It’s the seventh Sunday of the 2021 NFL season and we’re keeping you updated on all the action and biggest storylines throughout the day. The Week 7 slate has some fantastic matchups and storylines, and we’re here to help you watch it unfold. Check back often to find out everything you need to know.
Schedule
Thursday
Sunday
Falcons at Dolphins (GameTracker)
Panthers at Giants (GameTracker)
Bengals at Ravens (GameTracker)
Chiefs at Titans (GameTracker)
Jets at Patriots (GameTracker)
Washington at Packers (GameTracker)
Lions at Rams, 4:05 p.m. ET (Preview)
Eagles at Raiders, 4:05 p.m. ET (Preview)
Bears at Buccaneers, 4:25 p.m. ET (Preview)
Texans at Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. ET (Preview)
Colts at 49ers, 8:20 p.m. ET (Preview)
Monday
Saints at Seahawks, 8:15 p.m. ET (Preview)
Kyle Pitts only needs one hand
Pitts hosted his NFL coming out party two weeks ago in London (nine catches, 119 yards and a touchdown), and one of the most-talented tight end prospects in recent memory continued his recent dominance against the Dolphins. He hauled in three catches for 75 yards in the first half alone, including this nifty one-handed snag with a defender draped all over him.
Chiefs getting desperate
When you’re down, 24-0 in the first half, you might as well try something, anything, to kickstart your team. Well, that’s where the Chiefs are at right now, laying an egg against the Tennessee Titans. And so with about two minutes to play before intermission, Travis Kelce caught a pass for about five yards before firing an underhand lateral to Jerick McKinnon, who raced for the first down. The acrobatic play did not result in anything, though, as Mahomes fumbled a few plays later.
Blocked field goals galore
It’s a block party to start the Week 7 Sunday slate, and everybody is invited (except kickers). There have already been three blocked field goals in the first hour of game action, including two in the Green Bay-Washington game on back-to-back possessions. Shoutout to Washington’s Tim Settle, the Packers’ T.J. Slaton and the Falcons’ Adetokunbo Ogundeji for keeping points off the board.
Safety!
So it turns out the Giants offense getting stuffed at the goal line wasn’t ALL bad. Three plays later, Sam Darnold got called for intentional grounding in his own end zone, resulting in a safety for Big Blue. New York then added a field goal on its ensuing possession to take the 5-3 (yes, you’re reading that right) lead.
Goal-line stand!
The Giants thought they had taken the lead on a two-yard touchdown from quarterback Daniel Jones to Kyle Rudolph. Instead, the referees ruled Rudolph out of bounds at the one, leading to the Panthers’ stuff of Devontae Booker on fourth-and-goal to preserve the advantage.
Scary Terry catches another long TD
If engineering student turned Washington starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke has learned anything this season, it’s that Terry McLaurin is very, very good and that when he’s even remotely open, just throw the ball up for him. That’s exactly what Heinicke did from the Packers’ 40-yard line, and like he almost always does, McLaurin came down with the contested catch to tie the game at seven.
Aaron ‘Mahomes’ Rodgers
On 4th-and-3 from the Washington 17-yard line, Rodgers began rolling out right, pump faked, continued to roll right and then, a la Patrick Mahomes, threw across his body to his fellow superstar Davante Adams, who sliced through the middle of the defense for the score. Rodgers might turn 38 in December, but he can still move around.
Trick plays lead to first two TDs of the day
If you had position players throwing the first two touchdowns of Sunday’s slate, then head straight to Las Vegas because you don’t want to waste that type of luck. Both the Patriots and Titans scored touchdowns through the air on their opening possessions, but their quarterbacks weren’t the ones to throw the passes. Instead, New England’s Kendrick Bourne found fellow wide receiver Nelson Agholor for a 25-yard touchdown against the Jets, while Tennessee superstar Derrick Henry added to his historic campaign by finding MyCole Pruitt for a five-yard score versus the Chiefs.
Texans-Cardinals line reaching historic levels
The Cardinals are the NFL’s last unbeaten team, and by the looks of Caesars Sportsbook odds, there is very little chance of that distinction changing today. In a game that opened with the Cardinals as 17-point home favorites over the Texans, that number has ballooned up to -19.5 as of late Sunday morning. Apparently the news that Arizona will have Kliff Kingsbury on the sideline after the coach passed COVID-19 protocol has bettors even more confident in the 6-1 club.
As stat geek R.J. White of SportsLine points out, there are just 15 NFL games with spreads of at least 19.5 in the Stathead database, starting with the 1985 Bears going off as 19.5-point favorites against the Colts. Those massive favorites are just 4-11 ATS in that span. However, two of the covers happened in the three instances of a spread this large over the last three seasons, with the Chiefs covering as 20-point favorites against the Jets last year and the Cowboys covering as 22-point favorites against the Dolphins in Week 3 of 2019. That same week, the Patriots failed to cover as 20.5-point favorites in a win over the Jets.
