Welcome to week 7! It’s a pivotal week for teams around the league, as injuries continue to mount and many teams yearn for the bye week. There are some marquee games to be played this week that will have playoff implications in terms of tiebreakers. Revenge games, estranged teammates, and more!
This NFL shit really is just reality TV for dudes (& chicks ofc), huh?
Starting in Detroit, the 4-2 Lions will take on the 5-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and MVP candidate Baker Mayfield. The Bucs got a huge win over another top NFC team, the Seattle Seahawks, last week so they are riding high. The Lions are doing the opposite of riding high. They got outclassed in Kansas City last weekend and will be biting off kneecaps looking to bounce back up.
Another big NFC matchup pits the 4-2 Philadelphia Eagles and the 3-2 Minnesota Vikings against each other. The Eagles haven’t won in Minnesota since 2007. The 3-2 Atlanta Falcons and 4-2 San Francisco 49ers will meet on Sunday Night Football. The winners of these 3 critical NFC showdowns will be set up for major success the rest of the season, while the 3 losers will take a step back.
In the AFC, the Cleveland Browns host the Miami Dolphins in what could be a tankathon special between two terrible football organizations. Meanwhile, a battle for the top spot in the conference is at stake in Los Angeles with the 5-1 Indianapolis Colts taking on the 4-2 Chargers.
Los Angeles’ other team, the Rams meet the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, with the winner of that game moving to 5-2, and well on the way to a playoff berth in their respective conferences. A vital NFC South matchup takes place in Dallas between the 2-3-1 Cowboys and the 3-3 Washington Commanders. With the Eagles on a two-game losing streak, the NFC South is up for grabs.
The SuperContest Picks & Why:(Steelers -5 at Bengals)The Pittsburgh offense saw Jaylen Warren return last week and helped open up the running game. He posted just under 5.0 yards per carry and led the Steelers with 52 rushing yards against a Browns’ run defense that ranks in the top 5. The Bengals have given up the 4th-most rushing yards in the entire league and rank dead last in offensive rushing yards. I expect Aaron Rodgers to control the game.
This one is pretty simple. Kansas City returns
from a lengthy suspension following a nasty LCL tear early in the 2024 season. The Chiefs already looked like they are back to being the best team in football against the Lions. Las Vegas could be without
and
, two huge pieces on offense.
and company should put up numbers in Arrowhead.
This is the storyline matchup of the week. There is history at Oklahoma between
and
, with Williams taking Rattler’s starting job midway through his true freshman season. This forced Rattler to transfer to South Carolina and William to follow
to USC. Williams became the number one overall pick and Rattler fell to the fifth round.
was fired as the Saints head coach, so he will get to face his former team and
, who he openly disliked.
The Panthers’ defense has been sneaky good this year, highlighted by a shutout of the Atlanta Falcons – a game many wrote off as a fluke. No fluke, the Panthers are dominant in the trenches.
has 473 yards from scrimmage over the last two weeks, and
is set to return this week. Defensively, the Panthers’ defense has improved drastically. They are a top 5 defense over the last 4 weeks, ranking 4th in success rate, 4th in rush EPA and leading the NFL in rush success rate.
The Cowboys will wear their all-white alternates this weekend. Unfortunately for them, it’s the players inside the nice, white uniforms who play defense. It’s really hard to put into writing how bad Dallas is at stopping the run. They rank dead last in almost every single rushing statistic, advanced analytic and pure, on-field film. Not only that, but the Cowboys’ defense also ranks 32nd in ppg (30.7), total yards (2,470), rushing first downs allowed (61) and third down conversion rate (53.2%). Bad, bad, bad.
Jaguars +3 vs Rams (London)
Dolphins +2.5 at Browns
Titans +7 vs Patriots
Vikings +1.5 vs Eagles
Chargers -1.5 vs Colts
Cardinals +6.5 vs Packers
49ers -2 vs Falcons
Lions -5.5 vs Buccaneers
Texans +3 at Seahawks
I’ll use these blogs to keep track of my 2025 picks. If you’re using this for g*mbling advice, focus on the SuperContest 5. Best of luck to all those using these or fading me.
Disclaimer: I’m not the best pick-maker the word has ever seen, but I do have a winning record over the 2023 & 2024 seasons of 261-227-15. You can see where we are so far this season. The SuperContest games will have a *
I will not be picking any Broncos games this year as another FYI.