Week 8 Recap
Top Performers
Cordarrelle Patterson had a 109-yard kickoff return touchdown for Minnesota, and also added a 51-yard return on his way to amassing 228 kickoff return yards. Brandon Tate and Josh Cribbs vied for second place behind Patterson, with 133 and 132 kickoff return yards respectively. Tate also added 19 punt return yards for the Bengals, edging out Cribbs who picked up 10 for the Jets.
Micah Hyde added to the returner scoring in the Minnesota-Green Bay game with a 93 yard punt return touchdown for Green Bay. Antonio Brown of the Steelers was second best in punt returns in Week 8, accumulating 47 yards on 4 returns.
All Week 8 Returners
Here are the top returners sorted by total yards for Week 8:
| Rank | Player | Team | Total Ret Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cordarrelle Patterson | MIN | 228 | 1 |
| 2 | Brandon Tate | CIN | 152 | 0 |
| 3 | Josh Cribbs | NYJ | 142 | 0 |
| 4 | Dwayne Harris | DAL | 138 | 0 |
| 5 | Jordan Todman | JAX | 115 | 0 |
| 6 | Micah Hyde | GNB | 93 | 1 |
| 7 | Tavon Austin | STL | 86 | 0 |
| 8 | Marcus Thigpen | MIA | 80 | 0 |
| 9 | Damaris Johnson | PHI | 72 | 0 |
| 10 | Travis Benjamin | CLE | 71 | 0 |
| 11 | Eric Page | TAM | 71 | 0 |
| 12 | Jacquizz Rodgers | ATL | 54 | 0 |
| 13 | Quintin Demps | KAN | 52 | 0 |
| 14 | Ted Ginn Jr | CAR | 51 | 0 |
| 15 | Darren Sproles | NOR | 51 | 0 |
| 16 | Antonio Brown | PIT | 47 | 0 |
| 17 | Anthony Dixon | SFO | 47 | 0 |
| 18 | LeGarrette Blount | NWE | 46 | 0 |
| 19 | Taiwan Jones | OAK | 46 | 0 |
| 20 | Jeremy Ross | DET | 44 | 0 |
| 21 | Trindon Holliday | DEN | 40 | 0 |
| 22 | Dexter McCluster | KAN | 38 | 0 |
| 23 | Josh Morgan | WAS | 36 | 0 |
| 24 | Johnathan Franklin | GNB | 34 | 0 |
| 25 | Kyle Williams | SFO | 30 | 0 |
| 26 | Robert McClain | ATL | 27 | 0 |
| 27 | Jonathan Dwyer | PIT | 25 | 0 |
| 28 | Justin Forsett | JAX | 21 | 0 |
| 29 | Toby Gerhart | MIN | 19 | 0 |
| 30 | Ace Sanders | JAX | 16 | 0 |
| 31 | Fozzy Whittaker | CLE | 16 | 0 |
| 32 | Jacoby Ford | OAK | 14 | 0 |
| 33 | Julian Edelman | NWE | 13 | 0 |
| 34 | Kyle Bosworth | DAL | 13 | 0 |
| 35 | Rueben Randle | NYG | 9 | 0 |
| 36 | Golden Tate | SEA | 9 | 0 |
| 37 | Davone Bess | CLE | 8 | 0 |
| 38 | Troy Davis | NYJ | 7 | 0 |
| 39 | Ryan Broyles | DET | 4 | 0 |
| 40 | Leodis McKelvin | BUF | 4 | 0 |
| 41 | Antrel Rolle | NYG | 4 | 0 |
| 42 | Adam Jones | CIN | 1 | 0 |
Top THIRTY to Date
Here are the top thirty returners for the year based on total return yards.
