Seven weeks in and the playoff picture is slowly taking shape. Let’s begin!

Saints @ Cardinals

The Cardinals defense came up big to win the game against the Saints Thursday night; with two very impressive first half pick sixes. Marco Wilson and Isaiah Simmons scored touchdowns on two pick-6s late in the first half and used that stunning change in momentum to lift the Cardinals over the New Orleans Saints 42-34 on Thursday night. The Cardinals (3-4) snapped an eight-game home losing streak that was the franchise’s longest since 1958. Outside of defense, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury got into a screaming match on the sidelines. Murray completed 20 of 29 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown. New Orleans (2-5) has lost five of its last six games. Dalton threw for 361 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. It was another frustrating loss for the Saints in a season that’s quickly unraveling.“The three takeaways were killers in the game,” Saints coach Dennis Allen. “We’ve got to fix some of these issues, that’s my responsibility.” Final score 34-42, Cardinals.

Falcons @ Bengals

It was the Joe Burrow show, as he and his squad routed the Falcons on Sunday. The Cincinnati quarterback played his best game of the season — and the second-best of his career — finishing 34 of 42 for 481 yards and three touchdowns and adding a 1-yard run for a score. He became the first QB to have five games of 400 yards or more in his first three seasons. Cincinnati (4-3) moved above .500 for the first time this season and remained in a tie with Baltimore atop the AFC North. The Falcons could not get anything going on offensively as the Bengals defense crushed any hope that they had a chance to come back. Marcus Mariota completed just eight passes for the Falcons (3-4), whose strong running game was also stymied by Cincinnati. Mariota threw for 124 yards, and Atlanta generated only 214 yards of offense to the Bengals’ 537. Final score 17-35, Bengals.

Lions @ Cowboys

The Dallas defense was the star of the show in their matchup against the young scrappy Lions team. Quarterback Dak Prescott finally rejoined the team and played for the first time since Week one. Jared Goff was responsible for four other Detroit turnovers with two interceptions and two fumbles, while Prescott didn’t give the ball away. The Lions (1-5) got a solid showing for three quarters from the NFL’s worst defense, but coach Dan Campbell fell to 0-11-1 on the road. Final score 6-24, Dallas.

Colts @ Titans

The Tennessee Titans have swept the Indianapolis Colts for the second year in a row. Final score 10–19, Titans. The Titans also have won four straight after an 0-2 start, showing a toughness that could be what matters most in the AFC South they’ve won each of the past two seasons. Randy Bullock made four field goals, the last two providing Tennessee’s first points this season in the fourth quarter. Bullock’s 48-yarder provided the final margin with 4:47 remaining. The Titans forced three turnovers, the last on Michael Pittman Jr.‘s fumble with 3:22 left. Jeffery Simmons also had one of three sacks for Tennessee. The Colts (3-3-1) came in having won three of four to nip at Tennessee’s heels in the division and wound up snapping a two-game winning streak. Worse, they’ve trailed by at least 10 in each of their first five divisional games. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to play better,” Colts coach Frank Reich said. “We’ve got to play better.” 

Packers @ Commanders

The Washington Commanders beat the Green Bay Packers. That is extremely shocking! Rodgers and the offense sputtered, penalties piled up at the most inopportune moments and the Packers lost their third game in a row, 23-21 to the Washington Commanders on Sunday for their longest skid since 2018. Rodgers was 23 of 35 for 194 yards and the Packers went 0 of 6 on third down. Green Bay (3-4) had just 232 total yards of offense to Washington’s 364 and lost Allen Lazard to a shoulder injury, making him the team’s third wide receiver to go down during the first losing streak under coach Matt LaFleur. Heinicke, making his first start of the season in place of injured Carson Wentz, threw for two touchdowns and was 20 of 33 for 200 yards after starting 1 of 7 for 14 yards with the interception. One of those TD throws was a perfect pass to Terry McLaurin. “He plays like it’s his last game every single time,” McLaurin said of Heinicke. “That energy just spreads throughout this team. You just want to be able to make that play to elevate him.” 

Buccaneers @ Panthers

Tom Brady hasn’t been in this position in two decades — a game under .500 this far into the NFL season. Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost for the third time in four games Sunday to fall to 3-4. It came in stunning fashion, a 21-3 defeat to the Carolina Panthers, a team that had lost 12 of 13 games and was playing with a third-string quarterback and under an interim head coach. This game could not have gone worse for the Buccaneers. Getting beat by a good team is one thing but getting beat by the Panthers is a whole new level of low. Final score 3-21, Panthers.

Giants @ Jaguars

The Giants are a very good football team this year. No, you didn’t hear that incorrectly. With the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday; the New York Giants have improved to 6-1 on the season. Brian Daboll has this unit working like a well oiled machine and he is my pick for coach of the year. As well as the Giants are playing, this was still a nail-biter of a game. Final score 23-17, Giants. Safeties Julian Love and Xavier McKinney stopped Jacksonville receiver Christian Kirk at the 1-yard line with no time on the clock, preserving a 23-17 victory over the Jaguars in which Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones each ran for more than 100 yards. The Giants (6-1) matched their best start since 2008 and handed the Jaguars (2-5) a 19th consecutive loss in cross-division games. 

