Week 8 Preview Tidbits

[averagejoe]

MIA @ NE

• In the teams' last six meetings in New England, the Pats have outscored the Dolphins by 110 points, 188-78, with an 11-4 advantage in takeaways.
• Brady ranks second in the league this season with an average of 342.3 yards passing per game; his 16 TD passes are tied for tops in the league (with Carson Palmer), even though the Patriots have already had their bye week.

DET vs KC (UK)

• The Chiefs are 2-2 against the AFC, but 0-3 against the NFC this season.
• Alex Smith is 4-0 in his career against the Lions, his most wins without a loss against any opponent. Only two other active quarterbacks are 4-0 (or better) against the Lions in their career, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning (both 4-0).

TB @ ATL

• Doug Martin has rushed for at least 100 yards in each of the last three games, becoming just the third Buccaneer to do so (James Wilder, six straight from 1984-85; Carnell Williams, three straight in 2005).
• Matt Ryan tossed two interceptions last week, including his second red-zone interception of the season. Ryan did not throw an interception in the red zone all of last season and has never thrown more than two such interceptions in a season.

SD @ BAL

• Philip Rivers has 209 pass attempts and 139 completions in his last four games -- the most by any quarterback in any four-game span in the Super Bowl era.
• San Diego's players have dropped just 1.8 percent of their catchable passes in 2015 -- the lowest percentage in the NFL. Baltimore's players have dropped 3.7 percent of their catchable passes this season (fourth lowest in the leageue).

MIN @ CHI

• The home team has won each of the last six games in this series.
• The Vikings' 17.0 points allowed per game are tied with Denver for second fewest in the NFL, trailing only the Packers (16.8).

ARZ @ CLE

• ** Foot Special ** Chris Johnson rushed for 122 yards in Monday's win over the Ravens. Johnson now has 39 career games with at least 100 yards on the ground, tied with Frank Gore for the second most among active players (Adrian Peterson has 44).
• Carson Palmer is 18-4 in his last 22 starts dating back to Week 8 of the 2013 season. Palmer, who is tied with Tom Brady for the NFL lead with 16 touchdown passes this season.

TEN @ HOU

• Brian Hoyer has passed for three touchdowns in each of Houston's last two games, just the fourth time all-time that a Texans quarterback has recorded at least three touchdown passes in consecutive games in a single season. No Texans quarterback has ever thrown three or more touchdown passes in three consecutive games.
• Tennessee has not won a road game versus an AFC South division rival since Week 16 of 2013 at Jacksonville.

NYG @ NO

• Eli Manning, a native of New Orleans, is 2-3 in his career when facing the Saints.
• Drew Brees has thrown for at least 350 yards in each of his last three games against the Giants. In five career games versus New York, Brees has averaged 281.8 yards and 39.8 team points per game. He's also combined 12 touchdown passes with just two interceptions.

CIN @ PIT

• Pittsburgh enters a three-game home stand with a 4-3 record. Last season, the Steelers had a 3-3 record entering a three-game home stand in which they won all three games and averaged 41.3 points per game in victories over Houston, Indianapolis and Baltimore.
• A.J. Green is one of four players ever to compile at least 300 receiving yards in a single season vs. the Steelers. Green had 306 receiving yards last season versus Pittsburgh.

SF @ STL

• Colin Kaepernick threw for just 124 yards and was sacked six times in last week's loss to the Seahawks, and has now been sacked 25 times this season, tied with Alex Smith for second most in the league (Russell Wilson has been sacked 31 times, the most so far in 2015).
• In addition, Kaepernick had no rush attempts, the first time in his career he started a game and had no rush attempts (it was also the first time in a start he had zero or fewer rush yards).
• Todd Gurley became just the fifth first-year player in NFL history to rush for 120 or more yards in three straight games (also Carnell Williams in 2005, Mike Anderson in 2000, Eric Dickerson in 1983 and Franco Harris in 1972).

NYJ @ OAK

• Ryan Fitzpatrick has faced the Raiders three times over his career, and has picked up the victory in three different uniforms. In 2011, Fitzpatrick led the Bills to a 38-35 home win against Oakland. In 2013, Fitzpatrick's Titans won 23-19 in Oakland. Last season, Fitzpatrick led the Texans to a 30-14 win in Oakland. This Sunday, Fitzpatrick can become the first quarterback to ever defeat the Raiders with four different teams.

SEA @ DAL

• Russell Wilson has thrown five interceptions this season, all of them on the road; he threw only five picks away from home in the 2013 and '14 seasons combined.
• The Cowboys rank last in the NFL with three takeaways, and have gone four straight games without one. The Seahawks have an odd breakdown regarding takeaways: they are 3-1 when forcing zero or one turnover, and 0-3 when their opponent gives up the ball twice or more.

GB @ DEN

• Green Bay and Denver have played 13 games all-time (including Super Bowl XXXII), with each team winning six of those contests (1987 game ended in a 17-17 tie).
• Green Bay got to Philip Rivers three times in Week 6, extending its streak to 42 straight games with at least one sack -- the longest such streak in the league since Denver had a 44-gamer from January 2, 2011 to November 24, 2013. The Broncos have an NFL-high 26 sacks in 2015 (Green Bay is tied for second with 23).

IND @ CAR

• Carolina's opponents have scored just 12 points off turnovers in 2015 -- third fewest in the NFL. The Colts have allowed 50 points off giveaways this season (tied for fourth most in the league).

 

[averagejoe]

Am I nuts?
Thinking of plugging in Hoyer at QB this week vs TEN? In his last 4 games Hoyer is averaging 24.75 pts which is 6th best behind Brady, Dalton, Rivers, Rodgers, and Bortles.

 

[TKOSpikes]

Tennessee are pretty good against the pass. Don't think I would. Hoyer over who?

 

[TKOSpikes]

A Cadillac sighting! Love it Joe!