| Rank | Player | Team | Total Ret Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devin Hester | CHI | 735 | 1 |
| 2 | Cordarrelle Patterson | MIN | 703 | 2 |
| 3 | Dwayne Harris | DAL | 701 | 1 |
| 4 | Keshawn Martin | HTX | 614 | 0 |
| 5 | Trindon Holliday | DEN | 606 | 2 |
| 6 | Brandon Tate | CIN | 544 | 0 |
| 7 | Damaris Johnson | PHI | 536 | 0 |
| 8 | Darius Reynaud | OTI | 490 | 0 |
| 9 | Marcus Thigpen | MIA | 435 | 0 |
| 10 | Travis Benjamin | CLE | 403 | 1 |
| 11 | Dexter McCluster | KAN | 387 | 1 |
| 12 | Eric Page | TAM | 358 | 0 |
| 13 | Quintin Demps | KAN | 351 | 0 |
| 14 | Ted Ginn Jr Jr. | CAR | 348 | 0 |
| 15 | Darren Sproles | NOR | 336 | 0 |
| 16 | Micheal Spurlock | DET | 303 | 0 |
| 17 | Benny Cunningham | RAM | 299 | 0 |
| 18 | Jordan Todman | JAX | 294 | 0 |
| 19 | Jacoby Ford | RAI | 282 | 0 |
| 20 | Golden Tate | SEA | 279 | 0 |
| 21 | LeGarrette Blount | NWE | 277 | 0 |
| 22 | David Reed | CLT | 276 | 0 |
| 23 | Fozzy Whittaker | TOT | 275 | 0 |
| 24 | Tandon Doss | RAV | 267 | 1 |
| 25 | Felix Jones | PIT | 259 | 0 |
| 26 | Julian Edelman | NWE | 256 | 0 |
| 27 | Tavon Austin | RAM | 224 | 0 |
| 28 | David Wilson | NYG | 222 | 0 |
| 29 | Clyde Gates | NYJ | 209 | 0 |
| 30 | Josh Cribbs | NYJ | 203 | 0 |
Job Changes
Jacoby Ford was pulled from kick return duty for the Raiders, with Taiwan Jones taking over in his place. Ford handled punts during the game and likely raised more questions with his performance. In addition to a fumble on offense, Ford had a fumble during a punt return and nearly had another but for an opponent touching the ball just before it bounced into him. Though he continued to handle punts the rest of the game, the team could reassess the situation before their next game.
Injuries to the offensive line of the Lions resulted in Michael Spurlock being left inactive in Week 8. According to Coach Jim Schwartz it was not a benching so much as he felt that, "We could win the game by fair catching the punts. We couldn't win the game if we ran out of offensive tackles." Wide receiver Jeremy Ross who was recently signed after his release from the Packers, handled kick returns. Ryan Broyles handled punt returns until he was lost to injury, after which Ross took over both return jobs. Schwartz would not discuss whether Spurlock will be active in their next game.
Though Falcons coach Mike Smith had expressed confidence in Robert Alford after a Week 7 punt return fumble, when it came game time the team turned to cornerback Robert McClain. McClain had 2 returns for 27 yards, so likely gained himself another week with the returner job.
INJURIES OF NOTE
The Cleveland Browns lost Travis Benjamin for the season with a torn ACL. Benjamin had performed well for the Browns, who will turn to Fozzy Whittaker for kick returns and Davone Bess for punt returns. Bess had a shaky game, fumbling a punt return and also having a few drops as a receiver.
Percy Harvin was close to returning to action for Seattle in Week 8, but his hip flared up and kept him out of the game. The team may ease Harvin back in gradually, so may not impact the return game until later in the season.
Week 9 Team Return Projections
| Receiving Team | KR yards | KR TDs | PR yards | PR TDs | Total Yards | Total TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 102 | 0.03 | 14 | 0.02 | 117 | 0.04 |
| New England Patriots | 80 | 0.02 | 29 | 0.04 | 109 | 0.06 |
| Chicago Bears | 93 | 0.04 | 12 | 0.03 | 105 | 0.07 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 60 | 0.02 | 34 | 0.04 | 94 | 0.06 |
| Miami Dolphins | 70 | 0.02 | 23 | 0.03 | 93 | 0.05 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 56 | 0.01 | 36 | 0.09 | 92 | 0.10 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 49 | 0.02 | 40 | 0.05 | 89 | 0.07 |
| St. Louis Rams | 63 | 0.02 | 23 | 0.06 | 86 | 0.07 |
| San Diego Chargers | 75 | 0.02 | 10 | 0.01 | 85 | 0.03 |
| Buffalo Bills | 44 | 0.01 | 40 | 0.10 | 84 | 0.11 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 54 | 0.01 | 25 | 0.04 | 79 | 0.06 |
| Oakland Raiders | 57 | 0.01 | 18 | 0.02 | 75 | 0.04 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 64 | 0.02 | 11 | 0.01 | 75 | 0.03 |
