The upsets keep coming. Not a great week for this prognosticator in week seven but for the course of the season I’m correctly picking winners at a rate of about 60%. Not too shabby. However, there are still teams losing games they probably should have won. The Chiefs remain unbeaten and now they are adding wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the mix. The rich just keep getting richer.
In Baltimore, Derrick Henry is just running buck wild this season. 169 yards rushing against Tampa last week. Are you kidding me? He also caught one pass for 13 yards. Henry averaged 11.3 yards per carry in that game including an 81-yarder. Henry now has 873 yards rushing this season and we are only halfway through the campaign. Henry is tied for the lead in rushing touchdowns with eight. If he keeps running at this pace and controlling games like he and Baltimore’s offense has, then I would put them as the most serious threat to unseating the world champion Chiefs.
There are some interesting games on the schedule this week which hopefully will not include any upsets!
Away we go…
Minnesota at Los Angeles Rams: With the Vikings loss to Detroit last week, the Kansas City Chiefs are now the only team in the NFL without a loss. Does that loss release the pressure off the backs of Minnesota’s players, or does it mean they are not as good as their record. The NFC West does not have a team running away with the division to seven with a record of 2-4. The Rams have something to play for and they get receiver Cooper Kupp back for this one. Rams 27 / Vikings 21
Philadelphia at Cincinnati: The Bengals are clawing their way back into the AFC North race as they were a pre-season favorite to compete for the division title. They are now just two games behind Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Eagles while 4-2 are still a team in flux. Bengals 30 / Eagles 27
Baltimore at Cleveland: Talk about a team that is a complete mess and disaster and you are talking about the Browns. It appears Deshaun Watson is done for the season with an Achilles injury, and this probably marks not just the end of his Cleveland career but perhaps his NFL career. He’s been that bad. In his place Jameis Winston will start. There is a buzz around the NFL that Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett could be trade bait. The Browns have been awful on both sides of the ball and only a miracle would win this game for them. Ravens 45 / Browns 13
Tennessee at Detroit: As Mason Rudolph saved the Pittsburgh Steelers last season from not making the playoffs, the Steelers allowed him to go elsewhere and so the Titans picked him up and gave him a start last weekend. It was not particularly good. Now if he starts this Sunday in Detroit, he’s going to face a better team than he saw in Buffalo in week seven. The Titans have one victory against five losses and Detroit’s record is exactly opposite of that. Lions 37 / Titans 10
Arizona at Miami: Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is talking about starting this game. The man is insane. After reading reports about his concussions and the effects the previous three had on him, he is risking his long-term health by wanting to play. It would be a travesty if the Dolphins coaching staff and management permitted him to play again this season or for that matter…ever. Regardless, Miami is not playing good football while Arizona upset the Chargers last week. The Cards are in second place and just a game behind Seattle. Miami needs a win to stay in contention. Cardinals 24 / Dolphins 14
New York Jets at New England: New York’s game with Pittsburgh last Sunday night was thought to be a season saver. They got smashed and now play in New England which also got demolished in London by Jacksonville. This is a fight to stay out of last place in the AFC East. My gut is saying Aaron Rodgers brings his team back for a win but if New York loses then it’s back to the old funny acronym of J-E-T-S (Just End The Season). Jets 28 / Patriots 9
Atlanta at Tampa Bay: A game for first place. The Bucs are licking their wounds after trying to keep up with Baltimore getting outscored while still competing with the Ravens. The Falcons were embarrassed at home by the Seahawks and just when their fans’ thought Kirk Cousins was turning the corner, he put up a QB rating of just 72.6 against Seattle and threw two interceptions. It seems few teams have been able to slow down Baker Mayfield as his offense had a lead of 10-0 over Baltimore but the defense then surrendered 24 unanswered points before Mayfield and company came back with 21 fourth quarter points to lose by 10. Mayfield threw the ball 45 times and finished with 370 yards and three scores through the air but also got picked twice. Buccaneers 31 / Falcons 17
Green Bay at Jacksonville: Just as Trevor Lawrence was feeling the seat under him starting to get extremely hot, he goes out and has a decent game. Now back on American soil he will be in front of a Jacksonville fan base that will be expecting results against a particularly good Packers team. If the Jaguars are going to save their season especially with the Texans running away with the division lead, this game is the one that will be a must win. Following this game Jacksonville’s schedule is downright BRUTAL. What lies ahead are the Eagles on the road, the Vikings at home, the Lions on the road and then the Texans at home. OUCH. The Packers are 5-2 and very much in contention for first place in the NFC North. Packers 35 / Jaguars 17
