It never felt like a real threat, but the 1972 Miami Dolphins can crack their champagne open to celebrate another season in which they will remain the only team in NFL history to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl. An undefeated season may not have been expected, but no one expected the top two teams in the NFC to fall for the first time in the same week. The NFL season is a third of a way through and it looks like we just took a step backwards in identifying who is the most serious of Super Bowl contenders.
Purdy Struggles Without Some Key Weapons
The Brock Purdy MVP conversation had started after last week’s Sunday Night Football massacre of the the Dallas Cowboys. A week later and San Francisco’s 19-17 and first loss of the season at the hands of Cleveland has returned previous questions about Purdy and his ability to win without an elite roster.
San Francisco fans got a little taste of what Purdy looks like without some key players on offense. The 49ers lost Deebo Samuel early in the game due to a shoulder injury and Christian McCaffrey was later forced out with an oblique injury. The loss of Samuel and McCaffrey may have been too much for Purdy to overcome as his numbers were quite poor, connecting on only 12 of 27 passes for 125 yards, a touchdown, and one interception. It was unquestionably Purdy’s worst performance in his short career.
The loss of two of San Francisco’s best players shouldn’t completely remove the attention of the Cleveland defense, a group that has been one of the strongest units in football this season. The physical Browns defense held the 49ers to 215 yards total on a day where backup quarterback P.J. Walker led the Browns offense to 334 yards. For as much as we talk about the New York Jets being a very good team without a quarterback to make them an elite team, the same might be said about this Cleveland team. It may not have turned out as hoped, but if a healthy Deshaun Watson could return to even close the form he was in Houston, this team could be scary good.
From San Francisco’s standpoint, it may be safe to say this is the best roster in football when healthy, but what does it mean if they have losses of key positions or players? Christian McCaffrey has had a high usage rate and has a history of injuries. Without the star running back, can the Niners beat the best in the NFL? At the same time, this team lost a game on the road against a feisty AFC team without two of its best weapons and in a game where their kicker missed two field goals. Considering this game was still very winnable with those factors and the lackluster Purdy performance, San Francisco may want to view this with a glass half full approach.
San Francisco will have to wait until Monday Night of week seven to get back in the win column when they play Minnesota. Cleveland and their impressive defense will look for their second straight win when they head to Indianapolis.
Jets Deliver Philly First Loss, Showing a New Lease on Their 2023 Season Life
They may not have had some major player injuries like San Francisco, but the Philadelphia Eagles also joined in on the “first loss of the season” party in week six. The Eagles undefeated, yet flawed season ended with a road loss to the New York Jets on Sunday by a score of 20-14.
As they’ve consistently showed, the New York Jets defense is one of the elite in the league and truly game changing defense. They were flying all over the field and forced four Eagles turnovers, including three interceptions of Jalen Hurts, successfully making his day a living hell.
The Eagles struggles this season have been existent, but haven’t been under a microscope due to their undefeated record. It’s not that the Eagles have played poorly all season, but more so that they have been sloppy and have not looked close to the dominant team we saw many times last year.
Although not a mainstream topic, are we going to begin to question Jalen Hurts ability to pass downfield when his team needs it? Last season the Eagles were up in most games and he had an MVP caliber season thanks to his running/passing flexibility. That’s just fine when you are a rookie contract quarterback, but will Hurts have the passing prowess worthy of one of the NFL’s largest contracts in history now that he’s extended with Philadelphia? This isn’t a big topic now, but if Hurts fails to match his play from 2022 or play well from behind, Philadelphia is a city that will let him hear it.
The Jets offense still struggled to find the end zone on Sunday, kicking four field goals until Breece Hall finally found the end zone late in the game. Despite the end zone struggles, Zach Wilson didn’t have a turnover all game which may seem like a tiny victory, but can really be the difference between a win and loss when he’s working with an unbelievable defense. The real question will be whether the Jets can continue to win games if the defense just makes stops without the turnovers for better field position.
Both the Eagles and Jets now find themselves in interesting situations moving forward. Philadelphia is clearly one of the best teams in the NFC and is maybe the only team outside of San Francisco that has the ability to be truly great. However, if the Eagles don’t clean up their game, they may not be any better than Detroit, Seattle, or Dallas.
