NFL 2020, Week 7

This unusual NFL season approaches its midpoint, and there's still a lot we don't know as we hit Week 7.  Some teams have separated themselves and stood out as the top contenders, while the NFC East is downright embarrassing.  To think, one of those four teams will have a home playoff game, and six wins might be enough to do it!

But that's a conversation for another day.  And more than half the season is left, so a lot can still happen.  In fact, I fully expect somebody who's not currently in the playoff picture to go on a late season run (which is a Philadelphia Eagles trademark).  Likewise, at least one of the current playoff teams will probably fall off once division games start.

Week 7 could be where we start to see some of that separation.  At the very least, the playoff picture will start to come into focus.  I know it's silly to start looking at playoff positioning before November, but there are a few games this week that could have a huge bearing on the postseason.  Especially the game in Nashville, where the AFC's last two undefeated teams meet.

Thursday Night: Philadelphia (Win)

Lions (2-3) at Falcons (1-5): Detroit-Maybe all the Falcons needed was a coaching change!  Or maybe that was just a shot in the arm.  Playing a Vikings team that hasn't exactly been good this season sure helped!  I guess we'll find out this week when they return home to face the Lions.  I'm still waiting to find out what kind of team Detroit is, too.  They're 2-3, but their losses are to the Bears, Packers and Saints, and they won in Arizona.

Browns (4-2) at Bengals (1-4-1): Cleveland-Cleveland is a team on the rise, but the Browns clearly have some room to go.  They're sitting in playoff position at 4-2, but both of their losses have been blowouts: 38-6 to Baltimore and 38-7 to Pittsburgh.  So it's obvious that they haven't reached the level where they can compete with the elite teams yet.  Fortunately, the Bengals aren't an elite team.  The Browns won the first matchup with Cincinnati, and should complete the season sweep here.

Steelers (5-0) at Titans (5-0): Tennessee-Three weeks later, the Steelers and Titans finally meet.  They enter as the AFC's final two unbeaten teams, and the winner will have the inside track to the only playoff bye.  Both offenses are clicking, too.  The Steelers routed Cleveland last week, while the Titans had an impressive comeback against Houston.  Expect a lot of points to be put on the board in this one.  The game is in Nashville, which is the sole reason I'm picking the Titans.

Panthers (3-3) at Saints (3-2): New Orleans-The Saints' expected domination of the NFC South hasn't quite come to pass so far this season.  In fact, if they lose this week, they'll drop into third place!  Don't expect that to happen, though.  The offense was just beginning to find its groove when the bye week hit last week.  That could've been a bad thing if it messed with their mojo, but I actually think the extra week of practice will be a help.  I'm expecting 30-plus points from the Saints.

Bills (4-2) at Jets (0-6): Buffalo-I don't know if the Jets are actively trying to suck so that they can draft Trevor Lawrence or if that's simply an unintentional benefit of being this bad.  I'd like to say something nice--ANYTHING nice--about them, but I really can't.  It was really telling last week when they put up a graphic that showed how many times they've been blown out since Adam Gase became their head coach.  So, yeah, it's gonna take a lot for me to pick the Jets in any game the rest of this season.

Cowboys (2-4) at Washington (1-5): Dallas-OK, so maybe I was wrong about the Cowboys being just fine under Andy Dalton.  They didn't just look bad on Monday night.  They looked like they barely knew how to play football!  Yet, the crazy thing is, they'll be back in first place with a win (and still only half a game out with a loss).  This is also Washington's last game before the election, so it'll be the one used to determine if the "Redskins Rule" holds true (although it didn't in either of the last two elections, and they aren't called the Redskins anymore, so this "rule" may officially be dead).

Packers (4-1) at Texans (1-5): Green Bay-Last week's Packers-Bucs game was a surprise in more ways than one.  It looked like they were gonna cruise after that start, but they forgot about the last 50 minutes of the game!  As a result, not only are they no longer undefeated, they find themselves behind the Bears in the NFC North.  Houston has been a much better team in the two weeks since Romeo Crennel took over, but, as we saw last week, they don't quite have enough to get over the hump against the top teams.

Buccaneers (4-2) at Raiders (3-2): Las Vegas-They flexed this one out of Sunday night at the last minute because of positive COVID tests on the Raiders, but it actually worked out better.  Now fans in Tampa can watch the Bucs and Rays back-to-back on FOX instead of having to flip between them.  Last week, we saw flashes of what the Bucs offense might be this season, as they crushed the Packers after spotting Green Bay a 10-0 lead.  The Raiders are coming off an impressive win of their own over the Chiefs.  And you know Gruden wants to beat Tampa Bay at all costs!

Chiefs (5-1) at Broncos (2-3): Kansas City-Finally, a game that will be played as it was originally scheduled!  The Chiefs have had two impromptu Monday afternoon/evening games in the past three weeks, while Denver lost its bye because of the Patriots' issues.  Once that game was finally played, the Broncos looked like the team that had actually been able to practice.  Kansas City hasn't had that problem, though.  And the Chiefs are still arguably the best team in the AFC.

49ers (3-3) at Patriots (2-3): New England-For the first time in 15 years, the New England Patriots are below .500.  The Patriots are also in third-place! in the AFC East (I don't remember the last time they trailed Miami in the standings).  They clearly aren't the same dominant team anymore, but I don't think it's cause for alarm.  Although, with the 49ers visiting Foxboro, it'll probably have their fans missing Jimmy Garoppolo pretty badly.  Especially if he outperforms Cam Newton.

Jaguars (1-5) at Chargers (1-4): Chargers-SoFi Stadium has two games in a weekend for the first time, starting with Jaguars-Chargers on Sunday.  That wasn't supposed to be the case, but this is one of four Chargers games that was moved to accommodate the rescheduling of Broncos-Patriots.  They were originally supposed to be in Miami, and Jacksonville was supposed to be off!  Which one can better adjust to the schedule change?  I think the advantage goes to the one that doesn't have to fly cross country.

Seahawks (5-0) at Cardinals (4-2): Seattle-NBC's replacement Sunday night game is a pretty good one.  The Seahawks are arguably the best team in football, while the Cardinals are that team nobody wants to play.  Arizona is a very dangerous opponent for good teams, and the Seahawks know it.  They'll be ready.  The Cardinals will keep it close, but Russell Wilson will lead a late game-winning drive that keeps Seattle undefeated.

Bears (5-1) at Rams (4-2): Chicago-Despite being 5-1, the Chicago Bears don't get much love.  A lot of critics think their record is simply the product of an easy schedule.  That may be true, but the Bears do have an elite defense.  So do the Rams, who need every win they can get to keep pace in the ultra-competitive NFC West.  This should be a good one, and the winner could depend on which Rams team shows up.  Will it be the one that beat the Eagles in Philadelphia or the one that forgot it had a game last week in San Francisco?

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 8-6
Season: 62-28-1