NFL Quick Hits: Week Seven
Offensive Player of the Week: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers was perfection on Sunday against the Raiders. Literally. He was perfect.
His perfect 158.3 passer rating consisted of going 25/31 for 429 yards, five passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown of his own.
It's odd to think that with having Rodgers at the helm for about a decade now, and Brett Favre for several years before him, that this is the first perfect passer rating in Packers history.
My preseason favorite to win NFL MVP, Rodgers is now starting to grow into that conversation after a sluggish start. His engine is now humming along just fine.
Runners Up: Lamar Jackson (143 passing yards, 116 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown vs. Seahawks), Kirk Cousins (24/34 for 337 passing yards and four touchdowns vs. Detroit), Jacoby Brissett (26/39 for 326 and four touchdowns vs. Houston), Dalvin Cook (142 rushing yards and two touchdowns vs. Detroit), Chase Edmonds (126 rushing yards and three touchdowns vs. Giants), Sony Michel (three rushing touchdowns vs. Jets), Latavius Murray (116 rushing yards and two touchdowns vs. Chicago), Marvin Jones Jr. (94 receiving yards, three touchdowns vs. Minnesota), Stefon Diggs (142 receiving yards vs. Detroit), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (two catches for 133 yards and one touchdown vs. Oakland), Darren Waller (126 receiving yards and two touchdowns vs. Green Bay), Zach Pascal (106 receiving yards and two touchdowns vs. Houston)
Defensive Player of the Week: Chandler Jones, LB, Arizona Cardinals
Winner of the Week: Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings
I know, I know, I had Kirk Cousins here last week. He just keeps rolling, though!
After being publicly called out by his own teammates, Cousins has been on a tear, tallying nearly 1,000 yards passing, with ten touchdowns to only one interception in the three games since. He's also completing about 75 percent of his passes too.
The Vikings have an absurdly talented roster, top to bottom. The ship will be steered by how Cousins performs.
Runners Up: New defensive backs (Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Peters both had outstanding games with their new teams), Indianapolis Colts AFC South Title Hopes (Won big game against strong Houston team), Aaron Rodgers' bid for NFL MVP)
Loser of the Week: Mitch Trubisky, QB, Chicago Bears
The Bears are sliding, and it's in large part to their quarterback.
A stellar defense is now starting to trend downward as well, and I think its because they have been relied on far too much.
The Bears are 26th in points scored, and 30th in yards per game, and it all starts with Trubisky. Matt Nagy is a fantastic coach, but he can only do so much with a quarterback to effectively had one decent college football season and who is extremely limited as a passer.
Yes, he had 251 yards passing, two touchdowns, and no picks against the Saints, but that is deceiving because the team were in a must-pass scenario after going down 36-10 and the offense couldn't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter.
A Super Bowl-caliber defense is being wasted on a putrid offense. It's time to move on.
Best Uni Matchup of the Week: Oakland Raiders vs. Green Bay Packers
If you've followed this section over the past several weeks, you know I'm a sucker for classic uniform matchups.
This one is no different-- two teams whose looks have not really changed over the past half century.
A rematch of Super Bowl II (with the home/away colors swapped), these two teams always look good going against one another.
Runners Up: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots vs. New York Jets
Most Barfy Uni Matchup of the Week: Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills
I was having trouble finding a matchup that I had a real problem with. Overall, it was a pretty average week as far as uniform matchups go.
They were not too good, but nothing too egregious.
One set of uniforms that continually hurts my eyes though are the Bills' all-red blood clot look.
This set was born a few years back when the NFL and Nike's "Color Rush" obsession was in full swing.
Many teams have left their Color Rush look behind, but for some reason, one of the worst set of threads from that matchup have lived on.
It never looks good when a team goes all-red (see the Kansas City Chiefs from a few weeks back.)
Runners Up: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers vs. Washington Redskins