Week 7 of the NFL is over and it’s time for our users to look at the performances again. While there is only one undefeated team in the Chiefs, the offenses of other franchises are floundering. In addition, the bloodletting due to injuries is progressing among all teams.
This week were Neo and Floreich11 working for you:
The 30 Biggest Monster Contracts in the NFL
Detroit Lions
31:29 at the Minnesota Vikings
by Neo
Let’s start with the top game in the NFC North. For neutral fans there was a real nail-biter to see at US Bank Stadium over the weekend: The Detroit Lions defeated the previously undefeated Minnesota Vikings (for me the surprise team of the season so far!) thanks to a field goal from the previously perfect kicker Jake Bates 15 seconds before the end of the game. While it was the Lions’ fifth win, the Vikings lost for the first time this season.
Words have been repeatedly spoken about the Lions in the past few weeks. The team is currently in top form and seems capable of winning against any opponent despite injuries to key players – especially on the D-line (DE Hutchinson and DT Peko).
This is only possible because the offense, after initial difficulties at the start of the season, is performing at a consistently high level again and Jared Goff, who I often criticized, is perhaps playing his best season to date. The quarterback has an incredible completion rate. Playmakers like WR Amon Ra-St. Brown, RB Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery or TE Sam LaPorta are convincing, but the “second line” with WR Kalif Raymond or Tim Patrick also repeatedly has important catches.
You can’t praise the O-line and the coaching staff around Dan Campbell enough. But what OC Ben Johnson has created for the Lions over the last few years is really cool and nice to see. And despite bad luck with injuries, I believe that the team can at least get into the NFC championship game again.
Now let’s come to the Vikings: I’m extremely impressed with this team because I didn’t actually see them as a playoff candidate before the season. And from my point of view, with the exception of the second quarter, in which they conceded 21 unanswered points, it was also a really strong performance against the Lions: HC Kevin O’Connell built a great team and game system – with Sam Darnold in charge QB that many have already written off.
However, Darnold’s major and minor mistakes are also what are holding this team back a little. The surprisingly strong O-line actually buys him a lot of time, but Darnold isn’t making enough of it yet. That’s why I don’t think the Vikings are a true Super Bowl contender – at least not yet.
At this point you could also say a few words about the suboptimal time-out and clock management. But I think the Vikings are a very stable team with a game plan that works. They will show that again next Thursday against the (not to be underestimated) Rams.
The Vikings defeat was probably the best-case scenario for the tension in the highly competitive NFC North, especially for neutral NFL fans.
New Orleans Saints
10:33 against the Denver Broncos
by Floreich11
“From Hero to Zero” perfectly describes the Saints’ season so far. While in the first two weeks of the season they were firing from all cannons and basically overrunning their opponents, there has been an absolutely negative trend since then. Of course, you have to anticipate that the Saints, in addition to starting QB Derek Carr, will have to do without many players due to injuries. But which NFL team isn’t doing that right now?
While last week against the Bucs they played on equal terms at least in the first half, against the Broncos they had neither attack nor defense during the entire game. In particular, the running game, which was very strong at the beginning of the season, seems to have been canceled and the defense is no longer able to put pressure on the opposing QB and certainly not to stop the running game.
After Week 2, the Saints were found in the top 10 in many power rankings, but now you have to go far back to find them.
Russell Wilson
264 Yards, 2 Passing TDs & 1 Rushing TD
by Floreich11
“Let Russell cook” was the motto in Seattle for many years before Wilson spent an inglorious season in Denver and was already labeled “washed.” After injury problems at the beginning of the season, it already looked as if the starting role would remain with Justin Fields, who played well for his standards. Many NFL experts and Steelers fans saw no reason to put Wilson on the field.
These critics were proven wrong, at least in Wilson’s first appearance. The former Super Bowl winner obviously took the Steelers’ offense to a new level and impressed with his performance against a strong Jets defense.
It was definitely a strong comeback that will certainly make one or two Steelers fans dream of great success.
Cleveland Browns fans
by Floreich11
It’s one thing not to want to see your team’s not-incorrect quarterback on the field, but booing him or being happy about such a serious injury is an absolute no-go.
For your information: Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles tendon in the second quarter against the Bengals without any outside influence and was visibly in pain on the field afterward. Some Browns fans took this as an opportunity to boo their playmaker. In addition, some Browns on social media were visibly pleased that Watson would now be off the field for an extended period of time.
Something like that doesn’t work at all. The dilemma surrounding the Browns’ Watson signing is taking on completely new forms and will probably not end well for either side.
