NFL Round-Up: Week Seven

No time for an introduction this week. Why? Well, a few things.

The NFL season is in full gear. College football season is in full gear. The NHL just got things rolling and now guess who's arrived to the party?

That's right. The NBA tips things off tonight and the fine folks here at The Ultimate Sports Blog are officially in over our heads due to the ridiculous amount of action that is currently going on in the sports world. 

So.......

Sit back........

Grab a beer............

Put the kids outside...........

Tell the wife to leave you alone.........

IT'S TIME............................................

NFL Round-Up

Week 7

The Scoreboard

(A recap of all the action from the past week in the NFL....)

*Due to time restraints, the Monday Night Football games are not included in The Scoreboard


Seattle Seahawks (3-4): 20    San Francisco 49ers (2-5): 3

See, I told you Seahawks fans not to panic quite yet. I know you guys were 2-4 and things weren't looking good. The Carolina Panthers just traveled cross-country and bitch slapped you in your own arena. That's just something that hasn't happened to these Seattle Seahawks the last few seasons. But alas! The dynasty may not be over just yet! Seattle came out and won not only a huge "must win" game for them, but they dominated a weak divisional rival...which is what a good football team would do. So what does this mean for the Seahawks from here? We shall see. However, I'm looking at the future slate of opponents for the Seahawks and I'm kind of liking Seattle's chances of getting out of this thing with a potential playoff spot. As for the 49ers......

Buffalo Bills (3-4): 31     Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5): 34

Did you get up early in the morning to watch this game on your laptop on Yahoo? Ya, me neither. Apparently it wasn't that bad of a game though. I wouldn't know because I'm not watching Jaguars/Bills football, much less at 6 AM in the morning....

Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3): 13     Kansas City Chiefs (2-5): 23

The Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn't panic quite yet. The Kansas City Chiefs are a good football team when they want to be, and they proved it here with this game. The Steelers are still one of the top teams in the league, and they will show everyone who doubts them exactly that when Ben Roethlisberger returns to action. I know there are plenty of questions surrounding Pittsburgh's defense though and there should be. KC's offense isn't that great and they were missing Jeremy Maclin and Jamaal Charles in this game and were able to continuously drive the ball down the field and score on the Steelers. This is going to be a big problem for Pittsburgh, especially if they make the playoffs like I think they should. This was a big win for the Chiefs who haven't had a good season so far. All Kansas City fans should be cherishing this one because there may not be a whole lot more of these left this season.....

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4): 30      Washington Redskins (3-4): 31

(In all seriousness, props to the Redskins for the comeback victory. That was impressive.)

Atlanta Falcons (6-1): 10    Tennessee Titans (1-5): 7

Ugh. What an ugly game. The Atlanta Falcons continue to confuse the hell out of me. Are they a good team? Are they a bad team? Are they just mediocre? I DON'T KNOW! One week they come out and absolutely crush the Houston Texans and the next week they come out and struggle against a Tennessee Titans team using their back-up QB. The only thing I know regarding this Falcons team is, I don't trust them at all. If you trust them, then feel free to hitch yourself to their bandwagon if you will. I won't point and laugh too hard when you all go rolling off a cliff. I just don't know how you only muster up 10 points against a Titans defense that isn't exactly elite. Matt Ryan played like garbage and Devonta Freeman finally came back down to life, but this game still had the makings of a 35-14 Atlanta victory judging from the way the Falcons have played this season. Beware of this Falcons team folks. They are the exact definition of "fool's gold".

New Orleans Saints (3-4): 27    Indianapolis Colts (3-4): 21

Maybe we all wrote the New Orleans Saints off too early? After losing their first three games of the season, the Saints have now won 3 out of 4 games and just made the Colts look like fools in Indianapolis. Although, to be fair...a lot of people are making the Colts look like fools this year. What the hell is up with Andrew Luck man? In the first half of this game, Luck looked like pure garbage. He didn't look like the best young quarterback prospect in the NFL. Oh no. He looked more like this guy.....

