NFL Winners and Losers: Maybe we need to tone down the Lions hype for a while
There was an argument to be made after last week for the Detroit Lions being the best team in the NFL.
That title was still going to the San Francisco 49ers in most polls, but the Lions had a case. Their only loss came to a good Seattle Seahawks team in overtime. Detroit looked good in its wins, including one at the Kansas City Chiefs. With most good teams looking bad and some losing last week, the Lions had an impressive win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This was the team Lions fans had waited generations for. Finally.
And then Sunday, the old doubts crept it. Lamar Jackson made the Lions look silly, Detroit's offense completely disappeared and the Baltimore Ravens blasted the Lions 38-6.
One of the teams in Baltimore on Sunday looked like a Super Bowl contender, and it wasn't the Lions.
It was reminiscent of a streak last season in which the Lions lost 29-0 to the New England Patriots and then 24-6 to the Dallas Cowboys. But that Lions team was off to a 1-6 start. It wasn't like this team, which was living up to all of the preseason hype and made people wonder if they were really a Super Bowl contender.
Both sides of the ball failed. The Ravens did whatever they wanted on offense from the early minutes of the game. Detroit had a bad defense last season and did a lot to improve that group in the offseason. And it has looked good at times. But the Lions also gave up 31 defensive points at home to the Seahawks and 38 more to the Ravens on Sunday. Lamar Jackson had 357 passing yards and three touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown, and it probably could have been more if the game was remotely competitive in the second half.
It's hard to say the Lions' defense is good enough to make a deep playoff run when they have two games like that on their résumé through seven weeks.
Detroit's offense had been consistently good before Sunday, which made the performance against the Ravens weird. The Lions' first seven possessions ended with four punts, two turnovers on downs and an interception. They didn't score until the fourth quarter when it didn't really matter. It's easier to trust this was just an off day for the Lions' offense and they'll bounce back, but it's still a reminder of last season when Detroit's offense inexplicably disappeared for a while.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell was honest about the result, saying "They kicked our ass." But he saw a positive for a team that has been getting a lot of positive attention lately.
“You don’t want these to happen but when it does, it re-centers you, it refocuses you and that’s all I know,” Campbell said, via NFL.com.
The Lions should be fine. But talk about them being on the same tier as the 49ers or Philadelphia Eagles has to be paused. Elite teams don't generally find themselves down 35-0 in games like Detroit did Sunday. Winning the NFC North and maybe a playoff game would have been a great season for the Lions, and it still would be. But excited Detroit fans might have to revert back to those lesser expectations after what we saw Sunday.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 7 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
T.J. Watt: Even when Watt isn't a force throughout an entire game, he can make the one play that leads to a win.
Watt had just one tackle Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, but also had a game-changing interception. On the first play of the third quarter, Watt dropped into coverage, read Matthew Stafford and drove on a short pass underneath to Cooper Kupp. Watt picked it off and that led to a Steelers touchdown. Until then the Steelers had done nothing on offense and trailed 9-3. They went on to win 24-17.
Watt is better known for rushing the quarterback but his interception was the biggest difference in Sunday's win. It's hard to say any defender in the NFL has more impact on games than Watt, as he showed again in the win over the Rams.
Seattle Seahawks defense: The Seahawks' offense didn’t do much in the second half, giving the Arizona Cardinals hope for an upset.
The defense wouldn’t let it happen.
The Seahawks shut out Arizona in the second half and held on to a 20-10 lead. The Cardinals don’t have a great offense, but Seattle still had to make plays to keep them off the scoreboard.
Seattle has an offense that on most days can be effective. Geno Smith needs to make fewer mistakes, but there’s a lot of playmakers. The defense has been the question for Seattle. The Seahawks’ improvement on that side is a good sign for the rest of the season.
Mac Jones and Bill Belichick: Jones and Belichick have been under a lot of heat this season. Jones has looked terrible and there has been a lot of speculation about him being benched. People started wondering if Belichick was on his way out as the New England Patriots continued to lose.
The Patriots might have cost themselves a few draft spots by beating the Buffalo Bills 29-25, but it was a shocking win in an otherwise miserable season. After the Bills took a late lead after a Kendrick Bourne fumble, Jones led an impressive drive downfield and hit Mike Gesicki for a 1-yard touchdown in the final seconds for the lead. It was a big moment for a young quarterback who was feeling plenty of heat.
It was a horrible loss for the Bills, who barely beat the Giants and lost to the Patriots in back-to-back weeks. They're probably not a Super Bowl contender, and surely not if they continue to play like they have the past eight days. They should have known that Belichick is still capable of putting together a good gameplan. Belichick might not be as bad as everyone has been saying these past few weeks.
Kyle Pitts, Desmond Ridder (but not Bijan Robinson): The Atlanta Falcons are in good position in the NFC South. They watched the New Orleans Saints lose Thursday, then got a 16-13 win Sunday over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and have a very soft schedule coming the rest of the way.
The win at Tampa was in question when Ridder fumbled what looked like a touchdown run out of the end zone, giving Tampa Bay possession. But after the Buccaneers tied it, Ridder bounced back. A completion to Pitts was ruled incomplete after a review, so he went right back to Pitts for a huge 39-yard gain that set up the game-winning field goal as time expired. It was a big play for Pitts, whose production has not been reliable this season but is starting to come around.
