NFL Week 7 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

On paper, Week 7 looked pretty rough. Lots of losing teams battling other losing teams, or hosting someone with a dominating record. Those kinds of schedules usually mean some boring games, some lopsided victories and the changing of the channel. But as it turns out, Week 7 managed to impress, with a near upset, some quality games and plenty of interesting stories left to discuss when the clock struck zero and here are the top stories from the field that caught my attention.

1. Ryan Mallett is not a smart man. This is the second time now he has been thrust into the national spotlight for making boneheaded decisions and this one was a doozy...he missed the team flight to Miami for this week's game. I say this is the second time something like this has happened because who could forget the fact he overslept and missed practice back in the preseason as well. It's just...stunning to see a professional quarterback pull this kind of boneheaded mistake. If something happens to Brian Hoyer, he's the guy leading a multi million dollar franchise and he can't even get up for work on time. I've never seen such aloofness from an NFL quarterback and well, his bad attitude and absentmindedness has finally cost him his job since the Texans released him today.

2. Speaking of the Texans, they were amazingly awful on Sunday. I mean, it was mind boggling how bad they were. They couldn't tackle, they couldn't run the ball or pass it until they were down by 41 freaking points. They made the Dolphins look like the Patriots and that's not a good thing. I hate to say it, but I think Bill O'Brien has lost this team. He has players who can't make team activities on time, he has a squad that can barely put together plays when they are on the field and that's all on the coach. It's simply a mess in Houston right now and while there's been a lot of talk of other coaches enjoying the hot seat, don't be shocked if the Texans make a coaching change as well.  

3. Kirk Cousins muttered three little words on Sunday after the game that said volumes about the work he is putting in, "you like that!?" Those words were directed toward members of the press because let's be honest, we've all had something to say about Kirk's erratic play this season and Sunday...he earned the right to say that because the kid looked amazing on the field. He was poised, calm and collected and made some impressive throws while guiding Washington back from the brink of another loss. This is a guy who has been trying to show he's worthy of playing in the NFL and Sunday went far to prove that point. It's those high pressure moments fans and coaches remember and Kirk did extremely well and to answer his question, you're damn right I liked that, Kirk. In fact I loved it...and the more games he plays like that...the more he will cement himself as a quality starting quarterback in the NFL. 

4. So as it turns out, the Dallas Cowboys have no quality quarterbacking options behind Tony Romo. Brandon Weeden turned out to be nervous and ineffective and Matt Cassel turned out to be the same. Neither Quarterback has brought forth the spark Jerry Jones is looking for and well...what did you expect Jerry? Weeden isn't exactly known for his quality play in Cleveland and Cassel has been a proverbial journeyman throughout the league. This late in the season I'm not sure what the Cowboys can do to improve the quality of QB play since there's not much out there free agent wise (and Ryan Mallett would be another bad idea), but hopefully Dallas won't go cheap on the backup quarterback position in the offseason and if they start to, hopefully the memory of this rotten stretch will serve as a fine reminder to spend a few bucks on a quality QB. In the meantime though, they need to shuffle that part of the roster and quick because wow...these guys are awful.

5. I feel bad for Jim Tomsula, he is a man in way over his head and it's not his fault. Fact of the matter is, I don't think Jim is head coach material and that's not an insult. There are coaches in this league that are masters of their craft as a position coach and that's why you see some of those guys around forever. Norv Turner, Mike Tice, Wade Phillips, all guys who were so so at head coaching, but excel at their respective talent and I make mention of that for one reason...the 49ers are an absolute mess right now. Jim can't get this team going, he's not meant to, he's a loyal coach who became the cheap replacement for Harbaugh because the real issue with the 49ers is ownership. Clearly with the mass retirements/exodus this season, people have had enough of the mess going on behind the scenes at Levi's Stadium and it's a well known fact now that Jed York doesn't seem too concerned about anything but making money. Sadly this season is clearly lost for the team, but someone close to York needs to tell him to go hands off with the franchise and hire an executive who knows football...it won't fix the mess right away, but it would be a start in the right direction.

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