The bulk of Week 7 is almost upon us. Let's dive into the three biggest Sunday games on the schedule for this coming week. Folks, we've got some insane games on Sunday's slate in Week 7. As we slowly creep toward the halfway point of the season, the playoff picture will begin to take shape more and more.
There does seem to be quite a bit of parity this season, so there's going to be a ton of close games this week and in weeks after. It's pretty clear to me that these three games are easily the biggest on Sunday's slate in Week 7.
NFL, Week 7: These are the 3 biggest Sunday games on the schedule
Cincinnati (2-4) @ Cleveland (1-5)
Oddly, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals is just 1-5 in his career against the Cleveland Browns. In those games, he's completed 63.6% of his passes for 10 touchdowns and an 86.4 passer rating. He's been just "eh" during his career against the Browns, but as we approach Week 7, there really is no excuse here - the Browns are among the worst teams in the NFL and are getting historically bad QB play from Deshaun Watson.
If the Browns keep Watson in the lineup, I'm not sure they win another game this season, so it'll be interesting to see if the Bengals can win their second game in a row and perhaps continue to save their season. It would not surprise me to see the Browns' fans in attendance be as loud as we've heard them in quite some time.
If nothing else, the Browns can at least play spoiler, and the Bengals dropping to 2-5 may end up being enough to ruin their season.
Detroit (4-1) @ Minnesota (5-0)
This could be one of the games of the year if we're being honest. The big story here is that stud Detroit Lions' defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is out for the season with a gruesome lower-leg injury he suffered in Week 6. A brutal injury could totally derail the Lions' defense, as Hutchinson was a legitimate DPOY candidate up to this point.
The Lions still have one of the best and deepest rosters in the NFL and will have a huge test in front of them. The 5-0 Minnesota Vikings boast and elite offense and defense, and they'll be well-rested off of their bye week.
The advantage obviously has to go to the Vikings in this one, but a Lions' win would make both teams 5-1, would propel the Lions to first place in the NFC North, and would make the division that much more crowded as we go down the stretch. Both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers are 4-2. In fact, both the Lions and Vikings could most certainly meet again in the postseason. This game is massive for obvious reasons.
Kansas City (5-0) @ San Francisco (3-3)
Oh boy, here we go again! I don't see how the San Francisco 49ers are any worse than the Kansas City Chiefs. They're 7th in points scored per game and 12th in points allowed. San Fran has a +32 point differential as well.
The Chiefs are 15th in points scored and 6th in points allowed. They've got a +33 point differential.
Patrick Mahomes has thrown six touchdowns against six interceptions and just has not been all that special this year. These two teams are pretty evenly matched if you ask me. The game is at home for the 49ers, so that should give them an advantage here, but the Chiefs are coming off of their bye week, which is something that Andy Reid thrives in.
It's easy to see why this could be the game of the week; the two teams have met in multiple Super Bowls in recent years and do each have a legit shot to again meet in the Super Bowl this coming February. The 49ers want to get this monkey off of their back and at least take down the Chiefs in the regular season.
And while the Chiefs haven't been great this season, they've managed to win each of their games, so it'll be interesting to see if KC can become a bit more efficient on offense.