2024 NFL: Previewing Week 7

There have been a couple of big trades today as the Las Vegas Raiders have traded Davante Adams to the New York Jets, and the Cleveland Browns have sent Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills.

We will give some quick thoughts on those trades below; but first, let’s review the week that was.

Week 6 Quick Hits

49ers 36 Seahawks 24 – The Niners raced out to a 16-3 halftime lead, and earned an important divisional road win. They showed they remain the class of the NFC West. Another ho hum 3 TD day for Brock Purdy. SF ran for 228 yards, though Jordan Mason had a shoulder injury. Apparently he was wearing a no-contact jersey at practice yesterday. Deebo Samuel had his second 100 yard receiving game of the season. George Kittle had 2 TD’s, and now has 5 on the year. After starting 3-0, Seattle is now 3-3. This was a game they needed to win. Asking Geno Smith to throw 52 times was just ridiculous. They’ve got 3 WR’s that demand attention. Realistically, they should pull defenders from the box. And you still can’t run the ball effectively?

Bears 35 Jaguars 16 – Chicago improved to 4-2, beating the Jags in London. Caleb Williams looked like a number 1 overall pick. Trevor Lawrence did not.  Williams does have a better supporting cast, but it’s Year 4 for Lawrence. I’m being repetitive, as I’ve said this in past weeks; but Lawrence isn’t elevating those around him. Chicago has a better group, but it’s not like Jacksonville has zero offensive talent. Yes, Travis Etienne left early Sunday with a hamstring. But Evan Engram, Gabe Davis, Christian Kirk, Brian Thomas, Tank Bigsby isn’t nothing. After the loss, Jacksonville Head Coach Doug Pederson talked about the need of a culture change. I’m thinking Pederson might not be on the team flight back after their game this week.

Packers 34 Cardinals 13 –  Jordan Love had 4 TD’s, and six different Packers had at-least 2 catches. For all of the attention Detroit and Minnesota are getting; I think Green Bay might ultimately be the best team in the NFC North.

Colts 20 Titans 17 – Joe Flacco now has 2 or more TD’s in 8 straight starts. RB Jonathan Taylor missed the game with an ankle. The Titans have to be getting a bit worried about Will Levis. He had 9 starts last year, and Sunday was his 5th here ’24. 16 completions for 95 yards is pretty unfathomable. 2024 DeAndre Hopkins is not prime Hopkins, but Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd, Chig Okonkwo is not a bad set of pass catchers. Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears are serviceable backs. Maybe the offensive line is horrible, but Levis still has enough to work with, to expect more than he’s showing.

Texans 41 Patriots 21 – Houston is good, New England is not. Patriots fans did get to see Drake Maye for the first time, and the rookie QB put 3 TD’s on the board. Houston’s Joe Mixon, and Dameon Pierce combined for 178 yards on the ground over 21 carries. The Texans will be without Nico Collins (17.7 ypc) for awhile (IR); but they have enough weapons to get past his absence.

Bucs 51 Saints 27 – Tampa Bay allowed 27 points in the 2nd Quarter, and won by 24. The Bucs had 277 rushing yards! Baker Mayfield was picked 3 times, but had 4 TD’s. He now has 15 TD’s on the year. The Saints blowouts (Carolina, and Dallas) to start the season seem like a long time ago. New Orleans has now lost their last four. With Derek Carr sidelined for 3-4 weeks with an oblique, the Saints started rookie QB (5th round pick) Spencer Rattler. Rattler started his college career at Oklahoma before transferring to South Carolina.

