Five teams entered Week 8 undefeated, but at least one will earn the first loss of the year. Barring a tie, either the Green Bay Packers or the Denver Broncos will join the one-loss ranks when the two teams face each other in Sunday Night Football.
NFL scores 2015: Follow all the Week 8 action from Sunday
A matchup of the Broncos and Packers is between two teams likely to make the playoffs.
The Packers enter the week with a two-game lead on the NFC North and the Broncos have three games over the rest of the AFC West, so a loss for either team is far from a death sentence.
While the pair of undefeated teams playing at the end the day is the matchup between two teams that are likely postseason bound, the Steelers were fighting to keep the race in the AFC North alive. But the Bengals were able to keep their perfect record intact and earned a win over their rivals in Ben Roethlisberger's return from injury. The Bengals, who are 7-0 for the first time in franchise history, now lead the division by 3.5 games.
The wildest game of the day came was an Arena Football-like matchup between the Giants and Saints. Drew Brees and Eli Manning combined to throw an NFL-record 13 touchdowns, and the teams traded scores until Saints kicker Kai Forbath hit a 50-yard field goal as time expired to give New Orleans a 52-49 win. It was the first field goal by either team.
The day began with the third and final game in London this season. The Detroit Lions traveled to Wembley Stadium for the second year in a row, but unlike last season when they staged an epic comeback against the Atlanta Falcons, the Lions looked lifeless in a 45-10 shellacking to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a rough debut for new Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, who took over for Joe Lombardi after the latter was fired following a Week 7 loss. Detroit fell to 1-7 while the Chiefs are now 3-5.
In the second slate of games, there were only two games and all television markets got a game on FOX between the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. The Seahawks won a very close, very slow game, 13-12. The other game saw the Oakland Raiders dominate the New York Jets.
The clash of the two unbeatens finished the day on NBC. Peyton Manning was a star in his own right, but the Broncos got the better of the marquee matchup between Aaron Rodgers and their No. 1 defense.
Below, we’ve got all of the Week 8 games, with scores updated throughout the day.
Final scores so far for Sunday (All times ET):
New England Patriots 36, Miami Dolphins 7 (Thursday)
Kansas City Chiefs 45, Detroit Lions 10
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23, Atlanta Falcons 20 (OT)
Arizona Cardinals 34, Cleveland Browns 20
St. Louis Rams 27, San Francisco 49ers 6
New Orleans Saints 52, New York Giants 49
Minnesota Vikings 23, Chicago Bears 20
Baltimore Ravens 26, San Diego Chargers 23
Cincinnati Bengals 16, Pittsburgh Steelers 10
Houston Texans 20, Tennessee Titans 6
Raiders 34, Jets 20
Seattle Seahawks 13, Dallas Cowboys 12
Denver Broncos 29, Green Bay Packers 10
Biggest Moments
The Lions’ offense is not off to a great start in the Jim Bob Cooter era.
Titans QB Zach Mettenberger completed a pass with the help of the Texans’ defense.
Julio Jones never quits ... but neither do his defenders.
The Rams didn’t even bother covering the 49ers’ receivers because they have no respect for Colin Kaepernick.
Larry Fitzgerald stiff-armed a young Browns player for a full 7 yards.
At least Texans punter Shane Lechler tried.
Justin Tucker hit the game-winning field goal for the Ravens and immediately started a dorky kicker dance.
The Bucs failed to convert on fourth-and-1 and the Falcons scored on the following drive, sending the game to OT.
The craziest play of the most bananas game was the Giants’ fumble return touchdown.
Eli Manning threw six touchdowns and no interceptions, but we’re still gonna LOL at this incompletion.
Odell Beckham Jr.‘s touchdown dance was a mashup of “The Whip” and Michael Jackson.
Ben Roethlisberger reached 40,000 passing yards in his career.
Drew Brees threw seven touchdown passes, tying an NFL single-game record.
Brees and Manning combined for the most passing TDs ever in a game.
Major injuries
Reggie Bush hit the same concrete wall that Josh McCown ran into last week. Bush left the game and is feared to have a torn ACL.
Just when the Steelers get Big Ben back, Le’Veon Bell was carted off with a potentially serious knee injury.
Matt Forte exited the Bears’ game against the Vikings with a knee injury and did not return.
Steve Smith, who was set to retire at the end of the year, is out for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles.
Josh McCown took a lot of hits before leaving late against the Rams with a rib injury. He was replaced by Johnny Manziel.
Geno Smith entered the game against the Raiders early after Ryan Fitzpatrick left with an injured hand.
This isn’t the most major of injuries, but the Chargers as a whole need to be mentioned. King Dunlap, Corey Liuget, Chris Hairston, Chris Watt and Jason Verrett were just some of the players who left that game due to injury.
Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette was stretchered off the field after a violent collision. He has full movement in his limbs, which is great news.
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