The NFL is usually a high-scoring league, but if you're a fan of the Dolphins, Giants or Browns, you probably haven't noticed that this season. The Dolphins scored just 10 points in their loss to the Colts and they've now scored 15 points or less in five straight games for the first time since 2007.
The Giants didn't score a single touchdown against the Eagles and they've now scored seven points or less in consecutive games for the first time since 2022. As for the Browns, they scored just 14 points on Sunday, which means they're still the only team in the NFL this season that has yet to score 20 points.
So how did those three teams grade out this week?
Glad you asked. Let's check out the grades for every team from Week 7, starting with the game in London.
(The grades for Denver's win over New Orleans on Thursday can exclusively be found in our NFL newsletter here. It's free and you don't have to sign up for anything, you just have to click over.)
The Patriots have had a long list of problems this year and they were all on display in London. The defense couldn't stop the run, and because of that, the Jags decided to pound the ball on the ground in the second half with 29 carries for 121 yards. On offense, Drake Maye got no help from his rushing attack and his offensive line struggled, but he still managed to look somewhat impressive in a game where he threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns. Maye was one of the few bright spots for New England, and if you're a Patriots fan, that's all that matters, because he's the future and as long he continues to improve, this team could eventually get better, even if it's a year or two before that happens.
Spending an entire week in London seems to have fixed all of Jacksonville's problems or maybe it was playing the Patriots, but whatever the reason, the Jags looked like the team that everyone was expecting to see when the season started. Their offense controlled the line of scrimmage thanks to a rushing attack -- led by Tank Bigsby (26 carries for 118 yards and two touchdowns) -- that totaled 171 yards on 39 carries (The Jags are now 9-0 under Doug Pederson when they run the ball 35 times or more in a game). Trevor Lawrence wasn't asked to do much, but he was efficient and he came up with multiple big plays, including a 58-yarder to Brian Thomas Jr., who finished with 89 yards. Even the Jaguars' special teams got in on the action with a franchise-record punt return from Parker Washington that went 96 yards for a touchdown. The Jags dominated in all three phases of the game and because of that, Doug Pederson will be able to fly back from London knowing that his seat isn't quite as hot as it was heading into Week 7.
This was a nightmare game for the Jets. The defense got diced up by a quarterback (Russell Wilson) who hadn't started a game in 10 months. The Jets also had trouble stopping a Steelers rushing attack that went for more than 100 yards in the second half. The other problem for the Jets is that the offense completely disappeared during a second half where New York scored exactly zero points. Not to mention, Aaron Rodgers threw two backbreaking interceptions that completely changed the complexion of the game with the Steelers getting 14 points off those turnovers (Only one INT was his fault). The addition of Davante Adams didn't provide any sort of immediate spark for an offense that desperately needs some sort of spark. Based on preseason expectations, this feels like the most overrated team in the NFL through seven weeks. At 2-5, the Jets now have almost no margin of error for the rest of the season.
Mike Tomlin is probably feeling like a genius right now for handing the QB job to Russell Wilson. In his debut game for Pittsburgh, Wilson got off to a slow start, but once he got rolling, the Steelers offense was able to efficiently move the ball. Wilson, who threw for 264 yards, completed several deep passes with three completions of 30 yards or more, which is something the Steelers didn't really have with Justin Fields. Wilson didn't turn the ball over and he didn't take any huge sacks, which were both issues with Fields. Wilson's success through the air opened up the rushing attack for Najee Harris, who rushed for 102 yards. Things could have gotten awkward in the Steelers locker room if Wilson had struggled, but instead, Tomlin has to be feeling good about his decision to get Wilson on the field.
The Seahawks defense put on a dominating performance, and most of that came in the fourth quarter. Derick Hall iced the win with a 64-yard fumble return for a TD after Boyd Mafe sacked Kirk Cousins. The Seahawks pressure, which led to three sacks in the game, forced Cousins into multiple mistakes. Offensively, the Seahawks were carried by two of their biggest stars with Kenneth Walker III (93 total yards, two touchdowns) and DK Metcalf (four catches, 99 yards, 1 TD) both having big days. After losing three straight games, this feels like a win that could help Seattle gets its season back on track.
Kirk Cousins had arguably his worst game of the season, and he killed any chance Atlanta had of winning with a disastrous fourth quarter. The quarter started with Seattle returning a Cousins' fumble for a touchdown. After that, Cousins threw a pick on Atlanta's next two possessions. Bijan Robinson (143 total yards and 1 TD) was one of the few bright spots for the Falcons' offense. This team is still good, but when your QB turns the ball over three times in the fourth quarter, you're not going to win very many games in the NFL.
