Week seven in the NFL saw several interesting outings. For one, the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins had an unlikely shootout that ended up both teams combining for 85 total points. And of course, then there was Peyton Manning’s return to Indianapolis, as the Denver Broncos somehow dropped their first game of the season to Andrew Luck and the Colts. There was also one final undefeated team left standing, as the Kansas City Chiefs held off Case Keenum and the Houston Texans to get to 7-0.
But on top of the big matchups that carried explosive offense and/or explosive emotion, week seven also yielded some horrible injuries that impacted the NFL in the here and now, and could continue impacting teams as the season goes on.
Luckily, a couple of those teams get to take a break this week in a bye. But for the ones that don’t, week eight is another chance to turn things around, prove a point or continue on down that elite path.
1. Redskins @ Broncos | Avg: $418 | Get-in: $144 | Weekly Trend: -20%
A week after going back to Indy, Peyton Manning and co. travel back home and welcome Robert Griffin III and the Redskins to town. A week after hanging 45 points on the Chicago Bears, Washington actually figures to be a worthy opponent. Broncos tickets are only up 26% at home for this matchup, which is understandable with an exciting player like RG3 coming to town. Redskins tickets are up an insane 124% over their road average. That, too, is fairly understandable, as this is an epic showdown between RG3 and Manning, especially considering the Broncos were undefeated before week seven. This should be an extremely explosive matchup, allowing these two teams to live up to the $418 average ticket price.
2. Dolphins @ Patriots | Avg: $371 | Get-in: $130 | Weekly Trend: -8%
Miami fans will have to pay an extra buck or so as Dolphins tickets will see a 142% spike as the team heads into New England this week. The excitement of a 3-0 Miami start hasn’t completely eroded just yet, but three straight losses could have the team and it’s fans in panic mode come week eight. As for New England, they just dropped a divisional game to the New York Jets in week seven, so they can ill afford to drop a second straight game – much less one to a divisional foe. Patriots tickets are not surprisingly up 18% with the team doing well and a divisional matchup on the horizon. The return of Rob Gronkowski last week and hopefully a mending Danny Amendola won’t hurt ticket sales, either.
3. Bills @ Saints | Avg: $242 | Get-in: $90 | Weekly Trend: -9%
Considering the New Orleans Saints were just a last-second touchdown away from still being undefeated, it’s at least mildly surprising their week eight home game against the Bills is just $242 on average. In fact, Saints tickets are somehow down 15%, while Buffalo’s trip to the Baton Rouge area has Bills tickets up 72%. It’s an interesting showdown that weighs in New Orleans’ favor. After all, it’s in New Orleans and if you pit Thaddeus Lewis and Drew Brees against each other, it’s clear who everyone is taking. With that said, Buffalo has been in every single game this year, including back-to-back barn-burners under the guidance of Lewis. Fans could be in for a bit of a nail-biter.
4. Giants @ Eagles | Avg: $205 | Get-in: $72 | Weekly Trend: -15%
The New York Giants are no longer winless and the Philadelphia Eagles look to be getting more explosive with the return of Michael Vick under center. Hooray for all of that. The real story here is the bitter rivalry between these two sides, while New York Giants tickets (away from MetLife) and Eagles tickets are both seeing a modest spike for this clash (+14% for Philly and +28% for the G-Men). After all, a win puts Philly back at .500 with a 4-4 mark and a win for the Giants would actually give them an unlikely two straight wins after starting the season 0-6. In the crowded and arguably average NFC East, every single game matters, so fans of both teams are actually getting a major value buy here at just $205 on average.
5. Packers @ Vikings | Avg: $174 | Get-in: $64 | Weekly Trend: -15%
The Packers and Vikings met three times last year and every game gave us at least some reason for excitement. After seeing Adrian Peterson shutdown the last two weeks and Josh Freeman’s epic face-plant in week seven, however, it’s hard to pump life into this matchup. The Vikings are just 1-5, clearly explaining the -42% drop in Minnesota Vikings tickets, while Green Bay is on the upward swing and understandably brings a positive 38% trend to the table. The silver lining here is it’s a Sunday Night Football showdown and Peterson dropped nearly 500 rushing yards on the Pack during the regular season last year. The mere possibility of that going down again makes this $174 showdown one of the best bargains of the week.