Ducks carry undefeated 49ers defense to 7-0, led by Arik Armstead — De’Anthony Thomas cut by Chiefs to make room for Pat Shurmur ahead of Week 8’s matchup.

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Offense

Top Offensive Performers

• Royce Freeman - Denver Broncos

Scoring for his second-straight week, Denver running back, Royce Freeman has earned himself a role in the time-share that is the Broncos’ backfield; as fellow ballcarrier Phillip Lindsay’s counter-punch. Besides the outlier in Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Freeman has seen a minimum of 10 rushing attempts per game since opening day. Averaging 11.0 ATT, roughly 2.5 carries less than Lindsay (13.6) per game, it’s obvious that Denver is making a point to get him involved in the rush and the pass-game. Freeman finished with 40 yards on 12 carries for 3.3 YPC and a touchdown. Oh, and don’t forget, a five-yard reception to boot.

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Defense

Top Defensive Performers

• Arik Armstead - San Francisco 49ers

Not one, but two sacks from Arik Armstead for the 49ers’ faithful in the 51-13 stampeding of the Carolina Panthers. That’s three games straight that Armstead has recorded at least 0.5 sacks in a game. He’s recorded a sack in six of seven games played this season and is on pace to triple and potentially quadruple his sack output from 2018. In the Sunday afternoon victory over the Panthers, Armstead broke his career sacks record of 3.0 with his 2.0 sacks against Carolina. With nine games remaining on schedule, he’s on pace to record double-digit sacks for the first time in his career. It’s truly a breakout season for the 25-year-old Armstead, who has come into his own during the first half of the 2019 regular season.

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Special Teams

Top Special-teamer

Kenjon Barner - Atlanta Falcons

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Barner’s lone kick return of the game went for 22 yards in the 27-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Bringing Atlanta’s record to 1-7. Perhaps one of the bigger surprises of the 2019 season, the Falcons have dropped to a disparaging 1-7, catching many Falcons and NFL fans by surprise. Barner had three punt return opportunities in addition, totaling eight yards in Atlanta’s loss at home.

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Honorable Mention

• De’Anthony Thomas - Kansas City Chiefs

One of the more surprising roster moves to end Week 7 saw return-specialist, De’Anthony Thomas waived from the Kansas City Chiefs. According to the Kansas City Chiefs official twitter account, the move was made to promote practice squad quarterback, Kyle Shurmur to the active roster. The move comes just days after a scary knee injury to 2018-19 MVP Patrick Mahomes in Week 7, requiring the Chiefs to keep another QB on the roster for the time being. Don’t be surprised, however if you see the Chiefs bring back Thomas as soon as Mahomes is able to suit up once again.