Titans coach Brian Callahan made a head-scratching decision in this game, and it was a decision that flipped the game in Buffalo's favor. On Tennessee's first possession of the second half, Callahan had the Titans go for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 44 with a QB who was making his first start of the season (Mason Rudolph). The fourth-down conversion failed, the Bills scored a TD a few plays later and the game felt over after that. To add insult to injury, Callahan's offense put up just 72 yards in the second half. With Will Levis out, the Titans offense took a step back.
The Bills seemed to sleepwalk through the first two quarters, but they turned things around in the second half. Most of the offensive struggles were on Josh Allen, who completed just 4 of 11 passes in the first half, but he bounced back to throw for 258 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, including one TD to Amari Cooper. In his first game as a Bill, Cooper caught four passes for 65 yards on a day where the Bills had FOUR receivers top 50 yards. When Allen is getting everyone involved, this offense is almost impossible to stop, and that's what happened in the second half.
For the second straight week, the Bengals defense carried the team. Sam Hubbard had a sack AND an interception in a game where the Bengals totaled three sacks and two interceptions. Joe Burrow and the offense sputtered during a first half where the Bengals totaled just 86 yards, and although they weren't much better in the second half, two Bengals stars both came up big with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins each scoring a TD. The Bengals also got an electrifying TD from Charlie Jones on a 100-yard kickoff return to start the game. At 3-4, the Bengals' ugly start to the season now feels like a distant memory and this team is now back in the thick of things with the season getting closer to the midway point.
So far this season, the same thing seems to happen in every Browns game: The offense can't do anything and because of that, Cleveland ends up losing. That was once again the story here. The offense struggled to move the ball with Deshaun Watson at QB and then after he got injured, things didn't get much better with Dorian Thompson-Robinson running the show. The defense played well enough to win, but that didn't matter because the offense couldn't move the ball. Dustin Hopkins also missed two kicks, which didn't help things. The Browns' season has officially gone from bad to worse.
The Texans offense might be missing Nico Collins. With their star receiver out, C.J. Stroud threw for just 86 yards while completing less than 50% of his passes. The only reason this game was close is because of Joe Mixon, who carried the offense with 115 yards and two touchdowns, and the fact that the Texans forced three turnovers. Stroud got sacked four times and he was under pressure for a good chunk of the game. With Collins out for at least two more games due to a hamstring injury, the Texans offense is going to have to figure how to make things work without him.
The Packers did their best to give this game away, but Jordan Love decided to take it back. Although he threw two interceptions, Love made up for it by engineering a drive in the final minute that set up Brandon McManus' game-winning field goal. Love showed off his accuracy with pinpoint touchdowns to both Tucker Kraft and Dontayvion Wicks. The Packers defense also deserves a lot of credit for the win. Eric Wilson, who had two sacks, led a pass rush that sacked C.J. Stroud four times. Of course, the biggest star might have been McManus: The new kicker showed that he's reliable in the clutch, and that's exactly what this team needs if they're going to be a Super Bowl contender down the stretch.
Even with Tim Boyle at quarterback, the Dolphins were still in a spot to win his game until they shot themselves in the fin multiple times. In the third quarter alone, Raheem Mostert and Alec Ingold both lost a fumble. Jason Sanders also missed a field goal that would have tied the game. When you're down to your third QB, you can't afford to make mistakes like that. The Dolphins rushing attack gashed up the Colts defense for 188 yards, but the two lost fumbles killed a lot of momentum for Miami. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle both only had one catch each and the fact of the matter is that this isn't going to be a competitive offense again until Tua Tagovailoa gets back.
The Colts seem to find a new way to win every week. This week, they were saved by a defense that came up with several big turnovers. Segun Olubi stripped Raheem Mostert and recovered the ball, which led to a 28-yard TD drive for Indy in the third quarter. The Colts also got another fumble recovery after Miami had driven down inside their Indy's 15. In his first start since Week 4, Anthony Richardson won't be entering the MVP conversation with his performance, but he did lead two key scoring drives in the fourth quarter. The Colts aren't dominating anyone, but they're winning games and that's all that matters in the NFL.
It might be time to put Jared Goff in the MVP conversation. For the third straight game, Goff had a QB rating above 140, and he did that by completing 22 of 25 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He faced some serious pressure, but still came up with several big throws. He also got some help from Jahmyr Gibbs. With David Montgomery banged up, Gibbs ran for a career-high 116 yards and two touchdowns (He totaled 160 yards in the game). Amon-Ra St. Brown also had 112 receiving yards for the high-flying Lions offense. The bigger news for the Lions is that they bounced back quickly from the loss of Aidan Hutchinson: The defense sacked Sam Darnold four times, which included a sack from Trevor Nowaske on the final play. Through seven weeks, the Lions once again feel like the best team in the NFC.
