Brady on target; Stafford heats up in Week 8

• Tom Brady has his first four-touchdown game of the season
• Matthew Stafford finally puts up a multi-TD game through the air
• Bears continue to be fantasy force with another defensive touchdown

Who better to represent football, American-style, across the pond than the Patriots of New England?

Golden Boy Tom Brady passed for 304 yards and four touchdowns, without an interception, in his team's dominant performance against the St. Louis Rams in London. Rob Gronkowski was his quarterback's favorite target, with eight receptions for 146 yards and two of those scores.

On U.S. soil, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and the Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan joined Brady as QBs who passed for at least three touchdowns without a pick. Matthew Stafford's lone INT prevented him from joining that Week 8 fraternity, but the Detroit Lions' quarterback enjoyed his first game with multiple TD passes this season and threw for 352 yards. For good measure, he tacked on a rushing touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks.

Stafford owes much of his good fortune to wide receiver Titus Young (nine catches, 100 yards and two touchdowns), who really stepped up as the replacement for the injured Nate Burleson. On the other side, Marshawn Lynch's 77-yard scoring run accounted for the large majority of 105 yards on what probably would've otherwise been a tough day for the Seahawk.

Truly tough is Trent Richardson, who scored the only touchdown of the game in his Cleveland Browns' home win versus the San Diego Chargers. The heavily padded rookie ran for 122 yards and added 12 yards on a reception. It'll be hard to doubt him moving forward. And Pittsburgh's Jonathan Dwyer went over 100 rushing yards again to lend to speculation that he'll share some of the workload when Rashard Mendenhall (mild strain of Achilles' tendon) is healthy. Darren McFadden also surpassed the century mark on the ground, for the second time this season, to give his owners hope for a turnaround.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten's 167 receiving yards receiving made him the leader on the day heading into the clubhouse. His owners in point-per-reception leagues were particularly thrilled, however; he rang up that real estate on 18 catches.

A few top signal callers accounted for some of the more disappointing point totals of the week:

-- Robert Griffin III's 177 yards and one TD passing, with no interceptions, and eight yards rushing resulted in easily his worst fantasy total in any game he's finished. The Steelers were unfriendly hosts, but a few important drops by some of his Washington Redskins teammates contributed to the heretofore outstanding rookie's bottom line.

-- Aaron Rodgers put up a mere 186 yards and two scores through the air against the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars. The Green Bay Packers' receiving threats likely frustrated plenty of owners in that contest. And Eli Manning (192 yards, zero touchdown passes and one interception) had virtually no hand in the New York Giants' 29-24 victory in Dallas.

-- On the other hand, expectations for Tony Romo are pretty low nowadays. The Cowboys' beleaguered QB threw four more interceptions in that loss. At least he scored on the ground and racked up an astounding 437 yards, with a TD, passing.

On a brighter note, the Chicago Bears' defense has seemingly been a fantasy difference-maker every week. They returned yet another interception for a TD, this time to help to avoid an embarrassing loss at home to the hapless Carolina Panthers. Not to be outdone, the Giants also came up with a pick-six. And for future reference, the New York Jets appear to be a prime opponent for any formidable team D. The Miami Dolphins notched four sacks, two turnovers and a blocked punt for a touchdown in their road victory.

Minnix writes for KFFL.com.