It was a record breaking Week 7 as Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Denver Broncos, passed Brett Favre to become the all-time touchdown king with 510 TD's and counting. The record breaking TD came with 3:09 remaining in the second quarter of Sunday night's 42-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The win keeps the Broncos at the top of the power rankings for a second straight week, the first time this season a team has held the top spot in consecutive weeks.


Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas #88 of the Denver Broncos catches a touchdown pass from Peyton Manning #18 (not pictured) under coverage by cornerback Tramaine Brock #26 of the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on October 19, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. The touchdown was Manning's 509th career touchdown pass.
(October 18, 2014 - Source: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images North America)

Running back DeMarco Murray of the Dallas Cowboys passed Jim Brown for the most 100-yard games to begin the season with seven. Murray broke the record on his 18th rush of the game in the Cowboys' 31-21 win over the New York Giants. Brown set the rushing record as a member of the Cleveland Browns in 1958. The win pushes the Cowboys into the #2 spot in the power rankings, up one from last week.


DeMarco Murray #29 of the Dallas Cowboys walks off the field after a 31-21 win against the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium on October 19, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. Murray became the first running back with seven straight 100-yard games to start the season.
(October 18, 2014 - Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America)

The Kansas City Chiefs upset of the San Diego Chargers on the road, 23-20, moved the Chiefs up nine spots to #13. The Chargers, last week's #2 ranked team, fell two spots to #4. They didn't fall as much as might be expected since it was a divisional game and AFC West observers know how close most of those matchups are regardless of records. They face another tough divisional game on a short turnaround when they travel to Denver for Thursday Night Football against the Broncos.

The Seattle Seahawks suffered their second straight defeat, this time at the hands of the St. Louis Rams. Two special teams plays by the Rams, a misdirection play on a punt return for a touchdown and a fake punt for a first down spelled doom for the Seahawks in a 28-26 loss. The Seahawks, who held the top spot two weeks ago, have tumbled 10 spots over that time period.


