NFL Week 7 Picks w/Washington Capitals Check-In
The HOTPO had a wildly successful Week 6 getting 13 of 14 correct, only losing our “emotional hedge” on the Colts. But, many people got double-digit correct picks last week. The Week 7 slate has many close games to call and promises to be a much tougher week.
Week 7 Picks
New England Patriots vs Jacksonville Jaguars (-5.5), in London: New England QB Drake Maye finally got their 30th ranked offense moving in the second half of their 41-21 loss to Houston last week. Jacksonville rolled out a serious stink bomb losing to Chicago 35-16 in London. Maye might have the Patriots trending up and Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence has them moving toward a house cleaning and a rebuild at the end of the year, but they did spend the week in London for game prep. – JAGUARS
Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons (-3): Seattle is on a three-game losing streak after starting 3-0. Atlanta has a three-game win streak going after starting 1-2. Lee Vowell of the 12th Man Rising blog believes he is seeing signs of serious dissention within the Seahawk locker room. – FALCONS
Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills (-9.5): Buffalo beats bad teams and Tennessee is a really bad team. – BILLS
Cincinnati Bengals (-5.5) at Cleveland Browns: Cincinnati is a far cry from the playoff team people thought they would be during the preseason. Cleveland is also performing much worse than people thought they would, but not many people thought they would be that good in the first place. This is a “rivalry” game so a surprise is not out of the question. – BENGALS
Houston Texans at Green Bay Packers (-3): Matt Johnson of the Sportsnaut wrote an insightful article that points out the Packers’ struggles to pressure quarterbacks and a that if Texan QB C.J. Stroud is allowed to be comfortable in the pocket all day, it could be the difference maker. Johnson further highlighted that Stroud performs very well on play-action passes and the resurgent Houston running game could facilitate that option well. The Green Bay defense does lead the NFL in takeaways at 17 and winning the turnover battle generally wins games. – PACKERS
Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts (-3): Miami has the worst offense in points scored and Indianapolis has the 30th worst defense in yards allowed. If this game is in your market, it is a good time to knock out a grocery store run or do some yard work. Throwing caution to the wind and NOT executing the emotional hedge – God help the Colts. – COLTS
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (-1.5): In John Hoefling’s article in the USA Today, all the experts picked Detroit – that surprised me. Minnesota is coming off a bye week and Detroit is coming off a huge win that contained a huge loss – DE Aidan Hutchison is out for the year with a fractured tibia AND fibula. I sure do hope Hutchison can return to health and a semblance of the player he has been so far. – VIKINGS
Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at New York Giants: Using yards (gained or allowed) as the measuring stick, Philadelphia has the 10th rated offense and New York the 10th rated defense; and Philadelphia has the 20th rated defense and New York the 20th rated offense. Seems like an even game. The Giants will be without starting LT Andrew Thomas due to injury, they lost OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux last week to a wrist injury and DT Dexter Lawrence (hip) and LB Brian Burns (groin) are hobbled by injuries this week according to Ed Valentine of the Big Blue View blog, in a post by Brandon Lee Gowton on the Bleeding Green Nation blog. – EAGLES
Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams (-7): Los Angeles has really dug themselves an early-season hole when it comes to making the playoffs. Las Vegas is digging themselves a grave. With WR Cooper Kupp returning, the Rams could go finally get things going, but Blaine Grisak of the Turf Show Times blog thinks the playoffs are already out of the question. – RAMS
Carolina Panthers at Washington Commanders (-8): Anybody still alive in an eliminator pool? If so, this one is being served up on a platter for you. – COMMANDERS
Kansas City Chiefs @ San Francisco 49ers (-1.5): Interesting factoid from John Dixon of the Arrowhead Pride blog: at 3-3, San Francisco has played only one winning team and they lost that game. A rested 5-0 Kansas City team is coming off a bye week. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is 21-4 following a bye. – CHIEFS
New York Jets (-2) at Pittsburgh Steelers: Don’t remember when I last saw a 2-4 road team (New York) favored against a 4-2 home team (Pittsburgh). The Steelers may start Russell Wilson at quarterback to spark the 26th ranked offense. The Jets were competitive against a good Bills team last week and have added WR Davante Adams to their 22nd ranked offense. - JETS
Baltimore Ravens (-3.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: If Tampa Bay would most accurately be described as “plucky,” Baltimore might best be defined as “powerful.” The addition of RB Derrick Henry has gone even better than the standard, optimistic expectations – he leads the NFL in rushing at 704 yards and there is only one other rusher with more than 500 yards. Reminder, however, the Ravens flock of fans is littered with some trashy humans. – RAVENS
Los Angeles Chargers (-2.5) at Arizona Cardinals: Following this week’s game against Arizona, Los Angeles (3-2) plays New Orleans, Cleveland and Tennessee. The Chargers are practically staring at 7-2. Los Angeles coach Jim Harbaugh won’t let his team fall in this potential trap game. – CHARGERS
Washington Capitals Check-In
The Hockey News predicted the Washington Capitals to finish in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division, just outside of the playoffs in their preseason Yearbook & Fantasy Guide. The THN staff also predicted the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars to be playoff teams with the Stars eventually taking the prized Stanley Cup. After three games, the Caps sit at 2-1 with those two victories coming against the Golden Knights and the Stars – great start.
The HOTPO staff “covered” the latest 3-2 victory over the Stars from our perch in the 400-level at Capital One Arena. In the offseason, the Capitals made wholesale changes after sneaking into the last playoff spot, but getting swept out of the first round by the New York Rangers. At this point, you need a scorecard to determine who is who on the ice for Washington with all the new faces.
After giving up a sloppy goal on a power play, the Capitals got tallies from holdovers Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome and the eventual game-winner from newcomer Taylor Raddysh. Goalie Charlie Lindgren provided 22 saves to help secure the victory.
Other highlights from the evening:
- Clyde’s Gallery Place has become the preferred pre-game link-up location for the HOTPO staff and loyal readers. You do need to arrive more than an hour before puck drop to secure a comfortable stool, but it is steps away from a gate and you can always spy former Capital (1982-93) Rod Langway pre-gaming at a window seat.
- The HOTPO staff got chastised by an older fan for talking too loud, but most of our neighbors were appreciative of our boisterous banter and collegial camaraderie.
- The Devils Backbone Lounge in the 400-level is a perfect intermission spot with multiple screens to track other on-going sporting events.
- The Metro remains the easiest in-and-out mode of transportation as traffic was very congested after staying for the full game Thursday night.
Accurate description of activities in the perch and outside the arena. HOTPO nails it again
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