Starting with the match that featured two 40-year-old quarterbacks – a feat that’s never been witnessed by NFL fans before – and ending with an ugly Monday Night double-header, featuring two games that, some would say, underperformed when matched up to their on-paper hype.
The turbulent flight of this season’s journey was on full display with this broad spectrum of good and bad games this past week, but we reset with another round of amusing matchups – starting with the beaten and battered Los Angeles Chargers defending So-Fi Stadium against the Minnesota Vikings & Skol Nation tonight, as these two former playoff teams from a year ago struggle to find their footing as of late. Before these two well-coached teams face off, we’d like to take you through the top half of NFL teams, as we attempt to make sense of seven completed weeks of weird football.
#1 – Indianapolis Colts (6-1)
(Week 7: #5)
After yet again, another dominant showcase of offensive and defensive talent, as well as playing a poised and well-disciplined game against Justin Herbert and the Chargers, the Colts are slowly emerging as the one constant during this NFL season.
Ever since their lone loss to the Rams, after a bone-headed, touchdown-costing goal line turnover by Indy wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, Indianapolis has averaged 36.3 points per game and 122 rushing yards per game, exemplified by a Colts run defense that ranks top-5 in the league in fewest rushing scores given up, while not allowing a single run that’s longer than 40 yards. With this level of team dominance flashing its Super Bowl potential against the Chargers on Sunday, it’s getting hard to ignore, especially if the Colts can continue to play such complete games and squeeze the best football possible out of quarterback Daniel Jones.
#2 – Kansas City Chiefs (4-3)
(Week 7: #2)
No team this season has controlled every aspect and moment of a game like Kansas City did against its historic division rivals, the Las Vegas Raiders, in Arrowhead. The Chiefs’ defense only allowed 95 total yards, while making sure the Raiders had fewer first downs (3) than the Chiefs had touchdowns (4).
Beating up on the sorrowful Raiders though isn’t alone a signifier of a contender, but passing for 1800 yards and 14 touchdowns in seven games – which both rank in the top 5 of the league – and having the betting-favorite, per DraftKings Sportsbook, for the League’s MVP, Patrick Mahomes run your offense are both beacons of a superbowl-caliber team and greatly improve your chances to become one. A swath of injuries to their AFC West adversary in L.A., also adds to K.C.’s case, as the Chiefs and Chargers are now tied for second behind the Broncos after being beaten in Brazil by L.A. As they continue to keep the offensive wheels turning with their star wideout, Rashee Rice, returning from suspension, Kansas City looks to return to the familiar place atop the AFC West and NFL teams in a broader sense.
#3 – Detroit Lions (5-2)
(Week 7: #4)
The Lions have been quietly the most complete team and playing the most consistent football in the NFC, once again, after stifling the red-hot Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A team that’s among some of the inter-conference competition Detroit’s going to have to deal with in the winter when the post-season comes around.
Holding an MVP front-runner, Baker Mayfield and his offense to only 9 points – when they’ve scored at least 30 in their last two games – while missing starting defensive backs Terrion Arnold, Kerby Joseph, and Brian Branch is indicative of the type of coach Dan Campbell is and the culture he’s created. A team that’s built on confidence and self-belief; belief in that no matter who’s in between the white lines, they’re going to compete at a high level. We saw that high level Monday night, when the Lions ran the ball down the 11th-ranked Tampa Bay run defense’s throat. Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs ran the ball 17 times, gaining 136 rushing yards, averaging 8 yards per carry. This trench domination was personified by a 78-yard touchdown run by Gibbs, where he wasn’t touched the entire way to the end zone. Gibbs himself acknowledged the chokehold the Lions’ offensive line had on the Bucs’ front seven in a post-game interview with ESPN, and when he gifted his game ball, given to him by Campbell post-game in the locker room, to stud right tackle Penei Sewell. With that self-belief instilled by Dan Campbell, this team can blow out anyone as long as he’s got a headset on.
#4 – Los Angeles Rams (5-2)
(Week 7: #6)
Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams have fallen victim to the war zone that is the NFC West. Despite their 5-2 record, they’re second-to-last in their division – falling behind San Francisco and Seattle, who have the same records but have better in-division records. Nevertheless, they’re still the most dangerous team in the NFC West and move up in the rankings.