Eagles 20 Browns 16 – It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles did win.  Saquon Barkley was held to 47 yards on 18 attempts.  A healthy AJ Brown, and DeVonta Smith is a high quality WR duo. The Philly defense had 5 sacks. Seems to me that the Eagles should be the favorite in the NFC East, but they leave you wanting. Coach Sirianni arguing with fans in the stands; what was he thinking? Writing is on the wall.  Can you imagine being a Browns fan? They’ve been back in the league since ’99.  They’ve made the playoffs 3 times. One of them being last year, now it’s October 15th, and at 1-5 they are waiving the white flag with their trade of Cooper. Andrew Berry has been the Browns GM since 2020. Berry is a Bel Air, MD native, and went to Harvard. The trade, and subsequent contract for Deshaun Watson has to be one of the worst decisions any organization has ever made. Pinning that completely on Berry wouldn’t be right. That was an organizational decision. Now there is talk that to possibly get out from the deal, they’d give up a 1st round pick, if they can find a team with the cap space that’d be willing to bring Watson on.  Is that organization ever going to become less dysfunctional?  The Browns finished 0-4 vs. the NFC East.

Ravens 30 Commanders 23 – The Ravens didn’t play great, but it felt like they were always in control. Congrats to the Commanders for finding a legitimate QB. Given what we’ve seen from Philadelphia, and Dallas; Washington might be the NFC East favorite at this point. Next year they need to improve their defense, and add another weapon or two for Jayden Daniels.

Chargers 23 Broncos 16 – About what I expected here, with LA coming out of their bye. JK Dobbins had another productive day. YPC didn’t look great, but his third game with at-least 96 yards. Denver isn’t good, but their one of the better bad teams. Broncos will have to give Bo Nix some additional options next year. If Justin Herbert gets hot, the Chargers have a chance to grab the last playoff spot in the AFC.

Steelers 32 Raiders 13 – ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was raving about Justin Fields ability to gain positive yards from potential losses. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons spoke about how poor Fields looked. Maybe both opinions are accurate? Fields is operating the Steelers offense as they want. Not making a ton of mistakes. Not being asked to push the ball down the field. Using his legs to help move the chains. The Steelers can make the playoffs. It is hard to see them doing anything significant once there.

Lions 47 Cowboys 9 – Fantastic birthday gift delivered from the Lions to Jerry Jones. Looking at the Cowboys remaining schedule, I could see them possibly finishing with 8 or 9 wins, and backing into the playoffs. But clearly it’s a lost year for Dallas even if that happens. They can’t beat anyone good. They’re getting wrecked at home. You can have all the toys you want, but if you have poor lines, it doesn’t mean anything.  And hell, outside of CeeDee Lamb, it’s not like the toys are that interesting either. Detroit is a real contender. They can win the NFC. The Detroit Lions could actually play for a Super Bowl.  There you go Browns fans, inspiration. Like everyone else, I feel horrible that Detroit lost Aidan Hutchinson. You win by 36 points, and it has to be hard to even enjoy knowing you won’t have that All-Pro available.

Falcons 38 Panthers 20 – Only 11 more games left this year Carolina fans! Yikes. 198 yards rushing for Atlanta. Kirk Cousins has his play action game. One concerning aspect for the Falcons is their very limited pass rush. Can they figure that out? Just 1.5 sacks so far for Matthew Judon.

Bengals 17 Giants 7 – Cincinnati won a game they needed to have. Did you come out of the game feeling better about them? Maybe. They are what they are. A team which has dug itself into a hole, that has a talented offense.

Bills 23 Jets 20 – So, this was a swing game in the AFC East. Buffalo got the road W to move to 4-2, the Jets couldn’t defend their home field; and fell to 2-4.  The Bills were without RB James Cook, but got a good game from Rookie Ray Davis. The Jets got a 113 yard game from their RB Breece Hall, they had two WR’s (Allen Lazard, and Garrett Wilson) have 100 yard receiving games, they had Aaron Rodgers complete a hail mary; and they still lost. That’s not a great sign. The Jets move last week was to fire Robert Saleh. The Jets move this week was to add another weapon in Adams. Maybe the Jets defense should have got some attention? Buffalo ended their two game losing streak, and just like SF in the NFC West; reminded everyone their the best in the AFC East.

Week 7 Games

Thursday October 17th

Denver at New Orleans – Sean Payton returns to face his former team. Are the Saints going to lose their 5th straight?

