No matter how you slice it, Week 7 in the NFL was filled with brutal bad beats. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough week when I opted to see Killers of the Flower Moon on Thursday and then completely forgot to enter a pick for the first game of the week.
Because I didn’t actually get a pick in for Thursday, that allowed me to barely salvage the week with a 6-6 record. That allowed me to win my household, at least, as Christen got dinged with a record of 2-10 on the week and Ridley came in at 5-7.
| Nick W | Nick L | Nick T | ATS W | ATS L | ATS P | O/U W | O/U L | O/U P | Christen W | Christen L | Christen T | Rids W | Rids L | Rids T | ||||
| 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | Previous | ||||
| 57 | 36 | 0 | 50 | 39 | 3 | 34 | 41 | 2 | 60 | 33 | 0 | 34 | 29 | 0 | ||||
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | ||||
| 63 | 42 | 0 | 52 | 49 | 3 | 38 | 49 | 2 | 62 | 43 | 0 | 39 | 36 | 0 |
I didn’t get to see very much of the Sunday night game, but my brother jinxed his Niners big time as they lost on the road to Primetime Cousins and the Justin Jeffersonless Vikings on Monday Night Football, 22-17. We were texting about the “disrespect” of elevating the Lions to the top of the NFC and after that morning game I remarked that Philly beating Miami would be a better quality win than the 49ers beating Minnesota, but all that got taken out of the equation. I expected a desperate Vikings team to fight for their season, but I didn’t see this one coming.
While I was making dinner, I had the end of the game on so I got to see Purdy’s bad pick that sealed their fate but I wish I would have been able to see Kirk put up 378 yards and 2 TDs against the San Francisco defense. Like, how on earth did that happen? How did one of the best defenses in the league not come away with a single sack? Well, there was a 3rd & long for Minnesota where it looked like Cousins was sacked, but he emerged from the shadow of Nick Bosa to find Jordan Addison for the conversion. It was that kinda night I guess.
Speaking of the Eagles, they handled business against the Dolphins with a 31-17 win in Philadelphia. It was a competitive game through the first half, but 10 of Miami’s 17 points came off of the Eagles’ turnovers and they still got beat by two TDs thanks in large part to the dominance of A.J. Brown’s 10 catches for 137 yards and 1 TD.
The second half, in particular, was not kind to the Fins. They didn’t even score an offensive point, going punt, turnover on downs, interception, and turnover on downs on consecutive possessions. If it weren’t for a pick-six off of Jalen Hurts in the 3rd quarter, they would’ve had no point in the second half at all.
Philadelphia rebounded and reasserted themselves as the top dog, in the NFC at least, while Miami remains winless against teams with winning records.
I was out and about, trying to forget about a super disappointing morning game so I didn’t get a good look at all the afternoon games, but I am still here to recap the finals and hopefully get a laugh or two in.
In an underdog pick I actually got correct, Denver beat the Packers 19-17. The Broncos managed to blow a 13-point second-half lead and then recover to win on a FG and Green Bay interception combo. I thought I was being sneaky by getting Denver as a dog here, but they were the popular choice in my league this week. I guess that says something about how we all view this Packers team.
The Seahawks managed to win and cover the 8-point spread against the Cardinals, but without DK Metcalf it was a balanced attack and the defense that held on to win the day, 20-10. The Hawks survived a pair of Geno Smith turnovers as he balanced that out with a pair of TDs to rookies Jaxon Smith-Njigba & Jake Bobo. How for real Seattle is actually is will be interesting to see play out.
I don’t know what it is about the Steelers but they seem like a team that has luck on their side this season. Obviously, they have a good coach in Mike Tomlin and they make the most of the situation but it also seems like they sort of hang around until their opponent makes a catastrophic mistake and that’s tough to do. They did it again to the Rams in Los Angeles this week, overcoming TD deficits multiple times to win 24-17. Pittsburgh is tough to gauge as a result, but they are clearly good enough to give themselves a chance in every game and that’s not easy.
That was an important win too because elsewhere in the AFC North, the Ravens were busy making the NFC North-leading Lions a sham. I had no problem ranking Detroit #1 because they earned that moment and I knew it wasn’t going to be forever…but I didn’t think it was going to evaporate so dramatically in one week either. Baltimore made it look incredibly easy, on both sides of the ball, leading to a 38-6 smashing. Lamar Jackson showed all the reasons why he became a star in the NFL and the Lions learned first-hand how difficult he is to deal with, especially when you only play each other once every four seasons.
