three career seasons, joining Ezekiel Elliott and Jeremy Hill.
    
• Divisional matchups of over-.500 teams: Of the five divisional matchups on the Week 8 schedule, two feature games between clubs entering the week above .500 – the Indianapolis Colts (4-3) at the Houston Texans (5-2) and the Atlanta Falcons (4-3) at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3). Both divisional games conclude the regular-season matchups between the two clubs – Houston defeated Indianapolis, 29-27, on Kickoff Weekend, while Atlanta defeated Tampa Bay, 36-30, in overtime in Week 5.
  • Indianapolis has won four of their past five games after beginning the season 0-2. In the past 10 seasons (2014-23), nine teams have qualified for the postseason after starting 0-2, including Houston last year. They are one of five teams to hold opponents to 17-or-fewer points in at least four games this season, along with the Los Angeles Chargers (five), Pittsburgh (five), Denver (four) and Minnesota (four).
  • Houston has won five consecutive AFC divisional games since Week 15 of the 2023 season and is looking to win six consecutive games against AFC South opponents for the second time in franchise history (10 consecutive wins from 2015-16).
    • Texans running back Joe Mixon has at least 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in three of his four games this season and with another such performance on Sunday, can become the first player in NFL history with 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in four of his first five games with a team.
  • Atlanta is looking to win its first three road games of a season for the first time since 2016. Running back Bijan Robinson has 2,147 scrimmage yards (1,459 rushing, 688 receiving) in 24 career games Only four players in the past 10 years (2015-24) had at least 1,500 rushing yards and 700 receiving yards in their first 25 career games: Saquon Barkley, Dalvin Cook, Breece Hall and Kareem Hunt.
  • Tampa Bay safety Antoine Winfield Jr. recorded his first sack of the season last week and has 16 career sacks, surpassing Bill Bates (15.5 sacks) for the second-most sacks by a defensive back in his first five seasons since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic. Only Jamal Adams (21.5 sacks) has more. With his next sack this season, he can become the third defensive back with at least two sacks in each of his first five seasons since 1982, joining Adam Archuleta and Keith Bostic.