NFL 2022: The Week 7 thread

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I think this guy speaks for most of us here:

IMAGE(https://media.giphy.com/media/qPy3MAQoJAiQTJ802r/giphy.gif)

Or maybe just me. My team is an embarrassment, and I made myself watch them get rolled by the Rams instead of the more entertaining cross-programming (aka Bills-Chiefs). Oh, and Sam Darnold's back at practice. Yippee.

TWO PICTURES OF TREVOR LAWRENCE

Here's the first picture:

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I love his intensity. Look at his eyes! Look at the ball! Marvel at his follow-through!

As for the second:

IMAGE(https://charts-cdn-a.nextgenstats.nfl.com/static-charts/900/pass-chart_LAW514099_2022-REG-6_1665952889439.jpeg)

That seems, I dunno, kinda one-dimensional? I'm not sure what those green dots are. Can't say I've seen too many of them this season.

GOOD LORD

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Josh Allen: freak. Not surprisingly, he's the No. 1 ranked QB, according to The Ringer.

Mahomes, Herbert, Lamar and Brady round out the top 5. Kirk Cousins cracked the top 10 this week.

STAT OF THE WEEK

It's parity! (or parody, depending on which games you're watching):

Average margin of victory this season: 8.9 points (source)

Current record during the Super Bowl era: 10.2 points in 2016; prior record was 10.4 points in 1994.

The last time the AMOV was below 10 points? It was 1932. That's the season that the Chicago Bears (6-1-6) -- led by Bronko Nagurski and Red Grange -- beat the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans (6-1-4) in a playoff game played indoors at Chicago Stadium on an 80-yard field.

The season stats (every team in the league had more rushing yards than passing yards) suggest that the NFL in 1932 was pioneering what's now known as the "Ben McAdoo offense."

POWER RANKINGS

From NFL.com this week: Bills (1st last week), Eagles (2nd), Chiefs (3rd), Vikings (7th) and Bengals (9th).

Big losers this week: Ravens (down 3 to a still-good 8th), Bucs (down 3 to 9th), Niners (down 7 to 11th), Packers (down 7 to 15th), Dolphins (down 5 to 23rd), Robby/ie Anderson's new team (down 7 to 26).

Still unranked: Panthers

New discover this week is Football Outsiders' playoff odds. Their top pics are the Eagles (75% chance of getting the No. 1 seed) and the Bills (73%).

WEEK 7 SCHEDULE

After the football gods gave us the bounty of Bills-Chiefs last week, they have cursed us all with whatever this is:

Thursday: Saints-Cardinals (Prime)

Sunday early: Browns-Ravens, Bucs-Panthers, Falcons-Bengals, Lions-Cowboys, Giants-Jags, Colts-Titans, Packers-Commanders

Sunday late: Jets-Broncos, Texans-Raiders, Seahawks-Chargers, Chiefs-Niners (national GOTW)

Sunday night: Steelers-Dolphins (NBC)

Monday: Bears-Patriots (ESPN), plus ManningCast (ESPN2)

Byes: Bills, Rams, Vikings, Eagles

Coverage maps are in their usual place.

OK, WE'RE DONE

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I said there have been way too many close games. Didn't realize it was historically close.

Brady shouldn't be top 5 this year; his one big weakness has always been internal pressure, and the Bucs lost a starting center and RG in the preseason, and you can tell. Rookie LG Luke Goedeke is basically a turnstile on roller skates on half his plays, and it's not great.

Also, why is Leftwich insisting on calling running plays on almost every first down? Mike Evans only got four targets last game against a secondary full of practice squad guys.

Any takes on Brady's arm this year? Couple years ago, IIRC, his velocity was down and he wasn't hitting sideline outs. Then it all came back when he got to TB.

More on the scoring drought from Football Outsiders.

The TL,DR (and I'm only skimming it between work calls): Rushing offense is pretty healthy, but passing offense is bad. The reasons for that?

