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Week 7 NFL Previews, Predictions and Picks Against the Spread
John Morgan
Week 7 brings NFL fans one great game - the Jets at Patriots pits the league's best defense versus the NFL's best offense - and besides that a whole lot of mediocrity. Unfortunately for football fans this early game is the one and only matchup between two teams with winning records. Some of that can be attributed to three unbeaten teams – Cincinnati, Denver and Green Bay – all having a bye this week. Beyond that though, the NFL’s never-ending quest for parity has exposed an ugly under belly as a side effect. Only nine of the 32 NFL teams have winning records and two entire divisions do not have a single winning team.
Five teams: the Patriots, Packers, Bengals, Broncos and Panthers – account for a whopping 31% of all of the NFL’s victories thus far, and zero percent of the losses. Add in 5-1 Atlanta to that group, and now you have six clubs responsible for 37% of all NFL wins. Right now there is just too much mediocre to just plain bad football being played, as witnessed by the last two NFL prime time games: San Francisco’s awful performance at home in the 20-3 loss to Seattle on Thursday, and last Monday’s unwatchable wreck between the Giants and Eagles. Unfortunately I have zero faith in those in charge at 345 Park Avenue to even recognize this situation, much less do something to improve the product for our consumption.
The Patriots-Jets game will receive extensive television distribution on Sunday. Besides being broadcast in New England and New York, the game will also air throughout the southeast (except in Florida, Atlanta, Nashville and New Orleans) as well as in Chicago, Wisconsin and Oklahoma; the game will also be available most everywhere west of Texas with the exception of California, southern Oregon, Utah and Reno. To see a view of what games will be broadcast in your area please check out this week’s NFL maps at 506 Sports.
On a side note, happy 41st birthday to Corey Dillon. Fifteen years ago almost to the day Dillon broke Walter Payton‘s single-game NFL rushing when he ran for 278 yards against Denver. In his first season with the Patriots Dillon rushed for a franchise record 1,635 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry, helping the Pats win their third Super Bowl. Dillon was a big upgrade over Antowain Smith, and at the age of 30 he earned his fourth Pro Bowl honor – and his first and only championship ring. Though he was with the Patriots for only three seasons, Dillon ranks 8th all-time in team history with 3,180 rushing yards; he is 19th in the NFL all-time with 11,241 yards. At the time some questioned the wisdom of giving up a second-round pick for Dillon, but it turned out to be yet another great decision by Bill Belichick.
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John Morgan
Week 7 brings NFL fans one great game - the Jets at Patriots pits the league's best defense versus the NFL's best offense - and besides that a whole lot of mediocrity. Unfortunately for football fans this early game is the one and only matchup between two teams with winning records. Some of that can be attributed to three unbeaten teams – Cincinnati, Denver and Green Bay – all having a bye this week. Beyond that though, the NFL’s never-ending quest for parity has exposed an ugly under belly as a side effect. Only nine of the 32 NFL teams have winning records and two entire divisions do not have a single winning team.
Five teams: the Patriots, Packers, Bengals, Broncos and Panthers – account for a whopping 31% of all of the NFL’s victories thus far, and zero percent of the losses. Add in 5-1 Atlanta to that group, and now you have six clubs responsible for 37% of all NFL wins. Right now there is just too much mediocre to just plain bad football being played, as witnessed by the last two NFL prime time games: San Francisco’s awful performance at home in the 20-3 loss to Seattle on Thursday, and last Monday’s unwatchable wreck between the Giants and Eagles. Unfortunately I have zero faith in those in charge at 345 Park Avenue to even recognize this situation, much less do something to improve the product for our consumption.
The Patriots-Jets game will receive extensive television distribution on Sunday. Besides being broadcast in New England and New York, the game will also air throughout the southeast (except in Florida, Atlanta, Nashville and New Orleans) as well as in Chicago, Wisconsin and Oklahoma; the game will also be available most everywhere west of Texas with the exception of California, southern Oregon, Utah and Reno. To see a view of what games will be broadcast in your area please check out this week’s NFL maps at 506 Sports.
On a side note, happy 41st birthday to Corey Dillon. Fifteen years ago almost to the day Dillon broke Walter Payton‘s single-game NFL rushing when he ran for 278 yards against Denver. In his first season with the Patriots Dillon rushed for a franchise record 1,635 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry, helping the Pats win their third Super Bowl. Dillon was a big upgrade over Antowain Smith, and at the age of 30 he earned his fourth Pro Bowl honor – and his first and only championship ring. Though he was with the Patriots for only three seasons, Dillon ranks 8th all-time in team history with 3,180 rushing yards; he is 19th in the NFL all-time with 11,241 yards. At the time some questioned the wisdom of giving up a second-round pick for Dillon, but it turned out to be yet another great decision by Bill Belichick.
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