Veteran star QB Matthew Stafford torched the Jacksonville defense for 5 touchdown passes – scoring the entirety of the Rams’ points in a commanding 35-7 win against the Jags in London. Not only did they out-muscle Jacksonville, a team second in takeaways this season by multiple scores, they did it without their best playmaker, receiver Puka Nakua – who was out with an ankle injury. Veteran wideout Davante Adams was able to step into that #1 option for Stafford almost seamlessly, scoring three of his quarterback’s five touchdowns. With an opportunity to get fully healthy going into their bye week after a trip overseas, the Rams are going to come out guns blazing in week 9 against the Saints and their bad pass defense, which has given up the fifth-most passing touchdowns (14) so far.
#5 – Green Bay Packers (4-1-1)
(Week 7: #3)
Even with a win against Jacoby Brissett — who’s been one of the better backup quarterbacks in the NFL for some time now — and the Cardinals in Arizona, the Pack moves back slightly this week. Brissett and the 2-4 Cardinals had the lead the majority of the game, with Green Bay pulling out the win with two late-4th quarter touchdown drives, capped off by scores from tight end Tucker Kraft and running back Josh Jacobs, respectively. The Green Bay defense allowed 279 yards through the air and two touchdown passes, both caught by elite Cardinals tight end Trey McBride. Micah Parsons finally had his breakout game in the green and yellow, penciling in 3 sacks and 4 tackles-for-losses while Green Bay had 6 total sacks against Brissett. Although the Packers’ secondary was torn up by Arizona last Sunday, I still have faith in their passing defense, which has allowed the 8th fewest passing yards in the NFL.
If they can match the energy of their pass rush and their top-tier run defense — who leads the league in the fewest rush yards given up — Green Bay will continue to further their lead in the NFC North. The defense will have another challenge on their plate when they travel to Pittsburgh Sunday night to try and stop former Packers legend, Aaron Rodgers, and his new favorite 6’4, 229 lbs target, D.K. Metcalf.
#6 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2)
(Week 7: #1)
Only scoring nine points and one touchdown against the Lions’ DB-depleted defense — a team we’re expecting they face again later in the post-season — is good reasoning for the five-spot slide Tampa Bay faced. Quarterback Baker Mayfield had his worst game this season, completing only 56% of his passes and throwing his second interception this season when faced against the Lions’ defensive game plan. Key injuries to Tampa Bay’s receiving core ruled in Detroit’s favor, with the other two star receivers — Mike Evans and Chris Godwin — not being on the field due to health issues.
Evans took an extremely hard fall during Monday night, suffering a concussion and a broken clavicle, which is said to sideline him for the remainder of the season, according to head coach Todd Bowles. In light of the heartbreaking news about the 11-year veteran, and Chris Godwin still being considered week-to-week with a fibula injury he sustained in the shootout in Seattle back in week 5, the Bucs are going to need continued consistency from their star rookie receiver, Emeka Egbuka. After getting up and dusting off the Lions’ loss, Mayfield and Tampa Bay now have an opportunity to also beat up on a one-win division rival, the New Orleans Saints, going into week 8.
#7 – Seattle Seahawks (5-2)
(Week 7: #12)
The second head of the three-headed dragon of the NFC West is the Seahawks. After an ugly, but still dominant, 27-19 win against Houston at home, a game where the relentless Texans defense forced four turnovers in a 12-point loss — yet another head-scratcher added to this season — Seattle has risen in the power rankings.
Despite fumbling in his own endzone, which ended up a touchdown, throwing a pick, and only completing a little over 50% of his passes (54%), quarterback Sam Darnold was able to put his entire body weight on his elite receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who caught 8 of the 14 Darnold passes thrown his way for 123 yards and a score, against a secondary with the third-least passing yards allowed this year. This was Smith-Njigba’s third consecutive game with 120+ receiving yards and a touchdown, and his fifth 100+ yard game out of seven total games this season. If he’s able to consistently put up the best WR in the league numbers despite a bad game from his quarterback — and the defense is still statistically top-3 against the run — they have a serious shot at retaking the NFC West against a seriously injured San Francisco 49ers team.
#8 – Buffalo Bills (4-2)
(Week 7: #8)
Without having played a game during week 7, it’d be unfair to move Buffalo up or down. Outside of the Patriots furthering their division lead and stacking two-score wins, both the Dolphins and Jets embarrassed themselves for another week.
