ClutchPoints
As the playoff picture starts to take shape after Week 7 of the NFL season, some surprising teams are starting to join the usual suspects at the top of the standings. In an interesting twist, the NFC is the more difficult conference this season as the AFC deals with injuries to some of its top teams, and has a couple of surprising teams at the top.
One of those teams is the Indianapolis Colts, who are still rolling with Daniel Jones at quarterback after a 38-24 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. After one of the most impressive showings of the season, Indy tops our list of big winners from Week 7.
That’s right, the Indianapolis Colts and Daniel Jones have the best record in the NFL after seven weeks. Those are the same Colts that took plenty of heat when they announced that Jones would start the season over Anthony Richardson. Were they tanking? Punting on Richardson? Neither?
As it turns out, Shane Steichen and his staff saw something in Jones that the Giants certainly could never unlock, and he is now this year’s quarterback reclamation success story.
Sunday was supposed to be a big test for this Colts team against a Chargers team that is beat up but still has an elite quarterback and a very good defense. Justin Herbert did what he could behind a battered offensive line, but the Chargers defense was helpless against Jones, Jonathan Taylor and the rest of the Colts offense.
The Colts finished the week with 0.35 EPA per play, a number that led the league by a wide margin. They also led the league in EPA per rush in Week 7 as Taylor continued to carve up defenses, building his Offensive Player of the Year campaign.
There are still questions about the Indianapolis defense, but it was able to take advantage of the Chargers’ third-string tackles trying their best to protect Justin Herbert on Sunday. For now, this Colts squad looks like a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Baker Mayfield was the talk of the NFL coming into Week 7 after he became one of the MVP frontrunners with his clutch heroics on the way to a 5-1 start for his Buccaneers. Tampa Bay had the chance to cement itself as the class of the NFC on Monday night, but the Lions quickly put a stop to that with a 24-9 victory that felt even more lopsided than the final score.
Tampa Bay finished with the third-lowest EPA per play of the week (-0.45), ahead of just the Dolphins and the Raiders. That is always bad company to be in, but it was especially bad in Week 7.
Some people wrote the Lions off after a Week 1 loss to the Packers, but they now appear to be clicking on both sides of the ball, even if it is a little bit more...
