NFL Week 7 Short Takes

Week seven in the NFL brought a handful of blowouts, bad teams getting worse, and some high scoring shootouts. Time to give you this week’s short takes.
Philadelphia 22 New York Giants 21. The Eagles needed a win and thought this might be a walk in the park but much to the contrary they had to battle for a victory against a team with just one win.

49ers 33 / Patriots 6

Jimmy Garoppolo returned to Massachusetts and left a winner against his old team and the Patriots suffered a rare blowout on their turf.

Bills 18 / Jets 10

The Jets remained the Jets and the Bills extended their division lead scoring 18 points which is an unusual total. Next up for Buffalo, the Patriots and that should be an interesting game.

Saints 27 / Panthers 24

Hand it to Carolina for staying competitive and the conversation about a declining Drew Brees continues.

Browns 37 / Bengals 34

It appeared the Browns were headed for a dismal loss in this shootout until Baker Mayfield saved the day at the game’s end.

Washington 25 / Cowboys 3

Talk about a disaster for first-year Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy. To be blown out by The Washington Football Team speaks volumes as to where Dallas is at. For Washington, they are miles ahead of “America’s Team” for the moment.

Lions 23 / Falcons 22

The Falcons story for 2020 thus far is easily defined as blown leads. Up 22-16 with the game clock running down, Todd Gurley was instructed in the huddle by Matt Ryan to pick up a first down in the red zone and not to score so the Falcons could run out the clock. But Gurley in his rush attempt failed to fall down short of the goal line and instead broke the play giving Detroit another offensive opportunity. They capitalized and drove down the field for a game-winning touchdown.

Packers 35 / Texans 20

Incredibly there are six teams in the NFL right now with just a single victory and one without any (Jets). The Texans are one of the six and this after winning their division in 2019 with 10 wins. They won’t get anywhere near that mark this season.

Steelers 27 / Titans 24

One of these teams was going to suffer their first defeat of the season and the end result here was a tale of two halves. The first two quarters was all Pittsburgh, three and four belonged to Tennessee. It came down to a tying field goal and I kid you not, I turned to my wife and asked her to put a hex on Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski who was trying for a game-tying three-pointer from 45 yards out. She put on the hex and he missed. Game over. Steelers are still undefeated. Pittsburgh nearly blew a 20 point lead a 27-7 advantage they held at one point. But when leading by 20, the Steelers simply do not lose. Literally. Their record when winning by 20 throughout their history is an incredible 225-0-1. Pittsburgh’s defense is among the league’s best recording two sacks in this game making it 63 straight games with a sack now just six games from the all-time record set by Tampa from 1999-2003.

Buccaneers 45 / Raiders 20

The Bucs are rolling with Tom Brady in control now 5-2 and in first place in the NFC South. The Raiders are staying close to the Chiefs in their division despite the loss and are just two games back from K.C. How far Brady and the Bucs can go this season remains to be seen but left on their schedule in the second half are the Giants, Saints, Panthers, Rams, Chiefs, Vikings, Falcons, Lions, and Falcons again.

Chargers 39 / Jaguars 29

Aside from the lowly Jets, the Jaguars have the longest losing streak in the NFL this season now at six games. They won their opener and haven’t put a victory in the W column since. That’s bad. They were proposed to be one of the league’s worst teams in the league heading into this campaign now they are proving it. Justin Herbert is pushing for Rookie of the year at quarterback for the ‘Bolts.

Chiefs 43 / Broncos 16

A blowout for the world champs who will probably get another this weekend when they take on the league’s only team without a win, those pathetic Jets. For the Broncos, who knows when the day arrives that they can say they have the successor to John Elway.

Cardinals 37 / Seahawks 34

A wild one here with the unbeaten Seahawks gaining advantages of 20-7, 27-14, 34-24 and then blowing that final lead as Kyler Murray brought his Cardinals back with three unanswered scores the game-winner in overtime on a Zen Gonzalez 48-yard field goal. The first loss for Seattle leaves just Pittsburgh as the only team without an L. The huge win for Arizona keeps them relevant in the NFC West just one game behind the Seahawks.

Rams 24 / Bears 10

The Bears are probably the worst 5-2 team in the NFL. Maybe Nick Foles is not the answer in Chicago. He was 28 of 40 for just 261 yards and threw two interceptions. He was also sacked four times. He has yet to throw for more than 300 yards this season and has tossed six interceptions in five games while hitting on just six touchdowns passing. His QBR is just 50.8%. Ouch.