Welcome to Part II of my Monday Morning Quarterback Post for Week 7. This post will cover the late games on Sunday plus the Monday Night matchup. I guess the NFL really got into the spirit of Halloween with this slate because these games were scary looking. And not in a good way, more like stumbling upon a nasty bloodbath way.

What in the hell were the TV schedule makers thinking? The premium AFC games were played early and CBS, who normally carries AFC games, were left sending their "A" broadcasting crew to cover the Tampa Bay/Chicago game. Who outside of Tom Brady's family gave a rat's ass about that game?

Fox had it even worse. There were no interesting NFC games this week. See what happens when the Cowboys get a week off? The whole schedule turns to garbage!

I'm starting to think we were subjected to a cruel experiment by the NFL to see if we will watch any old shit instead of holding out for better competition. I ended up watching more NASCAR than I have in weeks.

Anyway it's time to dive right into this mess. No games for the Cowboys (BOOO!), Bills, Jaguars, Chargers, Vikings and Steelers this week as they all had a bye. Just remember I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and I'm extremely biased. Feel free to agree or disagree about anything mentioned here. All comments are welcome.

Stafford's Revenge?

_{I'm sure Stafford was thinking it's a lot more fun throwing away from the silver and blue than it was throwing to them
Source}

Rams 28 Lions 19

The NFL media tried to paint this game as Matthew Stafford’s revenge. Why does he need revenge? The Lions paid him millions of dollars and then sent him to a team that has a legitimate shot to reach the Super Bowl. Nobody be should happier with the Detroit Lions right now than Matthew Stafford.

As usual the media talking heads completely missed the true narrative of this game. It was Jared Goff’s shot at revenge. Last year the Rams sent him to the bench, replaced by guys nobody ever heard of. If that wasn’t bad enough the Rams proceeded to trade him into one of the blackest holes in the NFL universe: Detroit. If anybody was seeking “revenge” on Sunday it was Goff.

Funny enough Goff almost got his revenge. He was stymied however in the end by his own piss poor turnover that cost the Lions the game. The kind of bad play that made the Rams want to trade him in the first place. Maybe it was karma.

On paper this matchup was a joke, but the Rams made a near costly mistake. Full of hubris they acted like all they had to do was show up to win. They forgot Detroit was desperate for a win and their head coach Dan Campbell is fearless.

The Lions took the opening kickoff and scored a TD right of the bat. Knowing his squad was outmanned, Campbell called for a surprise onside kick. It worked! The Lions took advantage, sort of, and added a FG to take a 10-0 lead barely halfway through the 1st quarter. That lead disappeared in the second quarter as the Lions kept settling for FGs and the Rams started scoring TDs. L.A. carried a slim 17-16 lead into halftime.

The Lions defense stepped up in the 3rd quarter, shutting down the Rams as the Lions clawed out another FG with the help of a successful fake punt. Detroit held a 19-17 lead entering the 4th quarter. Upset alerts were officially sent.

Matt Stafford and the Rams woke up again in the 4th quarter. Stafford put together a 10 play, 90 yard drive that ended in the endzone. After making a two-point conversion, the Rams pushed ahead 25-19.

This was Goff’s chance to lead a TD drive of his own to retake the lead and let the Lions escape town with their first win. Goff dinked and dunked the ball down the field to gain yardage and chew up the clock. With the aid of a few running plays, Goff and the Lions found themselves with a first and ten on the Rams 12-yard line. Here comes the revenge! Actually no. It was at this point where the true ability of Jared Goff reared its ugly head as he threw a terrible pass into the endzone that was easily intercepted by Jalen Ramsey. Poor decision and even worse pass.

The Rams tacked on another field goal to give them a 28-19 lead with barely a minute left. Down two scores, Goff chucked another ill-advised pass in desperation and was picked off again. One knee by Stafford and the game was over.

The Lions do deserve some credit here. Severely outmatched, they fought like hell and Dan Campbell pulled out all the stops by calling for an onside kick and two fake punts. Those plays kept Detroit in the game until the very end. But ultimately it was an awful play by Goff (22/36, 268 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) that sunk the Lions chances. Ironic since that is how the Lions ended up with Goff in the first place.