Just as big of a story for the Falcons is Robinson. He strangely had just one touch, and that came on a 3-yard run on Atlanta's final drive. Everyone will be wondering why the eighth overall pick of the draft disappeared from the offense. Head coach Arthur Smith has a habit of misusing his best players, and after the game he gave an answer that brings up more questions.
Arthur Smith on Bijan Robinson:
"As we got through warmups, just wasn't feel like himself. Just being cautious. Monitor tonight, tomorrow. I'll have a better answer tomorrow."— Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) October 22, 2023
The important part, for the moment, is that the Falcons got out of Tampa with a big win. We'll find out what's going on with Robinson soon.
Cleveland Browns, but with questions: The Browns had a great last-minute drive to beat the Indianapolis Colts, with Kareem Hunt scoring a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 15 seconds left to take a 39-38 lead. That would end up being the final score in the Browns' win.
But it wasn't Deshaun Watson leading that drive. He left the game in the first quarter.
Watson took a hard hit in the first half and even though he was cleared for a concussion, the Browns didn't put him back in the game. P.J. Walker played the rest of the way. Walker did a good job on the final drive, though he was helped by a questionable illegal contact penalty that wiped out a Colts fumble recovery. And another questionable pass interference call on the next play.
When Watson didn't go back in the game, the Browns' beat writers said in unison that it looked like head coach Kevin Stefanski was being cautious with him after he took a hit. After the game Stefanski said he was protecting Watson and that Watson would start next week. That's odd, but a lot has been odd about Watson and his playing status this season. He returned from a shoulder injury that he was cleared from weeks ago to play Sunday, then was pulled for his safety after getting hit on his fifth pass.
It was a big win for the Browns, who somehow overcame their defense giving up a surprising 38 points to the Colts. And now comes another round of questions surrounding their $230 million quarterback.
LOSERS
Any Charger covering Travis Kelce: You'd think that after all these years, the Los Angeles Chargers would have some plan for how to cover Kelce.
Year after year Kelce wears out the Chargers and he did it again Sunday. Kelce had 12 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown in the Kansas City Chiefs' 31-17 win. That win gives the Chiefs a huge lead in the AFC West, as the rest of the division flounders.
Kelce is one of the best to ever do it, but he hadn't been off to a great start this season, perhaps due to injuries. But he has 21 catches for 303 yards the past two games combined. And he has another game coming against the Chargers, who probably won't figure out how to cover him by then either.
Jordan Love: Love is just six games into his first season as a starter, but it's not looking good.
Love struggled again and the Green Bay Packers lost 19-17 to a bad Denver Broncos team. Facing a Broncos defense that was last in the NFL in yards and points allowed, the Packers were shut out in the first half. When the Packers had a shot to win it late, Love floated up a deep pass that was easily intercepted.
The Packers are 2-4. Love still has time to turn things around, because it's not like Green Bay has a viable backup to bench him for. But he's not close to where he needs to be. We saw that again Sunday.
Choosing to start Brian Hoyer: Rookie Aidan O'Connell started one game earlier this season when Jimmy Garoppolo was out, and he wasn't bad. The Las Vegas Raiders lost that game to the Los Angeles Chargers, but O'Connell had 238 yards and generally wasn't awful.
At least there's some upside to starting O'Connell a second time when Garoppolo was out on Sunday. But head coach Josh McDaniels went with the comfortable choice, oddly picking 38-year-old Hoyer to start Sunday against the Chicago Bears even though Hoyer's teams had lost 12 straight games in his starts dating back to 2016. There wasn't much reason to start Hoyer, though he played for the Patriots once and McDaniels likes that.
McDaniels' call turned out like you'd expect based on the past seven years of data. Hoyer was bad against a beatable Bears defense and the Raiders lost. Hoyer posted a 37.1 passer rating. By the time Hoyer threw a pick 6 to Jaylon Johnson in the fourth quarter, it was even more laughable. The Bears won 30-12 and McDaniels' explanation over his decision made very little sense.
"It's not the preseason anymore."
Josh McDaniels gives a doozy of an answer on why he didn't start Aidan O'Connell.
The Raiders lost 30-12 to the Bears.pic.twitter.com/HDtcLasjuv— Covers (@Covers) October 22, 2023
The Raiders (3-4) had some momentum going and they were facing a Bears team that was without Justin Fields. But their backup Tyson Bagent played a clean game with 172 yards passing while the Raiders watched Hoyer fall apart. That should do it for any optimism that existed for the Raiders.
Jahan Dotson: Dotson has been quiet this year as he follows up a solid finish to his rookie season. The former first-round draft pick had a shot to make a huge play Sunday. He let it go through his hands.
In an ugly game against the New York Giants, the Washington Commanders drove inside the Giants' 10-yard line in the final minute. On fourth-and-5, Sam Howell rolled left and found Dotson. The pass was a little behind Dotson but he dropped it. Instead of first-and-goal, the Giants took possession and the game was practically over. The Giants won 14-7.
This hits Dotson in the hands. It’s not perfect, BUT IT HITS HIM IN THE HANDS and it would have been a 1st down🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 pic.twitter.com/s9GHBChXeb
— Mark Tyler(Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) October 22, 2023
The Commanders have been up and down this season. Part of that is inconsistent play from their biggest offensive threats. Dotson didn't help his case Sunday.
