Although the chant at Woodstock in 1969 called for “no rain” while it was pouring on the crowd, today at all outdoor National Football League sites there really is no rain. The NFL has six teams spending their bye week this Sunday and the contests that are on the schedule have a number of games perfectly matched.
The Las Vegas Raiders and Chicago Bears meet at Soldier Field and neither team will have their starting quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo is sidelined with a back injury and Justin Fields will miss today’s game because of a thumb injury. The Cleveland Browns, who beat the San Francisco 49ers last week behind backup quarterback P.J. Walker behind center, will likely have starting quarterback Deshaun Watson back in action today. Their opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, have lost their rookie signal caller for the season. Anthony Richardson injured his shoulder in last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and will miss the rest of his rookie season.
In Philadelphia, two teams who share the best win/loss records in the league, five wins against a single loss, square off at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles suffered their first setback of the season last Sunday against the New York Jets, today they battle another team from the AFC East Division when they host the Miami Dolphins.
The Detroit Lions have emerged from years of insignificance to a powerhouse in the NFC. Today, in Baltimore, they meet a Ravens team that has lost twice this year while the Lions lone setback was a Week Two home defeat against the Seattle Seahawks. The Ravens are favored by three points on their home field, and while Detroit has been playing well, a win here would require them to end Week Seven with two more victories than Baltimore, a tall order for Dan Campbell’s “new to winning” squad.
While both the San Francisco 49ers and Eagles were dropped from the unbeaten ranks with losses last week, the 1972 Miami Dolphins are secure again for at least one more year of being the only NFL team to complete a perfect season with a Super Bowl win. On the other side of the ledger, the Carolina Panthers are the only team in the league without a victory this year, and they are not going to get their first today given they are one of the six teams off this week.
The public has checked in with their three favorite plays for Week Seven beginning with the most bet team being the Buffalo Bills (-8) over the New England Patriots. The next two most bet teams by the public are the Los Angeles Rams (-3) over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs (-5½) over the Los Angeles Chargers.