With Week 7 looking to be one for the books, we look to wrap up another wild week of football. There is never a normal week of football it feels like, and this season just keeps getting weirder. Here are my winners and losers from Week 7.
Winner – Kenneth Walker
Kenneth Walker has seemingly taken the NFL world by storm since replacing injured running back Rashaad Penny. This week’s victim to his reign of terror was none other than the Los Angeles Chargers, as Walker helped lead Seattle to a massive upset victory. The rookie running back out of Michigan State exploded for 168 yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts, boasting an impressive average of 7.3 yards per carry.
Walker’s biggest highlight of the day coming towards the end of the game. He broke away a 74-yard touchdown run with just seven minutes left in the fourth. On this play, Walker topped out at 22.09 mph according to Next Gen Stats. This was the fastest speed reached by a ball carrier all season.
Walker was bound to end up on this list eventually – the rookie has been nothing but impressive so far. As things stand, he currently sits atop the list as the betting favorite to win offensive rookie of the year. He has been a big part of the Seahawks’ success this season and has helped catapult this team to the top of the NFC West. Yes, you read that right.
Loser – Green Bay Packers
Much like many fantasy teams that started AJ Dillon, the Green Bay Packers find themself in the losers column again. To say the least, this team has got its problems. And many people want to say that the Packers are just a receiver away from fixing these problems. Yet I am here to tell you that the answer is not that simple.
On Sunday The Pack dropped yet another game, this time to the Washington Commanders. They have now dropped three straight games, falling to 3-4. In fact, this is the sixth time that the Packers have lost three in a row under Aaron Rodgers. So where do the problems reside with this team?
First and foremost, Aaron Rodgers is to blame. Rodgers looks like he has absolutely zero faith in the people around him, and the proof is in his game. Rodgers completed just seven passes five yards beyond the line of scrimmage on Sunday, and only one of those was for more than 20. The veteran quarterback matched that number with seven passes that were behind the line of scrimmage. That just isn’t a good look, unless you are a defensive coordinator.
But it isn’t all his fault – the receivers have not helped him whatsoever. Nor has the offensive line, and at this point neither has the play calling. This Packers offense is stale – that is just stating the obvious. On Sunday your best receiver was your running back Aaron Jones, but then your next best player on the team AJ Dillon didn’t get but four touches. Just what is going on in Green Bay?
Winner – Joe Burrow
Anybody who counted out Joe Burrow after Week 1 of the NFL season owes him an apology. The Bengals quarterback shredded the Atlanta Falcons secondary on Sunday to put it simply. Burrow threw for 501-yards and four touchdowns, absolutely tearing apart the Falcons. The third-year quarterback has seemingly turned his season around in a wicked fashion, as he now sits at 15 touchdowns and just five interceptions on the season.
On Sunday, Joe Burrow flexed on the rest of the league as to why he is an elite player at that position, showing off his ability to spread the ball around to all parts of the field and setting records along the way. Burrow has the most 400-yard games among any quarterback in their first three seasons. This is all the more impressive when you remember that he barely even played his rookie season.
Next week, the Bengals will play the Browns on a spooky edition of the NFL. The division rivals will face off on Halloween night, and it will be a very important one for both teams for different reasons. The Bengals will look to stay neck and neck with the Ravens for the first place spot in their division, while the Browns look to just keep things close and hold down the fort while they wait for the return of Deshaun Watson.
Loser – Tampa Bay
What is going on in Tampa Bay? Much like the Packers, this team is just riddled with concerns. This past weekend the Buccaneers dropped a game to division rival Panthers. This came just days after Carolina traded away their best player on the roster in Christian McCaffrey and announced backup quarterback PJ Walker as their starter.
Never would any of us have thought that the Buccaneers would lose this game to the Panthers who seem to be tanking for this year’s NFL draft. Yet here we are. So, let’s talk about everything that went wrong on Sunday, starting with the drops.
Mike Evans did not have a good day. Brady’s go-to receiver for the past couple of seasons had possibly the worst drop fans will see all season. And things did not get better from there, as the two just could not seem to connect for those big chunk yardage plays all game. Much like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady also seems to just be playing it way too safe, making this Buccaneers offense stagnant. If Tampa Bay is to get back on track it all starts there.
Play calling is once again called into question as the Bucs just do not run the ball. Because of this they are are facing a tonne of light boxes, so the solution seems obvious. They have become a bit too predictable, and if Brady is lined up in the shotgun you know what it will be almost every time.
Finally, poor coaching is brought into play clearly. How does one fail to move the ball downfield when your wideouts are getting thrown to by Tom Brady? That is the question many fans are asking currently as the Bucs are currently after scoring just three points against the Panthers.
Winner – Tennessee Titans
Here come the Tennessee Titans! It may not be pretty, but they are finally getting the ball rolling. After a slow start to the season, Vrabel has his squad atop of the AFC South at 4-2. Much of this is in thanks to that high power pass rush, thus giving a little boost to that questionable secondary. Now the Titans are far from perfect. Their offense still is concerning, especially after starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill suffered an injury on Sunday. But the bottom line is that they are winning.
A ton of questions surrounded this Tennessee Titans team at the start of the year after a wild 2021 season. Derrick Henry has so far managed to beat out the accusations that he is washed and is once again the heart and soul for this offense. Now it hasn’t been easy for the king as they are dealing with many injuries in the trenches, so this may not be sustainable. Look for the Titans to potentially make a move to hopefully bolster this offensive line before the deadline.
Is what the Titans doing sustainable? Probably not, but this team has proven early on that they can win some ugly ones. Three of their four wins this season have all been within one score, and on Sunday they won by just nine. Next weekend they take on their division rival the Texans. This would be a huge win for the Titans to stick out in this weak AFC South.
Loser – Kenny Pickett
Oh, the growing pains for a rookie! Everybody has them. This was definitely apparent in our Sunday Night matchup against the Dolphins and Steelers. Rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett has had quite the warm welcome into the NFL thus far.
The only quarterback taken in the first round has struggled mightily in his first NFL appearances. The rookie has already seven interceptions in just four games. And on Sunday night he threw two heartbreaking interceptions in the final minutes of the game.
Now to cut him some slack, much of this could be what is around him. There were several drops that we could all see on prime-time television last night. This on top of an offensive line that many of us knew had its’ issues is a recipe for failure. But the rookie has not helped himself much either making questionable decisions almost every week.
And this weekend’s questionable decisions led to two interceptions in the final five minutes of the game. as the Steelers lost 16-10 in a close matchup against the Miami Dolphins. After being announced as the starter, Pickett has just two passing touchdowns on the season. We cannot question the value of taking a quarterback at 21 for Pittsburgh, but one can call into question settling for Kenny Pickett.