It’s time to accept the truth about Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, and the teams they lead, if you haven’t already.
That truth is that they’re no longer good enough to raise the floor of below average teams. And right now, their teams — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers — are decidedly below average. Brady and Rodgers might even be contributing factors to their teams not being good.
That inkling we all get to expect more of the Packers and Buccaneers simply because of the Hall of Famers under center should cease to exist. Super Bowl odds are plummeting for a reason, and that’s not a sign to sprinkle action on them.
These offenses stink, so accept the teams for what they are: Fringe playoff teams at best. At worst, non-playoff teams that won’t even win their divisions.
Here are a few more takeaways from Week 7.
Cardinals back?
Are the Cardinals back? We’ll find out soon. But we know DeAndre Hopkins is back, and he had an immediate impact Thursday night with 10 catches for 103 yards against the Saints. He can’t take all the credit for their 42 points — two Andy Dalton pick-sixes helped with that — but Kyler Murray and Arizona’s offensive improvement was undeniable, and they easily covered as 2.5-point favorites.
They’re very much in the picture for winning the NFC West, which suddenly seems wide open with the surprising Seahawks currently holding first place. Arizona has the most value with +800 odds at BetMGM if you’re a believer.
Bengals offense is coming along
After starting the season with a dud against the Steelers that included four Joe Burrow interceptions and following it up with a struggle performance against the Cowboys, the Bengals offense is rolling now. Burrow has tossed 12 touchdowns to just one interception in the last five games, including three games of three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
After handing the Falcons their first loss against the spread with a monster 481 yards through the air Sunday, the Bengals offense has a soft schedule coming up and a chance for more big covers.
The Niners are just NFC good
While the 49ers aren’t good enough to guarantee victory against anybody — they have losses to the Bears, Broncos and Falcons on their record — you can feel good betting them against most teams in the NFC. But their loss to the Chiefs on Sunday placed them precisely where they are in the grand scheme of things: just good enough to beat average teams, and maybe even a few good teams. But not good enough to hang with the elite teams…yet.
That may not matter in the NFC, where the elite pool is thin. But if they make it to a Super Bowl again, they’ll have a hard time keeping up offensively unless their defense kicks it up to another level.
Week 7 bad beats
- The Jaguars drove 10 plays and 74 yards on the final possession of their game against the Giants, needing a touchdown to win. Trevor Lawrence completed a pass to Christian Kirk at the 1-yard line, and the Giants kept him out of the end zone as time expired.
GAME OF INCHES AND SECONDS!
The pass is caught, but the @Giants D keeps the Jags out of the end zone as the clock hits 0️⃣. #NYGvsJAX pic.twitter.com/efSZ7tOMrT
— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
- Baltimore drove 55 yards in the fourth quarter with a chance to put its game away with the Browns, and cover 6.5 points and the point total over with a touchdown, but fumbled on the Browns 24 with around three minutes left. Cleveland drove into field goal range the ensuing drive and had its game-tying 60-yard attempt blocked with two minutes left.
- The Steelers drove 62 yards on their final possession against the Dolphins with a chance to win on a touchdown, but Kenny Pickett was intercepted in the end zone with 25 seconds left to secure the win for Miami.
