NFL Today, Week 8

Monday, Oct. 31

San Diego (4-2) at Kansas City (3-3), 8:30 p.m. EDT. The Chiefs look for their fourth straight win as they face the AFC West rival Chargers with a chance to tie for the division lead.

STARS

Passing

_ Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers, finished 36 for 50 for 365 yards and two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s 25-17 win over New England.

_ Eli Manning, Giants, was 31 of 45 for 349 yards and two touchdowns in New York’s 20-17 win over Miami.

_ Joe Flacco, Ravens, was 31 of 51 for 336 yards in Baltimore’s 30-27 win over Arizona.

_ Cam Newton, Panthers, finished 22 for 35 for 290 yards and three touchdowns in Carolina’s 24-21 loss to Minnesota.

_ Michael Vick, Eagles, was 21 of 28 for 279 yards and two touchdowns in Philadelphia’s 34-7 win over Dallas.

_ Matthew Stafford, Lions, was 21 of 30 for 267 yards and three touchdowns in Detroit’s 45-10 win over Denver.

Rushing

_ LeSean McCoy, Eagles, had 30 carries for a career-best 185 yards and two touchdowns in Philadelphia’s 34-7 win over Dallas.

_ Steven Jackson, Rams, had 25 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and St. Louis earned its first victory of the season with a 31-21 win over New Orleans. It was his first 100-yard game in three seasons.

_ Frank Gore, 49ers, finished with 31 carries for 134 yards two touchdowns and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 20-10 win over Cleveland.

_ Fred Jackson, Bills, had 26 carries for 120 yards in Buffalo’s 23-0 win over Washington.

_ Arian Foster, Texans, finished with 33 carries for 112 yards in Houston’s 24-14 win over Jacksonville.

_ Reggie Bush, Dolphins, had 15 carries for 103 yards in Miami’s 20-17 loss to the Giants.

_ Ray Rice, Ravens, had 18 carries for 63 yards and three touchdowns in Baltimore’s 30-27 win over Arizona.

_ Adrian Peterson, Vikings, ran for 86 yards and had five catches for 76 yards. He had a 9-yard touchdown run and a 19-yard touchdown reception in Minnesota’s 24-21 win over Carolina.

Receiving

_ Anquan Boldin, Ravens, had seven catches for 145 yards against his former team in Baltimore’s 30-27 win over Arizona.

_ Calvin Johnson, Lions, finished with six catches for 125 yards and a touchdown in Detroit’s 45-10 win over Denver.

_ Steve Smith, Panthers, had seven catches for 100 yards and a touchdown in Carolina’s 24-21 loss to Minnesota.

_ Ben Obomanu and Sidney Rice, Seahawks. Obomanu had four catches for 107 yards and Rice had seven catches for 102 yards in Seattle’s 34-12 loss to Cincinnati.

Special Teams

_ Jason McCourty, Titans, recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown in Tennessee’s 27-10 win over Indianapolis.

_ Patrick Peterson, Cardinals, returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown in Arizona’s 30-27 win over Baltimore.

_ Brandon Tate, Bengals, returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown in Cincinnati’s 34-12 win over Seattle. It was Cincinnati’s first punt return for a score since 2003.

Defense

_ Chris Houston and Cliff Avril, Lions. Houston returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown and Avril returned a fumble 24 yards for a touchdown in Detroit’s 45-10 win over Denver.

_ DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys, had four sacks in Philadelphia’s 34-7 win over Dallas.

_ Chris Long, Rams, had three of the Rams’ six sacks in St. Louis’ 31-21 win over New Orleans.

_ Jared Allen, Vikings, had five tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in Minnesota’s 24-21 win over Carolina. Allen has a sack in 10 straight games.

_ Reggie Nelson, Bengals, returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown in Cincinnati’s 34-12 win over Seattle.

_ Darian Stewart, Rams, returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown in St. Louis’ 31-21 win over New Orleans.

_ Jonathan Vilma, Saints, recovered a fumble in the end zone in New Orleans’ 31-21 loss to St. Louis.

