Sunday’s NFL Week 7 action brought us some major surprises. Most have the Detroit Lions pegged as a legitimate Super Bowl contender with the team in the midst of a four-game winning streak. The Baltimore Ravens were having none of that, blowing out Detroit at home by the score of 38-6. Lamar Jackson dominated while Jared Goff struggled.
In Chicago, the Las Vegas Raiders were riding a two-game winning streak heading into their game against the Bears. With Brian Hoyer replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo under center, Vegas put up an humiliating effort. At 3-4, we’re not sure where Josh McDaniels and Co. go from here.
The late-afternoon slate saw Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce highlight things as the Kansas City Chiefs earned their sixth consecutive victory. Meanwhile, officiating in Southern California was ugly.
These are among the 10 biggest winners and losers from Sunday’s NFL Week 7 action.
Winner: Myles Garrett puts up one of best defensive performances ever
Whether he was blocking field goals, giving his team touchdowns or living in the Indianapolis Colts’ backfield on Sunday, Garrett put up one of the greatest performances from a defensive player in history. That’s not hyperbole.
Garrett took three points off the board via this blocked field goal. Later in the game, the likely NFL Defensive Player of the Year strip-sacked Gardner Minshew. It led to a Browns touchdown and a 24-21 lead.
Cleveland would need all of this and more as it came out of Indianapolis with a hard-fought 39-38 win. When all was said and done, Garrett put up nine tackles, six QB pressures, two sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked field goal. That’s simply insanity.
Loser: Officials screw the pooch in Los Angeles
The Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves up 24-17 late in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams in Southern California Sunday afternoon. Quarterback Kenny Pickett went with a sneak on fourth-and-one from Los Angeles’ 39-yard-line.
That’s when all heck broke loose. Officials gave Pickett a first down after the chain gang came out. It looked as if Pickett was short. But the Rams had no more timeouts remaining to challenge on the other side of the two minute warning. Ultimately, the clock continued to run down to the two-minute warning with the Steelers being able to take a knee and end the game with a huge seven-point win.
As you can see, Pickett did look to be short on the run. Rams head coach Sean McVay was obviously angry on the sideline as this entire situation played out. First off, Pickett didn’t get the first down. Secondly, officials didn’t review the play despite the game clock having hit the two-minute warning. The end result was a terrible Rams loss and a 3-4 record instead of a 4-3 mark. Ouch!
Winner: Lamar Jackson returning to NFL MVP level
Jackson entered NFL Week 7 having thrown just five touchdown passes in six starts this season. He had been open about the Ravens’ struggles on offense despite a 4-2 start to the campaign. Baltimore was also set to take on an elite Detroit Lions defense at home on Sunday. Most figured this would be a low-scoring affair.
About that? Jackson and his Ravens opened up a 28-0 halftime lead with the quarterback having thrown two touchdown passes while running in for another score. One of those touchdowns was absolutely insane.
Jackson finished Sunday’s game having completed 21-of-27 passes for 393 total yards with four total touchdowns and zero interceptions. It represented his best single-game performance since Week 2 of the 2022 season. It also led to an absolutely dominating 38-6 win for a Ravens squad that now looks like legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
Loser: Buffalo Bills struggle again
For the third time in as many weeks, the Bills put up a less-than-stellar effort. It has Sean McDermott’s squad at 4-3 and looking very much like a pretender.
The latest iteration of Buffalo’s struggles came on the road against the previously one-win New England Patriots during NFL Week 7. Buffalo fell down 10-0 in the first quarter with the team running one offensive play (a Josh Allen interception).
The Bills then found themselves down 22-10 in the fourth quarter before coming away with two consecutive touchdowns to take a late lead. That’s when Buffalo’s previously dominant defense yielded a 75-yard touchdown scoring drive to Mac Jones and the Patriots to drop their second game in three weeks. Having looked like one of the worst QBs in the NFL through the first six weeks (5 TD, 7 INT), Jones completed 25-of-30 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions against Buffalo.
Buffalo has games coming up against the Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins moving forward on the season. Forget about Super Bowl contention, continued struggles like we saw on Sunday could lead to the Bills missing out on the playoffs altogether.
Winner: Travis Kelce does it for Taylor Swift
Are you tired of the entire Taylor Swift storyline this season? Too bad. It was a major focal point Sunday afternoon as the pop legend made her way to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City to watch Chiefs star Travis Kelce and Co. take on the division rival Los Angeles Chargers. As always, she was looking great.