The Lions remain winless at 0-7 and sit in last place in the NFC North. Last place in the entire NFL really since they are the last winless team. They’ll have a better chance of winning next week when they host another horror show: the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Rams let the Lions hang around in this game too long by falling asleep on special teams. Matthews Stafford (28/41, 334 yards, 3 TDs) had a sweet performance. He got plenty of help from Cooper Kupp (10 receptions, 156 yards, 2 TDs), who is simply torching secondaries into cinders this year. The ground game was sad as the running backs only gained 49 yards on 17 rushes. Oh well, Stafford is used to carrying offenses on his back.

The Rams improved to 8-1, second place in the NFC West behind the undefeated Cardinals. They get another lousy opponent next week as they head to Houston.

What Happens in Vegas ... Still Counts in Philly

_{Raiders confuse the Eagles by actually running the ball
Source}

Raiders 33 Eagles 22

If you just saw the final score you might to yourself “Gee the Eagles actually gave them a fight.” You would be so wrong. Just another case of some garbage time stats skewing the narrative. Don’t be fooled by the final score, the Raiders thumped the Eagles.

Philly received the opening kickoff and immediately did something crazy: they ran the ball! The Eagles have eschewed the run all season yet they came out running against Las Vegas, which was smart since the Raiders are lousy against the run. The Eagles first drive consisted of 5 rushes and only two passes as they marched down the field for a TD and a quick 7-0 lead.

I was stunned. Maybe Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was finally learning you could do more than duck and chuck all game. Nope. After their initial drive Philly went back to their old ways of passing nearly every down. And predictably the results were disastrous as the Raiders went on to score the next 30 points.

After taking a 30-7 lead into the 4th quarter, the Raiders stood around and waited for the clock to run out. That’s when the Eagles put together about 80% of their offensive stats. You’re not fooling me Sirianni! I saw you guys stink out loud.

The Raiders did what good teams are supposed to do against inferior competition. They kicked their ass, built up a big lead and then conserved their strength to save it for when they face actual competition. Derek Carr (31/34, 323 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) threw an interception on the Raiders first drive, then was nearly perfect the rest of the game. He spread his passes around to nine different receivers since everybody was open.

The running back duo of Kenyan Drake (14 rushes, 69 yards, 1 TD) and Joshua Jacobs (6 rushes, 29 yards, 1 TD) provided solid support on the ground. The Raiders improved to 5-2, first place in the AFC West. Las Vegas has a bye next week.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Its official, the Eagles are insane. Philly continues to run the same exact plays and schemes on offense and defense each week even though they aren’t working. Everybody on the other side of the ball (also everybody watching at home) knows what is coming.

I think the Eagles shocked Las Vegas by coming out running, it showed as they marched right down the field. Then they basically abandoned the run and didn’t score again until late in the 4th quarter when the Raiders quit trying.

Jalen Hurts (18/34, 236 yards, 2 TDs) wasn’t accurate and tacked on most of his yardage in garbage time. He was more effective on the ground (13 rushes, 61 yards), but these aren’t designed runs. That’s just Hurts not finding any open receivers and running for his life. Running back Miles Sanders is Philly’s most talented offensive player yet he hardly sees the ball: 6 rushes for 30 yards and 1 reception for -3 yards. Yep -3, it was just a dump off pass that should have been dropped instead.

The Eagles offense makes me shake my head because I get the feeling they would be better with more balanced play calling. The Eagles defense makes me vomit because they are just plain awful.

Things are bad in Philadelphia and they are getting worse as the season goes. The Eagles dropped to 2-5, tied with the No-Names and Giants for last place in the NFC East. They head to Detroit next week. The winless Lions are desperate and I’m sure they sense this may be their best opportunity to crack into the win column.

