NFL Week 7: How bizarre

Another NFL Sunday, another week when the league refuses to be normal.

The Chiefs and Eagles have the best record in the NFL. They could soon be joined by the 49ers, if they beat the Vikings on Monday Night Football. 

None of that is surprising in the least. The rest of Week 7, though? It was pretty bizarre from early Sunday afternoon until late Sunday afternoon.

Four of the worst teams in the league — the Giants, Patriots, Bears, and Broncos — earned their second win of the season. For the Broncos, it was their first home victory of the year and ended an ignominious streak of 10 straight losses when leading at halftime. 

The Falcons snapped an unfortunate streak of their own: They won a road game for the first time in more than a year, even though Desmond Ridder fumbled three times in the red zone and Bijan Robinson barely played due to a mysterious illness.

With six teams on a bye this week, there were only 11 games on Sunday. And yet I still found it difficult to narrow down the list of the strangest and most unexpected developments I saw. Here are the four I settled on:

Lions vs. Ravens was never even competitive 

At least the other marquee matchup of the day — the Eagles’ clash with the Dolphins on Sunday Night Football — was a close game, until Philly pulled away in the fourth quarter. The Lions didn’t even pick up a first down until halfway through the second quarter, when they were already behind 28-0. Detroit finally scored in the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout, but Baltimore’s 38-6 win was a rout in every possible way. 

These two teams were supposed to be fairly evenly matched; the Lions came in ranked No. 2 in overall DVOA (fourth on offense, third on defense), while the Ravens were No. 6 (10th in offense, second on defense). Yet, it was nothing like the nail-biter that unfolded the last time they played. Two years ago, in Dan Campbell’s first season in Detroit, the Ravens needed a record-setting field goal as time expired to avoid losing to the winless Lions.

So it was especially disappointing that their next meeting was such a dud. Detroit’s highly regarded offensive line, which had only allowed 10 sacks all season, surrendered five on Sunday. The offense managed a season-low 4.7 yards per play, and the defense gave up a season-high 9.1 yards per play. They converted just 5 of 16 third-down attempts, despite ranking in the top 10 in third-down conversion percentage. Meanwhile, the Ravens went 4 of 8 on third downs against a Lions defense that had held opponents to a 33.3 third-down conversion percentage. 

As much of a letdown as it was for Detroit, maybe, as Campbell said afterward, his team needed a little kick in the pants. At the same time, the Ravens deserve praise for their most complete performance of the season. Lamar Jackson has been terrific all year, but this week, he received actual help from his supporting cast, most exemplified by a play in the first quarter.

On Baltimore’s second possession, Jackson had led the offense into the red zone, an area of the field where they had been struggling in the last few weeks. Then on third-and-3, the offensive line held up well as Jackson bought time with his legs, giving Nelson Agholor a chance to get open in the end zone — and he, thankfully, didn’t drop the touchdown pass. 

By the time Jackson’s day was over (halfway through the fourth quarter), he put up season-best numbers in completion percentage (77.8), passing yards (357), yards per throw (13.2), TD passes (3), passer rating (155.8), and QBR (95). He currently has the fourth-best MVP odds, and in my opinion, that’s too low.

The Browns (!) got help (!!) from the officials (!!!)

I lost count of how many questionable calls (or non-calls) I saw on Sunday, but off the top of my head, I can remember the iffy roughing the passer penalty against the Dolphins and Cedrick Wilson Jr. getting his face mask grabbed with no flag in sight. And there was Kenny Pickett’s fourth-down sneak, which looked to be short but the refs gave him a favorable spot that sealed the win for the Steelers.

As critical as that was, though, nothing could top (bottom?) what the refs did at the end of the Browns-Colts game. With under a minute left, the Browns were trailing by five and had the ball inside the Indy 15-yard line. On third down, backup QB P.J. Walker was sacked and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Colts defensive lineman DeForest Buckner. That could have been curtains for Cleveland, but a ref had flagged Darrell Baker Jr. for illegal contact. If that was ticky tacky, the next foul on Baker Jr. — on the following play — was egregious. On an uncatchable ball, the official penalized the Colts defensive back for pass interference.

A few incompletions later, Kareem Hunt got the ball over the goal line (just barely) on fourth down with only 15 seconds left, and the Browns escaped Indianapolis with the victory. I didn’t know I would ever see the day that Cleveland would have good enough luck to benefit from poor officiating, but it really happened. 

Of course, there were other reasons the Browns were able to eke out the win. Despite the defense giving up a season-high 456 yards and 38 points, it also forced four turnovers. Myles Garrett in particular was an unstoppable force. The Defensive Player of the Year candidate recorded two strip sacks — one that directly led to a touchdown and another that indirectly did — and blocked a Colts field goal attempt with an impossibly athletic jump.

