11Alive Sports serves up 10 gloriously fun facts to digest, in advance of NFL Week 8.
We're talking about premium knowledge that will surely help your weekend cause if/when ...
a) Attempting to win barstool debates among strangers,
b) Unwittingly pushing your spouse or family to the absolute breaking point of delirium, assuming they don't also eat, breathe and live for football.
BYES: Dallas, Tennessee, Atlanta, L.A. Chargers
1. There are few things in sports more bankable than Todd Gurley playing in his natural habitat.
Of Gurley's last 10 outdoors games on grass, the Rams dynamo boasts staggering averages of 149 total yards and 1.5 touchdowns; and only twice during this prolific stretch did Gurley fail to reach the end zone.
2. The Bills might have the NFL's No. 4 pass defense (allowing only 225 yards per contest), but there are minimal worries with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Charting his last seven trips to Buffalo, dating back to 2011, Brady owns absurd averages of 344 yards passing and three touchdowns; and that includes a 250-yard, zero-TD clunker from last year.
3. Chiefs tailback Kareem Hunt has scored at least one touchdown in his last seven games at Arrowhead Stadium (including the playoffs); and during this prodigious stretch, the University of Toledo star has averaged 110 total yards and 0.6 TDs.
4. The Ravens are an interesting case study in the fantasy realm, something out of the Island Of Misfit Toys:
a) Quarterback Joe Flacco currently ranks sixth in yards passing (2,067), putting him on track for a personal-best threshold with this category; and yet, he and Ryan Fitzpatrick share the same amount of touchdown passes.
b) Receiver John Brown has brought a new dimension to the Baltimore offense (scary-good vertical threat).
On the plus side, Brown holds an absurd average of one touchdown for every seven receptions. He's also a twice-a-month bet for double-digit targets.
On the negative side, Brown has already posted three underwater games, in terms of netting a catch-to-target rate of less than 50 percent, including the head-scratching outing of four catches and 14 targets against the Browns (Week 5).
c) Charting the top 10 wideouts with targets, Michael Crabtree (35 catches, 64 targets, 409 yards, 2 TDs) represents the only one without a single effort of 100 receiving yards or multiple touchdowns this season.
d) Rookie tight Hayden Hurst seemingly has the athletic gifts of a future All-Pro at his position. However, after missing the first month to a foot injury, the first-round pick stands as 0 for 5 with targets.
The lone saving grace: The Panthers (this week's opponent) own bottom-third rankings versus opposing tight ends, citing targets, catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
5. Dating back to the 2014 campaign, the Steelers No. 1 tailback (either Le'Veon Bell, James Conner, DeAngelo Williams, Stevan Ridley) holds a nine-game average of 112 total yards and 0.8 touchdowns against the rival Browns; and this includes one invisible outing of 21 total yards, zero touchdowns.
Which brings us to this: Whenever Conner logs 15 or more touches, he owns supreme per-outing averages of 150 total yards and 1.5 TDs.
6. If you're looking to trade for the next James White (my top sleeper back in August), then make an all-out effort for the Bears' Tarik Cohen.
a) Covering his last three outings, Cohen has accrued robust tallies with catches (22), targets (30), receiving yards (280) and touchdowns (two).
b) Bears teammate Jordan Howard has collected only 37 touches (zero receptions) since Week 5.
c) In Year 2, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has attempted 35 or more passes five times; and for the two games of less than 35 attempts, the North Carolina product racked up nine touchdowns.
d) The Jets (this week's opponent) have allowed opposing running backs to post a catch-to-target rate of 80 percent.
7. Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans has a sterling track record against non-conference foes, enjoying elite-level averages of 6.3 catches, 106 yards and 0.5 touchdowns in his last four encounters with AFC competition.
One more thing: Evans collected double-digit targets in each outing.
8. Blake Bortles might be persona non grata with fantasy owners, when playing in the United States; but don't write off the quarterback's prospects in other countries.
Of the Jaguars' last three trips to Merry Old England (2015-17), Bortles boasts rock-solid averages of 211 yards passing and three touchdowns.
As a bonus, during this stretch, Jacksonville's a perfect 3-0 when playing Across The Pond.
9. Lions receiver Golden Tate has plenty of first-hand knowledge about the NFC West.
Of his last 12 games against this division, the Notre Dame product holds robust averages of 6.3 catches, 80.4 yards and 0.5 touchdowns.
But ay the rub: Since signing with Detroit in 2014, Tate has never caught more than three balls against his old team in Seattle.
And last but not least ...
10. Here's a three-pack of positive news involving Giants wideout Odell Beckham Jr.:
a) Beckham has collected nine-plus targets in every game this season.
b) Citing his three home encounters with the Redskins, Beckham has adroitly averaged nine catches, 81 yards and 1.3 touchdowns.
c) Charting the 10 career times when Beckham racked up 140-plus receiving yards (prior to last week), Beckham tallied 100 yards receiving and/or one touchdown in the very-next outing seven times.