The Jets now find themselves in a position of real opportunity. They will enter the bye with this emotional victory before returning to face the Giants, a team the Jets should actually be favored against. Beyond a game against Buffalo and two against Miami, the Jets have a pretty winnable schedule for most of their remaining games. The big factor in those games will be if the defense can continue this level of play and if Zach Wilson will continue to take care of the football and play within himself.
The Bengals are in the AFC Rear View Mirror, but Closer Than They Appear
It was by no means a win that will convince many that the Cincinnati Bengals are ready to return to their third straight AFC Championship Game, but their 17-13 win over Seattle for their third win in four games is slowly convincing many that their season trajectory is back on the up and up.
The game flow and boxscore would appear to claim this was a different story for the Bengals. Cincinnati was outgained in total yardage by over 160 yards, had about 10 minutes less of possession time, and really struggled on third downs, successfully converting on only three of 11. Sure, Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase had some chemistry returning for the second straight week, but this win was earned by the Cincinnati defense.
The Bengals defense held the Seahawks to only 13 points which is tied for their season low. Geno Smith threw for over 300 yards, but never found the end zone and turned the ball over twice. Cincinnati’s defense really turned it up a notch in the redzone where they held the Seahawks to just one score in five attempts. Undoubtedly, this was the best performance of the season by the Cincy defense.
With Seattle a playoff team last season and looking like they have plans to return to the postseason, this game may prove to be a strong test for the Bengals upcoming schedule. Cincinnati will now take a week seven bye before returning to play at San Francisco and Buffalo at home in back to back weeks. Getting the Seattle win under their belt before two games where they could be underdogs is massive in their hopes to work back into the division race as well as the bigger sights the Bengals have in mind. Joe Burrow getting an additional week of rest for his calf that is looking noticeably better, as well as an opportunity to scout a very impressive 49ers team for more time, could give Cincinnati a great opportunity to explode out of this bye with a new lease on life for the 2023 season.
Week Seven Game Watchability Rankings
Teams on Bye: Bengals, Cowboys, Titans, Jets, Panthers, Texans
Raiders vs Bears: Chicago is back to being a train wreck and Justin Fields getting injured in their game against Minnesota certainly isn’t going to improve that. Las Vegas now has two straight wins, but they also had Jimmy Garoppolo leave the game due to a back injury. We will see, but this could be a battle of two mediocre NFL teams with backup quarterbacks.
Packers vs Broncos: The early season love for Jordan Love is starting to cool off in Green Bay. Love had his worst game of the season with three interceptions against the Raiders in week five prior to the Packers’ bye week. Fortunately for Green Bay, the Packers will have had two weeks to prepare for one of the league’s biggest disappointments. Sean Payton has to be losing his mind in Denver as he looks like he is about to have an aneurysm after some of Russell Wilson’s performances. On the bright side, the Broncos played Kansas City well on Thursday Night Football, they just couldn’t score points of their own. Maybe the struggling Packers will be a remedy.
Bills vs Patriots: What would usually be a pretty high profile AFC East game has now lost plenty of luster because New England can’t field a quarterback. Mac Jones continues to look incompetent and it seems it’s just a matter of time until a change is made. The game will take place at Gillette Stadium, but Buffalo will be decent favorites. The Bills will look to push the Patriots farther out of the realm of any potentially season run to make the playoffs.
Cardinals vs Seahawks: The Arizona team that was giving valiant efforts against better teams that we saw earlier in the season is slowly disappearing and the team many of us expected to see is replacing them. This Cardinals team is starting to look like one that won’t win more than three games. Seattle will be happy to be home after letting a game against Cincinnati slip through their fingers. Thanks to a San Francisco loss, the Seahawks are still only one game out of the NFC West division lead.
Commanders vs Giants: The New York Giants are on their last stand. If New York can’t get a win or even put up a fight against the weakest divisional opponent they will see, that’s a wrap. Washington isn’t a slouch, depending on what team you get. The best Washington has looked was arguably in their loss to Philadelphia back in week four. For the Commanders, this will mark their second road game in a five game span that will have four of them. They earned a win in Atlanta, but another in New York will help bolster some confidence for their rematch with Philadelphia the following week.
Falcons vs Buccaneers: Every NFC South game is crucial as long it doesn’t feature the winless Carolina Panthers. Atlanta and Tampa Bay will look to get some early season separation from the other. In a division where these two teams and New Orleans all could be division winners with a below .500 record, it may not be a great football game but it will be an important football game.
