AFC juggernauts rounding into form? What next for Browns after Watson injury? Lost season for 49ers? NFL Week 7 takeaways
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — There was plenty for fans to get their teeth stuck into in Week 7 of the 2024 NFL season.
From last-second victories and teams losing unbeaten streaks to season-ending injuries and the last game in London this season, it was a jam-packed slate of games.
Here are the main takeaways from the past week in the National Football League.
AFC juggernauts heating up?
The NFL is rich with playoff-hopefuls. And in the AFC, some of the front-runners are beginning to show their championship mettle.
It begins with the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. They are the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL after overcoming their recent rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, on Sunday.
Yes, Patrick Mahomes has more turnovers than touchdowns at the moment, but when the time is right, the 29-year-old has found the necessary plays to win. He is also being helped out by an outstanding defense.
Two games behind the Chiefs lie a quartet of teams all showing their playoff aspirations in different ways.
The Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers all sit at 5-2. All but the Texans had big wins in Week 7, with Houston losing via a last-second field goal against the Green Bay Packers.
Despite the defeat, there is plenty of room for optimism in Houston with young star quarterback CJ Stroud, an excellent defense and a plethora of offensive talent, even with Nico Collins on the sideline.
The Ravens are arguably the hottest team in football, currently riding a five-game winning streak with quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry far and away the two best at their respective positions in the league.
The Bills have somewhat flown below the radar, but with QB Josh Allen at the helm and newly-acquired No. 1 WR Amari Cooper, Buffalo could be ready to surge.
The Steelers have been one of the stories of the season so far, benching QB Justin Fields for veteran Russell Wilson ahead of their Week 7 game against the New York Jets despite boasting a 4-2 record.
But it had the desired effect as they emphatically beat Gang Green 37-15, with Wilson throwing for two touchdowns and running for another in his Pittsburgh debut.
Head coach Mike Tomlin is renowned for his fearsome defense and, if they can get the offense humming, the Steelers could be a serious Super Bowl contender.
All-in-all, after seven weeks of the NFL season, the AFC is heating up with multiple potential superpowers really kicking into gear.
What next for the Browns following Deshaun Watson’s injury?
This season has been a forgettable one for the Cleveland Browns so far, who sit at 1-6 on the year. And things went from bad to worse on Sunday when starting quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending injury.
In the second quarter of the Browns’ loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Watson fell to the ground with no player in his vicinity after receiving the ball from the center. Slow-motion replays appeared to show his right calf rippling just before he crumpled to the turf.
Watson received medical attention before being carted to the locker-room. The Browns announced shortly afterwards that the 29-year-old had been ruled out for the remainder of the game.
On Monday, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanksi confirmed that Watson had suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, ending the quarterback’s season.
Watson has failed to have the desired impact on Cleveland since his controversial trade from the Houston Texans in 2022.
Watson – who has been named in dozens of civil lawsuits on behalf of women alleging the quarterback sexually harassed or assaulted them – has played well below the huge contract he was given by the Browns. He signed a five-year, $230 million fully-guaranteed contract after arriving in Ohio and is due to earn $46 million in 2025 and 2026.
Having struggled with suspensions, accuracy and injuries in his first two seasons in Cleveland, things didn’t get much better in 2024 for Watson with just five touchdowns in the first six games this year. The QB’s performances have led to questions being directed at Stefanski about whether he would bench the veteran passer.
Although he was having his best game of the season on Sunday before the injury, completing 15-of-17 passes for 128 yards, his injury was met with a mixed response.
His Browns teammates came out to offer their support as he was carted off the field, while a section of the team’s fans could be heard cheering as Watson left the field.
The reaction was criticized by Browns players, notably fellow quarterback Jameis Winston and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett who called Watson a “model citizen.”
“We don’t boo guys that are injured on the field, especially when the cart comes out,” Garrett said after the game. “We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall.
“Man is not perfect; he doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones from my glass house,” Garrett added.
“But we need to do better, we need to do better on the football field, and we need to do better as fans for having some empathy for a man who’s doing the best he can and did the best he can up to this point. We have to better.”
While the loss of a starting QB might be a blow for most franchises, Watson’s absence might offer a chance for the Browns to correct course in 2024.
The team announced on Wednesday that veteran Winston will start the team’s Week 8 game against the Ravens, with Dorian Thompson-Robinson and newly-acquired Bailey Zappe also on the depth chart.
With the team 1-6 after seven weeks, Cleveland is in good position to challenge for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to try and select a new passer if they choose to do so.
Is this a lost season for the 49ers?
Since Kyle Shanahan became head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, the team has been one of the most successful in the NFL.
They have reached the Super Bowl twice and the NFC Championship game a further two times. The only thing missing? That elusive championship ring.
The 49ers lost to Kansas City in both the 2019 and 2023 editions of the NFL’s title game, and on Sunday, Andy Reid’s hold over Shanahan continued as the Chiefs once again beat San Francisco.
The defeat drops the Nines to 3-4 through seven weeks. While there is plenty of football yet to come, there are more pressing issues for Shanahan’s team.
The injury list grows by the game – and seemingly impacts the team’s most important players. Last year’s Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey has yet to play a game yet so far, and neither has All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga.
The team’s best two receivers, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, are also impacting with both exiting the loss to the Chiefs with illness and injury respectively.
Shanahan confirmed on Monday that Aiyuk had torn his ACL and was out for the season while also revealing that Samuel left Sunday’s game with “some fluid in his lungs” which was “technically pneumonia.” Samuel spent the night in hospital, Shanahan said.
Even through seven weeks of the season, the 49ers are well behind their usual standards. The only saving grace perhaps is they are just two games behind the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks.
But with the fourth-hardest remaining schedule by opponent win percentage, according to Tankathon, and with the injuries piling up, Shanahan has a job on his hands to get San Francisco back to the postseason.
Speaking to reporters the day after the loss to the Chiefs, Shanahan explained that the team is taking it week-by-week.
“It’s always hard after a loss like that to come in and watch it. I thought the guys handled it well though,” he said. “I wanted to show all the spots that, as bad as it did feel, how many times we had a chance to win.
“I’m not trying to take anything away from Kansas City, but how much we hurt ourselves in that game and how many things that, despite injuries, despite anything like that, that we can dictate. We did it at times, which got us close, but it wasn’t good enough and we made too many mistakes.
“And with the turnovers, with some of the things in the redzone, and there’s a number of things that we can do a lot better that can lead to a win. If you don’t correct that stuff, it doesn’t matter who you play. You end up being a .500-type team.”
Full Week 7 scores
Away @ home (winners in bold)
Thursday
Denver Broncos 33-10 New Orleans Saints
Sunday
New England Patriots 16-32 Jacksonville Jaguars
Seattle Seahawks 34-14 Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans 10-34 Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals 21-14 Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans 22-24 Green Bay Packers
Miami Dolphins 10-16 Indianapolis Colts
Detroit Lions 31-29 Minnesota Vikings
Philadelphia Eagles 28-3 New York Giants
Las Vegas Raiders 15-20 Los Angeles Rams
Carolina Panthers 7-40 Washington Commanders
Kansas City Chiefs 28-18 San Francisco 49ers
New York Jets 15-37 Pittsburgh Steelers
Monday
Baltimore Ravens 41-31 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Los Angeles Chargers 15-17 Arizona Cardinals
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