_ The Bills had nine sacks in their 23-0 win over the Redskins. Rookie Marcell Dareus had 2 1/2 sacks.

STATS

49ers running back Frank Gore passed Roger Craig and moved into second place on the franchise rushing list with 7,089 yards. Gore wound up with 134 yards on a season-high 31 carries. … The Rams’ Steven Jackson has 28 career 100-yard games, passing Marshall Faulk for second in franchise history and 10 behind Eric Dickerson. … Reggie Bush had a season-high 103 yards rushing, his highest total as a member of the Dolphins and second most of his career. Bush’s single game rushing high of 126 yards came during his rookie campaign against the Giants on Dec. 24, 2006 as a member of the Saints. … Cincinnati’s 34-12 win over Seattle made Marvin Lewis the winningest coach in Bengals history with 65 career victories. … With 1,074 yards from scrimmage, Fred Jackson became only the fourth Bills player to surpass 1,000 yards seven games into a season, and first since Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas in 1991. … The Lions’ Calvin Johnson joined Randy Moss as the only wide receivers since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to catch 11 TD passes in his team’s first eight games. … The Titans improved to 63-37 in their 100th game at LP Field. … Matt Schaub threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score for Houston (5-3), off to its best eight-game start. The Texans also took one more step toward the franchise’s first division title and playoff berth by improving to 3-0 in the AFC South. … The Lions scored their most points on the road since a 45-point outburst at San Francisco on Oct. 29, 1967.

STREAKS

San Francisco has a five-game winning streak for the first time since 2001 and wrapped up its first unbeaten October since 1997. … The Titans earned their first win against the Colts since Oct. 27, 2008. … Houston rushed 39 times for 156 yards and has won 28 of its past 31 games when rushing at least 30 times. The Texans have outscored three division opponents by a total score of 99-28. … The Rams had faced double-digit deficits at halftime in every previous game this season. The Saints had not been blanked in a first half since early in the 2007 season. … The Vikings’ Jared Allen has a sack in 10 straight games. … This marks the first time the Bills have opened a season with four straight home wins since 1995, when they went 5-0. Buffalo handed Redskins coach Mike Shanahan his first shutout loss in 24 seasons as an NFL coach or offensive coordinator, according to STATS LLC. … Arizona has lost six straight. Four of those defeats have been by four points or fewer.

ST. LOUIS PRIDE

The Rams wore throwback jerseys in a nod to their 1999 Super Bowl championship team. Then there was the pregame appearance by the Cardinals, who brought their World Series trophy with them to help fire up a crowd growing accustomed to disappointment from the Rams. The game was sold out, but there were hundreds of empty seats.

Manager Tony La Russa donned a Sam Bradford jersey and Game 7 winner Chris Carpenter went out for the coin toss wearing a Steven Jackson jersey.

And the Rams won for the first time this season, beating New Orleans 31-21.

COMEBACKS KIDS

The Baltimore Ravens erased a 24-3 deficit to defeat Arizona 30-27. It marked the fifth time this season a team trailed by at least 20 points and came back to win. That is the most in a single season in NFL history.

BROWNS’ BAY AREA BUMMER

For Colt McCoy and the Browns, it’s 0-for the Bay Area. They lost two weeks ago in Oakland, then floundered across San Francisco Bay at Candlestick Park on Sunday in a 20-10 loss.

SIDELINED

The Giants had receiver Hakeem Nicks, center David Baas, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and cornerback Justin Tryon get tweaked in the 20-17 win. None of the injuries is considered serious and each of the players returned except Nicks. Nicks hurt a hamstring, Baas a knee, Bradshaw his right foot and Tryon had a stringer. Dolphins center Mike Pouncey left in the second half after taking a blow to the head. … Steelers standout linebacker LaMarr Woodley missed portions of the fourth quarter of a win over New England with a hamstring problem. … Bengals cornerback Pacman Jones strained a hamstring in the first quarter at Seattle and did not return.

SPEAKING

“It was an ugly win, but we ain’t putting no points on it. This ain’t the BCS with the style points you need to be No. 1.” _ 49ers defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois after San Francisco’s 20-10 win over Cleveland.