5 NFL Stats to Know Through Week 8

Week 8 of the 2019 NFL season saw the New England Patriots improve to 8-0 for the third time in franchise history. It also saw their head coach Bill Belichick record his 300th win, joining the legendary duo of Don Shula (347) and George Halas (324) as the only head coaches with at least 300 victories in the NFL.

It was a memorable week for the Bosa parents too, as their boys Nick and Joey both had huge games. Nick had three sacks and an interception for the San Francisco 49ers, while Joey recorded two quarterback takedowns for the Los Angeles Chargers against the Chicago Bears. This was only the second time since 1982 that two siblings each recorded two or more sacks in the same week of a season. Back in Week 2 of the 1985 season, Jimmy Williams had two sacks for the Detroit Lions against the Dallas Cowboys. His brother Toby racked up his two sacks for the Patriots against the Bears.

Here are five other stats to know -- both traditional and via our advanced statistics -- from Week 8 of the season.

Cooper Kupp had 220 Receiving Yards

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp had four consecutive games with at least 100 receiving yards between Weeks 2 and 5. His last two games saw his production drop off dramatically, with a mere 67 yards on 10 receptions. On Sunday, at Wembley Stadium in London, Kupp was back to his best.

Kupp drew 10 targets against the Cincinnati Bengals and converted these looks into 7 receptions for 220 yards. He also scored a 66-yard touchdown. The 220 yards were a career-high for Kupp, and also the most receiving yards by a player in an International Series game. The previous best was 169, which was managed by Brandon Lloyd for the Denver Broncos against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8 of the 2010 season.

After eight games, Kupp has 58 receptions for 792 yards to go with 5 touchdowns. The last time a Rams pass catcher had at least 50 receptions and 700 yards in the first eight games of a season was back in 2003. The great Torry Holt had 63 for 978 back then.

Kupp and the Rams head into their bye, but Kupp will remain a locked-in WR1 in fantasy when they return against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10.

Mike Evans Scored 42.8 PPR Points

It was a disappointing game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as they fell to a 27-23 loss against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. However, wide receiver Mike Evans gave his fantasy owners 42.8 reasons to be happy in Week 8.

Evans secured 11 of his 12 targets against the Titans, posting 198 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns on his way to a league-leading 42.8 PPR points. It was Evans' second game of the season with at least 40 PPR points after he scored 45 against the New York Giants in Week 3. Evans had 190 receiving yards back then, and Sunday's efforts made him the first player this century to have multiple games of 190 receiving yards in the same season.

Evans went into Sunday atop the Buccaneers all-time lists in receiving yards and touchdowns, with 6,657 yards and 44 scores in his first 83 games. On Sunday, he added another record to his list, as he went past James Wilder's career mark of 430 receptions. Evans now has 433, the eighth-most among all wide receivers since he entered the NFL in 2014

Even with the emergence of Chris Godwin as a genuine playmaker, Evans' volume keeps him in the weekly must-start conversation. He and the Buccaneers take on the Seattle Seahawks next week, and they just allowed Julio Jones to drop 10 receptions for 152 on them with Matt Schaub at quarterback. Evans could be in for another huge game.

Latavius Murray Scored 36.7 PPR Points

The New Orleans Saints have a Week 9 bye, and with this extended rest period, they didn't see the need in rushing star running back Alvin Kamara back for their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. The Saints reasoned that they could get by with Latavius Murray handling the bulk of the running back work. Their reasoning turned out to be solid.

Murray had 30 touches for the Saints on Sunday, consisting of 21 rushes and 9 receptions. He converted these into 157 yards from scrimmage, with two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) propelling him to 36.7 PPR points. This was a career-high fantasy day for Murray, beating his previous high of 32...that he managed a week ago against the Chicago Bears. Murray also had 32 touches against the Bears.

With Kamara likely to be back to something approaching full health in Week 10, Murray will likely settle back into more of a situational role for the Saints. Prior to the last two games, Murray hasn't had more than 11 touches in a game this season. But should injury strike Kamara again, Murray's role as an every-down workhorse would be assured.

Daniel Jones Threw Four Touchdown Passes

Daniel Jones had a debut to remember for the New York Giants back in Week 3, but it had been tough sledding for the rookie signal-caller since then. Jones had a 4/7 TD:INT ratio in the four games after playing the Buccaneers, with no more than one touchdown pass in any of the games. The Giants fell 31-26 to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but there were encouraging signs from Jones.

Jones completed 28 of his 41 pass attempts against the Lions for 322 yards and 4 touchdowns -- it was his first 300-yard game since his first start. Jones is the fourth Giants rookie quarterback with at least three touchdowns in a game since 1966. The other three are Eli Manning, Phil Simms, and Tom Kennedy.

Two of Jones' touchdowns went to rookie wide receiver Darius Slayton. Slayton had just a single touchdown reception in 2019 prior to Sunday. Slayton is the seventh Giants rookie with at least two touchdown grabs in a game since 1950, and the first since Saquon Barkley had two against the Carolina Panthers in Week 5 of the 2018 season.

Jones and the Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys next week, and Jones may find it difficult to repeat his Week 8 heroics against the NFC East leaders. The Cowboys have only allowed one quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards against them since Week 1, and have surrendered more than single touchdown pass in a game just once since Week 2.

Tevin Coleman Scored Four Touchdowns

San Francisco 49ers running back Tevin Coleman had been a steady if not spectacular performer this season heading into Week 8. He’d had at least 16 rushing attempts in three consecutive games, but had amassed only 205 yards on the ground. These yards came at a pedestrian average of 3.79 per attempt. Coleman’s 37.9 PPR points in that span were bolstered by his two rushing touchdowns. He saw his opportunities actually fall against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, rushing only 11 times, but he made the most of these opportunities.

Coleman’s 11 rushing attempts saw him rush for 105 yards and 3 touchdowns. Just for good measure, he added a fourth score through the air. Coleman is only the 11th running back to score four or more touchdowns in a game since 2010, and the second this season. Aaron Jones of the Green Bay Packers scored four times against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5. Coleman is only the second player ever to score four touchdowns in a game against the Panthers. Michael Turner had four rushing scores against them for the Falcons in a 45-28 win in Week 12 of the 2008 season.

Coleman’s deeds saw him score 37.8 PPR points, just 0.1 fewer than he had managed in his previous three games combined. This was the most PPR points scored by a 49ers RB this season, beating the 27.9 Matt Breida managed in Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns. It was the seventh-best PPR outing by a running back in 2019, some way behind Aaron Jones’s 49.2 point performance against the Cowboys.

Coleman appears to be in another prime spot this week, as the 49ers take on the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. The Cardinals have allowed five running backs to post 18.5 or more PPR points against them in 2019, and are of course, coming off a Week 8 game in which they were butchered by Latavius Murray.