Kicker Dustin Hopkins made all four of his field goals — three of which were from 50+ yards, including a career-long 58-yarder in the fourth quarter. He even set an NFL record in the process. 

And finally, Walker came in when starter Deshaun Watson left with a head and/or shoulder injury and kept the offense afloat. Though Walker didn’t light up the stat sheet, he played better than the Browns’ $230 million quarterback did. Not that that’s hard, when said $230 million quarterback went 1 for 5 with an interception.

The Bears won (!) at home (!!) with a newbie QB (!!!)

It had been more than a year since the Bears had won a game in Chicago. It had been much longer — 19 years, in fact — since a Bears quarterback had won in his first NFL start. 

Both of those streaks ended on Sunday, when undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent led the Bears to a win over the Raiders at Soldier Field. The coaching staff smartly took a Brock Purdy-like approach with Bagent, who was filling in for an injured Justin Fields. Bagent wasn’t asked to do too much, and what he was asked to do, he did well. He spread the ball around to eight different players and didn’t force his throws, completing 72 percent of his passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. He ran when he had to, picking up 24 yards on three carries.

More importantly, Bagent’s teammates stepped up. With Chicago’s three leading rushers — Khalil Herbert, Roschon Johnson, and Fields — out this week, D'Onta Foreman came through with a season-high 89 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns, as well as three catches for 31 yards and another score. Bagent was also sacked just one time. 

On defense, the Bears snagged three interceptions, including Jaylon Johnson’s first career pick-six, and kept the Raiders out of the end zone until after the game had been decided.

The Raiders did their part to make Bagent’s life easier. For some reason, Josh McDaniels started 38-year-old Brian Hoyer over rookie Aidan O’Connell, and predictably, Hoyer was terrible, throwing for just 129 yards and getting picked off twice. I understand why McDaniels put Hoyer in for Jimmy Garoppolo last week against the Patriots; the Raiders had the lead then and needed a veteran presence who could maintain that lead. 

But O’Connell had some positive moments in his start against the Chargers earlier this season. Instead of trying to build off that, McDaniels waited until Hoyer’s pick-six to put O’Connell in the game, and the rookie engineered Vegas’ only touchdown drive (albeit in garbage time). Hoyer has now lost 13 straight starts, dating back to 2016.

A lot went wrong for the Raiders besides Hoyer’s horrendous outing — an ineffective rushing attack, a game plan that focused too much and then not enough on Davante Adams, a lackluster defensive effort — but most of the blame lies with McDaniels. Not only because he opted to ride with Hoyer, but also because of his baffling decision-making (again). How many more embarrassing losses will he add to his resume before his tenure in Vegas is over?

Mac Jones’ skid ends in the Patriots’ upset over the Bills

Last week, the Patriots fell to 1-5, their worst start to the season in the Bill Belichick era. It looked not just possible, but likely that they would end October with a 1-7 record after dates with the Bills and Dolphins were up next on their schedule. 

While there were a lot of reasons the Pats were in this position, Mac Jones’ play the past few weeks has been glaringly awful. Following his sophomore slump season in 2022, Jones began 2023 on a somewhat hopeful note. Even though New England went just 1-2 in the first three weeks, Jones had done a respectable job under new OC Bill O’Brien, with 748 passing yards, five touchdown passes, two interceptions, and an 87.7 passer rating.

The next three games were a horror show, however. Jones posted 460 yards, 0 TDs, five INTs, and a 52.5 passer rating in three straight losses, including two blowouts in which Jones was benched for Bailey Zappe. 

Belichick stuck with Jones, whether out of faith in the third-year quarterback or a lack of viable options on the roster. It paid off this week, when the Patriots beat the wildly inconsistent Bills for the first time in five tries. 

Jones registered season-highs in completion percentage (83.3), yards per throw (9.1), passer rating (126.7), and QBR (78.3), and also threw two touchdown passes and did not turn the ball over. Most impressive of all was Jones’ late-game heroics. In the fourth quarter, he went 11-of-13 passing for 127 yards and both of his touchdowns. When the Bills scored right after the two-minute warning to take the lead, Jones marched the Pats down the field for the go-ahead score with 12 seconds remaining. It was only the second game-winning drive of his career — and also win No. 300 for Belichick. 

I don’t know if Jones has suddenly turned his season around, but this was a promising sign for a team that likely isn’t going anywhere this year. The Bills won’t, either, if they keep stringing together uninspired performances like they have been lately.