Lance Kendricks #88 of the St. Louis Rams scores a touchdown against K.J. Wright #50 of the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter at the Edward Jones Dome on October 19, 2014 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Rams beat the Seahawks 28-26.
(October 18, 2014 - Source: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America)
NFL Power Rankings (Week 8)
Rank Prev Team Record Remarks
1 1 Broncos 5-1 Peyton Manning's pursuit of Brett Favre's 508 TD record and the play of the Thomases has stolen the spotlight, but the Broncos defense has been playing at a high level. Von Miller (8) and DeMarcus Ware (7) rank #1 and #2 in sacks.
2 3 Cowboys 5-1 The Cowboys have their offense firing on all cylinders so far this year. The question keeps coming up, "are these Cowboys for real or is the other shoe about to drop the Cowboys back to another 8-8 season?" Right now the answer is no, but it's up to the Cowboys to silence those critics.
3 4 Eagles 5-1 The Eagles are coming off a Week 7 bye looking up at a 6-1 Dallas Cowboys team that is a threat in the NFC East.
4 2 Chargers 5-2 The Chargers offense stumbled against the Chiefs. Even though they suffered a home loss, the Chargers are still a team on the rise. AFC West battles are always close as the 23-20 loss to the Chiefs testifies to.
5 6 Colts 5-2 The Colts have now won five straight since starting the season 0-2 and critics were wondering if the offense was all wrong for Andrew Luck.
6 7 Cardinals 5-1 The Cardinals are off to their best record since 1976 when the ten St. Louis Cardinals started the season 5-1 on their way to a record of 10-4.
7 9 Packers 5-2 Aaron Rodgers needs to open a relaxation clinic. After telling everyone to just R-E-L-A-X he has gone on to tie Tom Brady's 2007 NFL record with three TD's or more without an interception.
8 12 Ravens 5-2 The Ravens offense is humming right along now. Four of their five wins have come by 20+ points.
9 10 Patriots 5-2 It wasn't pretty against the Jets but a win is a win. Since dropping the Monday night matchup against the Chiefs 41-14, the Patriots have rallied to win three straight and get the crumbling Bears at home this Sunday.
10 5 Seahawks 3-3 Percy Harvin was shipped to the Jets due to locker room issues with other receivers. Will that help calm things down for the struggling champs? There is more problems than just locker room unity. A defense that was dominant in 2013 is now struggling to pressure the quarterback. The special teams was also humiliated against the Rams.
11 8 49ers 4-3 The 49ers defense was hammered on Sunday night against the Broncos. The 42 points allowed to the Broncos was the most ever in the Jim Harbaugh era. The defense will get better in the coming weeks once players begin getting healthy and come off the disabled list.
12 13 Lions 5-2 The Lions defense has been carrying this team which has had issues with the offense maintaining consistency. The defense is second in points allowed this season with just 15 PPG. This team could be a handful if they can get Calvin Johnson healthy and consistent play from Matthew Stafford.
13 22 Chiefs 3-3 The Chiefs picked up their second surprise win of the season in a 23-20 victory over the Chargers in San Diego. The Chiefs defense limited Philip Rivers to just 205 yards passing and a passer rating of 83.4, snapping an NFL record five straight games with a rating of 120 or better.
14 19 Bills 4-3 Kyle Orton improved to 2-1 as Bills starting quarterback and completed his second comeback win in the last three weeks with a game-winning drive against the Vikings at home.
15 11 Bengals 3-2-1 Since being proclaimed the most complete team in the first three weeks of the season, the Bengals have been anything but complete as they have been blown out in two of their last three games and tied the Panthers at home.
16 20 Steelers 4-3 The first game after being called out by former head coach Bill Cowher for being soft, especially on defense, the Steelers rally to down the Texans 30-23.
17 15 Bears 3-4 The Bears are the most inconsistent team in the NFL this year. One week Jay Cutler looks like a top tier quarterback. The next he is flailing, throwing interceptions and appearing to not know how to run an offense. Infighting is beginning to surface and somebody needs to step forward and claim leadership of this team before things fall apart.
18 16 Browns 3-3 The Browns gave up a golden opportunity to stay within a game of first place Baltimore and position themselves for a legitimate playoff run. Becoming the Jaguars first victim of the year is not how a team demonstrates they have turned the corner.
19 18 Giants 3-4 After appearing to have righted the ship with three straight wins while scoring 30 points or more, the Giants have now dropped two straight against divisional opponents in Philadelphia and Dallas.
20 24 Dolphins 3-3 The Dolphins came up with a big win on the road against the crumbling Bears. Ryan Tannehill completed his first 14 passes on his way to a 277-yard performance. The Dolphins are now 4-1 against the Bears at Soldier Field.
21 14 Texans 3-4 The lack of a quality quarterback is holding this team back. Their defense will improve once Jadeveon Clowney returns. The offense, with talent at running back and wide receiver has no chance without a credible quarterback.
22 17 Panthers 3-3-1 The Panthers fell behind by 25 points at halftime to the Packers and were never a factor in the game as they lose 38-17. Cam Newton was limited to just 205 yards passing and one touchdown that came with 9:39 remaining in the fourth quarter. Despite being 3-3-1, they control first place in the weak NFC South where nobody has a winning record.
23 21 Saints 2-4 The Saints gave up a 23-10 lead in the final three minutes of their game on the road against the Lions to fall to 2-4 on the season. The Saints committed 12 penalties for 134 yards.
24 27 Rams 2-4 The Rams had jumped out to double digit leads over the Cowboys, Eagles, and 49ers before coughing it up and losing the games. Not against the Seahawks. The Seahawks did get back into the game but the Rams special teams pulled off two surprise plays that sent the champs to their second straight loss, 28-26.
25 23 Falcons 2-5 It's turning into another disastrous season for the one-time NFC power that fell four points short of the Super Bowl only two seasons ago. The Falcons suffered their fourth double digit loss on the road this season, this time to the Ravens in a 29-7 blowout.
26 25 Vikings 2-5 The Vikings defense showed up on Sunday against the Bills until the final, game-winning drive by the Bills snatched a victory away from Minnesota. The Vikings defense sacked Kyle Orton six times while forcing three fumbles and an interception.
27 28 Redskins 2-5 It's on to Colt McCoy as the Redskins quarterback. Kirk Cousins was benched at halftime of last Sunday's 19-17 win over the Titans. McCoy's first pass as a Redskin went 70 yards for a touchdown.
28 26 Titans 2-5 An ugly game for the Titans against the Redskins. It was a game filled with mistakes that included the Titans spending all their first half timeouts in the first quarter.
29 30 Jets 1-6 The Jets outplayed the Patriots in Foxboro but came up short when Nick Folk's 58-yard FG attempt at the end of the game was blocked. The Jets outrushed the Patriots 218-63.
30 29 Buccaneers 1-5 The Bucs were on their bye week.
31 31 Jaguars 1-6 The Jaguars come up with their first win of the season against a Browns team that had been on a roll. Any given Sunday in the NFL.
32 32 Raiders 0-6 The Raiders are off to their worst start since 1962 when they began the season 0-13.