There are two NFC groups taking part in in Week 7 of the NFL season with a profitable file. That’s proper, one for every center finger to common gridiron play. There’s solely 4 in whole. Two are on a BYE? Philadelphia (6-0) and Minnesota (5-1). Dallas, utilizing largely a backup quarterback to get up to now, is half of the lively pair. And the resurgent New York Giants are one way or the other the opposite after a 3rd of the common season. Everybody else? They’re losers or at .500.
After staring on the NFL’s slate of video games for this weekend for a number of minutes, I can’t discover one actually attention-grabbing, must-see matchup, and that’s largely due to how mediocre the NFC has been. You’re taking out arguably the convention’s two finest groups from the rotation and every thing comes off as inconsequential. Dak Prescott is returning to the Cowboys to host Detroit. It’ll be enjoyable to look at the pair of Thanksgiving Day standard-bearers, however that’s about it. Patrick Mahomes is at all times appointment tv. So what makes this week’s sport towards the 49ers particular if the doubtless situation of Christian McCaffrey not taking part in comes true? Tua Tagovailoa, who sustained a horrific concussion in Week 4, would possibly return to the lineup for Sunday Evening Soccer towards a bland Pittsburgh group.
It hurts the NFL’s slate that this 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl favorites, Buffalo and final season’s champions, the Rams, are additionally on BYE. Final evening’s consequence, the place 9 touchdowns occurred in comparison with the one within the earlier eight quarters of Thursday Evening Soccer helps, just a little. Even just a little sideline Actual Housewives-style drama between Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury is nice for the league with two dropping groups on the sphere. An honest displaying from each the Saints and Cardinals doesn’t save us from a doable Sunday snooze-fest.
The NFL may be saved by issues like on-line sports activities betting, NFL PurpleZone and fantasy soccer. That attracts curiosity from followers from different groups to look at no matter pigskin is flying round. However placed on the blinders for a second and clear your head from faux outrage. With your complete NFC West and NFC South at or below .500, what drives you to look at out-of-market video games by themselves? Do you don’t have anything higher to do on a Sunday? It’s most individuals’s day of relaxation and I might see how Taylor Heinicke’s return to quarterback Washington might have the identical results as melatonin.
Let’s peruse via the remainder of the NFL’s slate. Cincinnati vs. Atlanta is likely to be attention-grabbing, with two of the perfect faculty quarterbacks of the final decade dealing with off. And that’s the perfect we get within the 1 p.m. Japanese block of video games. The late-afternoon group often will get extra bang for its buck with having extra selective selections. This week, you’ve acquired three duds and the aforementioned Chiefs vs. 49ers sport. Jets-Broncos can be remembered for a way Russell Wilson’s dip in type and Nathaniel Hackett’s dumbass made the Jets 4-2. The Raiders will beat the Texans in a sport of who sucks much less. Chargers-Seahawks seems to be an amazing watch for an off-the-cuff fan, however neither of these groups strikes any form of needle for anybody not on the West Coast.
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The remaining two matchups which have airtime to themselves all don’t have a profitable group. There’s Steelers rookie QB Kenny Pickett making an attempt to regulate to the NFL within the city and stadium the place he performed faculty soccer, and failing to have the identical success. We might watch a group on a three-game dropping streak the place probably the most attention-grabbing factor about them is an off-field transgression involving CTE. And on Monday, it’s the Chicago Bears, who couldn’t rating a landing towards the lowly Commanders 10 days prior and the superb quarterback battle between Bailey Zappe and Mac Jones. And there was a lot rejoicing.
The NFL schedules every thing a number of months upfront, I get that and so they can’t predict how issues will play out. What’s inside the league’s management is to supply steadiness to their schedule so slates like Week 7 can’t exist. BYEs occur, groups do higher and worse than anticipated. And it’s the NFL’s job to maintain its fanbase engaged whatever the unpredictability of soccer. This week is a large instance of the way it’s failed to try this. Mediocrity is simply one other phrase for boring.