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WEEK 9
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Alex Singleton is the first player to 100 tackles, 19 ahead of Anthony Hill Jr. after Week 8

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Alex Singleton had 14 tackles against Kansas City and leads the NFL with 101 after Week 8, 19 ahead of Anthony Hill Jr., who jumped from a tie for third to second with 14 at Cincinnati.

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WhyNFL Sports DeskPublished
Chiefs vs. Broncos Week 8 highlights thumbnail
Image: still from the official Chiefs vs. Broncos Week 8 game highlights, NFL on YouTube.

Alex Singleton is the first player in the NFL to 100 tackles this season. The Denver Broncos linebacker had 14 in the 28–24 win over Kansas City on Sunday and has 101 through eight games, 19 more than Tennessee’s Anthony Hill Jr., who is second with 82. A week ago Singleton led San Francisco’s Fred Warner by 16, and he has now led after four of the last five weeks.

Singleton averages 12.6 tackles a game, which is a pace of about 215 over 17 games. He has had at least eight in every game this season and 13 or more in five of the eight. Warner is next at 10.3 a game, in seven games, and Hill averages 10.2.

NFL tackle leaders after Week 8

RankPlayerTeamPosGTacklesPer gameWeek 8After Week 7Week 9 (Cairo time)
1Alex SingletonDENLB810112.61487at Carolina, Sun 20:00
2Anthony Hill Jr.TENLB88210.21468Bye
3Ernest Jones IVSEALB88110.11368vs. Arizona, Sun 23:25
4Nakobe DeanLVLB88010.01268at San Francisco, Sun 23:25
5Carson SchwesingerCLELB8749.21064at New Orleans, Sun 20:00
6Fred WarnerSFLB77210.3Bye71vs. Las Vegas, Sun 23:25
7Evan WilliamsGBS8718.91061at New England, Sun 23:25
T-8Jacob RodriguezMIALB7699.9861vs. Detroit, Sun 20:00
T-8Payton WilsonPITLB8698.6861Bye
T-10Dane BeltonNYJS8688.51256at Kansas City, Sun 20:00
T-10Jamien SherwoodNYJLB8688.51454at Kansas City, Sun 20:00
T-10Josiah TrotterTBLB7689.7662at Chicago, Mon 03:20
T-10Nick BoltonKCLB7689.7959vs. NY Jets, Sun 20:00

Hill made the biggest move of the week. His 14 tackles in Tennessee’s 43–36 loss at Cincinnati took him from 68 to 82, and from a tie for third to second. Seattle’s Ernest Jones IV (13 tackles) and Las Vegas’s Nakobe Dean (12) also went from 68 to 81 and 80, and Cleveland’s Carson Schwesinger went from 64 to 74. Warner’s total is 72, one more than the 71 he had after Week 7, and San Francisco was on a bye in Week 8.

The list is nearly all linebackers. Of the top 25 in tackles, 23 are linebackers, and the exceptions are safeties: Green Bay’s Evan Williams, who has 71, and the Jets’ Dane Belton, who has 68 and had 12 against Las Vegas.

Singleton’s lead, week by week

WeekSingleton tacklesSingleton totalLeader after the weekSecond placeLead
11616Alex Singleton and Anthony Hill Jr. tied (16)Jacob Rodriguez (14)Tied
2925Anthony Hill Jr. (26)Alex Singleton (25)1
3833Anthony Hill Jr. (34)Alex Singleton (33)1
41447Alex Singleton (47)Jacob Rodriguez (46)1
5855Jacob Rodriguez (57)Alex Singleton (55)2
61368Alex Singleton (68)Ernest Jones IV (59)9
71987Alex Singleton (87)Fred Warner (71)16
814101Alex Singleton (101)Anthony Hill Jr. (82)19

Singleton shared the lead with Hill at 16 after Week 1 and trailed Hill by one after Weeks 2 and 3. He led by one over Miami’s Jacob Rodriguez after Week 4, then fell behind Rodriguez by two after Week 5. He has led every week since, and the lead has grown from 9 to 16 to 19 over the last three. His 19 tackles at Arizona in Week 7 are the most by any player in a game this season.

The biggest tackle games of the season

PlayerTeamWeekTackles
Alex SingletonDEN719
Jacob RodriguezMIA418
Fred WarnerSF317
Alex SingletonDEN116
Anthony Hill Jr.TEN116
Minkah FitzpatrickNYJ416
Jeremiah Trotter Jr.PHI415

Singleton has two of the seven biggest games, 19 in Week 7 and 16 at Kansas City in Week 1. Rodriguez’s 18 at Minnesota in Week 4 and Warner’s 17 against Arizona in Week 3 are the others at the top. Week 8 did not crack the list, with the top games at 14: Singleton, Hill and the Jets’ Jamien Sherwood.

The biggest tackle games in Week 8

PlayerTeamOpponentTackles
Alex SingletonDEN14Kansas City (W 28–24)
Anthony Hill Jr.TEN14at Cincinnati (L 36–43)
Jamien SherwoodNYJ14Las Vegas (L 33–38)
Ernest Jones IVSEA13Chicago (L 17–34)
Joshua MetellusMIN13at Detroit (L 15–19)
Kendal DanielsATL13at Tampa Bay (L 0–16)
Dane BeltonNYJ12Las Vegas (L 33–38)
Jordan BattleCIN12Tennessee (W 43–36)
Nakobe DeanLV12at NY Jets (W 38–33)
Patrick QueenPIT12Cleveland (W 27–6)

Ten players made at least 12 tackles in Week 8. Six of them were on teams that lost, including Sherwood and Belton in the Jets’ 38–33 loss to Las Vegas, and Atlanta’s Kendal Daniels, who had 13 in the 16–0 loss at Tampa Bay. Minnesota’s Joshua Metellus made 13 in the 19–15 loss at Detroit.

What to watch in Week 9

Singleton and the Broncos visit Carolina on Sunday at 20:00 Cairo time. Hill and Tennessee are on a bye, so Singleton’s lead over him cannot shrink this week. Cleveland’s Schwesinger plays at New Orleans at the same time, and Jones IV hosts Arizona at 23:25. Dean visits San Francisco at 23:25, where Warner and the 49ers return from their bye.

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