Tampa Bay missed a golden opportunity to pick up a massive division win before they head into the short week as they tied the game with 45 seconds remaining and couldn’t even make it to overtime. They had 1st & goal at the Falcons’ 8-yard line and only managed to lose yards and kick the FG. Then Desmond Ridder found Kyle Pitts for a big gain to set up Younghoe Koo for the 51-yard FG to win it, 16-13. If anything, this game makes me think that neither team is all that good but the NFC South is interesting.
In the NFC East, the Giants seem to be feeling a lot better with Saquon Barkley back but this wasn’t what I would call a good game. It was a good, important, 14-7 win over a division opponent, but this was mostly poor offense on both sides. New York scored all 14 of their points in the first half but punted eight times, had a huge fumble late in the game, and missed a FG. Not to be outdone, Washington didn’t score until the second half and they punted 10 times, with a missed FG, an interception, and a turnover on downs.
Over in the AFC East, it was a day of pretty ugly offense as well, but it heated up in the second half as the Patriots beat the Bills 29-25. Josh Allen was picked off on his first pass of the day, in fact, the Bills first offensive snap of the day and that was a bad tone to set. New England just did their thing and took a 13-3 lead into the half. Buffalo responded in the second half with 3 TDs and even took the lead inside of the final two minutes. However, their defense made Mac Jones look like a pro-bowler and the Pats went right down the field on Buffalo to get the game-winning TD to Mike Gesicki. It’s a long season and the Bills’ defense will have to sink or swim, but the absence of Ed Oliver combined with the season-ending injuries to Daquon Jones, Matt Milano, and Tre White showed itself in this one. With the win, New England snapped a four-game skid against Buffalo and got Bill Belichick his 300th career win.
In a wild and unexpectedly high-scoring game, the Browns beat the Colts 39-38. However, it wasn’t without controversy as a pass interference flag came out and set up the Browns with a 1st & goal at the 1-yard line. Apparently, the NFL came out and said they got it wrong, but it would have been defensive holding or illegal contact if not pass interference which was called. Either way, the Browns win, again, without their way overpaid starting QB.
Neither the Raiders nor the Bears had their starting QBs, and I thought that would favor Las Vegas who had a capable veteran at the helm in Brian Hoyer, but it was Tyson Bagnet who led Chicago to the dominant 30-12 win. Well, a lot of it was D’Onta Foreman’s 120 all-purpose yards and 3 TDs but the inability of the Raiders to utilize their talent is beginning to pile up. They seem like they’re a lot worse than 3-4.
Back where it all started in Week 7, the Jags kept the hot hand alive with a 31-24 win over the Saints. I only caught the end of the game, but it looked like Derek Carr had been hurt earlier in the game and it cost him down the stretch. Jacksonville was mostly in control of this one and led 24-9 at one point in the 3rd quarter so it’s impressive that the Saints rallied to tie it in the first place.
The Eagles take the top spot with a dominant win over the Dolphins, but KC is right there with them. The Ravens cracked the Top 5 with a dominant win, the Lions and Niners slide after losses, and Pittsburgh joins the Top 10 for the first time.
| 1. Eagles 6-1 (+3) |
| 2. Chiefs 6-1 (=) |
| 3. Ravens 5-2 (+8) |
| 4. 49ers 5-2 (-1) |
| 5. Lions 5-2 (-4) |
| 6. Dolphins 5-2 (-1) |
| 7. Jaguars 5-2 (+1) |
| 8. Cowboys 4-2 (-1) |
| 9. Seahawks 4-2 (=) |
| 10. Steelers 4-2 (+4) |
| 11. Browns 4-2 (+1) |
| 12. Bills 4-3 (-6) |
| 13. Falcons 4-3 (+5) |
| 14. Buccaneers 3-3 (-4) |
| 15. Jets 3-3 (-2) |
| 15. Bengals 3-3 (-1) |
| 17. Texans 3-3 (=4) |
| 24. Vikings 3-4 (=2) |
| 19. Commanders 3-4 (-3) |
| 20. Saints 3-4 (-3) |
| 21. Colts 3-4 (-2) |
| 22. Rams 3-4 (-2) |
| 23. Raiders 3-4 (1) |
| 24. Chargers 2-4 (-1) |
| 25. Packers 2-4 (=) |
| 26. Titans 2-4 (=) |
| 27. Bears 2-5 (=) |
| 28. Giants 2-5 (=) |
| 29. Broncos 2-5 (+1) |
| 30. Patriots 2-5 (+1) |
| 31. Cardinals 1-6 (-2) |
| 32. Panthers 0-6 (=) |
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