32 things we learned in NFL Week 7: Big statements from top contenders

Posted by Admin October 21, 2024 NFL

The 32 things we learned from Week 7 of the 2024 NFL season:

0. The number of points scored in the first quarter this season by the Philadelphia Eagles. But they found 28 over the final three periods Sunday while pummeling the NFC East-rival New York Giants.

0. The number of quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) not to start their team’s seventh game after a 4-2 start or better for a reason other than an injury, per NFL Media. Looking at you, Justin Fields.

0. The number of wins by San Francisco 49ers HC Kyle Shanhan in five games against Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Niners’ 28-18 defeat Sunday wasn’t nearly as painful as their losses in Super Bowls 54 and 58 … the knee injury suffered by WR Brandon Aiyuk notwithstanding.

0. The number of TD passes Mahomes and 49ers QB Brock Purdy combined for Sunday … though they did serve up a collective five INTs while also combining for a trio of TD runs.

1. The number of undefeated teams remaining in the league, the Chiefs elevating to 6-0 on the same day the Minnesota Vikings lost for the first time this season.

1a. Career touchdown receptions by Green Bay Packers RB Josh Jacobs, who finally recorded one Sunday. A first-round pick of the Oakland Raiders five years ago, Jacobs’ 211 catches without a TD were the second-most to start a career after Thomas Jones (242), per OptaSTATS. Before breaking the hex, Jacobs had the most grabs in league history without a TD. “It was long overdue,” he said. “We talked about it all week at practice that, ‘Man, this is the week that we’re going to get (it).’ We had like three or four plays in the red zone for me.”

2. Average number of yards Cleveland Browns RB Nick Chubb managed (on 11 carries) in his first game in more than a year after suffering his latest gruesome knee injury. No matter. In a lost season for his team, Chubb, who also scored his first TD since the 2022 regular-season finale, is a huge silver lining and inspiration to teammates and fans who are going to need some in the coming months. His thunderous pre-game ovation tells it all.

3. The number of Browns to throw at least 10 passes Sunday, the first time one team had had as many players in a game in 16 years. With QB1 Deshaun Watson’s season apparently over after he went down with an Achilles injury, the Browns will move forward with Jameis Winston and/or Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

3a. The Browns were 5-4, including playoffs, after losing Watson to a season-ending shoulder injury in 2023 but won’t have the option of turning to Joe Flacco, now an Indianapolis Colt, this year.

4. The number of quarterbacks to post a passer rating of at least 140.0 in three consecutive games, Jared Goff joining their ranks Sunday in the Detroit Lions’ statement-making 31-29 defeat of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The Lions moved into first place atop the hypercompetitive NFC North by handing the Vikes their first loss of the season.

4a. The number of sacks – by four different players – the Lions had in their first game without injured DE Aidan Hutchinson. And Detroit might have to replace its injured superstar in a “by committee” approach after New York Jets LB Haason Reddick ended his holdout Sunday morning and – presumably – his stint on the trade block.

4b. The number of NFC North teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today (it doesn’t). The Lions would be the conference’s No. 1 seed, with the Vikings, Packers and Chicago Bears all in wild-card slots. Every team in the division but the idle Bears has five wins.

4c. The number of catches made by Miami Dolphins wide receivers in the club’s 16-10 loss to the almost equally offensively impaired Colts. Injured Fins QB Tua Tagovailoa, assuming he’s healthy, can’t get back fast enough from his most recent concussion … and that could be in Week 8 if he’s activated in the coming days.

5. Number of seasons it took Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow to notch his first win in Cleveland.

6. Number of consecutive losses by the New England Patriots after getting smoked by the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday. It’s the Pats’ longest skid in 31 years.

7. Number of starting offensive line combinations the Pats have used this season … i.e., a different one each week.

8. Number of sacks racked up by the Eagles in their 28-3 walkover against the Giants, who were without injured LT Andrew Thomas. Five of those sacks came from University of Georgia products Jalen Carter, Nakobe Dean and Nolan Smith Jr., Carter and Dean each collecting a pair.

9. The number of consecutive games Los Angeles RB Kyren Williams has posted a rushing TD, tied for the fourth-longest streak in the NFL since 2000 … but only halfway to Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson’s run between the 2004 and ’05 campaigns. Williams found the end zone twice in Sunday’s defeat of the Las Vegas Raiders.

10. Number of completions by Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud in Sunday’s 24-22 loss to the Packers. It was Stroud’s fewest number of connections in a game he started and completed in what’s otherwise been an illustrious season-and-a-half for the budding star. His 86 passing yards were also a career low.