| New Orleans Saints | 51 | 0.01 | 23 | 0.03 | 73 | 0.04 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 56 | 0.01 | 16 | 0.02 | 72 | 0.03 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 49 | 0.02 | 22 | 0.03 | 71 | 0.05 |
| Houston Texans | 52 | 0.01 | 17 | 0.02 | 69 | 0.03 |
| Cleveland Browns | 34 | 0.01 | 31 | 0.04 | 64 | 0.05 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 34 | 0.01 | 28 | 0.04 | 62 | 0.05 |
| Green Bay Packers | 53 | 0.01 | 9 | 0.01 | 61 | 0.02 |
| New York Jets | 35 | 0.01 | 25 | 0.03 | 60 | 0.04 |
| Tennessee Titans | 36 | 0.01 | 20 | 0.03 | 56 | 0.03 |
| Carolina Panthers | 32 | 0.01 | 23 | 0.06 | 55 | 0.07 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 30 | 0.01 | 17 | 0.02 | 46 | 0.03 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 28 | 0.01 | 15 | 0.02 | 43 | 0.03 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 28 | 0.01 | 15 | 0.02 | 43 | 0.03 |
Week 9 Player Return Projections
| Player | Team | Position | KR yards | KR TDs | PR yards | PR TDs | Total Ret Yards | Total TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Morgan | Washington Redskins | WR | 93 | 0.02 | 13 | 0.02 | 106 | 0.04 |
| Devin Hester | Chicago Bears | DB | 86 | 0.04 | 11 | 0.03 | 97 | 0.07 |
| Dwayne Harris | Dallas Cowboys | WR | 55 | 0.01 | 31 | 0.04 | 86 | 0.05 |
| Marcus Thigpen | Miami Dolphins | RB | 63 | 0.02 | 21 | 0.03 | 84 | 0.04 |
| Tavon Austin | St. Louis Rams | WR | 56 | 0.01 | 21 | 0.05 | 77 | 0.07 |
| Eric Page | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | WR | 57 | 0.01 | 10 | 0.01 | 67 | 0.03 |
| Darren Sproles | New Orleans Saints | RB | 46 | 0.01 | 20 | 0.03 | 66 | 0.04 |
| Brandon Tate | Cincinnati Bengals | WR | 49 | 0.01 | 15 | 0.02 | 64 | 0.03 |
| Lavelle Hawkins | San Diego Chargers | WR | 62 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 62 | 0.02 |
| Keshawn Martin | Houston Texans | WR | 44 | 0.01 | 14 | 0.02 | 58 | 0.03 |
| Damian Williams | Tennessee Titans | WR | 36 | 0.01 | 20 | 0.03 | 56 | 0.03 |
| Damaris Johnson | Philadelphia Eagles | WR | 31 | 0.01 | 25 | 0.03 | 56 | 0.04 |
| Josh Cribbs | New York Jets | WR | 32 | 0.01 | 22 | 0.03 | 54 | 0.04 |
| Jacoby Jones | Baltimore Ravens | WR | 44 | 0.02 | 9 | 0.01 | 54 | 0.03 |
| Quintin Demps | Kansas City Chiefs | DB | 50 | 0.01 | 3 | 0.00 | 53 | 0.02 |
| Ted Ginn Jr | Carolina Panthers | WR | 28 | 0.01 | 22 | 0.06 | 51 | 0.06 |
| Johnathan Franklin | Green Bay Packers | RB | 47 | 0.01 | 1 | 0.00 | 48 | 0.01 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | Minnesota Vikings | WR | 40 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 40 | 0.02 |
| Marquise Goodwin | Buffalo Bills | WR | 40 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 40 | 0.01 |
| Devin McCourty | New England Patriots | DB | 39 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 39 | 0.01 |
| Leodis McKelvin | Buffalo Bills | DB | 0 | 0.00 | 38 | 0.10 | 38 | 0.10 |
| Dexter McCluster | Kansas City Chiefs | WR | 3 | 0.00 | 33 | 0.08 | 36 | 0.08 |
| Taiwan Jones | Oakland Raiders | RB | 34 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 34 | 0.01 |
| Fozzy Whittaker | Cleveland Browns | RB | 30 | 0.01 | 3 | 0.00 | 34 | 0.01 |
| Julian Edelman | New England Patriots | WR | 8 | 0.00 | 24 | 0.03 | 32 | 0.03 |
| Tandon Doss | Baltimore Ravens | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 31 | 0.04 | 31 | 0.04 |
| Jacoby Ford | Oakland Raiders | WR | 20 | 0.01 | 11 | 0.01 | 31 | 0.02 |
| David Reed | Indianapolis Colts | WR | 29 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 29 | 0.01 |
| Davone Bess | Cleveland Browns | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 27 | 0.03 | 27 | 0.03 |
| Cassius Vaughn | Indianapolis Colts | DB | 27 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 27 | 0.01 |
| Marcus Sherels | Minnesota Vikings | DB | 9 | 0.00 | 17 | 0.02 | 26 | 0.02 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers | Atlanta Falcons | RB | 26 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 26 | 0.01 |
| Felix Jones | Pittsburgh Steelers | RB | 25 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 25 | 0.01 |
