With seven weeks down and ten to go, the 2018 season is turning out to be one of the more entertaining in recent years. There have been plenty of sure-fire trends as always, but each week has been quite the enigma of its own as well. Here are the top five studs and duds from week seven of the 2018 NFL season.
Stud: Awareness of Patriot’s Defense
The early game showdown between the Patriots and Bears had one of the wildest finishes to a game this season. Trubisky completed his last-second hail mary pass, but the New England defense held Kevin White out of the end zone … by a half yard.
Bill Belichick deserves a lot of credit for the awareness that his players have. If any other team is on the other end of that hail mary pass, it probably results in a touchdown and a tie game. The Patriots defense had no right bobbling Kevin White like they did, but they somehow managed to stonewall him a foot away from pay dirt. The New England mentality of bend don’t break on defense continues to persist.
Dud: Arizona’s Offense
Remember when the Arizona Cardinals were 13-3 and a game away from the Super Bowl just three years ago? It’s hard to believe that now, given how dysfunctional the organization is today. No team in the NFL has seen a worse downward spiral over the last three seasons.
The Cardinals had only 223 yards and 10 points on Thursday Night, but that doesn’t truly do justice to how awful the Cardinals offense was. Rosen threw three interceptions—two returned for touchdowns—and lost two fumbles.
The offensive line has done a terrible job keeping their rookie quarterback upright and there have been no openings for running back David Johnson. Arizona fired Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy and promoted Byron Leftwich.
Stud: Cam Newton
Cam Newton is quite the roller coaster story from week to week. He has some fantastic highs to go alongside his pitiful lows, but week seven was certainly one of his high points. Down 17-0 in the fourth quarter, Newton lead a furious comeback to score 21 unanswered points and win the game.
Newton threw for 269 yards with two clutch touchdown passes to give his team a victory they desperately needed. He was also the game’s leading rusher with 49 rushing yards on seven carries.
The Panthers are now back in playoff position and ready to push their season in the right direction. Only time will tell if the Eagles are much worse than we thought or if Carolina is ready to finally take the next step.
Dud: The AFC North
It was not a pretty week for fans of the AFC North. While Big Ben and the Steelers sat at home during their bye week, the remaining three AFC North teams all lost, completing changing the complexion of the division. The Steelers now sit in first place with a 3-2-1 record.
The Browns lost in overtime to the 2-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what was a very sloppy performance. Cleveland’s usually stout defense did manage to force two turnovers, but they also allowed 456 yards of total offense.
Baltimore looked as though they had staged an epic game-tying drive in the fourth quarter against the Saints, but it was all for nothing as Justin Tucker—who is usually automatic—missed what would’ve been the game-tying extra point.
The Bengals faced Patrick Mahomes and the high powered Kansas City offense, but were completely overwhelmed. The Chiefs put up 45 points on the Bengals defense and Andy Dalton played very poorly on offense.
Stud: Patrick Mahomes
It seems like this dude is going to end up on our list every week of the season and can you blame us given the ridiculous numbers he continues to put up week in and week out.
Mahomes compiled 405 total yards through the air and on the ground en route to throwing four touchdown passes. He finished the evening with a passer rating of 123.7 and continued to look like an MVP candidate.
Dud: Mike Vrabel
What on Earth is going on in Tennessee? The Titans were off to a fast start with a 3-1 record and control of the AFC South, but now find themselves below the .500 mark and lacking an identity on both sides of the ball.
Marcus Mariota has been playing at a mediocre level, but it doesn’t help that none of his receivers ever seem to be open. They’re trying to establish a power running game, but neither Dion Lewis or Derick Henry can establish themselves in the run game.
Free agent acquisitions such as Malcolm Butler haven’t played up to their contracts and the Titans look like they’re going nowhere.
They had a chance to beat the Chargers in London but foolishly decided to go for two after tying the game late in the fourth quarter. Mike Vrabel’s decision itself wasn’t a red flag, but his insistence on throwing the ball rather than running it is very suspect. Does no one remember what happened in Super Bowl 49?
Stud: Todd Gurley
No running back has managed to take home the Most Valuable Player Award since Adrian Peterson in 2012, but Todd Gurley certainly has a case. The Rams star rusher is once again having a season to remember and is showing the NFL world that he may just be the league’s best running back.
We’re only seven weeks into the season, but Gurley already has 14 touchdowns alongside 956 total yards. If nothing else, he’s on his way to yet another offensive player of the year award.
Los Angeles’s week seven victory over San Francisco marked the third hat trick in seven games for the star running back.
Dud: Derek Anderson
The QB rollercoaster in Buffalo continues as Josh Allen remains sidelined due to injury. The backup quarterback managed to edge out Nathan Peterman for the starting position for now, but that’s not really saying much given how bad Peterman has been during his short career.
Against the Colts, Anderson threw for only 175 yards while throwing three bad interceptions. He also lost a fumble during a strip sack. Buffalo better hope they can get their rookie quarterback up to speed sooner rather than later.
Stud: Chandler Catanzaro
Catanzaro didn’t have a very notable week, in fact, he actually missed a makeable field goal, but he managed to come up in the clutch when the Buccaneers needed him. The Browns and Buccaneers were locked into a tough overtime matchup, but Catanzaro managed to somehow nail a 59-yard field goal to win the game.
Dud: Blake Bortles
Bortles is getting worse by the week, and with Jacksonville’s season slowly slipping away from them, it might be time to win the panic button. The Jaguars were fine with Bortles’ mediocre play as long as they were winning, but now at 3-4, one has to think they may look for another option.
Former USC quarterback Cody Kessler was forced to take over mid-game, but he didn’t fare much better.
