Hoos in the NFL Week 8: Heeeeeeeath

Heath Miller (TE, Pittsburgh Steelers), Season Stats: 27 Catches, 273 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Now this was the way the whole season was supposed to go. With a healthy Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, Miller resumed his rightful place as a centerpiece of the Steelers' high powered offense. While Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati 16-10, Miller hauled in a team high ten catches for 105 yards. Miller is second all-time on the Pittsburgh career reception list with 559 catches. While he may not catch Hines Ward (1,000 catches), he's cementing his legacy as one of the best offensive players in Steeler history.

Branden Albert (LT, Miami Dolphins)
This is a family site and there was absolutely nothing PG about what New England did to the Miami offense on Thursday night, so we'll keep this short. The Dolphins ran the ball 13 times. They gained 15 yards. It wasn't pretty.

D'Brickashaw Ferguson (OT, New York Jets)
The Jets offense had been one of the pleasant surprises through the first six weeks of the season, but no offense can survive the plague that is Geno Smith. Once Ryan Fitzpatrick went down after attempting just five passes, Smith stepped in at quarterback and the Jets offense ground to a halt. New York averaged just 3.5 yard per carry but the blame lies more with Smith's inability to force the Raiders to respect the pass than it does with Ferguson and the Jets' offensive line. Hopefully FItzpatrick is healthy next week and the Jets can get back on track.

John Phillips & Dontrelle Inman (TE/WR San Diego Chargers), Season Stats: 17 Catches, 194 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
I'm going to keep combining these two in the coming weeks because it just feels right and I'm happy to see them both continue to make appearances in the box score on a weekly basis. With Philip Rivers at the helm the Chargers have one of the most potent passing attacks in the NFL and their aerial dominance was on display in a losing effort to the Ravens. While Phillips (2 catches, 11 yards) and Inman (1 catch, 10 yards) weren't the leading pass catchers for San Diego, they've each managed to carve out a productive role in this offense going forward.

Eli Harold (LB, San Francisco 49ers), Season Stats: 4 Tackles, 1 Fumble Recovery
Harold's statistics continue to be limited but his role in the San Francisco defense is unquestionably increasing. Harold played well in the Niners 27-6 loss to the Rams, contributing two tackles and notching the first turnover of his career with a recovered fumble. San Fran's season is faltering, but Harold appears to just be hitting his stride.

Ahmad Brooks (LB, San Francisco 49ers), Season Stats: 22 Tackles, 3 Sacks
While Harold is heating up, Brooks might be slowing down. A week after his most productive game of the season against the Seahawks, Brooks also had two tackles against the Rams, but in far more snaps than Harold. Brooks can still be a productive run-stuffer in the NFL but things haven't been going his way this season.

Chris Canty (DE, Baltimore Ravens), Season Stats: 10 Tackles, 1 Sack
Canty showed solidarity with his fellow UVa brethren by also racking up two tackles in the Ravens 29-26 victory against the Chargers. Canty was playing in just his second game back from injury and as such is still ramping back up while everyone else is in midseason form. When healthy Canty is still a force to be reckoned with, so expect his numbers to only improve in the coming weeks.

The following UVa players were on an NFL roster (or Injured Reserve) but either did not play or appeared only in limited action last week: Oday Aboushi (OG, Houston Texans), Luke Bowanko (C, Jacksonville Jaguars), Chris Long (DE, St. Louis Rams), Rodney McLeod (S, St. Louis Rams), Eugene Monroe (OT, Baltimore Ravens), Morgan Moses (OT, Washington Redskins), Austin Pasztor (OT, Cleveland Browns), Cedric Peerman (RB, Cincinnati Bengals), LaRoy Reynolds (LB, Chicago Bears), Matt Schaub (QB, Baltimore Ravens), Brent Urban (DE, Baltimore Ravens)