About Kelce and his performance on the actual football field. Well, he wanted to show off for his girl. Boy, did the All-Pro tight end do just that. Kelce caught 12-of-13 targets for 179 yards with a touchdown.
Get used to it. Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are a thing. He’s the best tight end in football. This story is not going away. In the meantime, Kelce just continues to win at life as his Chiefs moved to 6-1 on Sunday.
Loser: What in the world is Josh McDaniels doing?
First off, it made no real sense for the Raiders to start Brian Hoyer over rookie Aidan O’Connell with Jimmy Garoppolo sidelined to injury. Apparently, McDaniels and Co. still believe that they are playoff contenders. Nothing we’ve seen from this team thus far in 2023 has shown this.
Despite falling down 21-3 late in the third quarter, McDaniels opted to keep Hoyer in the game rather than go with O’Connell. The end result was an ugly 30-12 loss.
Hoyer completed a mere 17-of-32 passes with zero touchdowns and two interceptions, including a pick-six. Josh Jacobs went for just 35 yards on 11 attempts. A frustrated Davante Adams caught seven passes for 57 yards.
At 3-4 and with games coming up against the Lions, Giants, Jets, Dolphins and Chiefs, the Raiders are going nowhere fast. It might now be time to blow this whole thing up ahead of the Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline. Meanwhile, McDaniels has to be seen as a candidate to be the first head coach fired.
Winner: Denver Broncos defense continues to step up
It was less than a month ago that the Broncos’ defense was absolutely humiliated in giving up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins. After some struggles against the Chicago Bears and New York Jets in this regard, Vance Joseph’s defense has come up big.
Despite losing to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs last week, the Broncos gave up just 19 points against Patrick Mahomes and Co.
Taking on the Green Bay Packers in NFL Week 7, this unit stepped up big time Sunday afternoon. Denver held the Packers to just 17 points with safety P.J. Locke sealing it via an interception of Jordan Love as Green Bay was driving for the potential win late in the fourth quarter.
There is something to be said about having heart. Despite the Broncos’ 2-5 record, at least one side of the ball is showing that right now for Sean Payton’s squad.
Loser: Deshaun Watson injured again
Watson made his return to the field briefly on Sunday after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury. Before one quarter was even up against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Watson found himself sidelined. The quarterback hit his head hard on the turf after nearly throwing his second interception of the opening stanza.
Watson went into the concussion protocol with P.J. Walker taking over under center. Despite passing through said protocol, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski opted to keep Walker in the game. Whether Watson was benched after completing 1-of-5 passes for five yards and an interception remains to be seen. It doesn’t seem like it.
What we do know is that Myles Garrett dominated in every way possible as Cleveland moved to a surprising 4-2 on the season. Watson has played a very small role in this start, leading to concerns about his status as the Browns’ franchise quarterback. What we saw in limited action from the veteran during NFL Week 7 did nothing to change this narrative.
Winner: Bill Belichick notches 300th career win
There was a major backdrop with the New England Patriots heading into their NFL Week 7 game against the Buffalo Bills. Bill Belichick was seemingly on the hot seat after the team started the season with a 1-5 record. That’s until we learned that he signed a contract extension with New England ahead of the 2023 campaign. He’s not going anywhere.
On the field, Belichick’s Patriots played inspired football in a shocking home win over the Bills. Mac Jones put up the best performance of his career. Meanwhile, New England’s defense came to play for Belichick. The end result was his 300th career win, joining the likes of Don Shula and George Halas on that exclusive list.
Loser: Sam Howell continues to be battered
This second-year Washington Commanders quarterback entered NFL Week 7 having been sacked a whopping 34 times in just six games thus far on the season. There was some hope that Washington’s offensive line could hold up against a Giants defense that had recorded just five sacks of their own.
It did not happen. Howell found himself sacked six more times in what was an ugly 14-7 Commanders loss to the Giants. He was also hit a total of 12 times. It was ugly. Really, really ugly.
Howell is now on pace to be sacked an NFL-record 97 times this season. Of course, that’s dependent on the young quarterback actually remaining healthy with all of the hits he’s been taking. This really is on the Commanders’ front office and coaching staff. They are not putting the young quarterback in a situation to succeed. Sunday’s performance magnified this in a big way.