NFL Scores Week 8: Results, Standings and Top Fantasy Stars from AFC, NFC Games

Week 8 of the 2021 NFL season is underway. The action kicked off Thursday night, when the Green Bay Packers used a late end-zone interception to outlast the previously undefeated Arizona Cardinals.

It's not a stretch to say that it was one of the best Thursday night games in recent memory.

While Sunday's early slate featured some equally exciting action, a couple of blowouts were in the mix. The Philadelphia Eagles romped over the Detroit Lions 44-6. The Los Angeles Rams cruised to a 38-22 victory over the Houston Texans.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of Sunday afternoon was the New York Jets' 34-31 upset over the Cincinnati Bengals. Jets quarterback Mike White threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start, lifting the Jets to only their second win of the season.

In the late afternoon, the New Orleans Saints managed to knock off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game that featured a fair amount of miscues from the Buccaneers offense. The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, meanwhile, snapped their losing streaks.

In the night game, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Minnesota Vikings despite having Cooper Rush under center instead of Dak Prescott (calf).

Below you'll find full results, updated conference standings and the top fantasy performances of the week (points-per-reception scoring).

Green Bay Packers 24, Arizona Cardinals 21 (Thursday)

Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers: 59 rushing yards, 7 receptions, 51 receiving yards, 1 TD (24.0 fantasy points)

Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers: 3 receptions, 15 yards, 2 TDs (16.5 fantasy points)

  

Los Angeles Rams 38, Houston Texans 22

Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams: 305 passing yards, 3 TDs (23.2 fantasy points)

Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams: 7 receptions, 115 yards, 1 TD (24.5 fantasy points)

  

Pittsburgh Steelers 15, Cleveland Browns 10

Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers: 91 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 29 receiving yards 1 TD (21.0 fantasy points)

Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: 6 receptions, 98 yards (15.8 fantasy points)

   

Philadelphia Eagles 44, Detroit Lions 6

Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles: 103 passing yards, 71 rushing yards (11.22 fantasy points)

Jordan Howard, RB, Philadelphia Eagles: 57 rushing yards, 2 TDs (17.7 fantasy points)

  

Carolina Panthers 19, Atlanta Falcons 13

Cordarrelle Patterson, RB, Atlanta Falcons: 35 rushing yards, 5 receptions, 37 receiving yards, 1 TD (18.2 fantasy points)

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers: 82 rushing yards, 1 reception, 9 receiving yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble (14.4 fantasy points)

   

San Francisco 49ers 33, Chicago Bears 22

Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers: 6 receptions, 171 yards (23.1 fantasy points)

Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, San Francisco 49ers: 322 passing yards, 4 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs (34.72 fantasy points)

  

Buffalo Bills 26, Miami Dolphins 11

Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills: 249 passing yards, 2 passing TDs, 55 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD (31.16 fantasy points)

Cole Beasley, WR, Buffalo Bills: 10 receptions, 110 yards (21.0 fantasy points)

  

New York Jets 34, Cincinnati Bengals 31

Mike White, QB, New York Jets: 405 passing yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs (28.2 fantasy points)

Michael Carter, RB, New York Jets: 77 rushing yards, 9 receptions, 95 receiving yards, 1 TD (32.1 fantasy points)

  

Tennessee Titans 34, Indianapolis Colts 31 (OT)

A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans: 10 receptions, 155 yards, 1 TD (31.5 fantasy points)

Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts: 10 receptions, 86 yards, 2 TDs (30.6 fantasy points)

  

Denver Broncos 17, Washington Football Team 10

Melvin Gordon III, RB, Denver Broncos: 47 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 15 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 1 fumble (19.2 fantasy points)

J.D. McKissic, RB, Washington Football Team: 10 rushing yards, 8 receptions, 83 receiving yards (17.3 fantasy points)

  

Seattle Seahawks 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 7

Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks: 12 receptions, 142 yards (26.2 fantasy points)

Dan Arnold, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars: 8 receptions, 68 yards (14.8 fantasy points)

   

New England Patriots 27, Los Angeles Chargers 24

Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers: 6 receptions, 77 yards, 1 TD (19.7 fantasy points)

Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: 64 rushing yards, 7 receptions, 74 receiving yards, 1 TD (26.8 fantasy points)

   

New Orleans Saints 37, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27

Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 375 passing yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, 2 rushing yards, 1 fumble (27.2 fantasy points)

Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 8 receptions, 140 yards, 1 TD (28.0 fantasy points)

  

Dallas Cowboys 20, Minnesota Vikings 16

Cooper Rush, QB, Dallas Cowboys: 327 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 2 rushing yards, 1 fumble (18.28 fantasy points)

Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys: 8 receptions, 122 yards, 1 TD (26.20 fantasy points)

The Packers were without top receivers Davante Adams and Allen Lazard on Thursday night, which meant a heavy dose of running back Aaron Jones in the passing game.

