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[Kazkal]

Week 9 was filled with milestones Click here to find out more!

Gil Brandt By Gil Brandt

NFL.com Senior Analyst

(Nov. 8, 2005) -- Several of the NFL's brightest stars will look back upon Week 9 of the 2005 season with fond memories.

Most notably, Peyton Manning finally won a game in Foxborough, and the Colts won there for the first time since 1995. Conversely, Tom Brady lost for the first time in seven meetings against the Colts.

Peyton's brother, Eli, earned the first true road victory of his career, of which I think there will be many more. With the Colts (8-0) and Giants (6-2) off to great starts, talk has started of a Super Bowl featuring Manning vs. Manning.

Jets running back Curtis Martin became the 16th player in NFL history to score 100 touchdowns. Nine of 16 are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame; the other seven are not yet eligible.

Peyton Manning and the Colts finally achieved victory in New England.

Peyton Manning and the Colts finally achieved victory in New England.

Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James had 100-yard efforts in the same game for the 20th time, which matches the record Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin set in their glory days with the Dallas Cowboys.

James rushed for 104 yards against New England. He now has rushed for 100 yards in 46 of 89 career games. That's 51.7 percent -- the highest percentage in NFL history. That's higher than Clinton Portis (26 for 52; 50 percent), Barry Sanders (76 for 153; 49.7 percent) and even Jim Brown (58 for 118; 49.2 percent). Jerome Bettis (60) and Curtis Martin (57) are the only active players with more 100-yard rushing games.

When Robert Mathis sacked Doug Flutie on Monday night -- on the final play of the game -- he extended his franchise-record streak of games with at least one sack to eight.

The Steelers ended Brett Favre's streak of 24 consecutive home games with at least one touchdown pass.

Last week, we told you to keep an eye on Green Bay's Sam Gado, a little-known running back who's not so little-known anymore. Gado scored a touchdown against Pittsburgh and wound up with 62 rushing yards -- more than twice as many as Tampa Bay's Cadillac Williams (29) got in Week 9. We have plenty more to say about Gado at the bottom of this page.

Week 9 highlights

If the NFL season ended today, the Green Bay Packers would have the first pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Houston would pick second.

Curtis Martin is 101 yards shy of becoming the fourth player in NFL history to rush for 14,000 yards.

The Bears' Kyle Orton became the second quarterback in NFL history drafted in the fourth round or later to win four consecutive games in his rookie season. The first was Virgil Carter, who also did for the Bears after he was taken in Round 6 in 1968.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the first team since the San Francisco 49ers of 1988-90 to win 11 consecutive road games. Those great 49ers teams hold the NFL record with 18 road victories in a row.

The current 49ers, however, have not scored a touchdown in their past 13 quarters at home.

The last time an NFL game ended in a scoreless tie was Nov. 7, 1943 (N.Y. Giants at Detroit).

It is possible that six teams could have starting quarterbacks under the age of 26 when the playoffs begin Jan. 7, 2006.

* Byron Leftwich, Jaguars

* Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers

* Michael Vick, Falcons

* Kyle Orton, Bears

* Eli Manning, Giants

* Chris Simms, Buccaneers

When LaDainian Tomlinson scored a receiving touchdown against the Jets, he became only the fourth player since 1970 with at least two rushing, receiving and passing touchdowns in one season. The others are:

* Marcus Allen, Raiders, 1983

* Walter Payton, Bears, 1983

* Craig James, Patriots, 1985

The Indianapolis Colts have become the 24th team in NFL history to win its first eight games. If they defeat the Houston Texans next week, they will be 9-0 when they visit the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11. In 2003, the Kansas City Chiefs were 9-0 when they visited the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11 -- and lost.

After Byron Leftwich gave the Jaguars a lift in the second half, Greg Jones returned the favor.

After Byron Leftwich gave the Jaguars a lift in the second half, Greg Jones returned the favor.

Every team that was favored to win in Week 9 won. This does not happen very often.

Two quarterbacks had perfect halves last weekend: Tom Brady (10 for 10 in the first half) and Byron Leftwich (11 for 11 in the second half).

Carolina's Steve Smith is on pace for 1,806 receiving yards (the NFL record is 1,848), 18 touchdown catches (22) and 12 100-yard receiving games (11).

Cody Pickett, who started at quarterback for San Francisco last week, earned a game check of $17,941. As a high school student in Caldwell, Idaho, he earned $30,000 on the rodeo circuit in 1997.

Seven running backs rushed for 100 yards or more this past weekend. Six of the seven teams won.

Six wide receivers (on five teams) had 100-yard games; four of the five teams won.

The Bears and Colts have each allowed 98 points after eight games. After eight games in 2004, the Colts gave up 206 and the Bears allowed 142.

Who is Samkon Gado?

Sam's sport of choice in Nigeria was soccer, where he was a midfielder before moving to the United States at age 9. His new buddies in the U.S. played football, so Sam had to try.

Gado went to high school in Columbia, S.C., and won three letters in football at the Ben Lippen School. Gado was nicknamed "The Nigerian Nightmare" in high school after his idol, Christian Okoye.

Sam Gado gained 6.0 yards per carry at Liberty, but he started only two games for the Flames.

Sam Gado gained 6.0 yards per carry at Liberty, but he started only two games for the Flames.

He enrolled at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and played in 39 games, including eight as a true freshman.

He was supposed to redshirt in 2004, but Liberty's top two running backs got hurt. He played nine games in 2004. He rushed 138 times for 901 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also returned kickoffs and played on special teams.

The New England Patriots timed him at 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He weighed 220 pounds at the time. Gado ended up signing with the Kansas City Chiefs because his coach at Liberty, Ken Karcher, was an old friend of Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders.

The Packers signed him off the Chiefs' practice squad Oct. 17. He had one carry in Week 8 at Cincinnati, then he carried the ball 26 times for 62 yards and scored a touchdown against the Steelers last weekend.

Gado will turn 23 on Nov. 13, the day Green Bay will play at Atlanta. His goal in life after the NFL is to someday be a doctor and return to Nigeria.

This is a player who can run, catch and return kickoffs. Gado should play a lot against the Falcons this weekend because the Packers' top two running backs have been lost for the season and a third (Tony Fisher) is doubtful for this week.

Could have swore he was like 25 but it would seem hes younger then vick

[bengalindian]

Good read. Hard to believe that Carson is going to be that old.

[turningpoint]

yeah he's 25 turns 26 december 27th.