Indianapolis at Houston: The Colts can tie up the Texans for first place in the division with a win. NOT. Texans 28 / Colts 13
New Orleans at Los Angeles Chargers: Quarterback Derrick Carr is still questionable for this game so if he can’t go despite an ailing hip rookie Spencer Rattler will get another start. Jim Harbaugh’s first season in Los Angeles has been up and down despite beliefs from many that he had put together a rather good squad. The ‘Bolts are 3-3 and should settle in with the thought that any chance of a playoff bid will have to be via a wild card spot. No team in the AFC West is going to catch the defending champion Chiefs. Chargers 37 / Saints 10
Buffalo at Seattle: The Seahawks were a surprise team last season and are doing it again this year. The Bills, while winning two in a row and getting to 5-2 are still a question mark in many eyes. Seahawks 30 / Bills 28
Carolina at Denver: All things considered, rookie Bo Nix is having an up and down season in his rookie campaign as Denver’s quarterback of the future. His QB rating is exceptionally low at 49.2 which is the 22nd worst in the league thus far. But he is completing 61.2% of his passes and has been sacked just nine times. But he has thrown only five touchdowns while also throwing five picks. Still his Broncos are 4-3 and in second place. The Panthers? A complete disaster. Veteran Andy Dalton was involved in a car accident this week but reportedly is not injured. His offense he has been quarterback however is hurting big time. Sophomore signal caller Bryce Young may get his job back, but Carolina’s season is all but over with a record of 1-6 and no signs of getting better. Whose franchise is in worse shape? Cleveland or Carolina? Too close to call. Broncos 34 / Panthers 6
Kansas City at Las Vegas: Aiden O’Connell has been placed on IR and is out 4-6 weeks. That means Gardner Minshew gets the job back he won in training camp. It doesn’t matter. There is no more Davante Adams to go to for the Raiders’ offense and now the Chiefs have DeAndre Hopkins as a weapon. Yikes. This could get extremely ugly. Chiefs 48 / Raiders 13
Chicago at Washington: This game will be a very entertaining one as two rookie quarterbacks go at it. That is if Commanders’ Jayden Daniels can play. He bruised some ribs last week and is questionable. With that said, back up Marcus Mariota relieved him in the last game and did very well. For the Bears, Caleb Williams goes under center again and much improved from the early season games. Last week was an off game for Williams as in the victory over the Titans he only three for 93 yards but in the six games played thus far he has logged games of passing yards over 300 twice. For Jayden Daniels he has played much better with a rating of 107.0 and six passing touchdowns, only two interceptions, and 1,410 yards passing. But he has been sacked 15 times. Caleb Williams has gone down 20 times behind the line of scrimmage. Commanders 24 / Bears 23
Dallas at San Francisco: Despite have three wins against three losses, the Cowboys internally are a mess. Team chemistry seems to be lacking camaraderie and Jerry Jones has been one of the worst owners in recent years. He seems to have lost the ability to clearly make solid decisions with personnel and otherwise. The 49ers on the other hand are simply not playing championship caliber football. They could not keep up with Kansas City last Sunday losing the Super Bowl rematch so this will be a pairing of two teams really trying to find an identity. 49ers 26 / Cowboys 24
New York at Pittsburgh: NFL week eight ends with this Monday night matchup in Pittsburgh. For the Steelers this makes two consecutive games at home, both on national television. That does not bode well for the Giants as Pittsburgh thrives on prime-time games. That and Russell Wilson continues his journey as the starting quarterback after an impressive performance against the other “New Jersey” game last Sunday night a smashing of the Jets who crashed and burned. There is nothing about this Giants team that should send any fear to the Steelers. This is another game that could get very ugly for the Giants. With Russell Wilson’s outstanding second half in week seven and feeling extremely comfortable and making the most of the weapons he has on offense and Pittsburgh’s defense beginning to get hot again it will suck to be a Giants fan on this night. New York is coming off the losing end of a blowout and they stand to suffer the same type of defeat again. The Giants allowed Sequon Barkley to move to the Eagles and he taught the ‘Gints a lesson last week by blistering their defense for 176 yards rushing and one touchdown. Daniel Jones was so bad with just 99 yards passing he was replaced by Drew Lock. The fans at Acrisure Stadium are going to love this one. Steelers 41 / Giants 9
Running Pick Record from Week to Week
Week 1: 12/15
Week 2: 8/16
Week 3: 8/16
Week 4: 11/16
Week 5: 7/14
Week 6: 9/14
Week 7: 9/15
Week 8: TBD