The Vikings went toe-to-toe with the Lions, but if they had one issue in this game, it's that the offense couldn't come up with a big play in the fourth quarter. The most notable instance came when they got the ball back with four minutes left and holding a 29-28 lead. If the Vikings had been able to burn some clock, they might have won, but instead, they went three-and-out. Defensively, the Vikings got diced up by the Lions, but there were some big plays on that side of the ball with four sacks on Jared Goff and a fumble return TD from Ivan Pace Jr. At this point, it's pretty clear that the Vikings can play with anyone, and there's no reason they can't still win the NFC North despite this loss.
This game was all about Saquon Barkley. In his first game against his old team, Barkley steamrolled the Giants for 176 yards and a touchdown. Barkley led a rushing attack that finished with 269 yards, which was the Eagles' second-highest total over the past 10 years. As good as Barkley was, the defense was even better. Jalen Carter and Nakobe Dean both had two sacks on a day where the Eagles had Daniel Jones running for his life. This game marked just the second time since 1992 that the Eagles have held an opponent under 120 yards. Yes, this was against the Giants, but this was an impressive defensive performance no matter who the opponent was. As for Barkley, through seven weeks, he's looked like one of the best free agent signings of 2024 and he proved it once again in this game.
The Giants offense has had some bad games this season, but this might have been their worst of the season. The Giants mustered just 119 yards of offense, which was their lowest total since 1999. The offensive line got overwhelmed by an Eagles pass rush that finished with eight sacks. The offense has now scored seven points or less in back-to-back games and it doesn't feel like things are going to be getting better for this team anytime soon. To add insult to injury, the Giants defense got embarrassed by Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 176 yards and a TD on his old team. It feels like this team is going nowhere.
If the 49ers have shown one weakness under Kyle Shanahan, it's playing from behind and they didn't do anything to shake that reputation in this game. Brock Purdy fell apart in the second half, throwing two of his three interceptions over the game's final two quarters. It didn't help that Purdy had almost no run support and he also didn't have Deebo Samuel (illness) and Brandon Aiyuk (knee), who left the game. The defense held its own against Patrick Mahomes, but the 49ers did have some serious trouble stopping the run, a problem that allowed Kanas City to control the clock. When the 49ers are fully healthy, they're one of the best teams in the NFL, but when they're not, they're very beatable, which is why they're now 3-4 heading into Week 8.
When Patrick Mahomes has a bad game, that usually means trouble for the Chiefs, but that wasn't the case against the 49ers. Despite Mahomes' struggles, the Chiefs still won thanks to a strong rushing attack and an even stronger defense. Kareem Hunt continues to be a pleasant surprise for the Chiefs: in just his third game of the season, he rushed for 78 yards and a TD. The defense did a good job of making Purdy look mortal with Justin Reid, Christian Roland-Wallace, and Jaden Hicks all coming away with an interception. The Chiefs just beat a top NFC team by double digits in a game where Mahomes didn't play well, which tells you just how good this team is. They're now the final undefeated team remaining and they seem like a legit threat to become the NFL's first team ever to win three championships in a row.
After watching this game, Antonio Pierce probably feels pretty justified by his decision to bench Gardner Minshew. Although Minshew didn't start on Sunday, he was forced to play after an injury to Aidan O'Connell and he was nothing short of a disaster. Not only did Minshew throw three interceptions, but he also lost a fumble that the Rams returned for a touchdown. All 20 of the Rams' points came off a Minshew turnover. The meltdown by Minshew overshadowed a solid defensive performance by the Raiders and an impressive game from Daniel Carlson, who kicked five field goals. The Raiders have now lost three in a row and based on their QB situation, it's hard to imagine them turning things around.
With the offense struggling for a good chunk of the day, the Rams leaned on their defense in this game and that ended up working out just fine for them. Kamren Curl came up with the play of the day when he returned a fumble 33 yards for a TD. Although he had the play of the day, the defensive MVP was probably Jaylen McCollough, who came up with two interceptions in the second half, including a pick in the final minute that won the game. It felt like the Rams' season was on life support going into this game and with the win, they've taken one step closer to getting back Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, and at that point, they might be able to save their season.
This was the easiest grade to hand out this week. The Panthers hit rock bottom in this game and then kept falling. They have officially reclaimed their title as the worst team in the NFL.
Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury continues to look like a genius. In a game where Jayden Daniels only played one possession due to injury, the Commanders offense didn't miss a beat. Marcus Mariota came in and threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns as Washington piled up 421 yards of offense. Defensively, Dante Fowler Jr. came up with a pick six on Carolina's first possession of the day and it was all Washington after that (Fowler also had a sack on top of his pick six). There's still a lot of season left, but at this point, the Commanders look like the best team in the NFC East.