Seven weeks down and 11 more to go. It’s been an exciting start to a season that has seen its share of unpredictability to date. It’s obviously early, but the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only two 2024 division champions that are currently in first place at this moment.
This week’s schedule features only 13 games. It starts at SoFi Stadium on Thursday night, and ends in Kansas City on Monday evening. All four participants were playoff teams a year ago.
Once again, here are some interesting numbers that give perspective to what we have seen so far this season, and how they pertain to this week’s action.
Take a look at 5 key numbers for Week 8
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A season ago, there were only two games in which a team blanked another club. For a while, it actually looked like the 2024 would end without a shutout. In Week 16 on a Monday night at Lambeau Field, the Packers defeated the Saints, 34-0. Two weeks later at Denver, the Broncos knocked off a Kansas City Chiefs’ team, 38-0, which was preparing for the playoffs. Last week at Arrowhead Stadium, Andy Reid’s team shut out the Raiders, 31-0. It was the third shutout of the season. Are there more to come in 2025?
29
Week 8 features the first rematches of the 2025 season. The Philadelphia Eagles look to avenge a 34-17 Thursday night loss to the Giants in Week 6 at MetLife Stadium. Meanwhile, Big Blue looked to sweep the Birds for the first time since New York’s Super Bowl XLII title campaign. Thanks to 41-20 win at Nashville in Week 3, the Indianapolis Colts can take two from the Tennessee Titans for the third consecutive year. A season ago, 29 of the 48 divisional two-game sets ended in a sweep, while there were only 19 splits in ’24.
25
Last season, the NFC flexed its muscles when it came to facing the other conference. In 80 head-to-head matchups with the AFC, the National Football Conference came out on top by a 47-33 count. The 14-win margin was the largest in the series since 2017, when the NFC came out on top, 41-23. This season, there have been 37 interconference games to date, and the NFC has more than doubled the AFC in terms of wins, 25-13. This week, it’s a 13-game slate for the NFL, with eight of those contests AFC vs. NFC clashes.
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They own the best record in the league after seven weeks of play. The 6-1 Indianapolis Colts have won three straight games, scoring 31-plus points in each contest. Shane Steichen’s club leads the NFL in scoring (33.1 average), and his offensive unit has reached the end zone 26 times in seven outings. They have outscored teams in the first half by a combined 127-56 count. More significantly, a team that turned over the ball 29 times in 17 contests a year ago has given up the football just four times in seven contests.
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The New England Patriots have won four consecutive games. It’s the longest such streak for the club since it reeled off seven straight wins during the 2021 season. The Pats are tied with the Broncos for the second-best record in the AFC at 5-2. That victory total is already higher than the club finished with in both 2023 or 2024, when they posted back-to-back 4-13 seasons. Mike Vrabel’s club is atop the AFC East as the Buffalo Bills (2), Miami Dolphins (3), and New York Jets (7) have teamed to lose 12 straight games.