NFL Week 7 Predictions: Teams Heading North and Teams Heading South

Denver at New Orleans: It’s the battle of rookies. Bo Nix vs. Spencer Rattler. Rattler came to the NFL from University of South Carolina, Nix from the University of Oregon. Rattler made his debut last week as his Saints got “rattled” by the Buccaneers 51-27 in a home game for New Orleans while the Broncos also lost at home by a closer score. Denver is fighting for second place in the AFC West with a record of 3-3 and the Saints are trying to save their season now at 2-4, the opposite record of first place Atlanta. Saints 24 / Broncos 21

New England at Jacksonville: If I was a Jaguars season ticket holder, I would be very angry heading into week seven of the season. For two reasons the Jags fan base should be considering placing bags over their heads. First their team is 1-5 and playing terribly. Secondly, they are in London for a second straight week after being the “away” team across the pond last weekend where they got smoked by the Bears 35-16. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is on the hot seat here in Jacksonville and it’s only getting much warmer. Now they face a rookie quarterback in in Drake Maye who made his debut a week ago only to see his team get spanked by the Texans 41-21. This is a battle of two teams with only two victories between them, each team with one. The talk is that head coach Doug Pederson could very well be fired with a loss here. Typically, the Jags play well in London. They failed to do so last week, and I believe their backs are firmly on the wall and knowing that they will be a much better team this time out. Jaguars 31 / Patriots 21

Seattle at Atlanta: Two teams heading in opposite directions. As the title of this column indicates, teams heading north and south and that is what we have here. The Seahawks are riding a three-game losing streak while host Atlanta is red hot with three straight victories. Kirk Cousins seems to be getting more comfortable wearing Falcons gear and that only means problems for opposing teams. Falcons 35 / Seahawks 17

Tennessee at Buffalo: The Bills have a chance at home to extend their first place hold on the AFC East and with Miami at 2-3 and having quarterback issues, the Jets at 2-4 with a tough game in Pittsburgh on Sunday night, Buffalo can put a stranglehold on the division with a win if those two teams also lose on Sunday. Bills 37 / Titans 13

Cincinnati at Cleveland: The Bengals are out of a playoff run just yet while the Browns who were competitive the last few seasons have regressed to the “same old Browns.” They are awful at the moment meanwhile Deshaun Watson just keeps starting games while he has become one of the league’s worst teams. This could be another case of fans donning paper bags if the Brownies lose again at home. Because Cincinnati has a way more qualified QB Cleveland will be in trouble again in this one. Bengals 34 / Browns 10

Houston at Green Bay: Could this be a Super Bowl preview? No NFC team is standing head and shoulders above the rest such as in the AFC where it seems Kansas City could be heading for a third straight Super Bowl appearance. But the Texans have won their last three to move to 5-1 and the best record in the conference outside of the Chief’s 5-0 mark. The NFC North is in a flux. Every team has a winning record with the Packer and Bears at the bottom with 4-2 records. First and second place are held by Minnesota who is still undefeated and then the Lions at 5-1. This is a crucial game for the Packers with the Lions and Vikings meeting in Minnesota at the same time. The Pack has won their last two, but this is going to be a downright dogfight. Packers 27 / Texans 24

Miami at Indianapolis: Miami’s season is slipping away despite the team announcing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said to be making a return from yet another concussion in a few weeks. The Colts are two behind the Houston Texans and can ill afford a loss here. Colts 30 / Dolphins 13

Detroit at Minnesota: Absolutely, unquestionably, the game of the DAY. This could be what we will see in the NFC title game come January. Can the Vikings remain undefeated? Detroit is coming off a monstrous victory over the Cowboys 47-9 in a game that was a complete joke for Dallas. Everyone is wondering when Vikings quarterback Sam Donald is going to come back to earth and play as he has done in previous years. Is Darnold on a magic carpet ride or is he as good as he has been playing? This game will decide that for sure. Something tells me Minnesota is not as good as their record. Lions 27 / Vikings 17

Philadelphia at New York Giants: Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has seemingly been on the hot seat since last year with much talk about his sticky relationship with quarterback Jalen Hurts. But Philadelphia is just one game behind in the win column trailing the front running and surprising Commanders at 3-2. I smell upset here. Giants 20 / Eagles 17

Las Vegas at Los Angeles Rams: I don’t think anyone could have thought the Rams would be 1-4 at this point but that is their record, and they are in last place in the NFC West. The Raiders are not much better at 2-4. This game lacks any excitement and might just be a snoozer. Rams 23 / Raiders 17

Carolina at Washington: The worst team in the NFL year was the Panthers and they are headed in that direction again. The Commanders are one of those teams with an arrow pointing up. They held their own against the mighty Ravens last weekend and despite losing they should be feeling rather good about how they played. This should be an easy win. Commanders 40 / Panthers 19

Kansas City at San Francisco: A Super Bowl rematch with two teams who have met in the Super Bowl twice in the last five years. The Chiefs won both those games and while many thought Kansas City was on the slide in 2023, they proved everyone wrong and won their second straight Lombardi Trophy. Now they have two in a row and going for something never done before…a “three-peat.” So far so good for the Chiefs in accomplishing that goal but they have to lose sometime right? 49ers 34 / Chiefs 31

New York at Pittsburgh: The word is that Russell Wilson gets his first start on Sunday night dressed in a Steelers jersey. Mike Tomlin has not made it official, but Wilson did practice with the first team this week. That signals he is starting. Justin Fields won four of six games and while he had great moments, as indicated by new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, the Steelers in 2024 would be a ground and pound offense. That is all well and good, but the offense must prove they can throw the ball downfield and with success on a consistent basis. That hasn’t been the case so it appears the time has come for Russ Wilson to prove he can do a better job of that than did Fields. Fields has better legs no doubt but Wilson has the game savvy and experience to his credit. With this game in comes Aaron Rodgers and his newly acquired toy in Davante Adams. They were once long-time teammates, so they know each other well. Playing on Sunday Night Football, in front of their fans, coming off a convincing Raiders victory, momentum is certainly in the Steelers’ favor. Steelers 30 / Jets 20

Baltimore at Tampa Bay: Here we have a very intriguing game. The Ravens running game up against an efficient high scoring offense led by Baker Mayfield. Baker is completing 70% of his passes and has tossed 15 touchdowns while throwing just five interceptions. His counterpart on the other side of the field, Lamar Jackson has a completion percentage of 67.0 and 10 touchdowns through the air while getting picked just twice. Impressive. For Baltimore, Derrick Henry has been reborn and is going buck wild. 704 yards on the ground thus far, a 5.9 per carry average, and a crazy 117.3 yards per game. Just tearing it up. I think this is a case of which team’s defense caves first. This could be a shootout if Mayfield and company solve the Baltimore defense. Bucs 34 / Ravens 31

Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona: The Cards are a tough team to figure out. One week they can put points on the board and on another week getting blown out. Last week was one of those ass whipping weeks losing to Green Bay 34-13. The week before that upsetting the 49ers by one. Facing Washington, Arizona got embarrassed losing 42-14. Go back to week two and the Cardinals hammered the Rams 41-10. For the Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh had a medical scare last weekend during the game with a mild heart condition and had to sit out part of the game. He’s back and a negative can sometimes become a positive as in this case what Harbaugh experience is unfortunate but his players may use it as motivation to win for their coach. Chargers 24 / Cardinals 17

Not playing this week due to their bye are the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys.

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: TBD