With the other two teams in the division being bottom-5 clubs and the season still being young, the AFC East is still up for grabs. 2024 MVP Josh Allen and the Bills look to close the gap opened by Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel by traveling down to Charlotte to take on the Andy Dalton-led Panthers and their young offensive weapons. The Buffalo run defense, which gave Falcons’ running back Bijan Robinson his best stats in a game so far in week 6, is once again being asked to defend against a team second in rushing yards, third in rushing yards per game, and eighth in yards per carry (4.7). The Bills’ run game & offensive line — which ranks third in yards per tote (4.9) — also has a challenge on their plate, facing a Carolina defense ranked ninth in rushing yards allowed. While a lot of people are already writing this game off as a Buffalo win, since Josh Allen is 7-0 in games after their bye week, this road game is going to prove to be a real test for the Bills.
#9 – Philadelphia Eagles (5-2)
(Week 7: #10)
Coming off back-to-back losses against the Broncos and Giants, Philly needed a bounce-back game coming into Week 7. They did just that in a somewhat mediocre fashion against the Vikings with Carson Wentz under center. Winning that game 28-22, Hurts found his rhythm in the passing game, with over 300 yards through the air, supported by receivers AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, both finding the endzone.
The Eagles just don’t seem to have that spark yet as a team after winning the bowl last year. They are extremely below average running the ball, averaging just 3.3 yards per carry, which is tied for dead-last in the league, even with reigning Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley in the backfield. Their passing game hasn’t been great either, despite the great game from Hurts last week. They average just under 200 yards per game in the air, which is 22nd in the league. This week, they have a chance at short revenge against the Giants on Sunday morning after the rough-looking loss a couple of weeks ago. Philly certainly will need bigger games from Barkley and Hurts as they both struggled for parts of that last matchup. The Eagles do know how to face adversity; it’s been proven. But can they do it again, given how much they seem to have lost a step this season?
#10 – New England Patriots (5-2)
(Week 7: #11)
Officially 1st in the AFC East, the Patriots are looking good coming off a 4th-consecutive win. A large part of this is due to coaching and second-year Quarterback Drake Maye, who has led them in all their wins and fought back even harder when faced with the slightest bit of adversity.
Drake Maye has been the leader and commander of this young patriots team. He has nearly 2,000 yards on a 75% completion percentage, which leads the entire NFL. Last week against the Titans, he only had two incompletions to go along with 222 yards and two touchdowns. Maye — in just his second year — is playing at an MVP level for New England. This outburst of success is not just due to Drake Maye, though we must give credit to the defense that Mike Vrabel has assembled. Through seven weeks, they remain the only defense in the NFL to hold every rusher they have faced to under 50 yards on the ground. They also have the fifth-lowest points per game and are top 10 in takeaways and touchdowns allowed. It’s been an all-around effort from the guys in Foxborough to have this kind of success.
#11 – Chicago Bears (4-2)
(Week 7: #13)
Starting the season with two straight losses, the Bears have crawled back into the standings, winning four in a row. A lot of credit goes to Ben Johnson for what he has been able to do in his first six games as a head coach.
The offense has been great under his playcalling, with Caleb Williams playing solid under-center and young Wideout Rome Odunze breaking out with 5 receiving touchdowns (3rd in the league) so far. Not only has the offense been consistent for the Bears, but the defense has really stepped up after the huge 52-21 loss to the Lions. Held a top Cowboys offense to 14 points and has been forcing a lot of turnovers, leading the league with 11 interceptions. This is all without Jaylon Johnson, their star cornerback, out due to injury. They have a tough test this week, as it looks like they will be playing the Ravens with Lamar Jackson coming back from a hamstring injury. After a game where Caleb Williams didn’t show much progress against the Saints, they’ll need him to step up so that Chicago can keep riding high on this win streak.
#12 – San Francisco 49ers (5-2)
(Week 7: #15)
We all know about the injuries, but we have no clue how the 49ers continue to win tough games. It looked like they were gonna be in a back-against-the-wall game against the spicy-hot Atlanta Falcons. Yet the 49ers came out on top, playing a stellar defensive game without the top all-pro players Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, holding the Falcons’ star-studded offense to just 10 points.
