Huskers in the NFL: Week 8

Week 8 of National Football League action was highlighted by excellent performances from former Husker specialists and Blackshirts.

 

For the second consecutive week, a former Husker place kicker delivered the game-winning field goal for his team. Last week, Seattle’s Josh Brown booted a 50-yard field goal as time expired to give the Seahawks a 13-10 win over the Cowboys. This week, it was Kris Brown’s turn to deliver. Brown nailed a 40-yard field goal with 2:45 remaining to give his Houston Texans their first win of the season, a 19-16 victory over Cleveland. The game winner was Brown’s fourth field goal of the contest, as Brown finished 4-for-5 on the game. Brown was also 1-for-1 on extra points.

 

The game-winning field goal provided some vengeance for Brown, as prior to the game-winner, he had pushed a 38-yard fourth quarter attempt wide right.

 

"That’s just part of the highs and lows of the game," Brown said. "Especially with my position, you’ve got to be able to go out there and capitalize on every opportunity. The kick before the last one, you just have to be able to forget it and move on to the next one.

 

"As hard as it is, I was really lucky the defense was able to force them to a field goal. We got a chance to come back. Jerome Mathis did a really good job on the return to give us a good field goal position. I was able to get out on the field again. I just told myself to go out and do what you need to do, forget about what happened."

 

Chicago safety Mike Brown recorded six tackles in the division-leading Bears’ 19-13 victory over the Lions. Detroit fullback Cory Schlesinger started the contest, but did not record any carries or receptions in the Lions’ loss.

 

In his second game back for Kansas City, starting cornerback Eric Warfield recorded five tackles, also adding three pass break-ups and a fumble recovery. Offensive guard Will Shields continued his 198-game consecutive-start streak for the Chiefs, as Kansas City fell to 4-3 on the season with a 28-20 loss to San Diego.

 

Linebacker Scott Shanle continued to start for Dallas despite the return of injured Dat Nguyen, and racked up three tackles for the Cowboys in their 34-13 win over the Cardinals.

 

Punter Kyle Larson continued to put up big numbers, as he helped his Cincinnati Bengals improve to 6-2 with a 21-14 victory over the injury-riddled Green Bay Packers. Larson punted six times in the contest for a 42-yard average, placing one punt inside the 20-yard line and adding a long punt of 55 yards.

 

Former Blackshirts Mike Minter and Mike Rucker helped Carolina hold Minnesota to 253 yards of offense in the Panthers 38-13 win over the Vikings. Minter recorded four tackles from his safety spot, while Rucker turned in two tackles from his defensive end position. Vikings cornerback Ralph Brown also recorded a tackle a losing performance.

 

Rookie Fabian Washington recorded three tackles starting at cornerback for Oakland, helping the Raiders to a 34-25 win over the Titans. The victory was Oakland’s third in the past four games. Tennessee defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch turned in four tackles and 0.5 sacks for the Titans, moving him into a three-way tie for the league lead in sacks with eight.

 

In St. Louis, starting cornerback DeJuan Groce recorded three tackles for the Rams, helping them to a 24-21 defeat of the Jaguars.

 

New Orleans rookie starting safety Josh Bullocks amassed eight tackles for the Saints, setting a career-high total for the second straight week. Unfortunately, Bullocks’ efforts were not enough as the Saints fell to 2-6 on the season with a 21-6 loss to the Dolphins.

 

Bills’ starting defensive end Chris Kelsay recorded three tackles and 0.5 sacks in Buffalo’s 21-16 loss to New England.

 

Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Barrett Ruud recorded a tackle as the Buccaneers dropped to 5-2 on the season with a 15-10 loss to the 2-5 San Francisco 49ers.

 

Overall, a total 33 former Huskers are on NFL rosters, including two players on injured reserve and four players on NFL practice squads. A total of 28 former Huskers are currently on active rosters.