NFL Week 7 Round-up: Derek Carr Leads Oakland Raiders To Victory Over Kansas City Chiefs

NFL Week 7 Round-up: Derek Carr Leads Oakland Raiders To Victory Over Kansas City Chiefs
14:03, 24 Oct 2017

It feels like the regular season is flying by. We’re at that time in the campaign where a true play-off picture is being painted. Some teams that started well has since faded off, where the usual tried and tested franchises are coming to the fore once again.

Take a look at our weekly round-up, featuring 15 games, with shocks, surprises and even a running back pushing a referee! He was, of course, ejected for his actions.

Kansas City Chiefs 30-31 Oakland Raiders

As there often is in such a physical sport, tempers boiled over when Marshawn Lynch was ejected for pushing an official. The Raiders still managed to eek out a W though, thanks to a stunning 417 YD, 3 TD game from Derek Carr. It was also an excellent afternoon for Amari Cooper, who racked up an insane 210 receiving yards, with 2 TDs.

Alex ‘Checkdown’ Smith is back, people. All jokes aside, the Chiefs played pretty well for the most part. Smith threw for over 340 yards, with Kareem Hunt rushing for 87 yards. Defensively, though, they struggled. As the game wound down to a close, penalties killed them. They now sit at 5-2.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-30 Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills keep marching on. I’ve always thought that Tyrod Taylor is an underrated QB. He’s more than capable of passing for 250+ yards during most games, and when you’ve got Shady McCoy in the backfield, you’ll always score points.

Jameis Winston threw for over 380 yards, but he couldn’t help the Bucs secure a victory. The loss takes Tampa Bay to 0-3 away from home, with their inability to run the ball killing any chances of a W. Things have to improve, quickly.

Baltimore Ravens 16-24 Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota was my surprise Super Bowl pick at the start of the year. They’ve now moved to 5-2 following a victory over a struggling Baltimore. Case Keenum had a poor afternoon, but RB Latavius Murray picked up the slack, rushing for 113 yards and a TD.

Joe Flacco’s struggles continued, with the Ravens sitting at 3-4 on the season. Their offensive game is absolutely killing them, and unless they find something quick, their season could be over pretty soon…

New York Jets 28-31 Miami Dolphins

The AFC East often gets a lot of stick for being a weak division, but this year, it has three teams sitting at 4-2 or better. The Dolphins secured the W here, with Matt Moore coming in for an injured Jay Cutler.

Defensively, both teams battled hard, not giving opposing O-lines a minute’s peace. It wasn’t really an exciting encounter, but Miami will be pleased to keep up the pressure on New England.

Arizona Cardinals 0-33 Los Angeles Rams

Twickenham played host to LA blowing out Arizona on Sunday evening. Jared Goff threw for 200+ yards with a TD, with Todd Gurley rushing for 100+ yards and a TD. Aaron Donald terrorised that Cardinals front six throughout, adding a sack.

Things were made even worse for Arizona, with QB Carson Palmer now ruled out for the next two months. Although they sit at 3-4, they’ve been far worse than that and I’ll be surprised if they make the play-offs.

Jacksonville Jaguars 27-0 Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville’s defence was outstanding once again, recording 10+ sacks for the second game this season. Even Blake Bortles looked the part against Indianapolis, throwing for 330 YDS and one TD.

Jacoby Brissett wasn’t given any time in the pocket whatsoever, and he got absolutely battered all game. On top of that, the Colts struggled to run the football – which is a real recipe for disaster.

New Orleans Saints 26-17 Green Bay Packers

Drew Brees’ Saints returned to winning ways, with an excellent victory away from home. The QB threw for 331 YDs with a TD and 2 INTs, but it was their running game that did the damage. Both Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara had their way with a poor GB defence.

Packers RB Aaron Jones looked great. Brett Hundley did not. It sounds harsh, and somewhat premature, but I think Green Bay’s season ended the soon as Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury. I fear for their play-off chances.

Carolina Panthers 3-17 Chicago Bears

There were a couple of shocks, but this one was the biggest of the weekend. Chicago’s defence was insanely good, which took the pressure completely off Mitch Trubisky’s shoulders.

Cam Newton continued to be inconsistent, throwing two INTs with no TDs. It’s tough to figure out what Panthers team is going to turn up on any given Sunday, and that’s why I don’t think they’ll be contenders for the title.

Tennessee Titans 12-9 Cleveland Browns

The Browns are just terrible. This game was uninspiring to say the least, with Tennessee doing just enough to secure an all-important W. There isn’t much else to say about this one, so let’s just move swiftly on…

Dallas Cowboys 40-10 San Francisco 49ers

Dallas fans have something to celebrate. Dak Prescott looked great as per usual, throwing 3 TDs. On top of that, Zeke returned to his brilliant best, rushing for 147 YDs and 2 TDs. They move to 3-3 on the season, but they’ll have to push hard if they are to topple Philly.

The 49ers moved to 0-7. It must be so depressing being a SF fan right now. Quite frankly, they’re awful on both sides of the ball, and it doesn’t look like changing any time soon.

Denver Broncos 0-21 Los Angeles Chargers

Trevor Siemian looked every bit a seventh round pick against the Chargers. The Broncos defence can only take you so far, but the productivity coming out of their offence is awful. This was their first scoreless game in over 25 years!

LA deserves credit. They’ve been involved in a lot of close games this year, but this was a huge victory for them. Phillip Rivers was calm and composed - throwing for two TDs. Defensively, they looked excellent, but I guess anyone would against Denver right now…

Cincinnati Bengals 14-29 Pittsburgh Steelers

Some were doubting Big Ben, but not any longer. The Steelers QB was on the money against Cincinatti, throwing two TDs. Of course, it helps greatly when you have a running back like Le’Veon Bell to rely upon.

I always liked Bengals QB Andy Dalton, but he’s having an awful year. On top of that, they have no running game, and outside of A.J. Green, their wide receiver core is very limited. They’re now 2-4, with a big job on their hands.

Seattle Seahawks 24-9 New York Giants

After a sluggish star, Seattle is beginning to find their feet. Russell Wilson had a 334-yard game on a notoriously tough Giants defence, whilst throwing 3 TDs and 0 INTs.

New York now sits at 1-6. Surely it’s time for the Big Blue to start planning for next year. Who knows, they could have a new QB at that point, because Eli looks totally washed up.

Atlanta Falcons 7-23 New England Patriots

Sunday Night Football saw a rematch of the Super Bowl. New England’s defence seems to be improving with each passing week. Tom Brady, well, he was Tom Brady, throwing lasers all over the football field.

Matty Ice melted once again. I’m starting to think we’re going to need a new nickname for the Falcons QB… Anyway, it’s not looking good for the 3-3 Falcons, who seem to be suffered from a major Super Bowl hangover.

Washington Redskins 24-34 Philadelphia Eagles

The best game was saved until last. Philadelphia Eagles just keep on winning. Now, they are the only NFL team with a 6-1 record, with Carson Wentz throwing for another 4 TDs. They kept Washington at arms-length throughout the Monday Night Football fixture. Shout out to Jason Peters, I hope his injury isn’t anything too serious.

Kirk Cousins actually played well, throwing for 3 TDs himself. They suffered badly from injuries, with their whole offensive line going down at some point or another. Expect them to bounce back next week, they are an excellent football team.

We’ll see you next Tuesday, with another set of enthralling NFL clashes to discuss.

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