Browns @ Ravens

 Gus Edwards scored two touchdowns in his long-awaited return, staking Baltimore to a double-digit lead in the second half. Those haven’t exactly been safe this season for the Ravens, but this time they managed to hold on. Baltimore avoided another fourth-quarter collapse thanks to a couple huge Cleveland penalties that helped the Ravens hold off the Browns 23-20 on Sunday. Baltimore out-rushed Nick Chubb and Cleveland 160-113 and remained in a tie with Cincinnati atop the AFC North. While Jacoby Brissett had an efficient day; it wasn’t enough to get Cleveland the victory. Obviously, the Browns are more than likely not going to make the playoffs this year. But they’re still going to be a dangerous team when Deshaun Watson gets back on the field. As for the Ravens, if they can clean up their fourth quarter woes, they can be a dangerous team. Final score 20-23, Ravens.

Jets @ Broncos

The Broncos are a dumpster fire. The Jets are on the rise. Although the score won’t tell you that it was an entertaining game, I found it quite entertaining. don’t get me wrong, the Broncos offense is atrocious; but there’s something about the way that the Jets play football that is entertaining to me. However the biggest storyline of this game was the injury to running back Breece Hall. The Jets lost Breece Hall to a left knee injury in the second quarter and coach Robert Saleh said the initial diagnosis is an ACL tear that would end the running back’s rookie sensational season. Final score 16-9, Jets. 

Texans @ Raiders

Good news Raiders fans; you won a game. Bad news Raiders fans, it was the Texans. Josh Jacobs rushed for 143 yards and three second-half touchdowns, and the Raiders ran away from the Houston Texans 38-20 on Sunday. When asked about how he has been able to break out this  season, he said: “I think it’s more of a credit to the offensive line,” said Jacobs, who topped 100 yards for the third straight game. “I come back to them all the time because I feel like it’s the first time in a long time where I’ve had four to five yards without being touched by anybody. They’re making it pretty easy on me, and I’m gonna make sure I take care of them for sure.” Las Vegas, which erased a three-point, fourth-quarter deficit, scored on four straight possessions before safety Duron Harmon sealed the win by intercepting Davis Mills and returning it 73 yards for a touchdown. Final score 20-38, Raiders. 

Seahawks @ Chargers

Expected by many to end up in the NFC West basement, the Seattle Seahawks instead are leading the division after seven weeks. Seattle vaulted into the division lead with its most impressive victory over the season. Rookie Kenneth Walker III rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns as the Seahawks beat the Los Angeles Chargers 37-23 on Sunday. It was the third straight week the Chargers (4-3) fell behind by double digits in the first quarter. They rallied against Cleveland and Denver, but were unable to pull it off this time and had a three-game winning streak snapped. LA now trails the Chiefs by one game in the AFC West.  

Chiefs @ 49ers 

Falling into an early hole was just what the Kansas City Chiefs needed to get going. Patrick Mahomes threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns to rally Kansas City back from another double-digit deficit in the Chiefs’ 44-23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. While their offense is electric, the defense could improve in some areas. I guess the Chiefs playing is just to outplay everybody on the offensive side of the ball.It’s not a terrible strategy but I don’t think it’s going to last throughout the year.The Niners dropped back-to-back games despite getting a boost from the addition this week of running back Christian McCaffrey, who had 62 yards on 10 scrimmage touches in his San Francisco debut. San Francisco settled for three field goals and came up empty on another chance when Jimmy Garoppolo threw an interception at the goal line before Kansas City ran away with it in the second half. Final score 44-23, Chiefs.

Steelers @ Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa finally made his return to the football field in the Dolphins matchup against the Steelers. Tua got the Dolphins off to a fast start in his return from a concussion, and Miami (4-3) snapped a three-game skid that began on Sept. 29, when Tagovailoa was concussed in a loss at Cincinnati.  The Steelers had two chances to take the lead late in the game. With about three minutes left at the Miami 30, safety Jevon Holland jumped in front of Pickett’s third-and-16 pass intended for Diontae Johnson and returned it 33 yards. The Dolphins punted on the next drive, and Pickett drove the Steelers to the Miami 25 with 25 seconds left after a 21-yard pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth. Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene intercepted Pickett’s second-down pass at the goal line and tapped his feet in bounds to end Pittsburgh’s hopes. Final score 10-16, Dolphins. 

Bears @ Patriots

The Bears finally got a much-needed impressive win. granted I know it was against the New England Patriots who were without Matt Jones for three-quarters of the game; but Justin Fields finally showed Signs of Life as a good NFL quarterback. Albeit was sacked four times in the game. Fields amassed 179 yards with one touchdown and one interception on the day. He played well and it’s about time he gets his credit. It was about time that Zappe fell back to Earth after his very strong play in these past few weeks. After all he is a rookie and he’s not invincible. He threw two interceptions on the day with one touchdown and it was just overall a struggle for him on offense. Final score 33 – 14, Bears.