NFL 2018: Top 3 Matchups from Week 7

In Week 6 of the NFL, we witnessed two of the best quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, in the league, lead their teams to victory with last-minute game-winning drives. These drives show why they are always in the Greatest of All Time conversation.

While Brady had played a previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers needed a magical Rodgers comeback against the bottom feeders San Francisco 49ers who tied for the league-worst 1-5 record.

Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers eked out two close games. Texans got gifted for third week in a row, this time in the form of quarterback Nathan Peterman, who for some reasons finds a way to play in the league, despite showing time to time he is not ready to play yet. Steelers on another hand, down by 1 point found a wide open Antonio Brown with for a game-winning touchdown. Brown will never be that open ever again, he was that open.

Talking about the Texans, they are not only fortunate to win last three games, somehow they are tied for the top of their division. They are tied with 3-3 with Jaguars and Titans, with a date with Jaguars for division lead coming up this Sunday, more on that later. AFC South was supposed to be improved and dominating, instead, they are again the worst division in the league.

AFC South teams are 2-6 in last 2 weeks, with both the wins by the Texans. I had two teams making the playoffs from the south in AFC, but looks like only one 8-8 or a 9-7 team will win the fourth seed.

As bad as AFC South and AFC as a whole looks, the final week will be interesting to see with multiple teams fighting for the final wild-card spot. The LA Chargers and two of Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals will be fighting for the two wild-card spots. AFC North is back to its 2012-14 dominance and LA Chargers are finally getting their groove back. It will be interesting to see which teams will be playing in January.

Enough of future, which is 10 weeks away, let's look at the current week. I struck out last week with all my predictions didn't fare well. Let's see how week 7 works out.

#3 Houston Texans (3-3) at Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3)

The Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to be tied for the lead in the division at this point, but not in this way. The Houston Texans beat the Dallas Cowboys who beat Jacksonville Jaguars who beat New England Patriots who beat the Texans and Kansas City Chiefs who beat the Jaguars. See the transitive relation is out of the window when it comes to assessing these two teams.

This AFC South matchup is going to be key to decide the champion since both the Jaguars and Texans lost to the Titans who are currently in the lead due to that tiebreaker. The winner will have a significant advantage to take over the Titans.

Texans O-Line issues, Jaguars Offensive Offense

The Texans and the Jaguars are both having issues on the offensive side of the ball. The Jaguars are plagued with ineffective quarterback play from the Blake Bortles. Lack of quality receivers and injuries to Running Back Leonard Fournette and the multiple offensive linemen isn't helping the Jaguars.

Meanwhile, the Texans are putting the talented quarterback Deshaun Watson in unnecessary pressure due to the league-worst offensive line play. Watson has already been hit 66 times and was sacked 25 times in just 6 games this season. He and this unit will be facing another dominant defence in the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The running game for the Texans isn't working out well either. They rank right in the middle of the pack with just above 100 yards a game. Thanks, to Watson's playmaking ability out of the pocket and continued success of DeAndre Hopkins, combined with newfound success on the defence is what keeping Texans still in the Playoff hunt.

The Texans defence look pretty much like the 2016 version with JJ Watt coming back to his old self. He is currently tied for the league lead in sacks and is making the pitch for the Comeback Player of the Year Award. Jadeveon Clowney, who is on his contract year is also having a great year. This defence who got fortunate to face Nathan Peterman in week 6 will play another turnover machine in Blake Bortles. Kareem Jackson, The Texans safety is also having a great season who has two picks to his name this season.

The Jaguars defence, on the other hand, has been leaking points in the last few weeks. Giving up 30+ points to Mahomes led Chiefs offence is one thing, but they gave 40 points to Dak Prescott and the Cowboys last week, who struggled to put up 20 points against the Texans defence. Most of that stems to the short field positions set up by the turnovers by the offence but still giving up 40 to an offence like Cowboys is alarming.

Fantasy Outlook

Must Start:

Texans Defense: Texans defense should be a must start for the remainder of the season. They look dominant and do not face any good offenses or quarterbacks until week 16 against the defending Superbowl Champions the Philadelphia Eagles. This week matchup is an absolute must start because of the turnover machine in Blake Bortles.

Under the Radar:

Keke Coutee, WR Texans: Coutee had a good start to his career by putting up big numbers in the first two games. With Hopkins and Fuller to be taken care of by the 1-2 punch of Bouye and Ramsey in the secondary look for Coutee getting more targets out of the slot position.

Jaguars Defense: This defense had a rough stretch in the last couple of weeks and face another threatening quarterback Watson, but Watson is also prone to make mistakes especially in redzone. He has interceptions in all the game he played this season.

Caution:

Skill Position Players: This game has defense written all over it. It will be tough for either offenses to make any kind of big contribution may be for one or two Watson-Hopkins connections. It is going to be a good game for the kickers.