| Jermaine Kearse | Seattle Seahawks | WR | 23 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 23 | 0.01 |
| Leon Washington | New England Patriots | RB | 17 | 0.00 | 5 | 0.01 | 23 | 0.02 |
| Antonio Brown | Pittsburgh Steelers | WR | 3 | 0.00 | 15 | 0.02 | 18 | 0.02 |
| LeGarrette Blount | New England Patriots | RB | 16 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 16 | 0.00 |
| Adam Jones | Cincinnati Bengals | DB | 5 | 0.00 | 10 | 0.02 | 15 | 0.03 |
| Golden Tate | Seattle Seahawks | WR | 1 | 0.00 | 13 | 0.02 | 15 | 0.02 |
| Eddie Royal | San Diego Chargers | WR | 7 | 0.00 | 7 | 0.01 | 14 | 0.01 |
| T.Y. Hilton | Indianapolis Colts | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 14 | 0.02 | 14 | 0.02 |
| Micah Hyde | Green Bay Packers | CB | 5 | 0.00 | 8 | 0.01 | 13 | 0.01 |
| Shiloh Keo | Houston Texans | DB | 7 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 | 10 | 0.01 |
| Robert McClain | Atlanta Falcons | CB | 0 | 0.00 | 10 | 0.01 | 10 | 0.01 |
| Niles Paul | Washington Redskins | TE | 10 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 10 | 0.00 |
| Mike Gillislee | Miami Dolphins | RB | 7 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 9 | 0.00 |
| Austin Pettis | St. Louis Rams | WR | 6 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Travaris Cadet | New Orleans Saints | RB | 5 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Bobby Rainey | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | WR | 6 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Phillip Adams | Oakland Raiders | DB | 0 | 0.00 | 7 | 0.01 | 7 | 0.01 |
| Eric Weems | Chicago Bears | DB | 7 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Danny Woodhead | San Diego Chargers | WR | 7 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Dominique Franks | Atlanta Falcons | DB | 1 | 0.00 | 5 | 0.01 | 6 | 0.01 |
| Lance Dunbar | Dallas Cowboys | RB | 5 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Deonte Thompson | Baltimore Ravens | WR | 5 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Jarius Wright | Minnesota Vikings | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.01 | 4 | 0.01 |
| Marcus Easley | Buffalo Bills | WR | 4 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Jeremy Lane | Seattle Seahawks | DB | 4 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Robert Alford | Atlanta Falcons | DB | 3 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.00 |
| Greg Little | Cleveland Browns | WR | 3 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Brandon Boykin | Philadelphia Eagles | DB | 3 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Kyle Wilson | New York Jets | DB | 3 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Mike Jenkins | Oakland Raiders | DB | 3 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Knile Davis | Kansas City Chiefs | RB | 3 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Kenjon Barner | Carolina Panthers | RB | 2 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| DeSean Jackson | Philadelphia Eagles | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.01 | 3 | 0.01 |
| Cole Beasley | Dallas Cowboys | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Keenan Allen | San Diego Chargers | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Jeremy Kerley | New York Jets | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Jim Leonhard | Buffalo Bills | DB | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| LaVon Brazill | Indianapolis Colts | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Armond Smith | Carolina Panthers | RB | 2 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Walter Thurmond | Seattle Seahawks | DB | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Santana Moss | Washington Redskins | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Earl Bennett | Chicago Bears | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Harry Douglas | Atlanta Falcons | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 |
| T.J. Graham | Buffalo Bills | WR | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kerwynn Williams | Indianapolis Colts | RB | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 |