NFL Week 7’s best matchups
Week 7 of the NFL season is already here and teams are starting to make trades for the second half and their playoff pushes. The biggest news of the week was the Cleveland Browns trading Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills and the Raiders trading Davante Adams to the Jets reuniting him with Aaron Rodgers. For me the Bills getting Cooper is a much bigger addition than the Jets getting Adams.
While Adams is still a very good player, Cooper could cement the Bills as one of the elite teams in the NFL. I’m sure Adams will put up some big games with Rodgers but I’m still not a believer it’s enough to get them over the hump in the highly contested AFC.
In other NFL news this week the Pittsburgh Steelers made a somewhat surprising move sitting at 4-2 deciding to go with Russell Wilson as their starter moving forward over Justin Fields. Wilson and the Steelers will take on Rodgers and the new look Jets on Sunday night football this week. Another minor move was the Houston Texans sending running back Cam Akers to the Vikings to give them some running back depth with Aaron Jones a little banged up.
Houston Texans (+2.5) @ Green Bay Packers
In the 1 o’clock window on Sunday we get two of the best young quarterbacks in the league facing off. CJ Stroud and the Texans head to Green Bay at 5-1 after blowing out the Patriots last week. While Jordan Love with some help from Malik Willis in his absence have the Packers at 4-2 hanging tough in a tight NFC North race.
Houston has been one of the best teams in the league all season and showed no signs of slowing down last week against a bad New England team. Stroud has been impressive since his first start in the league and continues to impress in year 2. For Jordan Love thing’s haven’t been as smooth but he’s cemented himself as Green Bay’s franchise QB with a massive contract and flashes of super star potential. This will certainly be one of the games to watch this weekend with playmakers all over the field on both sides of the ball.
Detroit Lions (+2.5) @ Minnesota Vikings
Before the season I don’t think anyone would have predicted that this matchup would be between arguably the two best teams in the league to this point in the season. However that’s where we are with the Sam Darnold led Vikings at 5-0 (3-0 at home) and Goff and the Lions at 4-1 (2-0 on the road).
Darnold has been the story of the NFL season so far stepping in for an injured JJ McCarthy after the Vikings drafted him in the Spring. Minnesota hasn’t missed a beat with Darnold and he has their offense rolling with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison showcasing why they’re one of the most dynamic duos in the league.
Saying all that the Lions are still the most explosive offense in the league with Aman Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam Laporta, David Montgomery and more running teams off the field on a weekly basis. All signs point to this being a high scoring contest that should have all neutral party fans tuning in for a show.
Kansas City Chiefs (+1.5) @ San Francisco 49ers
This game is one you could have circled in the offseason as one of the premier games on the NFL calendar. The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs head to San Fran to take on Super Bowl hopefuls in Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers.
While Mahomes has the Chiefs at 5-0 it hasn’t been pretty so far for the Chiefs although they continue to win games it’s been ugly. Mahomes and Kelce have struggled to get on the same page so far this season and with Rashee Rice and Isaiah Pacheco out with injury the Chiefs offense is not what it was the last few years. Saying all that it hasn’t seem to matter for the Chiefs their defense has been nothing short of one of the top 5 in the league to start the season.
On the flip side things have been a little shaky for San Francisco a disappointing 3-3 through 6 weeks. From the outside some casual watchers may want to blame Brock Purdy but Purdy has been great through 6 weeks and has shown no signs of regressing. The 49ers issues are injuries and their defense not being as stout as expected before the season. Anytime you get two of the best teams in the league especially cross conference it’s going to be a game of the week and this certainly fits the profile.
Baltimore Ravens (-3.5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The final matchup I want to highlight for this weekend is actually the Monday Night Football matchup between the 4-2 Ravens and the 4-2 Bucs. Baltimore in my opinion is playing the best of any team in the league right now. After starting the season 0-2 the Ravens have ripped off 4 straight wins and look like Super Bowl favorites in the AFC.
For Tampa Bay the Baker Mayfield experiment has been paying off, Mayfield like Darnold has found success post Jets and Panthers. Leading the Buccaneers to a 4-2 start in a very winnable NFC South. The Bucs defense isn’t what it was when Brady was there but the offense continues to hum with Mike Evans adding to his HOF resume on a weekly basis and Chris Godwin and Rachaad White being solid contributors.
This will be a big test for the Bucs to show they belong with the elite teams in the league. If Tampa can beat the Ravens at home it could persuade their front office to be aggressive in the coming weeks with teams already adding big pieces for the stretch run. For Baltimore they’re looking for 5 wins in a row after two high scoring affairs against the Bengals and Commanders in the last two weeks. Baltimore’s defense had it’s hands full last week with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders high flying offense, they’ll be tested again this weekend with Mayfield’s elite weapons on the outside.
Week 7 doesn’t have a ton of great games on the slate but it certainly has some of the best matchups of the year. Another great Sunday for NFL fans after some ugly prime time games in recent weeks.
