The dream of a perfect season turned into just a dream on a miserable afternoon for the Rams in Kansas City.
As the Super Bowl champs were taking one on the chin in Kansas City, the Vikings were mounting a spirited comeback against the Bills to remain the only unbeaten team in the league.
St. Louis' defense proved to be its downfall, and the way defensive coordinator Peter Giunta's squad had been playing, it was only a matter of time before a team laid one on the Rams' defense like the Chiefs did on Sunday.
The Rams came into the game allowing 348.2 yards and 29 points per game, and will head into their Week 9 meeting with the 49ers averaging 365.3 yards and 32.6 points allowed.
The Vikings trailed 27-21 with 6:39 to play, but a Daunte Culpepper to Randy Moss touchdown pass and Gary Anderson's record-setting field goal with 1:04 to play kept Minnesota perfect with its seventh win in a row to open the season.
| Week 8 NFL Recap |
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| Lions 28 (5-2), Buccaneers 14 (3-4) Thursday |
Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
12: Turnovers by Tampa Bay during its four-game losing streak. The Bucs had only one giveaway in their three-game winning streak to start the season. |
| Player of the Game |
| James Stewart, RB, Detroit: The tailback also known as "Little Man" came up big, rushing for 116 yards and three touchdowns. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| Tampa Bay continued its giving ways and Stewart and the Lions took full advantage. The Bucs had three turnovers for the second consecutive game, giving the Lions a short field. After falling behind early, Detroit chewed up yardage and the clock behind the legs of Stewart, who was held to 13 yards in the Lions' 31-10 loss to Tampa Bay in Week 3. The Bucs, meanwhile, could do nothing offensively, mustering only four field goals from Martin Gramatica -- wasting seven sacks, a blocked punt and a blocked field goal. Shaun King completed only 17 of 34 passes and threw two interceptions as Tampa Bay dropped to 1-2 at home this season. |
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| Cowboys 48 (3-4), Cardinals 7 (2-5) |
Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
12: Interceptions this season by Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer, who was picked off three times in 31 passing attempts. |
| Player of the Game |
| Troy Aikman, QB, Dallas: Bounced back from a week of criticsm with an efficient game, throwing no interceptions while completing 9 of 15 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| The Cowboys needed an easy game and there is no opponent quite like the Cardinals to help out with that. Plummer's inability to throw the ball to the guys wearing the same jersey as him has reached epidemic proportions. Plummer now has been picked off 71 times in 45 career games, an average of 1.58 interceptions per game. Emmitt Smith rushed 24 times for 112 yards and one touchdown, and backup Chris Warren pitched in with 10 carries for 64 yards and two touchdowns. |
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| Colts 30 (5-2), Patriots 23 (2-6) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
39:01: Time of possession for the Patriots, which proved meaningless with the Colts' quick-strike ability. |
| Player of the Game |
| Marvin Harrison, WR, Indianapolis: Caught five passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns, giving him more than 100 yards receiving in six of the Colts' seven games. |
CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| The Colts avenged a tough road loss to the Patriots in Week 6, but they needed a fourth-quarter comeback to get their fifth victory. Peyton Manning completed 16 of 20 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in another amazingly efficient game (a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating for the game), but the outcome was in doubt until Edgerrin James' two fourth-quarter touchdowns (one receiving, one rushing) and Mike Vanderjagt's field goal with 22 seconds left. Harrison's huge day puts him on pace for monstrous season totals of 112 catches for 1,949 yards and 13 touchdowns.