Around the League

_{The Texans tried to put the squeeze on Kyler Murray
It didn't work
Source}

Cardinals 31 Texans 5

This game got off to a weird start. The only scoring in the 1st quarter came when the Texans sacked Kyler Murray in the endzone for a safety. Houston scored first in the second quarter as well when they kicked a FG to take a 5-0 lead. At that point somebody decided to wake Arizona up and they proceeded to blow the Texans right out of the building.

Either the Cardinals had a hard time getting up for this game or they were looking past it because they slept walk through the 1st quarter. I think the safety woke them up since after that they looked like the last undefeated team in the league. Kyler Murray (20/28, 261 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) was contained in the pocket, but still made plenty of throws.

Murray didn’t have to overextend himself because the ground game trampled the Texans defense. Chase Anderson (15 rushes, 81 yards) and James Connor (10 rushes, 64 yards, 1 TD) led the committee that gained 172 yards on the ground. The Cardinals offense has been balanced this year and that makes it hard to defend. Arizona improved to 7-0, first place in the NFC West. Short week coming up as they host the Packers on Thursday night.

The Texans defense held the Cardinals down for a while, but eventually they broke. Of course they didn’t get any help from the offense that couldn’t stay on the field. Houston only gained 160 yards of total offense for the entire game. That’s a bad half for most good teams. Davis Mills (23/32, 135 yards) could only complete check down passes and David Johnson (7 rushes, 25 yards) couldn’t find any holes.

Sad effort on offense for the Texans. They dropped to 1-6, last place in the AFC South. Thing might get ugly next week as they host the Rams.

Buccaneers 38 Bears 3

This game was a total beat down and Bears fans won’t want to hear it, but it should have been much worse. Tom Brady (20/36, 211 yards, 4 TDs) was uncharacteristically inaccurate and still had four TD passes. Bruce Arians took the pressure off of Brady after taking a lead by emphasizing the ground game. Leonard Fournette (15 rushes, 81 yards, 1 TD) led the attack that gained 182 yards on the ground.

The only trouble the Bucs faced all day was off the field. Wide receiver Mike Evans (6 receptions, 76 yards, 3 TDs) gave the ball from one of his TD receptions to a fan in the stands. The issue was that ball was Tom Brady’s 600th career TD pass. A Tampa Bay employee had to reach out to the fan and negotiate to get the ball back. The fan did the right thing and gave the ball back. Kudos to him for doing the right thing.

That fan has been catching some shit for giving the ball back. It’s been estimated that ball could be worth half a million bucks. But he never should have been given that ball in the first place. Mike Evans screwed up by accidently giving away a record-setting ball unknowingly. The fan rightly decided he didn’t deserve that ball and did the right thing in giving it back. That deserves respect, not ridicule.

And the fan isn’t walking away empty-handed. He is getting a Tom Brady autographed jersey, an autographed football, another ball from the game, $1000 gift card for the Bucs merch store, two season tickets for the rest of the season and two for next season. Not a bad haul. Plus during the Manning cast on Monday Night football Tom Brady he is going to give him a Bitcoin. That’s some sweet rewards for being a decent human being.

OK back to football. The Bucs improved to 6-1, first place in the NFC South. Tampa Bay will travel to New Orleans next week to face the Saints.

The Bears should have just stayed home. The defense was gouged even though Tom Brady didn’t have his best stuff. Offensively Chicago couldn’t put anything together. Justin Fields (22/32, 184 yards, 3 INTs, 2 fumbles) looked every bit the rookie quarterback that he is. Khalil Herbert (18 rushes, 100 yards) put up some numbers, but I think the Bucs were happy to let him run and chew up some clock.

The Bears are in total disarray right now and Matt Nagy’s seat couldn’t be any hotter. The Bears fell to 3-4, third place in the NFC North. They’ll host the 49ers next week, another team that’s falling apart.

Colts 30 49ers 18

Geez, what a dud of a matchup for a prime time Sunday night game. What were the schedule makers thinking? NBC had nothing really to talk about for this one so they just went on ad nauseam about the rain. Like a NFL game was never played in the rain ever before. Hell back when the 49ers still played in Candlestick Park it seemed like every Niners game was played in the rain and the mud.

