NFL Rundown - Week 7

Week 6 Recap

Chris	Adam
Most Surprising Team: Buffalo. After a pathetic game against the Browns, it looked like the Bills were in a downward spiral. One week and 5 Mark Sanchez interceptions later, they're coming off a win against the now-reeling Jets.	Most Surprising Team: New Orleans Saints. We all knew they had the fire-power to compete with the top teams, but to blow out the team that was previously at the top of our rankings was more than impressive. There’s a new #1 in the NFL, and they reside in New Orleans.
Most Disappointing Team: Philadelphia. All due respect to my Bears fan co-blogger, but the Eagles losing to the hapless Raiders was easily the biggest disappointment of the weekend. Any time you make JaMarcus Russell look like even a mediocre pro QB, you have to consider your defensive effort an abject failure.	Most Disappointing Team: Chicago Bears. They had their chances. Forte, who had 2 fumbles in his career coming into last week, fumbled on back-to-back plays in the red-zone, and the Bears were totally inefficient deep inside Atlanta’s territory. They have to get better if they want to make the playoffs.
Offensive Player of the Week: Tom Brady. The Titans looked like they quit the moment they walked out on the field. Later in the game, Tom Brady didn't just look like he quit, he did quit - being pulled in the 3rd quarter after throwing for 6 touchdowns. In the snow. Any questions?	Offensive Player of the Week: Tom Brady. 29/34, 380 yards, 6 touchdowns. He’s back, he’s at full-strength, and he and “The Hoodie” completely beat up on a bad Titans team. The numbers Brady put up were way to excessive, but impressive none-the-less.
Defensive Player of the Week: The Buffalo Safeties. Starting FS Jairus Byrd netted two Mark Sanchez interceptions, while backups John Wendling and George Wilson each added one of their own.	Defensive Player of the Week: Brian Cushing. The Texans’ LB had quite a day. 6 Solo tackles, 3 assists, an INT and 2 forced fumbles were enough of an effort to knock off a hot Bengals team. Houston’s going to need more performances like this to make a playoff run, though.

Top 10:
1. New Orleans Saints - A blowout of last week's #1 team gets you the top spot.
2. Denver Broncos - Ok, NOW are they for real? Or is San Diego just not that good? I think it's a little of both.
3. Indianapolis Colts - They finally have Bob Sanders back, just in time for... um... the Rams? Seriously? Maybe he should sit another week, just in case.
4. Minnesota Vikings - That was much too close for comfort against Baltimore, and now they have the surging Steelers to deal with.
5. New York Giants - The Giants are still a good team, they just couldn't keep up with the Saints' blistering pace.
6. Atlanta Falcons - They're coming off 2 quality wins against the 49ers and the Bears. They now get the chance to put the Cowboys on the proverbial mat.
7. Pittsburgh Steelers - They finally played a good fourth quarter (albeit against Cleveland), and have won 3 in a row.
8. New England Patriots - A cold weather team at home in the snow is the biggest home field advantage in the NFL. The Titans didn't even bother to show up. They were probably too busy prancing around in Colts jerseys.
9. Cincinnati Bengals - After losing to Houston, who clearly haven't shaken their Jekyll & Hyde persona, they fall back to a tie with Pittsburgh for the division lead.
10. Arizona Cardinals - Look who's back in the playoff picture. The Cardinals have won 2 in a row, and are comign off a blowout of the Seahawks, who themselves had just blown out the Jaguars.

Week 7 Picks:

	Chris	Adam
Green Bay @ Cleveland	Green Bay	Green Bay
San Francisco @ Houston	San Francisco	San Francisco
San Diego @ Kansas City	Kansas City	San Diego
Minnesota @ Pittsburgh	Minnesota	Pittsburgh
Indianapolis @ St. Louis	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
New England @ Tampa Bay	New England	New England
Buffalo @ Carolina	Carolina	Carolina
N.Y. Jets @ Oakland	Oakland	N.Y. Jets
Chicago @ Cincinnati	Cincinnati	Chicago
Atlanta @ Dallas	Atlanta	Dallas
New Orleans @ Miami	New Orleans	Miami
Arizona @ N.Y. Giants	N.Y. Giants	N.Y. Giants
Philadelphia @ Washington	Philadelphia	Philadelphia
Week #6	8-6	8-6
Overall	55-35	53-37

Players to Watch

Chris	Adam
Offensive Player to Watch: DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. They each had over 100 yards rushing against the second worst run defense in the NFL last week. Now they get to play the worst run defense, the Bills.	Offensive Player to Watch: Mark Sanchez. He had a terrible game last week, but he’s coming “home” to Oakland, and he’s going to be hungry. Look for him to put up 2 or 3 touchdowns and have a real solid QB Rating.
Defensive Player to Watch: Bob Sanders. He's back too, and the Rams are a terrible team. The defense was already playing well, and now they have both Sanders and CB Kelvin Hayden back, giving them one of the best secondaries in the NFL.	Defensive Player to Watch: Troy Polamalu. He’s back, and eventually Favre is going to come back to earth. Pittsburgh needs wins, and I see Troy standing Head and Shoulders over the Vikings passing game this week. Expect a pick and a sack.