Five talking points from Week Seven

It’s scary season and with Halloween just around the corner, nothing scares me more than the thought of having to watch a Brett Rypien led Denver Broncos team at Wembley on Sunday. Nevertheless, I shall be there in full support of the event and with my fingers crossed that Trevor Lawrence brings his A-game and some explosive plays. Either that or someone from the Broncos reads this, uses it to fuel their team and they come across the pond and ball out. I don’t mind either way, I just want some good football.

With the Bills and Eagles both on their bye, the most terrifying thing to witness is the Chiefs offence looking better as the weeks pass and this Sunday their latest victims were supposedly one of the league’s best defensive units in San Francisco. We thought they wouldn’t be as dynamic without Tyreek Hill, we were all wrong.

Injuries happen every week in the NFL but it felt as though the Boogey-man was out for the big names in week seven and no position group was left untouched with the New York Jets feeling particularly ravaged. There might well be one more round of fixtures to come before October 31st but let’s hope we got the tricks out of the way early and that next week is more about the treats.

Here are my five talking points from week seven:

1. Josh Jacobs running the rock through the desert

Since entering the league in 2019 as a first-round draft pick, Josh Jacobs’ career as a Raider has been somewhat up and down. During his first season he gave the team star quality production and finished the year with 1,150 yards from scrimmage, seven touchdowns and an average of 4.8 yards per play, despite missing three of the last four games through injury.

Jacobs followed that up with 1,065 yards in his second year and scored 12 TD’s however, despite recording nine scores in year three, the running back was missing the explosiveness that he once had and only managed 872 yards, leaving doubts about his consistency.

Still being on a rookie deal the Las Vegas franchise had the opportunity to extend Jacobs’ contract onto the fifth-year option however, this was something that the team declined to do which left the former Alabama runner heading into this year needing to play well for a new deal. As it turns out, that was all the fuel his fire needed.

In Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans Jacobs became the first player in franchise history with three straight games of 100 rushing yards and a rushing TD and joined Marcus Allen with his fifth career game gaining 100 rushing yards and scoring multiple TDs. That’s some illustrious Raiders company.

He finished the game with 143 yards and three TDs from just 20 carries and alongside Saquon Barkley, arguably looks like the best running back in the NFL right now. If he carries on with this pace, it’s hard to see how, come the end of the season, Jacobs won’t have earned himself a big piece of the bag.

2. Ex-XFL QBs take down legends

Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are both sub .500 for the season, are both coming off the back of two straight losses and are both struggling to put together anything closely resembling a functioning offence right now. However, whilst these two NFL giants and Hall of Fame bound quarterbacks look lost with their respective teams, they both had something in common this week. The pair were beaten by teams that were led this week by former XFL QB’s Taylor Heinicke and P.J. Walker. Ouch!

Last week Walker took snaps after Carolina’s starting QB, Baker Mayfield, was forced off the field with an injury that continued to keep him out of this week’s game against the Buccaneers. During that game Walker failed to complete any pass more than a single yard downfield and as such, the Panthers were written off this week, expecting to be a field goal offence at best.

Especially after also trading away Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers earlier that week. Walker however, had other ideas. Perhaps being pitted against the G.O.A.T was all the motivation that the former Houston Roughneck needed as he went 16-for-22 and two TDs.

After Washington placed starting QB Carson Wentz on injured reserve with a finger injury, it was the duty of Taylor Heinicke to step in against Aaron Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers on Sunday. The former St.Louis BattleHawk started slowly and was 2-of-9 for 21 yards and a pick-six until things turned around after half-time. Heinicke then completed 13-of-16 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown and helped turn a deficit into his team’s second straight win.

He led scoring drives of 74, 72 and 61 yards and made several big time throws to Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel which should give him confidence heading into next week’s game against the Colts.

With the XFL (backed by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) set to return in February and with a QB minicamp set to take place soon. Could the small successes of Walker and Heinicke give hope to others that there may finally be an alternative path into the NFL other than the draft?

3. Cowboys defense feasts on lowly Lions

Two weeks ago and for the first time this season, the Dallas defence allowed an opponent to score two touchdowns in a game in the defeat to the Eagles. This week however, and again, for the first time this season, the Cowboys did not allow a TD to be scored against them in their win over Detroit who had been averaging 28 points per game.

In a press conference the day after the 26-17 defeat to NFC East rivals Philadelphia, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn used the term “pissed off” no fewer than nine times. The players must have been listening because this week they were hunting down Lions like a team possessed.

In the second half the Cowboys were able to generate five turnovers that included a Trevon Diggs diving interception on a deep shot, a Jamaal Williams fumble inside the one-yard line and Michah Parsons icing the game with another forced fumble on the games final drive.

The Cowboys’ five takeaways were the most they have had in a half since they had five in the first half against the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII.

With Dak Prescott returning to action and getting a confidence boosting win under his belt paired with the defence’s continued improvements, Dallas are beginning to look like a dangerous outfit once again in a surprisingly closely contested NFC. Heck, even owner and the notoriously hard to please Jerry Jones, had high praise for his team’s defensive unit stating “I don’t know that I’ve seen a defence that is influencing the team any more than this one has, even the very best ones”.

4. Bears sleepy offense finally awakens

The Chicago Bears looked to have utilised their extended break between last Thursday’s loss to the Washington, to revamp their offensive strategy before the visit of New England on Monday night. Success! Chicago’s slumbering unit led by Justin Fields was roused, scoring more than 30 points for the first time since Week 16 2020, to defeat the Patriots 33-14.

Fields led the rushing attack with 82 yards and more designed running plays than in previous weeks. An area of Chicago’s offence that had been conspicuously missing given Fields’ undeniable talent on the ground. The QB earned 63 yards on 12 designed runs, both career highs, per Next Gen Stats.

“I thought it brought a whole different element to our offence,” Fields said of using his legs. “I think we executed that well. And there were definitely some explosive plays in the design runs for sure.”

Through the air, Fields passed for 13-of-21 for 179 yards, a touchdown and an interception from a deflected ball. Not hugely impressive numbers but things appear to be trending in the right direction. His processing ability still needs some fine tuning although that might currently be hindered by a lack of quality receivers being able to create separation.

Whatever the case, the Bears and Fields need to continue to grow together and whilst this season might not lead anywhere special, with young talent to build around on both sides of the ball, the future is finally a little bit brighter in Chicago.

5. Big play Bengals are back

Joe Burrow had a record breaking day against Atlanta, becoming the first player in NFL history to have five games of 400 or more passing yards in his first three seasons.

Earlier in the week, quarterback Burrow said a three-game stretch against the Falcons, Browns and Panthers was going to define Cincinnati’s season before they headed into their week 10 bye. That’s one down and two to go.

At the beginning of the season. Cincinnati attempted to make their offence unpredictable by shifting formations and lining up their biggest threats in such a way as to try and make better use of all of their receivers equally. Thankfully, they have scrapped that idea, returned to the shotgun and are letting Burrow sling the ball downfield as they did during their Super Bowl run last year.

Against the Falcons, Burrow flirted once again with Norm Van Brocklin’s record from 1951 of 554 yards in a single game, falling just short with 481 and three TDs, with a completion percentage of 81. The Bengals put together a total offence of 537 yards with Tyler Boyd hauling in eight of nie targets for 155 yards and the team converted 7 of 11 third downs.

If the team is able to win at least one more of their remaining two games before week 10 and head coach Zac Taylor continues to allow Burrow and co. to air the ball out, the Bengals will be in a good place to make another playoff run leading to a return to the AFC title game.