Week 8 of the NFL season has nearly come and gone. Let's look back at 7 feats of statistical awesomeness.
1. Minnesota running back ADRIAN PETERSON rushed for 86
yards and a TD in the Vikings’ 24-21 win at Carolina. Peterson
has rushed for 798 yards and nine touchdowns this season and has at
least 750 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in all five of his
NFL seasons. He joins Pro Football Hall of Famers JIM BROWN and EMMITT
SMITH and LADAINIAN TOMLINSON as the only players in NFL history to
rush for at least 750 yards and eight touchdowns in each of his first
five seasons.
2. The Baltimore Ravens erased a 24-3 deficit to defeat Arizona 30-27. It marked the fifth time this season that a team trailed by at least 20 points and came back to win. That is the most in a single season in NFL history. Four times – 1983, 1987, 1995 and 1999 – a season had four teams overcome a 20+ point deficit to win.
3. Baltimore wide receiver ANQUAN BOLDIN had seven catches for 145 yards in the Ravens’ win over Arizona. Boldin played seven seasons for the Cardinals and recorded 7,520 receiving yards. Boldin’s 145 receiving yards are the most in NFL history by a player in his first game facing a team for which he had at least 7,500 receiving yards.
4. Pittsburgh QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns in the Steelers’ 25-17 victory over New England. It marked the 75th win of his career, accomplishing the feat in 106 starts. He is the fourth-fastest quarterback to reach 75 victories among QBs who began their careers in the Super Bowl era, trailing Pro Football Hall of Famer ROGER STAUBACH (99), TOM BRADY (99) and KEN STABLER (105).
5. Carolina rookie quarterback CAM NEWTON passed for 290 yards and three touchdowns against Minnesota. The performance was Newton’s fourth 290-yard passing game and he joins PEYTON MANNING (four in 1998) as the only rookie quarterbacks with at least four 290-yard passing games.
Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, started against the Vikings’ CHRISTIAN PONDER, who was selected No. 12 overall. Newton, who started opposite Jacksonville’s BLAINE GABBERT (No. 10) in Week 3, is the first rookie quarterback selected in the first round to start against two first-round quarterbacks from his class since the advent of the common draft in 1967.
6. Detroit wide receiver CALVIN JOHNSON had six catches for 125 yards and one touchdown in the Lions’ 45-10 win at Denver. Johnson has 11 TD catches this season and is the second player to have at least 11 receiving touchdowns through his team’s first eight games of a season since the 1970 merger (RANDY MOSS, 11 in 2007).
7. St. Louis running back STEVEN JACKSON rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams’ 31-21 win over New Orleans. Jackson has 51 rushing touchdowns in his career and joins Pro Football Hall of Famers MARSHALL FAULK (58) and ERIC DICKERSON (56) as the only Rams with at least 50 career rushing touchdowns.
