Week 7 NFL Predix

 By Jacob Sanders

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer as the saying goes. That’s what happened this last week as the Baltimore Ravens just traded for Yannick Ngokue and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Antonio Brown. But how did the poor get poorer? Well, the hapless Vikings traded away Ngokue and the Jaguars appear ready to bench Minschew for *checks notes* Mike Glennon. Man that’s a name we haven’t heard for a while. Guess that’s just the way of the NFL sometimes. No one ever said life was fair, eh?

Sanders went 8-6 last week putting him to 62-28-1 on the season. He also picked the Eagles to win on TNF and is 1-0 on the start of Week 7.

PIT Steelers vs TEN Titans

Arguably, this is the game of the week. There are some good matchups on the slate this week, but none of them feature two undefeated teams like this one does. To pick this kind of game, you need to be able to pick apart the teams and see what their weaknesses are. For the Titans, their weakness seems to lie within the secondary. Outside of that, they have a strong passing game, a decent front seven on the D-line, and the best runner in football with King Henry. When it comes to the Steelers though, I truly can’t find a real “weakness.” One could argue that James Conner being the No. 1 back isn’t all that impressive. While I would agree, Conner has fulfilled the role just fine. This Steelers defense is among the best in the NFL and Big Ben is playing excellent football. I’m thinking the Steelers are just tiny bit better than the Titans.

Steelers 27 Titans 24

DAL Cowboys vs Washington

Some matchups every week, I look at and tell myself “Yeah, I would just rather not write about that matchup at all” and this is one of them. The Cowboys look putrid without Dak. They were already terrible with him leading a great offense. Take away their best player and leader on the field, and you get the results of an embarrassment on the field. I’m still of the opinion Mike Nolan needs to be fired with reports that players don’t feel they’re being coached well at all. All this to be said that they’re playing Washington this weekend which is another terrible football team. Washington has some pieces both on offense and defense but neither really complement each other. This Dallas defense is so bad I would love to pick against them, but I don’t think Kyle Allen starting for Washington is going to get them a W here. It would be a different story if I saw Alex Smith was starting.

Cowboys 17 Washington 16

BUF BIlls vs NY Jets

As usual for a Jets matchup, I got a short one here. I will keep banging the idea into this column that Adam Gase needs to be fired and as long as the Jets have Adam Gase, I am never picking them to win a football game this season. It would also be quite an embarrassment to the Bills if they lost this game.

Bills 35 Jets 17

CAR Panthers vs NO Saints

Both of these teams need a win here. Moreso than their other NFC counterparts. How come? Essentially, this is one of the toughest games on the schedule for both teams. If you can win your tough games (and assuming you win your easy games), then playoff spots are pretty easy to lock up. If I had to make the case, I’d say the Panthers need this one more than the Saints today. However, the Panthers are traveling to play a Saints team that just came fresh off a bye meanwhile they got battered by a Chicago Bears defense. I don’t think the Panthers will come falling flat, but I don’t expect a fresh Saints team to just roll over for the Panthers despite missing both of their top two WRs this week.

Panthers 20 Saints 27

GB Packers vs HOU Texans

Both the Packers and Texans had rough weeks last week. The Packers got outclassed by the Bucs while the Texans were at the mercy of King Henry. They face each other this week in a non-conference clash in Texas. That’s about as hype as I can make this game because I foresee this one being a stomp. Deshaun Watson has really turned it on, but I don’t anticipate the Packers to A. lose two in a row or B. not take advantage of a porous Texans defense. It’s gonna be a long year Houston. Almost as if B.O.B. wasn’t the entire problem….

Packers 35 Texans 26

CLE Browns vs CIN Bengals

Listen, I really like what the Bengals got going on offensively. Joe Burrow has been fun to watch and they’re putting up competitive games which is something this team didn’t do last year. However, there’s still a ton of holes on this roster, and they’re facing a Browns roster that doesn’t have too many holes in it. While this one could be a high scoring affair like it was early in the season, I anticipate this one to be a little more one-sided. The Browns have gotten better since these teams met and the Bengals have stayed relatively the same. Just….don’t let Baker repeat last week’s performance, and it’s an easy W.

