2018 NFL Season Week 7: Quick picks for every game
By Erik Lambert
The 2018 NFL season week 7 slate of games looks more even on paper than perhaps any series yet this year, which is great news for fans.
It starts with a competitive AFC clash in London and ends with two desperate NFC teams on Monday night. In between, it’s a series of unique matchups and bitter showdowns that could determine the course of each conference. Here is a quick breakdown of each game, what has happened to this point and who should come out on top.
Tennessee Titans at Los Angeles Chargers (London)
The late news that Melvin Gordon would not play for the Chargers is significant. The Titans defense is highly underrated and they tend to frustrate quarterbacks. Even good ones like Philip Rivers. This feels like one of those games that may be sloppy and close the whole way. Can the Titans offense get out of their prolonged slump?
TEN 16, LAC 20
New England Patriots at Chicago Bears
Tom Brady is great even without Rob Gronkowski, but he is a bit more mortal than usual. It’s one less problem that good Bears defense will have to worry about, allowing them to focus resources elsewhere. Chicago’s offense has plenty of firepower but they’ve been mistake-prone at times this year. They better play under control against a Patriots team that has 12 takeaways.
NE 28, CHI 27
Buffalo Bills at Indianapolis Colts
Derek Anderson will start in place of the injured Josh Allen. This should not be considered an automatic win for Indy. This is a longtime backup with lots of starting experience who went to a Pro Bowl once upon a time after all. Still, Andrew Luck is hard to stop in general, but especially in that dome. Buffalo likely just won’t keep up.
BUF 20, IND 31
Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars
The AFC South might be one of the wackiest divisions in football. Every team is talented but also not playing well. The Texans and Jaguars epitomize that reality more than any other. Jacksonville’s defense just got humiliated in Dallas, so they’ll be out for blood in this one. Not good news for Deshaun Watson who has been thoroughly pounded behind a lackluster offensive line.
HOU 14, JAX 17
Detroit Lions at Miami Dolphins
The Lions have been quite the up-and-down team the past month, looking bad and good in equal measure depending on the week. They travel down to Miami with that notorious Florida heat that ate up Chicago a week ago. Can their much-less talented defense do a better job? More likely this could fall to Matthew Stafford needing a big game.
DET 23, MIA 26
Minnesota Vikings at New York Jets
Two teams that are actually quite similar. Each possesses a talented but flawed defense and each possesses a quarterback that can put up huge numbers but also is turnover prone. Games like this can tend to get a bit crazy and unpredictable. The Jets have been good at home recently, scoring 34 and 42 points while Minnesota has been all over the place on the road.
MIN 21, NYJ 24
Carolina Panthers at Philadelphia Eagles
A battle of two highly talented teams that are playing some good football of late. Philadelphia seems to have finally settled themselves after a rough stretch earlier this year. Carolina was and remains a balanced team around their core of Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly. It was a dogfight when these two teams met last year and should be again.
CAR 24, PHI 28
Cleveland Browns at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield has faced a slew of tough defenses so far this year. That’s about to change against the hapless Buccaneers who just fired defensive coordinator Mike Smith. Regardless of who replaces him, it doesn’t change how limited that team is in their secondary. That means the #1 overall pick could be in line for a big afternoon if he’s protected.
CLE 35, TB 30