By William Qualkinbush.
The National Football League is full of former Clemson players. Several of them had monster days in Week 8. Here is a recap of a busy football weekend for Clemson alumni…
Denver 35, San Diego 21 (Thursday)
SD: Marcus Gilchrist 6 tackles
Kavell Conner 3 tackles
Playing against Denver’s offense is never really a good thing, but it does mean a load of tackles in the secondary. Gilchrist tied his season-high with six solo tackles against the Broncos’ fearsome attack. Conner contributed three tackles on a unit that was helpless at times against Peyton Manning and company.
Minnesota 19, Tampa Bay 13 (OT)
TB: Crezdon Butler 1 tackle
Butler doesn’t have a big role with the Buccaneers, but he keeps seeing weekly action. Unfortunately, with Da’Quan Bowers on the shelf for two games due to a performance-enhancing drug suspension, Clemson fans will have to look to Butler for a familiar face over the next couple of weeks.
Buffalo 43, NY Jets 23
BUF: Sammy Watkins 3 rec, 157 yds, TD
Watkins was a monster down the field, hauling in two deep balls and an underneath pass in seven targets from Kyle Orton. His 61-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter helped ice the game, but his 84-yard reception in the second quarter is the one that will steal the headlines. Watkins started celebrating early and was caught from behind three yards shy of the end zone. It was embarrassing, and Doug Marrone addressed it after the game. It’s safe to say Watkins won’t be celebrating in the field of play any time soon.
Houston 30, Tennessee 16
HOU: DeAndre Hopkins 5 rec, 95 yds
It’s hard to tell for sure what Ryan Fitzpatrick thinks about Nuk. One week, he virtually ignores the second-year wideout. Then, on weeks like this, he features him. Hopkins led the Texans in yards (95), hauling in five of his 11 targets. He continues to impress as a budding star in a relatively unimpressive passing offense.
Arizona 24, Philadelphia 20
ARI: Andre Ellington 23 car, 71 yds, TD; 3 rec, 14 yds
Chandler Catanzaro 1-1 FG, 2-2 XP
Jaron Brown 1 rec, 7 yds
Not only was Ellington the workhorse back for the Cardinals in this game, he was the only Arizona player to run the ball all afternoon. He had an early one-yard touchdown run, but he also lost a fumble late in the third quarter. Ellington was targeted six times in the passing game, catching three throws for 14 yards.
Catanzaro made his 16th consecutive field goal when he nailed a 28-yarder in the third quarter. That stands as an NFL rookie record for consecutive makes. Catanzaro is still the professional kicker with the most field goals made without a miss this season, which should lead people to consider him the best kicker in the world. Brown caught his lone target on a third-down play in the first half.
Pittsburgh 51, Indianapolis 34
PIT: Martavis Bryant 5 rec, 83 yds, 2 TD
IND: Dwayne Allen 1 rec, 21 yds, TD
This game was an absolute track meet, and both former Clemson pass-catchers benefited. Bryant showed out in his second career professional game, picking up right where he left off on Monday night. He hauled in a pair of short touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger on a career day for the quarterback and ended up third on the team in targets and yardage.
Allen scored on his only catch of the game, a seam route that required him to tap his toes in the back of the end zone. Both players’ stocks are absolutely soaring at this point.
Dallas 20, Washington 17 (Monday)
WAS: Bashaud Breeland 5 tackles, 4 PBUs
Jarvis Jenkins 3 tackles (2 solo)
Breeland had a monster game in coverage. He broke up a whopping four passes, including the final play of the game, and drew a great deal of praise from Jon Gruden in the aftermath of the game. Jenkins, as usual, was disruptive and had a presence against the run in a major Monday night upset for the Redskins.
Notable Inactives: Andre Branch, JAC; Byron Maxwell, SEA; Coty Sensabaugh, TEN; Tyler Shatley, JAC; Brandon Thompson, CIN.