Browns 28 Bengals 21

DET Lions vs ATL Falcons

After last week’s performance, I can confidently say that I think the Lions are a better team than the Falcons. The Falcons have all the potential in the world to blow off the ceiling of their opponent, but the defense is still….mediocre. I don’t want to hear how they blew up the Vikings offense. They caught Kirk Cousins having a bad Kirk Cousins game. That’s not convincing to literally anyone. However, the Lions on the other hand have been showing some positives and Swift has been having a bit of a breakout year. I don’t like Patricia, but the Lions roster has been, overall, better than Atlanta’s so far. Give me Atlanta.

Lions 38 Falcons 34

TB Bucs vs LV Raiders

The would-be SNF matchup was moved to the afternoon due to some COVID concerns. That doesn’t take away just how fun of a matchup this is. It’s the high flying Bucs vs the ground and pound Raiders. These offenses have completely opposite styles and I love that. This game comes down to which defense bends first. Once one of the offenses gets their way, they’ll probably control the game the rest of the way. In other words, I’m picking the team with the better defense and I think that belongs to the Buccaneers. The Raiders can win a shootout, but I’ll take Tom Brady and Co. still over Derek Carr and Co. Should be a close one though as I love both of these teams.

Bucs 35 Raiders 31

JAX Jaguars vs LA Chargers

Listen here. If it weren’t for the Jets being so terrible, then the Jaguars would be the worst team in the NFL. They sold the farm in the offseason and left the team with no help and they play like it. There isn’t much to say about the Jaguars when there isn’t much that they’re giving us on the tape. The Chargers on the other hand, give us a lot to be excited for on tape. The offense has some dynamic weapons and Justin Herbert is a blast to watch. The defense leaves something to be desired, but that happens when you lose your best defensive player in the preseason. Anyway, the Chargers are better than a 1-4 record would indicate. They’ll beat up on the Jags here.

Jaguars 14 Chargers 23

SF 49ers vs NE Patriots

Tough one to pick here. I guess it depends on which 49ers offense shows up and which Cam Newton shows up that determines the outcome of this game. However, one thing that’s been bothering me is that the Patriots lost last week. Bellichick normally doesn’t ever lose two games in a row. I mean, it’s quite possible. But for some reason, I can’t convince myself that the Patriots lose a 2nd game in a row. If they do, they’re in quite a bit of trouble. I’m not trying to underestimate Shanahan’s ability to gameplan, but I’m certainly not going to pick against Bellichick coming off a loss.

49ers 24 Patriots 26

KC Chiefs vs DEN Broncos

This isn’t a negative when I say this. But the Chiefs are really struggling against divisional opponents. They were almost knocked off by the Chargers and then got outmatched offensively by the Raiders. So the Broncos are going to do the same right? Honestly, I doubt it. But, I do think this game will be close for a bit of time before the Chiefs take over. Also, the Chiefs have Le’Veon Bell coming in this week. Good luck Vic Fangio and Co. You’ll need it.

Chiefs 31 Broncos 20

SEA Seahawks vs AZ Cardinals

Huge game here. Plenty of playoff seeding implications here. I’ve gone back and forth on this quite a bit, but ultimately reached a conclusion. This Seattle offense is sizzling and their matchup has also been sizzling as well. Budda Baker has been showing the NFL why he’s currently the highest paid safety in football. But, the one time the Cardinals D played against a mobile QB this year, they got crushed. So I’m not sure how they’ll keep the Seahawks offense in check. On the other hand, I think the Cardinals offense is a great matchup against the Seahawks. The Cardinals offense is productive and the Seahawks defense is pretty leaky. This all leads to the conclusion that, barring Wilson just making everybody on the field look like a fool, that the matchup favors the Cardinals by just a smidge. So, it’s an upset pick for me.

Seahawks 24 Cardinals 27

CHI Bears vs LA Rams

 There’s a theory I have going on about the Rams and it’s that they’re pretenders. Why? They’re 4-2 how can you say that? Well, they lost to a flawed Bills team and an injury-riddled 49ers. They’re wins? THE NFC EAST!!!!! That’s who they’ve beat. The worst teams in football and they’ve fallen short to two decent teams. So here they come hosting a MNF against another decent team. Let me break this down: Jared Goff looked awful against the 49ers last week. It seems that Goff still struggles when playing against good defenses. Well, the Monsters of the Midway are coming to town. If you ask me, this reminds me of a game where it gets ugly real quick and that’s the type of game the Bears want to play. It’s gonna be dirty, ugly, and defensive-minded. Give me the Bears.

Bears 17 Rams 14