2024 NFL Season: 5 key statistics for Week 7 that you must know
The Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys are the only two teams in the league who won’t be playing this week. In the case of the former, Matt Eberflus’s club has won three straight games, and wouldn’t have minded staying on the field. As for the Cowboys, there will be plenty of soul searching after another ugly home loss.
There’s a divisional showdown in the Twin Cities, and a Super Bowl LVIII rematch in Santa Clara. Each involves the league’s lone 5-0 teams.
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Week 6 saw 28 of the NFL’s 32 teams in action. Hence, there were a total of 14 games played on Sunday, and there were plenty of points scored. On the other hand, there were not a lot of wins when it came to the clubs hosting those games.
All told, the Ravens, Eagles, Packers, and Bears (the designated home team in London) were the only teams to protect homefield advantage in Week 6. That means the road clubs were 10-4 this past week, and now own the season edge at two games over .500 (47-45). Six teams have still not lost at home in 2024. The Bills (2-0), Commanders (2-0) and Vikings (3-0) host games this week.
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They have gone from a surprise team to a club now searching for answers. The New Orleans Saints just missed out on the playoffs in 2023 with a 9-8 record. However, not many foresaw the club opening up this season with wins by a combined 91-29 score over the Panthers (47-10) and Cowboys (44-19)—the latter on the road.
Suddenly it’s not so easy in the Big Easy. Dennis Allen’s team has now dropped four straight outings. Narrow setbacks to the Eagles (15-12) and Falcons (26-24) have morphed into double-digit defeats to the Chiefs (26-13) and Buccaneers (51-27)—all by a whopping combined score of 118-76.
63
Opinions always vary, but it’s now hard to argue the points that six weeks into the season that the NFC North is the league’s top division. The Vikings, Lions, Packers, and Bears have combined for an impressive 17-5 record. All four teams are at least two games over .500, and each is riding at least a two-game winning streak.
On Sunday at Minnesota, the 5-0 Purple Gang hosts Dan Campbell’s 4-1 club. The latter has reeled off three straight wins, and now sits second in the league in scoring differential at plus-60. The team on top is the undefeated Vikings (plus-63). Minnesota’s 5-0 start is the franchise’s best since 2016.
107
What’s gone wrong in the Pacific Northwest? Has new head coach Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks been figured out already, or has it been a simple matter of who the team has faced? The club’s first three games all came against AFC opponents in the Broncos, Patriots, and Dolphins. The ‘Hawks swept those three clubs, and allowed a mere 43 combined points in the process.
The last three weeks has seen nothing but teams in Seattle’s conference, and the reversal of fortunes has been startling. Three straight losses to the Lions (42-29), Giants (29-20) and 49ers (36-24) has seen the team give up 107 points.
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On Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium, the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs return to action after some down time. They will face the San Francisco 49ers, who come off a 36-24 Thursday night victory at Seattle. Of course, this is also a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl, a 25-22 overtime win by Andy Reid’s team at Las Vegas.
This will be the second consecutive year and 10th time that teams will meet in the regular season one year after facing each other on Super Sunday. A year ago, the Chiefs lost at home to the Eagles. Nevertheless, the defending Super Bowl champions still own a 9-3 record in these rematches.