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| Chiefs 54 (4-3), Rams 34 (6-1) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
2.69: Difference between the Rams' average yards-per-passing attempt coming into the game (11.17) and what they averaged against the Chiefs (8.48). |
| Player of the Game |
| Kimble Anders, RB, Kansas City: Nearly doubled his season rushing total, carrying 13 times for 102 yards and two touchdowns after gaining only 54 yards on 13 carries in the previous six games. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| Turnovers are bad. Injuries are bad. Playing at Arrowhead Stadium is bad. Four turnovers and a broken thumb spelled doom for St. Louis, but this game may have been done when they started talking about an unbeaten season earlier in the week. The 2000 Rams are not the 1972 Dolphins, as evidenced by surrendering 54 points and 468 yards to a Chiefs offense that was ranked only 17th in the league coming in. |
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| Vikings 31 (7-0), Bills 27 (3-4) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
2,004: Points scored by Vikings kicker Gary Anderson, a new NFL career scoring record after passing George Blanda. Anderson broke Blanda's mark with a 21-yard field goal with just more than a minute to play. |
| Player of the Game |
| Cris Carter, WR, Minnesota: Veteran wide receiver caught seven passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 14 catches for 218 yards and three touchdowns in the past two games. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| The Vikings are the lone unbeaten team after the Chiefs' demolition of the Rams in Kansas City. But Minnesota had to battle against Buffalo to get its seventh consecutive victory. Doug Flutie (28-of-43 for 294 yards and two touchdowns) was spectacular in his first start of the season and Bills wide receiver Eric Moulds had his second eye-popping game in a row (12 catches for 135 yards and one touchdown. The teams combined for 20 penalties for 127 yards, but only turned the ball over one time each. |
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| Eagles 13 (5-3), Bears 9 (1-7) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
11: Sacks by Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas, putting him on pace to tie Mark Gastineau's NFL-season record of 22. |
| Player of the Game |
| Donovan McNabb, QB, Philadelphia: Completed 22-of-35 for 207 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and also ran for 25 yards on five carries. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| The Eagles haven't been terribly pretty, but a 5-3 record puts them on track to earn an NFC wild-card spot. Philadelphia knocked Chicago starting quarterback Cade McNown out with a separated shoulder in the second quarter and then harassed his replacement, Jim Miller, into only 14-of-34 passing for 128 yards and one interception. Eagles kicker David Akers hit his 13th consecutive field goal in the third quarter, breaking the team record that he shared with Gary Anderson and Sam Baker. |
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| Panthers 34 (3-4), 49ers 16 (2-6) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
46: Combined first downs for the 49ers (20) and Panthers (26), who also totaled 801 yards of offense. |
| Player of the Game |
| Steve Beuerlein, QB, Carolina: Completed 28 of 44 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 1,341 yards and 14 touchdowns in his past four games against the 49ers. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| The Panthers' offensive outburst against the 49ers shouldn't be all that surprising, considering that San Francisco has given up a league-high 258 points, including at least 30 in six of its eight games. Jeff Garcia had another solid game, throwing for 307 yards and two touchdowns, but had a costly interception that ended his interception-less streak at 150 passes. Muhsin Muhammad caught nine passes for 127 yards and Donald Hayes continued his emergence as the Panthers' No. 2 receiver with six catches for 90 yards. "Touchdown" Tim Biakabutuka lived up to his nickname, catching two scoring passes and rushing for 85 yards on 19 carries.
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| Titans 14 (6-1), Ravens 6 (5-3) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
17: Advantage in first downs for the Ravens, who also outgained the Titans 368-191. |
| Player of the Game |
| Randall Godfrey, LB, Tennessee: Intercepted a Tony Banks pass 1:38 into the second half and returned the ball untouched 24 yards down the left sideline to put the Titans up by the deciding 14-6 margin.
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| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| This his how bad things are for the Ravens: The Titans converted only 2-of-12 third-down situations, ran only 47 offensive plays, averaged only 4.1 yards per play but still managed to beat Baltimore. The Ravens end zone-phobia continued for the fourth consecutive game, stretching past 246 minutes. Brian Billick finally heeded the call of the fans to bench Tony Banks, but Trent Dilfer completed only seven of 13 passes for 58 yards and one interception after replacing Banks. Baltimore committed eight penalties, fumbled seven times (though they recovered all of them), gave up five sacks and threw four interceptions. Those 24 total miscues added up to only six points offensively and another loss for the Ravens, their second in a row after winning five of six to start the season. |
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| Saints 21 (4-3) Falcons 19 (2-6) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
6: Sacks of Chris Chandler by the Saints, with linebacker Mark Fields and defensive tackle La'roi Glover getting two each. |
| Player of the Game |
| Ricky Williams, RB, New Orleans: Ran for a career-high 156 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries, giving him 772 rushing yards and six touchdowns this season. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| The Falcons couldn't stop Williams, but no one else has been able to either in the past month. Williams has scored all six of his touchdowns this season in the past three games, and has rushed for 638 yards in the past five. The Saints' second-year star is on pace for 1,764 yards rushing, which would almost exactly double his rookie-year total of 884 yards. Chandler played an efficient game (15-of-20 for 240 yards and two touchdowns), but it wasn't enough to prevent his club from falling for the fifth game in a row. |
