
Todd Gurley is a beast. Photo by Rams/Facebook
Week 7 of NFL action was like a football buffet. You had some blowouts, some tightly played games, a few duds, and even a couple “whoops” that cost teams games. Here are my observations from week seven:
The Good
-Rams Running back Todd Gurley continues his march towards an MVP season. He tallied three more touchdowns in yet another blowout (39-10 over the 49ers). He has 14 touchdowns on the season and is on pace to break the single season record of 31 held by LaDainian Tomlinson.
-The Panthers were down 17-0 towards the end of the third quarter to the struggling defending champions the Eagles. Cam Newton knew his Panthers team couldn’t fall to 3-3 so he proceeded to march his team down the field for three fourth quarter scores to pull out a 21-17 win. Oh, and the Panthers defense held the Eagles to only 70 yards during that stretch.
-Vikings receiver Adam Thielen had nine catches on 10 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown in their 37-17 win over the Jets. He continues to prove he’s one of the better receivers in the game after being an undrafted free agent in 2013. He was a second team All-Pro last year and is making his case for another All-Pro team this year.
The Bad
-The Broncos bullied the woeful Cardinals 45-10 on Thursday Night Football. The worst part of this game: my dumb ass left the Broncos defense on the bench in fantasy football so I missed out on 33 points. Only reason it’s not in the “Ugly” is I still won my matchup.
-The Bengals were outgained by 312 yards in their 45-10 loss to the steamrolling Chiefs. The Bengals were 4-2 entering the game and needed to prove themselves against the Chiefs but laid an ostrich-sized egg. Instead of taking a controlling lead in the AFC North, they’ve now fallen to second place and failed to take advantage of the Ravens unfortunate loss.
-The Bears had a great shot at beating the Patriots Sunday and failed losing 38-31. Early in the second quarter, they held a 17-7 lead after two Patriot fumbles they recovered and appeared to have control of the game. True to form, the Pats went on a 31-14 run the rest of the way and stopped the Bears Hail Mary attempt to tie the game on the one yard line. That’s a sucky way to lose.
The Ugly
-Titans coach Mike Vrabel decided to go for the two point conversion and the win, instead of kicking the extra point for the tie and almost guaranteed overtime. Yes, 31 seconds is plenty of time for weird things to happen, but so is a 10 minute overtime period. This is the new leader in the clubhouse for “Idiot Decision of the Year” award in coach’s category.
-Dereck Anderson started for the Bills two weeks after signing with them off his sofa at home. He threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, but will start next week despite his four turnover performance in their 37-5 loss to the Colts. Yes, Nathan Peterman is that bad.
-Now 10 of the 32 first round selections of the 2015 draft have been traded or released. Former Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper was the 10th one when the Cowboys desperately gave up next year’s first rounder for a guy who’s steadily declined since his rookie year. Teams don’t often give up on first rounders that easily. Takes a special kind of suck to be traded or cut three years after being so highly thought of.
How was that buffet? Pretty good variety right? The only thing with a buffet is that I tend to over-eat and go home with “the itis.” As I was getting sleepy with “the itis”, the only thing that could help me sleep was the Rockets sorry asses. Hopefully next week will be just as good a buffet as this week was. Somebody get me a heartburn pill please. My reflux is acting up. Ate too much.
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Are Awesome
Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker each hit a three-run homer, and the Houston Astros outslugged the Baltimore Orioles 10-7 on Friday night.
A little something to make your day better pic.twitter.com/whwYikHwx2
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 22, 2025
Colton Cowser went deep for Baltimore, but the Orioles couldn’t pull this game out despite twice cutting a four-run deficit to one.
Steven Okert (2-2) got the win in relief for Houston, and the Astros — who are without injured closer Josh Hader and lefty reliever Bennett Sousa — held on. Houston signed veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel and he was with the team, but the AL West-leading Astros didn’t use him. Bryan Abreu struck out four to end the game and get his second save.
Rookie catcher Samuel Basallo, who agreed to an eight-year, $67 million contract before the game, did not start for the Orioles, but entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh and tagged out a runner at the plate the following inning.
Peña’s drive to left capped a four-run third that included two Baltimore errors. Jeremiah Jackson’s two-run double made it 4-3 in the fourth, but after Orioles starter Cade Povich (2-7) was pulled with two outs in the fifth, Yennier Cano came on and immediately gave up Walker’s homer.
The Orioles trailed 7-6 after Cowser’s solo shot in the seventh, but pinch-hitter Victor Caratini’s two-run double in the eighth made it a three-run game, and Peña’s comebacker bounced off reliever Corbin Martin and into shallow right-center field for an RBI double.
Orioles infielder Vimael Machín hit a solo homer in the eighth in his first big league plate appearance since 2022.
Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. allowed three runs in four innings after coming off the injured list (right finger blister).
Key moment
Jackson nearly made a diving catch on Caratini’s hit with two outs in the eighth, but once the ball got past him in right, two runs scored to make it 9-6.
Adding some insurance! pic.twitter.com/wKoPuHmenr
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 23, 2025
Key stat
The Astros improved to 15-8 in games in which their opponent starts a left-handed pitcher.
Up next
Cristian Javier (1-1) starts for Houston on Saturday night against Dean Kremer (9-9) of the Orioles.