...then the guy we've come to know over the last few years. Just when things were looking like they couldn't get any worse (the Colts fans were booing the team as they went to halftime), Luck found his rhythm in the second half. I don't know if he all of a sudden remembered that he's one of the best QB's in the league or what, but he finally showed up and made it somewhat interesting. The Colts still ended up losing a game they had no business losing and if Chuck Pagano wasn't on the hot seat before, he definitely is now. The Saints aren't exactly "world beaters" and they definitely had no business beating a team that was in the AFC Championship last year at home. What a horrible loss for the Colts but kudos to Sean Payton and the Saints. They needed this.

Minnesota Vikings (4-2): 28    Detroit Lions (1-6): 16

Is everyone sold on the Vikings yet or do you guys not believe me when I say that this is a very good and potential playoff team? I'm not just blowing smoke over here people. I know this was just a win over the awful Detroit Lions (who just fired half of their coaching staff mind you...), but Minnesota is now 4-2 on the season and the next 3 games are extremely winnable as well. The schedule starts to ramp up after that and we will really see what the Vikings are made of then. In the meantime, I'll be over here handing out Vikings stock to anyone else who wants it like....

Cleveland Browns (2-5): 6    St. Louis Rams (3-3): 24

Houston Texans (2-5): 26    Miami Dolphins (3-3): 44

The Houston Texans are a joke. For all the money and draft picks they have invested on that defense only for them to get obliterated by a Miami offense that hasn't been that good this year is just laughable. That's the definition of "shaking my head". Good for the Dolphins though. Ever since they fired that "bum" Joe Philbin, this team looks rejuvenated and looks like the team that I predicted would win 10+ games at the beginning of the season. I remember back at the beginning of summer when I was evaluating all the NFL rosters and thinking to myself how shockingly good the Dolphins could be this year. When they came out and looked like absolute crap at the beginning of the season, I was extremely worried about these guys. However, new head coach Dan Campbell has lit a fire under their asses and the Dolphins are playing some of the best football in the league. Don't look now people, but the DOLPHINS ARE HERE!!!!

New York Jets (4-2): 23    New England Patriots (6-0): 30

Patriots. All they do is WIN BABY!

Oakland Raiders (3-3): 37     San Diego Chargers (2-5): 29

As a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, it pains me to say this, but the Raiders are actually a good NFL team once again. I know, I know. After YEARS of laughable ownership, questionable coaching hires, and just disgusting flaws all over the damn franchise...it looks as though the Oakland Raiders might finally be BACK! Isn't it absolutely wonderful what can happen to your NFL franchise when you actually draft well in the NFL Draft? The Raiders have nailed the last couple of drafts and have brought in some damn good players (Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, & Khalil Mack to name a few) that have changed the face of this franchise. Even though the final score says the Chargers lost by only 8 points, if you watched this game, it was pretty evident that the Raiders were a better team than San Diego and that's the first time anyone can say that in a long time. Don't look now, but it might not be very long until these Raiders are playing some post-season football again....    

Dallas Cowboys (2-4): 20    New York Giants (4-3): 27

The Cowboys are garbage without Tony Romo. Matt Cassel is absolute trash. Greg Hardy is a giant asshole. We all knew that already and Sunday just confirmed that. 

The Giants are probably the best team in the NFC East at the moment, but is that really saying much? Dallas doesn't have Romo, the Eagles are inconsistent, and the Redskins are the Redskins. Yes, they looked good this week...but they were playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that got crushed by the Tennessee Titans back in week one. New York had better hope and pray that they have a huge lead over the Cowboys by the time Romo comes back though because then they might be safe in the division. 

I still think Dallas would be head and shoulders above the other teams in the NFC East had it not been for Romo dying...