Not only did the defense come up big against the Falcons, but Christian McCaffrey had his best game of the season, totaling over 200 yards and 2 total touchdowns on National Running-Back Day. He averaged over 6 yards a carry in this game in large part due to the return of George Kittle, as he changed the run-blocking game completely for San Francisco. When you have a running back that is 8th in receiving yards, and a credible head coach like Kyle Shanahan coaching some of his best ball of his career, you’re likely to be competitive no matter what.
#13 – Denver Broncos (5-2)
(Week 7: #14)
In one of the craziest wins in NFL history, the Denver Broncos scored 33 points in just the 4th quarter, coming back from down 19 with 5 minutes to go against the Giants. It was also on the day the late Demaryius Thomas was inducted into Denver’s Ring of Honor. The Pro Bowl Receiver passed away at just 33 years old, which is the exact amount of points the Broncos needed to win this past weekend, as they won on a game-winning field goal, with the final score being 33-32.
I’d like to give a lot of credit to Bo Nix, who, as a young sophomore QB, has had a lot of doubters, but he stepped up in this game to continue Denver’s momentum this season. The defense has come up huge as well, led by linebacker Nik Bonitto, who is leading the way for the team’s league-high 34 total sacks. Bonitto has 8 sacks of his own, which is 2nd among all pass-rushers. The extension for Bonitto is paying off, the reigning defensive player of the year is continuing to play at an all-pro level, and fighting through adversity has been the recipe to success for the Broncos, but they still have a lot to prove offensively.
#14 – Atlanta Falcons (3-3)
(Week 7: #8)
After we were so high on the high-powered offense of the Falcons and the stout defense that they showed against the Bills and Commanders, the team fell apart against the 49ers on Sunday Night Football. Going on the road to visit the 49ers for a favorable matchup, Robert Saleh’s defense shut down the Star running back Bijan Robinson, holding him to only 40 rushing yards.
Drake London also had a quiet game, and I think this is largely due to how the 49ers forced the Falcons to rely on second-year Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. In losses, Penix has posted an average quarterback rating of 72.3. The Falcons’ defeats often stem from opponents shutting down their running game and forcing Penix to throw more than he’s comfortable with. For Atlanta to remain competitive in the NFC throughout the rest of the season, the ground attack needs to stay consistent, and Penix must elevate his play—especially given that he’s arguably in one of the best situations a young quarterback could have in the NFL right now.
#15 – Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3)
(Week 7: #7)
The Jaguars were 4-1 after showing out in a close win against the Kansas City Chiefs. Jacksonville since then have since lost two straight games, in ugly fashion, losing to half of the NFC West. First losing 20-12 against the Seahawks and then getting blown out in London against the Rams 35-7, the offense just hasn’t been clicking, and it’s caused the defense to lose some firepower themselves. Former 1st overall pick Trevor Lawrence has not been great in the last two, especially against the Rams, where he had a sub-50% completion percentage and was sacked 7 times.
They also haven’t been able to run the ball well at all in these losses, averaging just 76.5 total rushing yards. For Liam Cohen’s offense to be successful, it looks like they’ll need to be running the ball consistently with Etienne and Tuten in the backfield. Despite these losses, we have started to see the breakout of freak-athlete Travis Hunter, whose offensive snaps have increased week by week. He posted 8 receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets, leading the team. Not to mention, he has been playing some solid lockdown defense at the cornerback position.
#16 – Los Angeles Chargers (4-3)
(Week 7: #16)
In a tough game against the red-hot Colts, the Chargers’ defense just couldn’t contain running back Jonathan Taylor as he had 94 total yards and 3 Touchdowns. It’s been hard to face the adversity for this Chargers team, as the injuries they’ve suffered have really hurt the team’s ability to stay consistent. Justin Herbert can only do so much himself, as his MVP-level season continues. Herbert has 1,913 yards passing (1st in the NFL) and 13 touchdowns (tied for 5th).
It’s been rough for the pass game the last couple of weeks after losing Hampton to injury and star tackle Joe Alt, yet despite that, Herbert continues to play elite. They have a big game tonight against the Vikings, who look to start Carson Wentz once again under center. The Chargers will need to take advantage of that and continue playing well offensively to improve their overall record and status in the AFC.