Ricky Pearsall
(San Francisco 49ers)
by Neo
Admittedly, there were other deserving candidates in this category (e.g. Brian Thomas of the Jets) with better performances. Things aren’t really going well for the 49ers this season, as you can easily see from the record. The entire team is lagging behind expectations from previous (successful) years, and they had no chance against unconvincing Chiefs (colleague Floreich has already discussed this) at the weekend.
Now they have also lost WR Brandon Aiyuk with a serious knee injury, who only signed a contract for $120 million in August. His colleagues Deebo Samuel and Juan Jennings also did not play due to injuries and illness.
That created an opportunity for first-round pick WR Ricky Pearsall, who caught his first career pass in the second quarter. This is remarkable because he was shot in the chest just 50 days ago and was incredibly lucky that no organs were injured and there were no consequential damages. What is hard to imagine here is a social problem and normality in gun-loving America: gun ownership and shootings are part of life there.
I often wish that American sports personalities would address the gun problem in America more openly: But we are a sports site and therefore do not want to judge that further. WR Pearsall finished the game with three catches for 21 yards. I hope that a few more will come along. In any case, the chances are not bad given the 49ers’ injury misery.
1.4 to 0.8
by Floreich11
This number is currently the approximate ratio of touchdowns to interceptions per game so far this season. But is this ratio so much worse than in previous years, or is the impression that there are particularly few touchdowns and many interceptions being thrown at the moment deceptive?
Compared to last year’s regular season, the numbers are almost the same. However, if you use the numbers from the end of the 2010s, the ratio is closer to 1.7 to 0.7. So you can already see a trend towards fewer touchdowns.
The passing yards per game are also steadily decreasing every year. While there were 247 yards in 2020, we are now at a good 230 yards per game. The reasons for this are varied and would probably require a separate text. But especially the Cover 2 defense with two high juicers made the deep pass very difficult.
In addition, the linebackers have become more agile and can therefore defend better against the pass or play in coverage. What do you think the reasons are? Will this make the running game more important again in the future and will the RBs be paid better again?
Floreich11:
The Chiefs have stumbled a bit through the season so far and are still the only remaining undefeated team. There hasn’t actually been a really smooth victory so far: sometimes a few centimeters led to victory. Sometimes there were controversial decisions from the refs and mostly the Chiefs’ offense was particularly unconvincing. But for me the Chiefs are still one of the most dangerous teams in the league. But why?
The Chiefs have changed extremely during the Mahomes era. From an offensive spectacle to a safe game in which, above all, the defense controls. This is reminiscent of the New England Patriots in the Tom Brady era.
The defense under Steve Spagnuolo plays great collectively, adapts very well to every opponent and thus takes away their strengths (be it the running game or the passing game), which means that only three teams have scored over 20 points in the last 15 games. This takes pressure off the limping offense and doesn’t lead to shootouts.
The offense, in contrast, is far from dominant, but continuously moves the ball through a mix of run and pass games and scores regularly. Of course, the injuries (Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown, Juju Smith-Schuster, Isiah Pacheco) and the increasing age of Travis Kelce are also noticeable here.
But despite these problems on offense and precisely because of the dominance of the defense, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes continue to find ways to win games. Although from my point of view there is only one more real acid test in the regular season with the Bills in Week 11, I don’t think that the Chiefs will march through the regular season without a defeat.
But at the latest in the playoffs you will be able to use your offensive potential again…
Neo:
I would like to address something completely different: How is it going with DAZN, which took over or replaced GamePass last year? Are you satisfied with the offer? How satisfied are you with the broadcasts on free TV?
I have to be honest, I loved GamePass and have been happy to subscribe to it in the past. However, since the big change in broadcasting and marketing rights in Europe, I’ve been having problems again and again: sometimes the stream hangs, sometimes the picture quality isn’t good, sometimes you can’t hear the commentary.
Even if you want to watch games in re-live or in a 40-minute summary, sometimes crucial scenes are cut out, which simply didn’t exist in the “old version”. Regarding the broadcasts from Germany, I would like to say that I like the new format better than these slapstick broadcasts on ProSieben that are purely focused on entertainment.
However, I really miss a broadcast with Austrian commentary, Eschelböck & Reiterer were cult, just as I miss Heinz Prüller from the Formula 1 broadcasts – that simply has a lot of nostalgic value. But maybe I’m just getting old 🙂
I’m very curious to see how you see it…
NFL: The Power Ranking before Week 7
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