11. The jersey number of Jaguars WR Parker Washington, whose 96-yard punt return for a TD in London set a new Jags record. It was also the longest scoring play in the history of the NFL’s International Series and the first punt taken to the house on foreign soil.

12. Raiders TE Brock Bowers caught 10 passes in Sunday’s loss to the Rams. He’s the first rookie tight end ever to record at least nine catches in three of his first seven career games.

13. The number of games Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has rushed for multiple TDs after getting tush-pushed twice Sunday against the Giants.

14. Yards covered on Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.’s first completion. He’s the final passer taken in the first round of this year’s draft to make his debut this season – doing so in garbage time of a 34-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks – though the Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy isn’t eligible to play until 2025 after going down with a torn meniscus in preseason.

15. WR Amari Cooper scored a TD in his first game with the Buffalo Bills in their 34-10 defeat of the Tennessee Titans.

16. The last time Cooper was traded at midseason, from the Oakland Raiders to the Dallas Cowboys six years ago, he also scored for his new team.

17. The number of plays, covering 84 yards and more than 11 minutes, of Jacksonville’s drive spanning the third and fourth quarters against New England. The Jags eventually turned the ball over on downs – not the ending they wanted to the league’s longest possession of the season.

17a. Also the number of consecutive times the Jaguars ran the ball at one point, a stretch that started on the aforementioned march.

18. For all that’s been written about the league’s rookie offensive stars this season, keep an eye on Rams freshman OLB Jared Verse. His 29 pressures easily lead all first-year players after he racked up nine more Sunday against Las Vegas – and against a quality left tackle.

19. Marcus Mariota won Sunday’s “battle” of quarterback has-beens as the Washington Commanders dismantled the Andy Dalton-led Carolina Panthers 40-7, hardly missing injured rookie QB Jayden Daniels.

20. Mariota’s 205-yard, two-TD passing day was his best since he was benched by the Falcons late in the 2022 season.

21. Number of yards gained (on three receptions) by 49ers rookie WR Ricky Pearsall in his NFL debut. Really good to see him out there two months after he was shot on the streets of San Francisco.

22. Number of wins by Reid (against just four losses) in games following a bye week.

23. Reid’s Chiefs are actually the seventh reigning champions since 2000 to start a season 6-0 on the heels of a Super Bowl triumph.

23a. Of those clubs, only the 2004 Patriots leveraged such a hot start into another Lombardi Trophy.

24. Number of consecutive games Patriots P Bryce Baringer has boomed at least a 50-yarder, including a 66-yarder in Sunday’s loss. It’s currently the longest streak in the league.

25. Four teams (Buffalo, Detroit, Indianapolis and Jacksonville) overcame double-digit deficits Sunday, the first time that’s happened this season.

26. Still the jersey number of Eagles RB Saquon Barkley, who reminded the Giants – he played his first six NFL seasons with them after being the No. 2 pick of the 2018 draft – how good he is by rushing for 176 yards, the second-highest total of his career, despite resting late in the game.

26a. With 189 yards against the Bears 15 years ago, Cedric Benson is the only player to rush for more yards against his former team than Barkley.

27. Barkley’s 187 total yards were 68 more than Giants had in total.

27a. Barkley’s 187 total yards were 166 more than Devin Singletary, the tailback the Giants signed to replace him while putting “Motor” in Barkley’s former No. 26 jersey.

28. Maybe Giants fans should be burning something other than Barkley’s jersey …

29. Quote of the week? How about a rare admission from Patriots rookie coach Jerod Mayo, who said of his squad: “We’re a soft football team across the board.”

30. Uniform note of the week: Sunday was the first time in the Packers’ 104-season history that they sported all white, their new helmets included. Green Bay is now 1-0 in the new look … 803-600-38 in anything else.

31. Second uniform note of the week: The New Orleans Saints threw it back Thursday night … and by the end of their 33-10 rout at the hooves of the Denver Broncos, their fans were throwing those paper sacks onto their heads again.

32. Third uniform note of the week: If you look closely enough – like at the facemasks and font of the jersey numbers – you’ll notice the Pittsburgh Steelers went retro Sunday night to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first team in franchise history to win the Super Bowl.

33. Bonus item! Had to commemorate Mahomes’ 33-yard run, the longest he’s ever managed in the regular season, which set up his 1-yard, fourth-quarter TD run four plays later in Silicon Valley.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.