Browns vs Colts: It seems like the Cleveland defense is truly legit after an impressive performance in the Browns win over San Francisco. Many people may be nervous to completely believe this Cleveland team has as much potential as it seems, but as the weeks go by it becomes more and more real. Indianapolis will have to continue forward with Gardner Minshew as Anthony Richardson’s season remains in doubt. Both of these teams are in highly competitive and seemingly even divisions. This is a pretty sneaky big game for both teams.
Jaguars vs Saints: Jacksonville has now put together three straight wins which is currently the third longest in the NFL behind Kansas City and Detroit. New Orleans might be the most talented NFC South team, but followed up a 34-0 win in New England by falling to Houston on the road in week six. The average fan would predict the momentum to definitely be leading to a Jacksonville win which means New Orleans probably wins this game by 20+ points. It’s just that type of season.
Steelers vs Rams: A classic really good defense vs very good offense matchup. This game will be a blast to watch when T.J. Watt is rushing Matthew Stafford while trying to sling the ball to Cooper Kupp or Puka Nakua. Unfortunately, it will be a different game entirely when Kenny Pickett is attempting to throw against a defense with Aaron Donald and bunch of other players that would probably be answered incorrectly in a Jeopardy! question. Both Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are still in the mix for their division crowns, but will also likely be involved in a year long wild card race. One of the many very solid games next weekend.
49ers vs Vikings: San Francisco experienced their first loss of the season and that is probably the worst thing that could happen for the Minnesota Vikings. US Bank Stadium on Monday Night Football will be a tough place to play, but this Niners team will be motivated to get back to the level of excellence they’ve shown in prior weeks. Get ready, the endless “Kirk Cousins in Primetime” conversation is about to start up again.
Chargers vs Chiefs: The Los Angeles Chargers are arguably the most talented, yet regularly disappointing team in the NFL. Their loss on Monday Night Football to Dallas in a very winnable game is just a continuation of the Brandon Staley era in Los Angeles. That being said, the Chargers have the roster build to not only challenge the Chiefs, but beat them. Knowing the Chargers, they will probably find some self-inflicted way to lose this game. That may be so, but with two offenses like the Chiefs and Chargers, this game should be guaranteed fun.
Lions vs Ravens: One of the NFL’s best week seven games features two clearly top 10 teams who want to claim a spot in the top five. Detroit has exceeded expectations this season and is coming off an impressive road win against Tampa Bay. Baltimore will return from England with a win over Tennessee in hand. As it stands, the Lions and Ravens seem like more gatekeepers than true contenders, but an impressive win in this game could begin to change people’s opinions.
Dolphins vs Eagles: There are some great games in week seven, but this is the main event. Not only are we getting two of the NFL’s best teams and a potential Super Bowl matchup, but the game will get a spotlight with the Sunday Night Football treatment. Miami is the most prolific offense in the league. Although Philly is coming off their first loss, the Eagles are one of the favorites to make a return to the Super Bowl this season. Hopefully this SNF game lives up to higher expectations than the week five Niners-Cowboys one did.
The Brewball NFL Power Rankings
- San Francisco 49ers (5-1)
- Kansas City Chiefs (5-1)
- Miami Dolphins (5-1)
- Philadelphia Eagles (5-1)
- Detroit Lions (5-1)
- Buffalo Bills (4-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (4-2)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)
- Baltimore Ravens (4-2)
- Seattle Seahawks (3-2)
- Los Angeles Chargers (2-3)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
- Cleveland Browns (3-2)
- Los Angeles Rams (3-3)
- Cincinnati Bengals (3-3)
- New Orleans Saints (3-3)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2)
- Washington Commanders (3-3)
- New York Jets (3-3)
- Las Vegas Raiders (3-3)
- Indianapolis Colts (3-3)
- Houston Texans (3-3)
- Atlanta Falcons (3-3)
- Green Bay Packers (2-3)
- Minnesota Vikings (2-4)
- Tennessee Titans (2-4)
- New York Giants (1-5)
- New England Patriots (1-5)
- Arizona Cardinals (1-5)
- Denver Broncos (1-5)
- Chicago Bears (1-5)
- Carolina Panthers (0-6)