Going old-school: Previewing and predicting Week 7 in the NFL

A journeyman tight end on the Vikings practice squad has more common sense than the folks running the Tennessee Titans, who this week play host to the Patriots and former Titans NFL Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel six days after firing Brian Callahan. Callahan, the guy who replaced Vrabel, lasted 23 games, six of which came after an organizational decision to draft quarterback Cam Ward No. 1 overall and then make him the starter on a very bad team from Day 1. How any of this helps Ward is anyone’s guess.

“I respect Brian a lot; I even reached out to him on Monday when it happened,” said tight end Nick Vannett, the former Titan and current Viking. “I told him how much I appreciated him and what he did. I think he’s a brilliant offensive mind.

“He did a good job, but it just didn’t turn into results. It’s a results-based business. I get it. But they started a rookie quarterback right away. It takes time to get experience and to grow a little bit. We’ll never know if he would have hit his stride under Brian and turned the corner. It’s hard to turn a corner when it’s only six games.”

Callahan went 4-19, including 1-5 this year. His 23-game stint is not even in the top 34 shortest in NFL history. Seven lasted 13 games or fewer, including Bill Belichick, whose record of one day with the Jets in 1999 can never be broken. He resigned before his opening news conference!

Another classic: Hall of Famer George Allen lasting only two preseason games in his second stint with the Rams in 1978.

There have been 28 coaches who lasted more than 13 games but no more than a full season, including Jerod Mayo, who was one-and-done with the Patriots after going 4-13 with rookie QB Drake Maye a year ago.

It’s perfect that Vrabel is on the enemy sideline in Nashville this week.

Indeed.

P.S. What seemed from the outside to be a small deal that Tomlin was overreacting to became much larger when Flacco posted 342 yards, three touchdowns and a game-winning field goal drive in the closing minutes of a 33-31 win over the Steelers on Thursday. The Factory of Sadness in Cleveland helped bring the mood down in Pittsburgh, which had spent the previous three weeks going 2-0 while the rest of the division went 0-9.

239: Yards from scrimmage last week for Panthers running back Rico Dowdle against Dallas, an NFL record by a player against a team he once played for. And the sweetest part is it came a week after Dowdle topped 200 yards from scrimmage and promptly warned the Cowboys to “buckle up” the following week. Players unafraid of bulletin-board material? More, please.

“They wasn’t buckled up,” Dowdle said after Carolina’s 30-27 upset.

Next up for the surprising Panthers (3-3): At the Jets, the NFL’s only winless team for good reason (see: alarming dysfunction as players and coaches had no idea what to do while failing to run a play in the final 35 seconds of the first half of last week’s 13-11 loss to Denver in London). A victory would give Carolina a winning record through seven games for the first time since 2019. A loss would drop the Jets to 0-7 for the third time. They started 0-9 in 1996 and 0-13 in 2020. After Carolina, the Jets face the Bengals and Browns, so there is still hope.

Then there’s Tampa Bay, the four-time reigning NFC South champs. They keep winning and staying on top with Baker Mayfield willing them to victories as receivers drop left and right. No Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan or Emeka Egbuka? No problem. Just scramble around, break two tackles, convert third-and-14 with your legs and then throw a TD bomb to rookie Tez Johnson a few snaps later as you cruise to a rout of the 49ers.

This should be a good one in Detroit. Since 2023, the top two players in passing yards and touchdowns are Detroit’s Jared Goff (10,594 and 81) and Mayfield (10,083 and 81).

As the Vikings can certainly attest, no one is playing better this season than Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. As he and the 4-2 Falcons prepare to take on a depleted 49ers team (4-2) that just lost Fred Warner, the best linebacker in football, it’s time to consider what Atlanta coach Raheem Morris has been saying for a while. And that is:

“He’s the best player in football,” Morris said again after Robinson exposed the Bills’ league-worst run defense with 170 yards on only 19 carries (8.9).

There hasn’t been a running back or a non-QB win MVP since Adrian Peterson in 2012.

Believe it or not, running backs can still be MVPs on the field or in the entire league.

The AFC-leading Colts (5-1) visit the Chargers (4-2) with a league-leading 194 points. That’s a record through six weeks, topping Peyton Manning’s 2007 Colts team. This year’s starting Colts center, 2024 fourth-round pick Tanor Bortolini, who replaced Ryan Kelly when he signed with the Vikings, has started all six games and is Pro Football Focus’ fourth-best run-blocking center. Kelly, meanwhile, is on injured reserve after suffering the fourth and fifth career concussions three weeks apart this season.

Quarterbacks who play like Carson Wentz did at the end of the Browns game keep playing. How long? Until they don’t play like that and, oh yeah, learn to slide when they’re supposed to slide!

The Bears are tied for the best turnover differential (plus-8) and rank second in takeaways (12). They are riding a three-game streak with three or more takeaways. Couple that with Caleb Williams throwing only eight picks in 721 career attempts over 23 games, and that’s the start of a recipe that just might get Da Bears out of the Da Basement for the first time since 2021.

Q As a former Cardinal, did Arizona coach Jonathan Gannon cross the line while chewing out and making contact with running back Emari Demercado on the sideline after Demercado became the second NFL player in two weeks to flip the ball away short of the goal-line, turning what should have been a long touchdown into a touchback when the ball went through the back of the end zone?

Eagles (-2½) at Vikings: Saquon Barkley says hello and then goodbye to tackling-challenged Vikings defense. Eagles 31-24

Rams (-3) vs. Jaguars in London: The Jags are a tenacious menace when they get takeaways and a terrible mess when they don’t. Rams 33-27

Dolphins (+2½) at Browns: The NFL’s first walk-off safety decides which coach gets canned next. Browns 4-3

Giants (+7) at Broncos: Denver wins but doesn’t cover as the defense goes from a sitting duck (Justin Fields) to a Jaxson Dart. Broncos 23-19

Colts (+1½) at Chargers: Daniel Jones and the Colts look so darn good right now, I have to pick them to lose this week. Chargers 22-20

Commanders (+1½) at Cowboys: With no D, the Allas Cowboys somehow make it to Week 8 as a .500 team. Cowboys 34-31

Falcons (+1½) at 49ers: Bet the house on Atlanta! Unless, of course, you recall how the same team that beat Buffalo by 10 also lost to Carolina by 30. 49ers 24-23

Patriots (-6½) at Titans: Even the Titans would take Tennessee’s former NFL Coach of the Year over Tennessee’s interim coach of their yuck. Patriots 24-13

Saints (+4½) at Bears: If you’re looking for an eighth sign of the apocalypse, the Bears drafted a quarterback they can win with. Bears 24-18

Panthers (-1½) at Jets: Justin Fields will toss his first interception of the season just as soon as he has enough time to throw. Panthers 12-5

Raiders (+12½) at Chiefs: Dear Chiefs, on behalf of all survivor pool pickers who haven’t used you yet, please do not be this week’s NFL team that chokes. Chiefs 34-10

Packers (-7) at Cardinals: Dear Packers: On behalf of those of us picking the Chiefs, please, please be this week’s NFL team that chokes. Cardinals 26-23

Last week’s pick: Falcons (+4½) 30, Bills 27. Final: Falcons 24, Bills 14. Record: 2-3.

Last week/season straight up: 9-5/42-33.