Sports Then and Now

Matt Ryan’s three 1st half touchdowns helped the Falcons improve to 7-0 with a Week 8 victory over the Eagles.

It was a week for offenses to shine in Week 8 as five NFL teams picked up wins by 20 or more points and a total of five teams put up 30 or more points.

The 49ers, Broncos, Patriots, Dolphins and Bucs all won by 20 or more and those teams with the exception of the 49ers all put up 30 or more points. The Falcons also put up 30 against the Eagles en route to their seventh win of the year while staying undefeated.

Atlanta became the sixth NFL team to start a season 7-0 and score at least 23 points in each of those games. They also improved to 15-0 when Matt Ryan throws three or more touchdown passes in a game. Philly had been 13-0 following bye weeks under head coach, Andy Reid.

The Saints couldn’t win their third straight and fell to 2-5, but Drew Brees threw a touchdown pass in his 50th straight game to extend his own record. New Orleans fell to Denver 34-14 on Sunday night. Peyton Manning and the Broncos improved to 4-3 and it was the first time that they have won back-to-back games this year.

Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, didn’t let the time change or long flight to London affect him as he also threw a touchdown pass again and this marks 40 straight games for him – still 10 behind Brees for the all-time record. More notable for the Patriots, they gained 473 yards of total offense against the Rams, marking the 17th straight game that they have recorded more than 350. This broke the all-time record set by those Rams in 1999-00.

The Patriots’ offensive explosion left plenty of storylines and it was hard to just pick a few. The 45-7 win for New England was the largest of the weekend and in two games in London since 2009, the Pats have outscored their opponents 80-14 (beat Tampa 35-7 in 2009).

Four different Pats scored touchdowns and both Rob Gronkowski and Brandon Lloyd caught two apiece. It was the 50th time that Brady has had a game with three or more touchdown passes, which is good for fourth all-time. Wes Welker recorded at least one reception in his 102nd straight game. Believe it or not, the Rams scored the first seven points of the game before New England rifled off 45 unanswered.

The last two times Bill Belichick and Jeff Fisher have met, Belichick has outscored him 104-7. Also, Rams receiver, Chris Givens, caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford and now has a 50+ yard reception in five straight games. Bradford was also sacked at least once in his 24th straight game.

After beating the Bengals on the road last week, the Dolphins beat the Jets on the road in Week 8, marking the first time since 2010 that they have won back-to-back games on the road. New York quarterback, Mark Sanchez, registered a total quarterback rating of just 12.1 in the loss, his 12th game under 15, the most in the NFL since 2009. It had Jets fans begging for Tim Tebow.

The loss marks the second time this year that the Jets have fallen by 21 points or more at home. They hadn’t had that happen since 1996. What did they expect when Sanchez threw the ball 54 times?

Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, pulled off another 4th quarter comeback, but to be fair, he only had to do it because his team blew a 23-0 halftime lead to the Cowboys. Dallas turned the ball over three times in the 1st and six times overall with four of those being Tony Romo interceptions. Romo became only the NFL quarterback to throw three or more interceptions in a half more than once this year and the first QB with multiple four-interception games in the same season since 2010.

Jason Witten caught 18 passes, which is tied for the third most in a game all-time; the record is 21. The Giants have won four straight road games against the Cowboys for the first time in their history and are 4-0 at Dallas’ new stadium. Jason Pierre-Paul recorded his first career touchdown when he picked off one of those Romo passes and brought it back for a touchdown.

The Bears and Browns were both one-point winners as Chicago came back to beat the Panthers 23-22 and Cleveland beat the Chargers 7-6 in a barn burner.

Carolina blew a 19-7 lead and gave up 16 4th quarter points as they fell to 1-6. Cam Newton is now 1-10 over the past two years in games decided by seven points or fewer. He also fell to 2-13 in his career against teams that are .500 or above. One of Chicago’s two interceptions was returned by Tim Jennings for a touchdown, the team’s sixth interception return for a touchdown this season. The NFL record is nine.

Titus Young caught nine balls for 100 yards and two TD’s and Matthew Stafford threw for 352 yards in the Lions‘ 28-24 win over the Seahawks. Calvin Johnson caught just three passes and now has six in the last two weeks combined.

While Calvin Johnson’s numbers are going down, Chris Johnson may be peaking at the right time for the Titans. CJ2K ran for 99 more yards on Sunday after his 195-yard outburst last week. This comes after an extremely disappointing early part of the season for him.

Jaguars offensive lineman, Guy Whimper, caught a touchdown pass on Sunday in Jacksonville’s loss to the Packers. This gives him one more TD catch than his teammate, Justin Blackmon. The Jags did keep Jordy Nelson in check, but that’s only because he was out with an injury.

The Raiders beat the Chiefs, who have now lost both their starting quarterbacks at one time or another, by a score of 26-16. Oakland has won six straight road games against Kansas City, which is the second-longest win streak there by a visiting team. The Chiefs have not led in a game at all this year. In their only win, they were tied at the end of regulation and won on an overtime field goal against the Saints.

Colts quarterback, Andrew Luck, led his team on a game-winning drive in the 4th quarter to beat the Titans 19-13. It was Luck’s third game-winning drive this season, which is tied for the most in the NFL.

The Cardinals continued to falter after their 4-0 start as they dropped their fourth straight to the 49ers on Monday night, 24-3. Arizona gained just seven rushing yards in the loss, which was their lowest single-game total since 1953. The win was the 42nd for the Niners on Monday Night Football, which is good for the second most all-time.

Alex Smith set an NFL record for the most pass attempts in a game with just one incompletion. Smith completed 18 of 19 throws on Monday night. One of those completions went to Randy Moss for his 156th career touchdown, which ties Terrell Owens for the fourth most all-time.

That’s all for this week.

Some information taken from ESPN Stats & Info.

Follow me on Twitter @RealAndyLarmand.