Sunday Sprint Week 7

Fall football is in full swing, even though there was snow on the ground up in Denver. It was a glorious Sunday for football fans, culminating in a mouthwatering, overtime Sunday nighter. But before that could happen, we got to see both blowouts and nail-biting finishers, that weren’t short of headlines.

New Orleans Saints 27- Carolina Panthers 23

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In a season in which many have been questioning what might come next post-Brees in New Orleans, the return of his former backup set the stage for what could have been an infinite slew of wonderings. Thankfully for Saints faithful, Brees looked to have turned back the clock and came up clutch with perfect precision when it mattered most to seal the deal. 

Buffalo Bills 18- New York Jets 10

In a turn of events nobody could have predicted, the bumbling Jets were the first team to hold the AFC East leading Bills without a touchdown. However, in a perfectly predictable turn of events, the Jets still lost. 

Cleveland Browns 37- Cincinnati Browns 34

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The injury bug bit again, this time its sights were set on OBJ’s knee. Despite losing his star wideout in the opening minutes, Baker Mayfield still connected for five touchdowns, including the game winner to Donovan Peoples-Jones as time expired. The heroic performance comes a week after Mayfield’s dismal display that had many calling the former first-rounder a bust. 

Washington Football Team 25- Dallas Cowboys 3

In case you weren’t already convinced of the fact that nobody wanted to win the NFC East, Dallas travelling all the way to Washington just to kick a field goal should do the trick. To be fair to the Cowboys, Andy Dalton was taken out of the game after one of the dirtiest hits the league has seen in awhile. Even before that, the Cowboys just seemed lifeless, which I guess is the bar to entry in the NFC Least. 

Green Bay Packers 35- Houston Texans 20

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The Texans were the first stop on Rodgers’ revenge tour, after last week’s disastrous performance by the Pack.  The surefire Hall of Famer threw for four touchdowns amidst his 23 completions in what was a scoreline that was a lot closer than the run of play would suggest. Green Bay had built a comfortable 21-0 lead by halftime, despite being without leading rusher Aaron Jones and starting left tackle David Bakhtiari, and remained comfortably in control until the final play. 

Detroit Lions 23- Atlanta Falcons 22

Hey did you think that the Atlanta Falcons were done finding creative, baffling, mind-numbingly stupid ways to lose? Of course not, it’s the Falcons. But this past week’s loss was superb, even by their standards, because, for quite quite possibly the first time in league history, a team scored a losing touchdown. With 1:10 left on the clock, the Falcons were in perfect position to set themselves up for a chip-shot, game winning field goal. Instead, they handed the ball off to Gurley, who easily ran through the Lions’ blockade. Mere centimeters before the goal line, Gurley seemed to realize that it would be in his team’s best interest to not carry the ball through for the score. It was too late, Gurley’s fall and broken the goal line, setting the Lions up for a game winning touchdown drive in the final minute. 

Pittsburgh Steelers 27- Tennessee Titans 24

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The Titans were once again up against an undefeated AFC team, in what was sure to be a tougher task than the Buffalo Bills had been. And that was exactly the case. The Steelers set the tone early and dominated for the majority of the game. Not to be made to look the fool, however, Tennessee fought their way back, and had the game resting on the foot of Stephen Gostkowski. Unfortunately for Titan fans, Gostkowski is far from his most reliable form as he was with the Patriots, and sent the kick wide, giving Pittsburgh the win in a game in which their quarterback threw more interceptions than touchdowns. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 45- Las Vegas Raiders 20

Tom Brady is unrelenting in his quest to undisputedly be the best quarterback the NFL has ever seen. This week, it was moving up in the record books to become the league’s all-time passing leader. The Bucs’ rout of the Raiders has many thinking this team could be one of the biggest, most well-rounded threats heading into the playoffs. Whether or not there’s any truth to that could heavily depend on the entire roster staying healthy enough to get there. 

Kansas City Chiefs 43- Denver Broncos 16

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Patrick Mahomes looked lackluster, by his standards at least, up in the Denver snow, but that didn’t stop his team from putting in one of the most complete performances of the year to secure a 27 point victory. In theory, Denver should feel good about limiting Mahomes to 200 yards, and preventing the Chiefs from converting a third down all afternoon, but what will remain at the end of the day is the bitter feeling of yet another loss.

LA Chargers 39- Jacksonville Jaguars 29

Justin Herbert finally got his first win as a pro, which felt like a lot more long time coming than it actually was. In a strange, and sometimes sad NFL season, Herbert’s performances have been a bright spot. The youngster has kept the Chargers in games they never had any business being competitive in, and he finally led them to a win, with three touchdowns and 347 yards. Welcome to the big league win column, kid. 

San Francisco 49ers 33- New England Patriots 6

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Cam Newton has aged five years in five weeks, and the Patriots are paying the price. For the second straight game, Newton looked devoid of confidence, both in his teammates and himself. This wasn’t helped by the lack of help he’s been getting from his receivers, but for an offence that looked to have hope in the opening weeks, the dropoff is confusing and concerning. This doesn’t take away from the immaculate performance from the 49ers, in what was Jimmy G’s return to his first NFL home. 

Arizona Cardinals 37- Seattle Seahawks 34

Sunday Night Football did not disappoint us this week, with what was quite possibly the game of the year. The battle of the birds had everything from, D.K. Metcalf’s 114 yard run to tackle Budda Baker yards before the Cards’ safety could convert a pick-6, to Russel Wilson dropping bombs to his receiver core, and an exhilarating comeback, overtime win. Kyler Murray’s 360 yards led the Cardinals to their third straight win, one that knocked the Seahawks out of the undefeated conversation. It was truly a dream game for any football fan, and one that makes the conversation about the NFC West playoff picture a much more interesting one.

Just like that, Week 7’s Sunday was over, giving fans lots to consider in the weeks moving forward. What was your favourite moment of the week? Let us know down below!