Sunday October 20th

New England vs. Jacksonville (London) – The Jags getting to stay in London should be an advantage. Lawrence needs to be good enough on his own to beat the Pats. The Patriots fans get a second look at Maye.

Seattle at Atlanta – Interesting game here. Could have playoff implications. Seahawks have lost their last 3. The Falcons are in position to get to 5-2.  Seattle travelling across the country. Falcons a 58.2% favorite to win according to ESPN’s Match-up Predictor.

Tennessee at Buffalo – The Bills get to build off of their Monday Night win vs. the Jets, and begin to incorporate Cooper to the offense.  Cooper isn’t a huge game changer by himself, but he’s a nice piece, and makes that whole offense look better.

Cincinnati at Cleveland – The Bengals might not have looked great vs. the Giants, but they won.  Divisional games are typically a fight, especially in the AFC North; but does Cleveland have any fight left in them? Cincinnati can pull within a game of .500.

Houston at Green Bay – The Packers defense has been opportunistic, creating lots of turnovers. CJ Stroud doesn’t make many mistakes. Green Bay is a 2.5 point favorite. That looks right to me.

Miami at Indianapolis – Anthony Richardson is supposed to be back starting for the Colts. Miami still without Tua Tagovailoa. Colts are 4-3 with a win, but their next 5 games are much more difficult.

Detroit at Minnesota – The 5-0 Vikings host their NFC North foe, the 4-1 Lions. Winner will lead the division. Vikings at home, need the game more than Detroit, even with Detroit being a game back. Vikings RB Aaron Jones is questionable.  Curious to see what pass rush the Lions generate without Hutchinson. ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor is giving Detroit a 57.1% chance at the road win.

Philadelphia at NY Giants – New York isn’t good, but they’ve played with some pride the last few weeks. Their defense isn’t going to want to get run over by former Giant Saquon Barkley. Eagles won a game they needed this past weekend. This is another game they should win.  If they get up early, the Giants shouldn’t be able to keep up. If they let the Giants hang around, this could be the type of game which costs a Coach their job.

Las Vegas at LA Rams – Cooper Kupp has a chance to play coming out of the Rams bye.  The Rams should grab win #2.

Carolina at Washington – The Commanders are currently 7.5 point favorites.  An absolute must have for the Commanders. Daniels might have this game in hand by halftime.

Kansas City at San Francisco – Last year’s Super Bowl teams.  SF righted the ship last Thursday in Seattle. I think they hand the Chiefs their first loss of 2024.

New York Jets at Pittsburgh –  Should be a defensive game, right?  Fields isn’t going to be throwing the ball all over the field. Pittsburgh will want to control clock. They’ll also be looking to shut down the Jets on early downs, and get the pass rush after Rodgers. The Jets will work in Adams, and try and pull defenders from the box.  NY needs to run Hall enough to give Rodgers play action, otherwise TJ Watt is going to feast. The Jets probably aren’t going to win the AFC East, so if they are going to reach the playoffs, they figure to be a Wild Card.  The Steelers could be competition for a Wild Card spot.  Pittsburgh is already 4-2, while the Jets are 2-4.  NY really can’t afford to lose here.

Monday October 21st

Baltimore at Tampa Bay – Mayfield is at his best when he plays with a chip on his shoulder.  He’s going to use a lot of play action, and attempt to attack down field with Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans. Baltimore is going run right at the Bucs, and force them to choose how they want to try and defend the Ravens.  Stack the box to try and slow Derrick Henry? Do that, and Jackson will have plenty of 1×1 opportunities. Tampa Bay is 4-2 and leading the NFC South. They’re a decent to good team. But they’re path to winning Monday feels limited to me.  The Ravens would have to cough it up several times, and Mayfield would have to be scorching enough to make it a shootout.

LA Chargers at Arizona – 3-2 LA visits 2-4 Arizona. Vegas has the Chargers as 2.5 point favorites. Arizona could be without Marvin Harrison Jr who had a concussion Sunday vs. the Packers.