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| Bengals 31 (1-6), Broncos 21 (4-4) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
266: Advantage in rushing yards for the Bengals (408) over the Broncos (142). |
| Player of the Game |
| Corey Dillon, RB, Cincinnati: Had the best rushing day in the 81-year history of the NFL, running for 278 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| The Broncos came into this one wary of a letdown like they had against the Patriots in Week 5, but they had no idea that Dillon would have such an insane game. The Broncos controlled the ball for 37:33, gaining 500 total yards and 32 first downs (to only 15 for Cincinnati), but the Bengals' penchant for the big rushing play earned them their first victory of the season. Even more amazing than Dillon's rushing total may be the fact that Cincinnati completed only two passes for 34 yards in the game. Akili Smith completed 2-of-9 for 34 yards, and Scott Mitchell was 0-for-5 after Smith went out with a mild concussion. Dillon has been averaging only 3.47 yards per carry (323 yards on 93 carries) before exploding for an average of 12.64 yards per carry. |
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| Raiders 31 (6-1), Seahawks 3 (2-6) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
20: Combined penalties -- with each team getting flagged for 10 -- for 158 yards. |
| Player of the Game |
| Tyrone Wheatley, RB, Oakland: Rushed for a career-high 156 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| With the Rams now on a one-game losing streak, the Raiders join the Vikings, Titans, Dolphins as Redskins as teams with winning streaks of four games or better. Oakland won its fourth in a row by jumping out to a 21-3 halftime lead and then holding on to send Seattle to its fourth consecutive loss. Wheatley helped the Raiders jump out to that comfortable halftime lead with a career-best, 80-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The Seahawks have given up an average of 29.5 points in those four losses. The Raiders have a two-game lead on Kansas City in the AFC West, and Oakland travels to San Diego to face the winless Chargers next Sunday night. |
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| Steelers 22 (4-3), Browns 0 (2-6) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
104: Yards of total offense for the Browns, who ran for 49 yards and passed for only 55 yards. |
| Player of the Game |
| Kris Brown, K, Pittsburgh: Kicked five field goals -- and outscored the Browns by 16 points -- giving him an amazing season percent of 87.5 (14-of-16) and an impressive career percentage of 86.7 (39-of-45). |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| Doug Pederson won't have happy memories of his debut as the starting quarterback for the Browns. Pederson completed only nine of 20 passes for 61 yards and three interceptions before being lifted for rookie Spergon Wynn. "The Bus" continued to roll over opponents, as Jerome Bettis carried 33 times for 105 yards and a touchdown, his fourth 100-yard game of the season and his third in a row. The Steelers dominated play by keeping the football for almost two-thirds of the game, holding a 39:35-20:25 advantage in time of possession. |
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| Redskins 35 (6-2), Jaguars 16 (2-6) |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
5: Combined catches for Jaguars wide receivers Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith, who came into the game averaging 14.4 combined per game. |
| Player of the Game |
| Albert Connell, WR, Washington: Caught seven passes for a career-high 211 yards and two touchdowns, besting his previous best receiving day of 137 yards set against Dallas on Sept. 12, 1999. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| After a disastrous 1-2 start, the Redskins have righted the ship and won five in a row to crawl back atop the NFC East. The Jaguars dropped their fifth consecutive game with another uninspired offensive performance. Mark Brunell was sacked six times and completed only 50 percent of his passes (21-of-42) with two interceptions. Brad Johnson completed 16-of-24 for 269 yards and three touchdowns, giving him six touchdowns and only three interceptions in the past five games. |
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| Jets 40 (6-1), Dolphins 37 (5-2) OT |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Summary and
Game Recap |
432: Points scored on Monday Night Football (an average of 54 per game), with the Jets' win tying the Rams' 41-36 win against the Broncos in Week 1 as the highest-scoring MNF game of the season. |
| Player of the Game |
| Vinny Testaverde, QB, New York: Continued his season-long pattern of struggling early and pouring it on late, engineering the Jets' 23-point rally and finishing with 378 yards and five touchdowns. |
| CNNSI.com's Breakdown |
| If you went to bed early, shame on you. If you didn't give up on this one, you were handsomely rewarded. The Jets' 23-point fourth-quarter comeback was one of the most thrilling games ever. New York's epic rally was the second-best fourth-quarter comeback in history, trailing only the St. Louis Cardinals' 28-point comeback against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Busch Stadium on Nov. 7, 1987. As great as New York was in the fourth, Miami was almost its equal in the first, jumping out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead and making the Jets look bad early. Lamar Smith ran for 109 first-half yards, but New York stepped up the defensive intensity and limited Smith to 46 yards in the second. Wayne Chrebet finished with six catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns, but more importantly continued his knack for the spectacular catch in clutch situations. While Chrebet's diving theatrical grabs are expected, juggling catches from offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott definitely aren't. Elliott's bobbling touchdown grab -- the first of his career -- tied the game at 37 with 42 seconds left, and allowed the Jets to polish off the ridiculous comeback win with John Hall's 40-yard field goal 6:47 into overtime. Find a tape of this one if you missed it, or push your bedtime back in the future so you don't miss out on legendary comebacks. |