Philadelphia Eagles (3-4): 16    Carolina Panthers (6-0): 27

Is it time to stop overlooking the Carolina Panthers yet? To me, it seems like people are scoffing at the notion of the Panthers being one of the best teams in the NFL. I'm here to tell you to stop the scoffing. These guys are for real folks. The Panthers are a legit undefeated team and they are getting things done the old fashioned way. By playing good defense and running the ball well (Carolina is ranked 4th in rushing yards as of press time). While Cam Newton is far from one of the best QB's in the league, he's just good enough to get the job done and let's be honest with ourselves here. Thanks to the pre-season injury of Kelvin Benjamin, Newton doesn't exactly have a whole lot of weapons to work with on that side of the ball. Even though I'm still not sold on the Panthers being a Super Bowl team, I think they are good enough to get to the NFC Championship and at least give a team like the Packers a real good scare. Anyone got any Panthers stock available? I'm buying it in droves.

Monday Night Football Scores:

Baltimore Ravens (1-6): 18     Arizona Cardinals (5-2): 26

Fantasy Football Top Performers

(Fantasy football is huge these days. Here are the best fantasy football players from this week)

*Stats are from Yahoo and don't include Monday Night Football teams

Quarterbacks:

1. Kirk Cousins (30.18 points)

2. Tom Brady (29.70 points)

3. Ryan Tannehill (27.58 points)

4. Philip Rivers (27.44 points)

5. Andrew Luck (26.02 points)

Running Backs:

1. Lamar Miller (35.60 points)

2. Todd Gurley (28.30 points)

3. Arian Foster (24.50 points)

4. Darren McFadden (22.20 points)

5. Danny Woodhead (22.10 points)

Wide Receivers:

1. T.Y. Hilton (27.00 points)

2. Nate Washington (24.70 points)

3. Mike Evans (22.40 points)

4. Jarvis Landry (20.80 points)

5. Amari Cooper (19.30 points)

6. Stefon Diggs (17.70 points)

7. Allen Robinson (15.80 points)

8. Julio Jones (15.20 points)

9. Calvin Johnson (14.60 points)

9. Danny Amendola (14.60 points)

Tight Ends:

1. Jordan Reed (19.20 points)

2. Rob Gronkowski (16.80 points)

3. Eric Ebron (14.90 points)

4. Ladarius Green (14.50 points)

5. Clive Walford (10.20 points)

Kickers:

1. Blair Walsh (20.00 points)

2. Stephen Gostkowski (13.00 points)

2. Nick Folk (13.00 points)

2. Sebastian Janikowski (13.00 points)

2. Connor Barth (13.00 points)

Defense:

1. St. Louis Rams (25.00 points)

2. Jacksonville Jaguars (24.00 points)

3. New York Giants (22.00 points)

4. Seattle Seahawks (13.00 points)

5. Miami Dolphins/Kansas City Chiefs (12.00 points)

NFL Power Rankings

(Pretty self explanatory here...)

1. New England Patriots (6-0)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (6-0)

3. Green Bay Packers (6-0)
4. Denver Broncos (6-0)
5. Carolina Panthers (6-0)
6. Atlanta Falcons (6-1)
7. Arizona Cardinals (5-2)
8. New York Jets (4-2)

9. Minnesota Vikings (4-2)
10. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3)
11. New York Giants (4-3)
12. St. Louis Rams (3-3)
13. Miami Dolphins (3-3)
14. Oakland Raiders (3-3)
15. Seattle Seahawks (3-4)
16. Philadelphia Eagles (3-4)
17. Buffalo Bills (3-4)
18. New Orleans Saints (3-4)
19. Washington Redskins (3-4)
20. Indianapolis Colts (3-4)
21. Dallas Cowboys (2-4)
22. Chicago Bears (2-4)
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4)
24. Kansas City Chiefs (2-5)
25. San Diego Chargers (2-5)
26. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5)
27. Cleveland Browns (2-5)
28. Houston Texans (2-5)
29. San Francisco 49ers (2-5)

30. Tennessee Titans (1-5)
31. Baltimore Ravens (1-6)
32. Detroit Lions (1-6)