Prediction

The Texans have a slight edge over the Jaguars because of the quarterback and the offence. The Jaguars defence has given up back to back big games, though might not give up 30+ points to the Texans, look for Texans to go after the banged-up Jalen Ramsey for a couple of big plays and JJ Watt will use this game to pad his sack numbers to remain on top. Jaguars need Leonard Fournette

Texans 17 Jaguars 10

#2 Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) at Kansas City Chiefs (5-1) (SNF)

These two teams lost close games this past week. This game will be more important to the Bengals, a win against the Chiefs will give them a potential tie-breaker advantage over Steelers who lost to Chiefs earlier in the season. But, it is easier said than done to defeat this high flying Chiefs offence at Arrowhead stadium in prime-time.

Bengals Primetime Woes, Wounded Chiefs

Since 2011, Bengals are 0-6 in Sunday Night games and 2-5 in Monday night games. But they did win earlier this year on a Thursday night game against the division rival Baltimore Ravens. But, this time the Bengals will be facing a wounded Chiefs team that is coming back home after a close loss in Foxborough against the New England Patriots.

There aren't any glaring issues with the Chiefs offence, except that they play too quickly, but it's the defence that remains a big issue for this team. The defence needs to step up in all segments of the game. They rank dead last in total yards and Pass yards and 27th in Rush. It doesn't matter how good your offence is if your defence is leaking points and yards like the Chiefs are.

The Chiefs will be facing another high scoring offence in Cincinnati Bengals who went toe to toe With The Steelers in week 6, which they lost in the last minute touchdown by Antonio Brown. The Bengals defence also ranks at the bottom of the league just two spots above the Chiefs. The Bengals defence hasn't been able to stop the opposing quarterbacks.

If Bengals have any chance of stopping the Chiefs at Arrowhead they need to contain Mahomes and this dynamic offence. They will come back with all guns blazing.

Fantasy Outlook

Must Start:

All skill position Players from both the teams are must start from this matchup. It will be a high scoring game much like last Sunday night game.

Under the Radar:

C.J. Uzomah, TE Bengals: The Bengals TE had season-high 6 catches for 54 yards that's a good amount of points in PPR format for TE position because of the scarcity of the position. He should see his targets increased especially against a weak Chiefs defence.

Chiefs Defense: Prime Time Dalton is historically bad. He could put up numbers in Blake Bortles and Nathan Peterman range. This is a risk/reward play.

Caution:

Bengals Defense: No defence is safe when Mahomes and Chiefs are Playing.

Prediction:

There are a potential shootout and a close game with this matchup. I will go with the Home team and a wounded Chiefs who will look for a prey after their first defeat and Bengals will be the sacrificial goats.

Chiefs 33, Bengals 27

#1 Carolina Panthers (3-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (3-3)

This matchup boasts two quarterbacks who could be the future stars of the league if they are already not. But, both teams had an up and down 2018 season so far. Both teams can use the win to get ahead of their divisional opponents.

Erratic Eagles, Inconsistent Panthers

Panthers who started the season 3-1 lost their last week matchup against another NFC East opponent in Washington Redskins. They are one game behind the New Orleans Saints for the division lead and could use the win over the defending champions in case of tie-breaker scenarios.

Panthers are favourites to land one of the two wild-card berths if they miss out on the division crown, But, the same cannot be said to the Eagles. If the Eagles miss out on the division they are pretty much not going to play in January that's how tough NFC is and how bad NFC East is. Eagles seem to have found their old ways with the win over the struggling New York Giants.

The Eagles will be facing a tough team in Carolina. The key for Eagles defence is stopping the Running back Christian McCaffery and the quarterback Cam Newton. Carolina passing game hasn't been that good because of lack of proper targets but with the return of Greg Olsen and McCaffery's receiving skills, Newton will have more hand to feed against this struggling Eagles pass defence.

On the other hand, the Eagles offence will be facing a tough Carolina defence who are 4th in Yards allowed. Unlike last Thursday night, it is not going to be a smooth ride for the Eagles offence who will need to establish a good running game. The Eagles have had bad injury luck at the position and need both Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement to step up early in the game to open up the Play action passes.

Fantasy Outlook

Must Start:

Zach Ertz, TE Eagles: Carolina gives up 6th most fantasy points to TEs and he should be continued to play in all formats as he remains one of the top favourite targets for Wentz.

Alshon Jeffery, WR Eagles: Jeffery had his breakout game last week and should find targets coming to his way especially if Eagles fall behind.

Christian McCaffery RB Panthers: McCaffery is a threat both through air and ground, Look for a rushing touchdown and a reeving TD from this Panthers RB.

Under the Radar:

Devin Funchess, WR Panthers: Despite the loss, Funchess had a good game last week. With Olsen back, he should free up and see more targets coming his way.

Greg Olsen, TE Panthers: Olsen was eased into the lineup last week and posted decent numbers for the comeback game and look for the numbers to go up.

Caution:

Both Eagles and Panther defence are risky plays because both offences are dynamic and less turnover prone. Better to look elsewhere for the defence positions.

Prediction

Eagles are improving week by week and Panther lost a game they really shouldn't have. I still think Panthers have the edge in this game over the Eagles purely because of the roster strength. They are healthy and efficient on the other hand Eagles are still trying to recover from the injuries in this very young season. Panthers will win the game and hope for a Saints lose to tie it up for the division lead.

Panthers 24, Eagles 21