Review and Preview : Week 7

football, news, week 7

Review

On Monday: We reviewed all of the injury-laden activity from Week 7.

On Tuesday: We talked about the controversial call that decided the Jets vs. Patriots game on Sunday afternoon.

On Wednesday: We answered three of your questions about real games.

On Thursday: We broke down the question you didn’t even know you had: the difference between vs. and at.

Preview

Normal Girl Game of the Week

Let’s call a spade a spade. Week 8 looks a little sparse as far as wow-factor goes. There isn’t really a marquee matchup, so I’ll vote for the game I have the most vested interest in: Green Bay at Minnesota, or the Greg Jennings reunion game.

Also on the Radar

1. This week we’ll all get to play the guessing game Who’s Under Center? because there are so many quarterbacks either benched or sitting out injured. For all we know, Brett Favre really will be out there on Sunday.

2. The Giants play the Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday. The Giants would love another win, especially in-division, and the Eagles would love to break their 9-game losing streak at home. Surprisingly, seeing as how neither of these teams have looked anywhere close to good so far this season, there is lot at stake in this NFC East in this matchup.

3. One would think that the Broncos will easily bounce back from the loss at Indy last week in this week’s home game against the Redskins, but it’ll be an interesting game to keep an eye on all the same.

At the Water Cooler : Week 7

football, games, week 7

Would you like your Week 7 with a side of injuries? Or maybe you’d like to make them your main dish? No problem. The NFL was awash with big ticket injuries this week – along with a bunch of great games. Here’s the recap!

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals (Seahawks won, 34-22)

The Seahawks are rolling, that’s for sure. The Cardinals? They’re hanging in there.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons (Falcons won, 31-23)

A win is a win, even if it comes against a winless team. And the Falcons certainly needed a win.

Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions (Bengals won, 27-24)

Another week, another game-winning field goal by Bengals kicker Mike Nugent. He’s incredible.

Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs (Chiefs won, 17-16)

The Chiefs squeaked by the Texans to remain unbeaten. The good news for Houston: Case Keenum, rookie starter at QB, looks like the real deal. The bad news for Houston: Brian Cushing broke his leg and tore his ACL and, clearly, will be out for the rest of the season. A crushing blow considering Cushing mised almost all of last season with a torn ACL on the same leg.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins (Bills won, 23-21)

AFC East Shakeup: Part I. The Bills win in Miami with standout defense.

New England Patriots at NY Jets (Jets won, 30-27 OT)

AFC East Shakeup: Part II. The Jets win in overtime at home against the Patriots with standout defense…and an odd, but correct, penalty call at the end of the game.

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (Cowboys won, 17-3)

The Eagles score also indicates the number of the quarterback they’re on at this point: QB 3, Matt Barkley, rookie out of USC. Vick and Foles are both injured.

Chicago Bears at Washington Redskins (Redskins won, 45-41)

Now, who predicted this one? A high-scorer with the Redskins coming out on top in the final seconds? It’s this sort of craziness that makes us love the NFL. Bears QB Jay Cutler may not love the NFL all too much right now – or at least not the groin injury that sidelined him in the middle of the game and looks like it might keep him there for a few weeks.

St. Louis Rams at Carolina Panthers (Panthers won, 30-15)

It’s not a happy Monday morning for the Rams or their fans. Franchise QB Sam Bradford was having the best season of his career thus far and will now miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Huge blow for him and for the Rams, who only have one other quarterback (Kellen Clemens) on the roster and will definitely be hiring another this week.

San Diego Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars (Chargers won, 24-6)

I was wrong. My upset pick upset me.

San Francisco 49ers at Tennessee Titans (49ers won, 31-17)

Let’s just say it was a rough welcome back for Titans QB Jake Locker, who returned after missing several weeks with a hip injury.

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers (Steelers won, 19-16)

Interesting stat on this rivalry: the last 6 regular season games in Pittsburgh against the Ravens have all been decided by 3 points. It’s always a good time when these two teams get together.

Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers (Packers won, 31-13)

Glad to see my construction workers Packers won this one.

Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts (Colts won, 39-33)

What a NIGHT. It was an emotional return to Indy for Peyton – and for everyone watching the game and crying on their couch as he ran in to overwhelming cheers. Even though it was a rough start for the Broncos and he nearly engineered a signature Manning comeback win, the Colts were the better team on the field last night. They look like the real deal.

Minnesota Vikings at NY Giants (Monday night on ESPN)

Both of these teams are desperate for a win, but I’d venture to say the Giants are more desperate. In every way.

Bye Week: Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints

What To Know : After Week 7

Here’s the important info to know about Week 7 in the NFL:

Who’s Back:

  • Terrell Suggs was back in the lineup for the Ravens. Although unfortunately it didn’t help much in their 13-43 loss to the Texans.
  • Vilma was back for the first time this season for the Saints…possibly for the last time this season if his case is heard and the suspension upheld this week.

Who’s Out:

  • Charles Woodson, Packers Cornerback, broke his collarbone in the 4th quarter of the game against the Rams. This is bad news for the Packers, whose defense has not been stellar so far as it is. Woodson will be out for at least 6 weeks.
  • The Jaguars. Or, at least two of the more effective players on their roster: Blaine Gabbert, QB, likely out for this week, and Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, likely out for awhile with a foot injury.

What’s Good:

  • SO MANY awesome endings. The Jets/Patriots and Jags/Raiders games went into OT simultaneously, while earlier in the day at least four games were decided on the final drive: wins by the Saints, Giants, Titans, Cowboys. Amazing.
  • RG3 vs. Eli. Man, that was a great game – and promises to be a great NFC East matchup for years to come.

What’s Bad:

  • The Panthers, with so much hope invested in Cam Newton, are kind of falling apart. So much so that they just fired their GM. Bad news.
  • I continue to be hopeless in our family fantasy football lead. I didn’t even pick this week…I left it completely to chance: a quarter for the wins/losses and random.org for the confidence points. And I still lost by double digits. It’s like I’ve never seen a football game before.

What To Know : Week 7

It literally pains me that we’re already at Week 7…the season goes by so fast! At any rate, here’s the need-to-know info for this week:

GAME OF THE WEEK: I’m tempted to go with the battle of the 3-3’s: The 3-3 Patriots vs. The 3-3 Jets, both of whom are fighting with the also 3-3 Bills and 3-3 Dolphins for 1st place in the AFC East. But the Houston/Baltimore game is more compelling, I think. Houston is coming off a confidence-shaking loss to Green Bay on Sunday night, and Baltimore just lost several of their best players to injury. It’s an interesting AFC match-up – of the only AFC teams who actually have winning records right now (both are 5-1).

PLAYER TO WATCH: Jonathan Vilma, linebacker for the Saints, might get to play in his first game this season after coming off of the Physically Unable of Perform list this week. If you’re wondering how he can play since he’s technically still serving a year-long suspension for his alleged involvement in the Saints bounty program – don’t worry, I was wondering the same thing. But since Vilma’s case is still under appeal and will be subjected to ruling by the federal judiciary system sometime soon, the suspension is not currently under effect.

STORYLINE TO KNOW: The face-off of the two surprisingly good teams: the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals. Both teams are 4-2, and neither were expected to be anywhere near that number at the beginning of the season. But intrigue: John Skelton, the Cardinals original starting QB who was injured and lost his spot to Kevin Kolb who is now also injured and could potentially lose his spot, again, to Skelton, is starting this week. He’s under a lot of pressure to play well – to earn his spot back and to redeem an ugly loss to Buffalo in OT last week. Minnesota is also trying to come back from last week’s loss to the Redskins. It’s not being billed as a great storyline, but if you can, watch this game. It’s sure to be a good one!

RECIPES TO MAKE:

apple snicker nachos

peanut butter filled devil’s food cupcakes

pumpkin crunch cake

reese’s peanut butter white chocolate bark

snickers caramel cheesecake cookies