Stunning blowouts, players’ payback for former teams and Woodfork withdrawals are all over the NFL Week 7 Recap.
2021 NFL Week 7 Recap
Saints 13
Seahawks 10
I don’t know what was least surprising — Marshawn Lynch dropping the F-bomb on live TV in the middle of the Beast Quake Rematch or New Orleans taking full advantage of Russell Wilson’s absence. Without Russ, Seattle is 0-3 at home for the first time since 1992 and their streak of four straight wins on Monday Night Football is over. If the Seahawks can’t manage a home win over the putrid Jaguars Sunday, Wilson might just win his first MVP for being absent.
But seriously, can we get Beast Mode in a booth somewhere? This man is straight up gold.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1452797436523687943?s=20
Colts 30
49ers 18
Indy survived a torrential downpour to earn an impressive season-saving win, while San Fran is now 0-3 at Levi’s Stadium after going just 1-6 there the last two seasons. The 49ers’ defensive backfield might just be what keeps them in the basement of the uber-competitive NFC West.
Bears 3
Bucs 38
Look, I’m trying my damnedest to not make every Tampa Bay entry about Tom Brady but it just boggles the mind how he’s now playing against QBs literally half his age. Like, Justin Fields could be his son. Who was born slightly before Brady was an active player. And now, he’s the first QB to throw 600 touchdowns. Incredible.
Texans 5
Cardinals 31
We live in a world where the Arizona Cardinals are not only undefeated, but they won by a larger margin than the biggest spread of the season. Thanks in part to DeAndre Hopkins’ and J.J. Watt’s payback, the Cards are 7-0 — tied for the best start in franchise history — and giving me fewer reasons to think they’re pretenders.
Lions 19
Rams 28
Matthew Stafford is twice as good as Jared Goff, but we knew that already, right? Sean McVay certainly did and it might just lead Los Angeles to a deep playoff run, while Detroit is off to a 0-7 start for the fourth time in franchise history.
Matthew Stafford is the ninth QB with 300 Pass yds and 3 Pass TD in his first game against a former team, and the first since Peyton Manning in 2013 (via @EliasSports). pic.twitter.com/0KfZtRkGB4
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 24, 2021
Eagles 22
Raiders 33
With all respect due to Rich Bisaccia and the job he’s doing in Vegas, the Raiders organization needs to do better for Black folks in the wake of the Jon Gruden controversy.
Washington 10
Packers 24
Even with the defense playing relatively well (by their low standards) and all the special teams symmetry coming into the Green Bay, Washington Blewitt (see what I did there?) by coming away with exactly zero points in five trips inside the Packers’ 30-yard line. The Burgundy and Gold are basically finding new ways to lose on a weekly basis and a loss in Denver could be the 2021 season’s nail in the coffin.
Bengals 41
Ravens 17
It turns out Cincinnati had plenty of reason to be as confident as they were coming into Baltimore.
The Bengals rode career days from Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase to lay a beatdown of the Ravens that makes a clear statement that Cincy is for real. Consider this me withdrawing my assertion this is a pretender.
Panthers 3
Giants 25
A week before Halloween, Sam Darnold was seeing ghosts in New York just like old times and Daniel Jones was impersonating Odell Beckham Jr. Carolina’s search for an identity sans Christian McCaffrey continues to be a painful process for the Panthers. Whether that identity includes Deshaun Watson remains to be seen.
Chiefs 3
Titans 27
How good is Derrick Henry, you ask? He entered Week 7 as the only non-kicker ranked in the top 15 in scoring (his 62 points were second most in the league), and on a day when Kansas City clearly made it a priority to stop him from running wild, he threw a touchdown pass. Tennessee is legit.
The Chiefs, however, seem to be in a free fall, falling behind by 27 points in the first for the first time in five years, scoring the fewest points in a game in the nine-year Andy Reid era and Patrick Mahomes notching his sixth straight game with an interception. Assuming Mahomes is healthy enough to play next Monday night against the Giants, he needs a big game more than he ever has before.
Jets 13
Patriots 54
Gang Green has been outscored 44-0 in the first quarter of their first seven games. Zach Wilson was injured in a 41-point loss. If that’s his idea of a blast, please exclude me from any outing he deems fun.
Falcons 30
Dolphins 28
Even as Tua Tagovailoa threw for four touchdowns, Miami is winless at home and losers of six straight. This definitely won’t silence rumors of the Dolphins making an ill-advised trade for Deshaun Watson.
Broncos 14
Browns 17
There’s never a good time to play on a Thursday night but this was really inopportune for Cleveland, yet the Browns pulled off a much-needed win with Baker Mayfield sidelined (which was for the best, considering Von Miller’s bloodlust). Case Keenum clearly isn’t the future in Cleveland but he at least raised some question as to whether Mayfield is.