A look at seven statistical highlights from games played the ninth week of the 2011 NFL season.

The Houston Texans defeated Cleveland 30-12 to improve to 6-3.

The Texans, who finished 2010 with a 6-10 record, are the sixth team – San Francisco (7), Detroit (6), Cincinnati (6), Houston (6), Buffalo (5) and Carolina (2) – to match or surpass last year's win total. That is tied for the second-most such teams since 1990 (2004 and 2010).

[Read: Texans Run Over Browns for Third Straight Win.]

The Green Bay Packers defeated San Diego 45-38 and improved to 8-0.

The Packers are the third defending Super Bowl champion to start the following season 8-0, joining the 1990 San Francisco 49ers and 1998 Denver Broncos.

The Packers have scored at least 20 points in all eight games and are the fifth defending Super Bowl champion to score 20+ points in each of the first eight games in the following season.

Green Bay scored 28 points in the first half, the third time this season the club has scored at least 28 points in the first half. That matches the total of the other 31 teams combined.

New Orleans quarterback DREW BREES passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns in the Saints' 27-16 win over Tampa Bay.

Brees leads the NFL with 3,004 passing yards and is the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 3,000 yards through the first nine games of a season. The previous record for the most passing yards through the first nine games of a season was 2,985 yards by Brees in 2008.

Brees has now thrown a touchdown pass in 36 consecutive games, tied with BRETT FAVRE for the second-longest streak in NFL history. Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHNNY UNITAS holds the record with 47 consecutive games.

[Read: Brees Throws Two TDs to Lead Saints Past Buccaneers.]

Green Bay quarterback AARON RODGERS completed 21 of 26 passes (80.8 percent) for 247 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 145.8 passer rating.

Rodgers is the first player in NFL history to start a season with eight consecutive games with a 110+ passer rating. His streak of eight 110+ games in a row is the longest in a single season in NFL history, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer STEVE YOUNG (1994).

Rodgers has passed for 2,619 yards and 24 touchdowns and is the first player in NFL history with at least 2,600 yards and 24 touchdowns through a team's first eight games.

Atlanta rookie wide receiver JULIO JONES had 3 catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns (80 and 50 yards) in the Falcons' 31-7 win at Indianapolis.

Jones is the first rookie since at least the 1970 merger to have an 80+ yard and 50+ yard touchdown catch in a single game.

Arizona rookie PATRICK PETERSON had a game-winning 99-yard punt-return touchdown in overtime as the Cardinals defeated St. Louis 19-13.

It was the second-longest punt-return in NFL history (ROBERT BAILEY, 103 yards, 10/23/94).

It marked the second time in NFL history that an overtime game ended with a punt-return touchdown. The previous instance was October 9, 1995 when Kansas City's TAMARICK VANOVER had an 86-yard punt-return touchdown. It also tied for the longest overtime play in NFL history (99-yard pass from Philadelphia's RON JAWORSKI to MIKE QUICK, 11/10/85).

Peterson has three punt-return touchdowns, already tied for the fourth-most in a single season in NFL history and tied with DEVIN HESTER (2006) for the second-most among rookies.

Peterson is the first player in NFL history with three punt-return touchdowns in his first eight career games.

Dallas rookie running back DE MARCO MURRAY rushed for 139 yards in the Cowboys' 23-13 win over Seattle.

Murray, who rushed for a franchise-record 253 yards in Week 7, joins MIKE ANDERSON (2000) as the only rookies in NFL history to have a 250-yard rushing game and 135-yard rushing game in a three-game span.

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