Jones was targeted 11 times against the Cardinals and finished with seven catches and 51 receiving yards. He also added 59 rushing yards and a touchdown. A second rushing touchdown was overturned after replay.

While Jones is a weekly must-start in most formats, he's sporadically seen second-year back AJ Dillon take a chunk of the ground game away from him. Dillon carried 16 times for 78 yards Thursday and had 11 carries for 59 yards back in Week 6.

Managers can bank on Jones' points-per-reception (PPR) upside, though. He has caught at least four passes in each of the last four games. That upside will be higher if Adams remains on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

For the season, Adams has been targeted 73 times. Jones is second on the team with 39 targets. If Adams remains out, wideout Randall Cobb will remain a sleeper play. He had just 15 receiving yards against Arizona but caught two touchdown passes.

If you haven't been following the San Francisco 49ers this season, you may have missed the rise of third-year receiver Deebo Samuel.

Samuel missed nine games in 2020 but has started all seven games this year. In the process, he has emerged as one of the league's best offensive weapons. Coming into Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears, he had 38 receptions, 648 receiving yards, 22 rushing yards and five combined touchdowns.

"It's a very cool thing to watch because Deebo's a player that if you take the time and you're able to show him exactly what you want, he is willing to do whatever it takes to improve upon it," offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said of Samuel's development, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner.

Samuel went off against the Bears, catching six passes for 171 yards.

According to NFL research, Samuel has now produced the most receiving yards by a 49ers receiver through seven games in history, surpassing Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. Needless to say, he remains a must-start in all scoring formats.

The Bears didn't win Sunday, but they saw plenty from rookie quarterback Justin Fields to feel good about. Fields, who has shown flashes of promise this season, flashed even more against the 49ers.

Fields finished with 175 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception, 103 rushing yards and a rushing score.

Interestingly, the Bears played without head coach Matt Nagy after he tested positive for COVID-19. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor served as acting head coach, and Fields had one of the best games of his young NFL career.

This is a fact not likely lost on Bears fans or anyone else who has questioned Nagy's development of Fields. Coming into the game, Fields had been sacked 22 times and was rarely helped by creative play-calling or designed runs. Both were on display Sunday, and Chicago got a glimpse of what its quarterbacking future can be.

If the Bears continue allowing Fields to run, he'll be a player fantasy managers must consider.

Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown was out again with an ankle injury, which was tough against a Saints defense that is playing an aggressive and opportunistic brand of football.

Tom Brady was down two of his favorite outlet receivers when Rob Gronkowski left the game with back spasms. He threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns, but he was also under constant pressure and threw two interceptions.

With those two out, though, receiver Chris Godwin was fed the ball early and often. He was targeted 12 times and caught eight passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.

The statuses of Brown and Gronkowski will be worth watching for managers of Godwin and Mike Evans, who also caught a touchdown pass. The Buccaneers will be on bye in Week 9 but will then face the Washington Football Team in Week 10.

Washington has been awful defensively and came into the Week ranked dead-last in passing yards allowed.

Like the Jets, the Cowboys had a quarterback making his first NFL start on Sunday. Rush is in his fourth season with Dallas but had only thrown three pass attempts before facing the Vikings. Not only did he play mostly well, but he also helped deliver the win with a late touchdown pass to Amari Cooper.

Rush finished with 327 passing yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a fumble.

Cooper had his fair share of late-game heroics too. In addition to catching the go-ahead touchdown catch, Cooper had a big 33-yard reception on a pass that first bounced off the defender's chest. Cooper caught three passes on the go-ahead drive and finished with eight for 122 yards and the score.

This is likely the last we'll see of Rush for the immediate future—Prescott appeared relatively healthy during pre-game warmups—but this won't be the last we see of Cooper. He has caught at least three passes in every game this season and has found the end zone in four of seven outings.

AFC

Tennessee Titans 6-2

Las Vegas Raiders 5-2

Baltimore Ravens 5-2

Buffalo Bills 5-2

Cincinnati Bengals 5-3

Los Angeles Chargers 4-3

Pittsburgh Steelers 4-3

Cleveland Browns 4-4

Denver Broncos 4-4

New England Patriots 4-4

Kansas City Chiefs 3-4

Indianapolis Colts 3-5

New York Jets 2-5

Jacksonville Jaguars 1-6

Houston Texans 1-7

Miami Dolphins 1-7

   

NFC

Green Bay Packers 7-1

Arizona Cardinals 7-1

Los Angeles Rams 7-1

Dallas Cowboys 6-1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6-2

New Orleans Saints 5-2

Carolina Panthers 4-4

Minnesota Vikings 3-4

San Francisco 49ers 3-4

Atlanta Falcons 3-4

Philadelphia Eagles 3-5

Seattle Seahawks 3-5

Chicago Bears 3-5

New York Giants 2-5

Washington Football Team 2-6

Detroit Lions 0-8

   

*Fantasy scoring from FantasyPros. Advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference.