Week 8 NFL Takeaways: Broncos’ upset of Chiefs hands Mahomes series of unlikely firsts

Sunday brought a lot of firsts for Patrick Mahomes — just, not in the way we’re used to seeing when it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynamic quarterback. 

In what was the biggest upset of Sunday afternoon, the Denver Broncos defeated Mahomes and the Chiefs 24-9. The talk earlier Sunday was of Mahomes’ health — he’d been dealing with the flu on Saturday and still wasn’t feeling his best Sunday, and it showed during the game. Mahomes was held without a passing touchdown for the first time since Week 13 of the 2021 season — a 22-9 win against Denver in which he did register a rushing TD. He was held without a TD of any kind for the first time since Week 11 of that same season, a 19-9 win over Dallas. 

This time, it was Mahomes’ Chiefs who were held to just nine points. The loss was Mahomes’ first defeat in a divisional road game (he was 16-0 until Sunday), and his first loss of any kind to the Broncos, who had lost 16 straight games to Kansas City dating back to the days of Peyton Manning and Alex Smith.

This was also Mahomes’ first time losing to a team sitting two or more games below .500 — he was 25-0 in those matchups entering Sunday. 

While the Broncos’ victory over the Chiefs was certainly the most stunning outcome of Sunday afternoon — the busiest seven-hour stretch of the season, featuring 13 afternoon games between the early and late windows — there was no shortage of upsets, thrills, history and heartbreak headlining Week 8. Here’s a collection of takeaways from around the league.

Eagles’ A.J. Brown, Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill make WR history

The pool of talent at the wide receiver position has never been as deep and dynamic as it is today, and Sunday afternoon brought some pretty incredible proof. 

Miami’s Tyreek Hill and Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown, who went head-to-head just one week ago, entered Week 8’s action ranked first and second, respectively, on the league’s receiving yards leaderboard. By the end of the afternoon, both playmakers had written their names into the NFL history books. 

Hill, whose Dolphins were looking for a bounce-back win against the New England Patriots following that loss to the Eagles, had 902 yards through seven games at the time of kick-off. Four quarters later, as Miami sealed its 31-17 divisional win, Hill left the stadium with 112 more yards and a touchdown to become the first player this season to hit the 1,000-yard mark. In doing so, he became the first player in the Super Bowl era to register 1,000-plus yards in his team’s first eight games of the season. 

Meanwhile, no playmaker is hotter right now than Brown. Brown caught eight passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns to help propel Philadelphia to a 38-31 win over Washington to sweep their season series against the division rival. Brown has now completed six straight games with 125-plus yards, which is an NFL record. (Detroit Lions legend Calvin Johnson previously held the record of five straight such games.) 

With this much success in the first half of the season, might we see more historic moments to come? The NFL has never had a 2,000-yard wide receiver. It now has two players on pace to reach that historic milestone. (This is where we acknowledge that, yes, today’s players get an additional game to rack up stats. This is also where we point out that in Hill’s case, he’s on pace for 2,000 yards in 16 games.)

McCaffrey’s streak extends to 17, but 49ers’ skid continues

It didn’t take long for Christian McCaffrey to carve out some history of his own in the NFL’s late afternoon window. The 49ers running back got San Francisco on the board against the Cincinnati Bengals about 11 minutes into the matchup and in doing so he extended his remarkable touchdown streak to 17 straight games. That means he’s tied with long-time Baltimore Colts halfback and Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the most consecutive games with a rushing or receiving touchdown in NFL history (regular season and playoffs). Moore’s streak started in 1963 and ended in 1964. The last time McCaffrey took the field and didn’t score was Week 11 of 2022. 

Of course, the milestone would’ve been sweeter had San Francisco managed to emerge with a win. Instead, the 31-17 defeat to the Bengals saw the 49ers suffer their third consecutive loss after starting the year 5-0. Brock Purdy put up plenty of yardage (365 yards on 22 completions) and was even the team’s leader in rushing yards (57, surpassing CMC’s 54 on the day) but also looked pretty pedestrian at times, giving up two interceptions.

NFC West has a new leader, while AFC North maintains status as league’s strongest division

With a near-perfect 28-of-32 passing line for 283 yards, three TDs, and no picks against one of the league’s most dominant defences, it’s safe to say Joe Burrow is back. And the AFC North continues to stir up intrigue. While the Ravens took care of business against the Arizona Cardinals to stay atop the division, the Cleveland Browns’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the red-hot Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday has things looking mighty interesting. All three of the Steelers, Browns, and Bengals are 4-3, behind Baltimore’s 6-2. 

While that division is in gridlock, things are shifting in the NFC West — Seattle’s win brings their record up to 5-2, leapfrogging the 5-3 49ers through eight weeks of the season.

Vikings’ recent surge halted by Cousins’ heartbreaking injury

After struggling out of the gates this season, the Minnesota Vikings were quickly looking like one of the league’s most interesting teams ahead of the trade deadline. They still are, following Sunday’s 24-10 divisional win over Green Bay — just, not for the same reasons as before. 

Sunday’s victory brought a massive loss in Minnesota, with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins suffering what the team believes is a torn Achilles. It’s a huge blow not only for the franchise, which has now won four of its last five games to get to .500 on the year and just one win shy of the NFC North-leading Lions, but for Cousins as an individual. The 35-year-old is on the last year of his contract and has been playing some of his very best football of late. He’s now shut down, with a very uncertain football future. 

His team, which placed Justin Jefferson on IR earlier this month, is also dealing with an injured backup QB (Nick Mullens) and turned to rookie Jaren Hall to finish Sunday’s matchup.

Ramsey’s Dolphins debut gets Miami back on track

After last week’s wild win over divisional rival Buffalo, New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones encountered a scary sight Sunday against another AFC East foe: the return of Jalen Ramsey. 

Ramsey was traded to the Dolphins by the Rams this past off-season but a summer knee injury saw him start the year on injured reserve before being activated for Week 8. The star defender wasted little time making his presence known Sunday, picking off a pass intended for Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne and returning it 49 yards. 

His arrival couldn’t come at a better time for the Dolphins, who entered Sunday coming off a loss to the Eagles and have been dealing with some injuries throughout the lineup as they now prepare to jet off to Germany for a date with the Chiefs.

Panthers get first win of season in battle of top picks

The Carolina Panthers are winless no more, and while their victory over the Houston Texans wasn’t pretty you’ve got to believe it was all the more meaningful for quarterback Bryce Young considering his opponent. 

Sunday’s matchup was a quarterback battle between the first and second overall picks of the 2023 draft: Carolina’s Bryce Young and Houston’s CJ Stroud. (Stroud’s Texans teammate, Will Anderson Jr., was selected third in what was a pivotal draft for DeMeco Ryans’ squad.) 

Young, who has struggled thus far in his rookie year, put up a solid 235 yards on 22 completions, with one touchdown pass and no interceptions as he successfully led his side to a comeback win made complete by a walk-off field goal from kicker Eddy Pinheiro. 

Stroud, who’s been really impressive so far this year for the surprising Texans, put up a season-low 140 yards on 16 completions with no passing TDs and no interceptions, though he did run in one score. 

With Carolina’s win, all 32 NFL teams now have at least one victory in 2023.

Will Levis wows in sensational debut

While the first two quarterbacks of the 2023 class went head-to-head, second-rounder Will Levis put on a show with a debut performance that blew away anything we saw from his first-round peers. 

Levis, who took over for the injured Ryan Tannehill, went 19 for 29 in what was a 238-yard, four-touchdown day for the 24-year-old as he led the Titans to a 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. In just a single game, Levis already has more TD passes than Tannehill did in six. The rookie’s first three touchdown passes were all caught by veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins. 

Thanks to Levis’s sensational debut, the Titans are suddenly one of the NFL’s most intriguing teams as we look ahead to Tuesday’s trade deadline. Already considered sellers — they sent Kevin Byard to Philadelphia earlier this month — there’s been speculation around playmakers like Hopkins and Derrick Henry being shipped out, too. 

While it’s hard to base a whole lot on just one game when you’re 3-4 approaching mid-season, it’s difficult not to wonder whether the team elects to hang on to a veteran playmaker or two in order to properly evaluate what they have in their rookie QB.