The Rams are in serious trouble, a showdown in Seattle and a trip to Paris: Here’s what to watch in the NFL’s Week 7
By Andy Scholes, CNN
(CNN) — Six weeks into the NFL season, some preseason Super Bowl favorites are already fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive, while a few divisions are making a strong case for being the worst in football.
With the Los Angeles Rams approaching panic mode, the NFC East in complete disarray and the Kansas City Chiefs preparing for their biggest test yet, there’s no shortage of drama heading into Week 7.
Here are the five things to know for the games ahead.
Rams watching the panic meter
This season certainly hasn’t gone according to plan for the Rams.
Sunday’s shocking loss to the Arizona Cardinals dropped Los Angeles to 2-4, and, suddenly, a team that entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations is fighting to stay in the playoff picture.
Last week, I said it wasn’t time to panic just yet. Well, we’re getting dangerously close to sounding the alarm.
The Rams’ next four games are at the Las Vegas Raiders, home against the Los Angeles Chargers, and away at both the Washington Commanders and the Cardinals. On paper, that’s a favorable stretch, but LA has almost no room for error. The Rams may need to run the table because the schedule gets considerably tougher after that.
With the San Francisco 49ers off to a perfect 6-0 start and threatening to run away with the NFC West, the Rams may already be playing for a wild card spot. If 10 wins is the target, Los Angeles would need to go 8-3 over its final 11 games. That’s certainly possible, but the Rams haven’t shown much through six games to suggest they’re capable of that kind of run.
The Rams entered the season as the Super Bowl favorites at +500. Those odds have since slipped to +1200, although they’re still among the top five favorites to win it all.
History hasn’t exactly been kind to overwhelming preseason favorites. Teams that have been that favored at +500 or better to start the season are 0-20 over the last 30 years when it comes to winning it all. So far, that stat looks like it’s going to continue to hold up.
NFC Least
Remember when the NFC East was considered one of the NFL’s premier divisions? Those days feel like a distant memory.
Right now, the NFC East is battling the NFC South for the title of worst division in football, and the last two weeks have been particularly ugly.
The NFC East became the first division in NFL history to have all four teams play in a two-week span and nobody win. The New York Giants and Commanders even played each other!
Perhaps the most telling sign of how bad things have gotten is that the 2-4 Dallas Cowboys are currently favored to win the division. Yes, the same Cowboys who have looked downright awful in their four losses.
The Philadelphia Eagles, meanwhile, are expected to be without quarterback Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season as he deals with a serious medical issue involving blood clots.
Then there are the Giants, who are turning to JJ McCarthy in hopes of providing a spark at quarterback.
McCarthy was thrown straight into the fire against the Saints and managed to throw for 243 yards in just 11 minutes of action. Now, he’ll get his first start Sunday in Houston, where New York enters as a 10-point underdog against a Texans team that’s just 2-4 itself.
The good news? Somebody in the NFC East is guaranteed to avoid a loss this week when the Eagles host the Cowboys on Monday Night Football.
Of course, they could always tie. And that might be the most fitting outcome for this division.
Bonjour, NFL!
Set those alarms early again Sunday because the NFL is headed overseas for another international showdown. But this time, we’re trading London for Paris.
For the first time ever, the NFL is scheduled to play a regular-season game in the City of Light, with the Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the New Orleans Saints at 9:30 a.m. ET.
League officials say heightened security measures will be in place following recent civil unrest in Paris.
The matchup is part of the NFL’s expanded international schedule, which features nine games outside the United States this season.
And the league’s global tour is far from over.
November will bring three more international matchups: The Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals in Madrid, Spain; the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots in Munich, Germany; and the 49ers and Minnesota Vikings in Mexico City.
Chiefs’ toughest test yet
Are the Kansas City Chiefs really as good as their undefeated record suggests?
We’re about to find out.
Patrick Mahomes and company are taking their perfect record to Seattle for a Sunday Night Football showdown against the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks. And this will easily be their biggest test of the season.
That’s because Kansas City’s five victories haven’t exactly come against a murderer’s row of opponents.
The Chiefs have beaten a Denver Broncos team that was still finding its footing, the 2-4 Indianapolis Colts, the winless Miami Dolphins, a respectable Raiders squad and the 0-6 Chargers.
Combined, that’s not exactly an intimidating résumé.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, they are catching an angry Seahawks team.
Mike Macdonald’s squad is coming off back-to-back losses to the Niners and Broncos, their first consecutive defeats since December 2024.
For Seattle, this is a chance to remind everyone why it’s the defending champion. For Kansas City, it’s an opportunity to prove that its perfect start is about more than a favorable schedule.
A much-needed bye
Four teams have the week off: the Buffalo Bills, Commanders, Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars.
And while Buffalo and Jacksonville can use the break to rest and recharge, fans in Washington and Los Angeles are hoping a week away might somehow fix what’s gone wrong.
For Commanders coach Dan Quinn and Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, the pressure is mounting.
Both coaches appear likely to survive the bye week, which hasn’t always been a guarantee for struggling NFL teams. The midseason break has historically been a convenient time for organizations to make a coaching change, giving an interim replacement extra time to prepare.
Washington at least has one thing working in its favor: The NFC East is so bad that the Commanders still have a realistic path back into the division race.
The Chargers? Well, things are looking considerably more bleak.
At this point, Chargers fans might want to spend their bye week firing up the mock draft simulator and figuring out how to fix this team next season.
Full Week 7 schedule
Thursday
New England Patriots @ Chicago Bears, 8:15 p.m. ET
Sunday
Pittsburgh Steelers @ New Orleans Saints (in Paris, France), 9:30 a.m. ET
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets, 1 p.m. ET
New York Giants @ Houston Texans, 1 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. ET
Cleveland Browns @ Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts @ Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. ET
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m. ET
Denver Broncos @ Arizona Cardinals, 4:05 p.m. ET
Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions, 4:25 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Rams @ Las Vegas Raiders, 4:25 p.m. ET
Kansas City Chiefs @ Seattle Seahawks, 8:20 p.m. ET
Monday
Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles, 8:15 p.m. ET
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