* There's an O-line (specifically LT) crisis

* Proliferation of two-deep coverage

* It's the end of an era (Brady, Rodgers and for some reason Matt Ryan), and the new guard isn't quite there yet

* Random fluctuation

Second year WR Elijah Moore is unhappy on the Jets, and has requested a trade.

He had 0 targets in week 6, though he's not alone in the Jets receiver corps when it comes to getting underused. The Jets passing game has been comatose in Zach Wilson's hands, and looked considerably better in the hands of Elite Joe. Granted, the team went 1-2 under Joe and is 3-0 with Zach, but that's more a function of the improvement on defense and in the run game than Zach.

Defense and RBs don't have to worry about the mothers now that Zach's back.

Rat Boy wrote:

Defense and RBs don't have to worry about the mothers now that Zach's back.

This joke is always going to be easy, and kinda old.

Much like Zach's dates.

Back-to-back pick sixes by Andy Dalton in the final 2 minutes of the first half. Yikes. The first one was probably on the receiver but the second one was a really bad one.

Kyler's mad because he could be playing the Call of Duty campaign in early access instead of this.

The broadcast interviewed Dennis Allen and they asked him what he told Andy Dalton after his 3 INTs in the first half and his response was "Nothing, just keep doing what you're doing." So I guess Dalton is going to throw 6 INTs today.

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At least we got points in a primetime game finally

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That was not a good game, but it was an entertaining game.

Carolina gets 4 draft picks in exchange:

2023: 2nd, 3rd, 4th

2024: 5th

Pretty far shy of the "multiple 1st rounders" they claimed to be demanding.

49ers had two extra 3rd round picks in 2023, making it a bit easier to move that many mid-round picks.

Dare I go on Twitter to find myself beset with Run CMC memes?

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

That was not a good game, but it was an entertaining game.

Ryan Leaf (!) was on the national radio broadcast on Sirius tonight doing color commentary and he specifically called out how bad other TNF games were and how this game at least had points. Pretty sure he used the term "abomination" or something similar to describe the other games.

I guess that's a scary trade. But I just feel like the 49ers eat RBs and CMC isn't exactly durable.

I'd say I don't look forward to him running 200 yards on the Packers but jokes on you! We aren't making the playoffs!

I'll be shocked if he can take more than 20 carries or more in 6 games.

Live look at the Panthers' front office this morning:

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Advance highlights of Carolina's game against Tampa:

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jowner wrote:

I guess that's a scary trade. But I just feel like the 49ers eat RBs and CMC isn't exactly durable.

The only way to make the glass cannon RB offense work is to buy a lot of glass.

If you're day is up to a slow start, here's a thread about barefoot kickers in the NFL.

Every time I think this may be the year I actually may start rooting for the 49ers they find some way to make me say "Nope, still too stanfurd"

Is Cal going to win another game?

Oh wrong thread.

There's plenty of room here for 3-3 bottom-of-conference football teams for both of us Stele.

*Legion* wrote:
jowner wrote:

I guess that's a scary trade. But I just feel like the 49ers eat RBs and CMC isn't exactly durable.

The only way to make the glass cannon RB offense work is to buy a lot of glass.

Just RBs? I mean, maybe the Bucs send Julio over, the Packers send Sammy Watkins . . .

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
jowner wrote:

I guess that's a scary trade. But I just feel like the 49ers eat RBs and CMC isn't exactly durable.

The only way to make the glass cannon RB offense work is to buy a lot of glass.

Just RBs? I mean, maybe the Bucs send Julio over, the Packers send Sammy Watkins . . .

And half the Ravens

So Enix, which college QB do you think Carolina will shoot for with that Number 1 pic?

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

So Enix, which college QB do you think Carolina will shoot for with that Number 1 pic?

They won't. They'll draft Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson and sign new Super Bowl champion Jimmy Garoppolo.

Then, when things don't start well, people will be all, "man, Jimmy's really needs someone like Christian McCaffrey"

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