NFL Week 7 winners and losers: Packers have a Jordan Love problem, Chiefs find their groove – USA TODAY

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NFL Week 7 winners and losers Packers have a Jordanplay

The Patriots impress the Bills, the Eagles prove they can return to the Super Bowl

Sports Seriously’s Mackenzie Salmon “overreacts” to the biggest storylines from Week 7 of the NFL season.

Sports seriously

We’re quickly approaching the halfway point of the NFL season and we’re already seeing the league’s best rise.

No game in Week 7 was bigger than the one-loss battle of teams Sunday night between the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins. Behind a physical defense that kept an error-prone Miami team in check, the Eagles improved to 6-1 and made a statement.

Another six-win team, and the one Philadelphia played in Super Bowl 57, the Kansas City Chiefs, stormed through on offense. Patrick Mahomes set season highs in passing yards and touchdowns, and that could spell trouble for the rest of the NFL.

Meanwhile, in the NFC, two young quarterbacks face uncertain futures, with the Packers’ Jordan Love seeing his first season as Green Bay’s starter implode very quickly.

Here are the winners and losers from Week 7.

WINNER

Physically, Philadelphia is hard to beat when it plays flawlessly

The Eagles have built their brand on physical play, particularly on both offense and defense. The Brotherly Shove is a big part of it, but Philadelphia’s big win over the Dolphins started on defense. Miami entered Sunday night with the NFL’s best rushing offense (181.8 yards per game), averaging more than 30 yards per game more than the next team (the Eagles).

The Dolphins gained just 45 rushing yards in Philadelphia’s 31-17 win. The Eagles sacked Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa three times. Miami was banged up but was sloppy with penalties, threw an interception just outside the red zone and the usually confident Tyreek Hill had some costly drops. The Eagles (6-1) didn’t commit a single penalty, although the referees clearly missed a crucial defensive facemask and others, while the Dolphins enforced 10. When you play efficiently and physically at this level at home, the Eagles will be a tough game for anyone.

The Chiefs offense is finally waking up

Fans were used to the Chiefs posting absurd numbers on offense, so the relatively slow start was notable. To be clear, Kansas City’s production wasn’t all that bad; In Week 7, it ranked fourth in total offense, second in passing offense and third in third-down efficiency. The problem is that it was harder to score points, as were the explosive plays.

Against the Los Angeles Chargers, quarterback Patrick Mahomes relied on tight end Travis Kelce (12 catches on 13 targets for 179 yards and a score). But Kansas City (6-1) found ways to look down and crush the Chargers’ secondary with a 31-17 win. Mahomes set season highs in yards (424) and touchdowns (four). He completed passes of 27, 28 (twice), 37, 46 and 53 yards. The Chiefs have won six straight after losing their first game. The defending champions appear to be just getting going with their improving defense.

In the weak NFC South, flawed Falcons might just be good enough

The winner of Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers would take sole possession of first place in the NFC South. Atlanta (4:3) won 16:13 on the road and now has this early lead. The Carolina Panthers (0-6) are in a complete rebuild, the New Orleans Saints (3-4) have been largely underwhelming and Tampa Bay (3-3) has been so erratic that they have become unreliable.

The Falcons have speed and talent at the skill positions. Even though star rookie running back Bijan Robinson (headache) was more or less a decoy in limited work before being sidelined, the Falcons rallied to secure the win with a last-second game-winning field goal. Eight different Falcons caught passes and three different players recorded at least 35 rushing yards on the day, combining for 156 yards. Desmond Ridder lost three fumbles in the red zone and is still an uncertainty at quarterback. But the good news is that he achieved a dubious result, winning his first career road start on his fifth attempt.

Myles Garrett advocates for DPoY

It is rare for a defensive player to take over a game so skillfully that he becomes the clear reason why a team won their game. Defensive end Myles Garrett did just that for the Browns (4-2) in a 39-38 win over the Indianapolis Colts. And he made the strongest case for the AP Defensive Player of the Year award so far this season.

He’ll obviously have competition the rest of the way, but Garrett racked up nine tackles, two sacks – both of which were strip sacks, one of which was recovered in the end zone for a score – one tackle for loss, one pass defensed, four quarterback pressures and a blocked field goal. This block in turn led to points for Cleveland via a field goal. Even when he wasn’t recording stats, Garrett was generating pressure or even threatening pressure, significantly speeding up Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew’s process. More performances like this and Garrett will almost certainly add to his trophy cabinet.

LOSER

The Jordan Love experiment fails

Maybe it was time to move on from Aaron Rodgers. But six games into the Jordan Love experiment, the results for the Green Bay Packers are more concerning. Love isn’t a rookie quarterback getting his first shot; He’s in the middle of his third season after spending a few years behind Rodgers, one of the game’s all-time greats, and has a chance to learn winning habits.

Love ranks 22nd in passing yards (1,263), 28th in QB rating (79.4) and is tied for second in interceptions (seven). His tip on Sunday against the Denver Broncos, a jump down the field into double coverage when the Packers needed just a field goal to potentially win the game, which would ultimately result in a 19-17 loss, was because of his Lack of situational awareness is baffling. There actually was a third-and-20, but Green Bay (2-4) was near midfield and given the game in Denver, getting into field goal range should have been an absolute priority.

Daniel Jones

The sample size is small and Tyrod Taylor’s numbers aren’t even that big. But after two starts, with Daniel Jones (neck) on the mend, it’s clear the Giants are better with Taylor under center.

He may not be as aggressive as fans would like, and he may look too often at throws from the field on checkdowns, but he is efficient and rarely makes serious mistakes. Last week in prime time — which is a nightmare for Jones, who has a 1-12 record in such appearances — Taylor kept New York in the game. After Sunday’s 14-7 win over the Washington Commanders, he combined for 479 yards and two touchdowns with a 64.6% completion rate. His second-quarter touchdown pass to Darren Waller was New York’s first home touchdown all season, as well as the team’s first offensive pass since Week 3 and its first first-half touchdown of the year. The Giants signed Jones to a four-year contract in March. He may not see the end yet.

Time for the Bills to panic?

Not necessarily, no. There’s still a lot of time left in the season, but there are plenty of reasons for concern in Buffalo. Many of these, like quarterback Josh Allen’s propensity to turn the ball over, are old problems that still exist. But Buffalo (4-3) has been on a slump in its last three games, losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, benefiting from a clear no-call in a narrow win over the Giants and losing 29-25 to a New England Patriots team that went into Sunday with just one win.

The bills start slowly. So often they give up their hasty attack; In their three losses, they averaged just 69 rushing yards per game. With their four wins, that number increases to 145.8. This is nothing new either. The offensive line didn’t put up big sack numbers, but it did allow the Patriots’ pass rushers to get home. The Bills were missing seven defensive starters against New England, so they should be given some grace, but that’s still no excuse for this disappointment.

Humbled Lions is still a work in progress

The Lions were one of the best stories in the NFL. They posted a 5-1 record and asserted their position as potential Super Bowl contenders in a top-heavy NFC. Of course it’s still Detroit. But Sunday’s 38-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens showed that this young team still has a lot of development to do.

Although the Lions had only gained six total yards of offense in the first 17 minutes of the game; At this point, the Ravens had already gained 245 yards. Detroit entered Sunday with the NFL’s best rushing defense, which had allowed just 64.7 yards per game. At halftime, Baltimore had scored a cool 100 points. The Ravens moved the ball so well in the first half that they only suffered five third downs. In any case, Baltimore converted four of them. The Ravens finished the game with 503 yards rushing and averaged 9.1 yards of first down on each play.