Both teams had to rely more on the run rather than the pass due to the wet conditions. The 49ers got off to a good start on offense scoring a TD and two FGs in the first quarter. Then they disappeared until the end of the game. The Colts were more consistent, scoring at least once in every quarter. Indy’s consistency let them pull away.

Each quarterback locked onto one receiver to do most of their damage. For Carson Wentz (17/26, 150 yards, 2 TDs) it was Michael Pittman (4 receptions, 105 yards, 1 TD), the same wide receiver who refused to give up his number 11 to Carson after he was traded to the Colts. Good to see there are no hard feelings.

Jonathan Taylor (18 rushes, 107 yards, 1 TD) slogged through the mud to drive the Indy offense. I don’t know if it was the original game plan or just dictated by the weather, but the Colts offense always seems to work better when they go run first and they base their passing plays off of that. The Colts improved to 3-4, second place in the AFC South. They are slowly digging out of the hole and have an excellent chance to gain ground in the division when the Titans come to town next week.

The 49ers started the game great, then just fell apart. Hmm, that seems to be the story of their season not just this game. Jimmy Garoppolo (16/27, 181 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) looked good when throwing the ball to Deebo Samuel (7 receptions, 100 yards, 1 TD), but otherwise wasn’t very good. Eli Mitchell (18 rushes, 107 yards, 1 TD) carried the load on the ground.

The stats on both side of this game are nearly identical. The difference really was in turnovers, the Colts had two and the Niners four. San Francisco could have made this a closer game if they handled the ball better. The Niners fell to 2-4, third place in the NFC West. They travel to Chicago next week.

Saints 13 Seahawks 10

A lackluster matchup to fittingly cap off a lackluster week. It has to get better next week right? Oh well at least we got the Worlds Series this week. In case you are wondering (even though I know you are not) I see the Astros winning in 5 or 6 games. They have too much firepower on offense for the Braves.

I dozed off on the recliner for a stretch during this game. It was rather boring and the good thing was I got a nice nap without missing anything. Win win.

The Seahawks struck first in the 1st quarter when Geno Smith hit D.K. Metcalf with an 84-yard TD pass. Boom. That was pretty much it for the Seattle offense. I’m not kidding either, Smith literally gained half of his passing yards with that play.

The Saints struck back right before halftime on a busted play. With a first and ten on the Seattle 13-yard line, Jameis Winston fumbled the snap. He didn’t panic however, he simply picked up the ball and tossed it to Alvin Kamara. Kamara finished the play by streaking into the endzone, giving the Saints a 10-7 lead at halftime.

My nap came in the second half and I missed nothing. The two teams traded field goals and the Saints left town with the 13-10 win. The only thing that made this game tolerable was the Manning cast on ESPN 2. It’s great. The Manning brothers drop a ton of knowledge on us about everything that is really going on the field. Plus they relentlessly bust each other’s balls. I love it.

It was the Alvin Kamara show for the Saints. Kamara wasn’t exciting on the ground (20 rushes, 51 yards), but he was electric in the air: 10 receptions, 128 yards, 1 TD. Jameis Winston (19/35, 222 yards, 1 TD) on the other hand lulled me to sleep. His best play was the busted one, take that for whatever its worth. The Saints weren’t great, but they held on for the win. They improved to 4-2, second place in the NFC South. They’ll host the Buccaneers next week and will need a much better effort if they want to compete.

I spend most of the time on these posts bitching about how teams don’t run the ball enough. Well the Seahawks ran the ball too much. Pete Carroll gave the running back committee 28 carries, yet they only gained 90 yards. Carroll seemed reluctant to put the ball into the hands of Geno Smith (12/22, 167 yards, 1 TD), even though he made their only big play on offense. This offense is lost without Russell Wilson, who is going to miss several more weeks after getting surgery on his thumb.

The loss dropped the Seahawks record to 2-5, last place in the NFC West. They get a break next week when they host the Jaguars. However if they drop that game they might as well pack it in early and look ahead to next year.

Well that's it for Week 7, a very disappointing week. Things have to pick up next week right? Man I hope so, otherwise my recliner will become my bed again.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment below.