The NFL Roundup 2018: Week 7 – What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​If there’s one thing that I love about this time of year, it’s that we truly get to see which teams and coaches and franchises really care about their seasons and playing good football because they leave it on all the field in the middle of the season. This is just a great time of year, where we see teams give it their all, and this time of year also gives us a solid idea of where our favorite franchises are headed in the next year when said team struggles with adversity and really, we saw both sides of that coin this past weekend which means it’s high time we dig into the top stories from the field in Week 7 and discuss what we learned about our favorite teams.
 
The Denver Broncos can ball after all.
When a team hits a nasty losing streak, one of two things are going to happen; it gets worse and the season is lost, or they buckle down and respond the right way and thankfully, the Broncos did the latter on Thursday Night Football. They came out and simply played some inspired football and for their efforts, they beat the living tar out of the Arizona Cardinals and well it’s about time. I think we all know the team is far better than their record reflects and this game showed that and well, in order to further quiet the ire in the Mile High City that’s been directed their way, they’ll have to look like this week and in week out. As to whether or not that can happen, time will tell, but for now, we at least know there’s a pulse when it comes to this team and it’s good to know they’re hungry to do more than just lose.
 
Drew Brees continues to cement his status as a future Hall of Famer.
Four. That’s how many quarterbacks in the NFL have thrown 500 or more touchdowns in their NFL career and before Sunday’s games, that number was a mere three, right before Drew Brees joined that all important club. The man is simply having a storybook season and regardless of how the Saints finish this year, which should be solid I might add, everyone on this squad gets to speak to the fact that they were on the sideline or the field when Drew in essence made himself a lock for the Hall of Fame and it is just magnificent for fans everywhere to watch this man climb the ranks of the record books and enter the conversation as one of the greatest to ever play the game and well, I tip my hat to you Mister Brees for making this season a memorable one.
 
The Jacksonville Jaguars are starting to fall to pieces.
One of the greatest turnaround stories in 2017, just so happened to feature the Jacksonville Jaguars and with good reason; they went from laughingstock to AFC Title Contender and it was quite awesome to see them get within one game of the Super Bowl. But wow, what a difference a year makes, because this squad is starting to crumble before our very eyes. First they had to bench QB Blake Bortles, who is regressing after a great year and now there’s infighting in the locker room over their fall from grace and well, at this point, these guys need to take a moment and refocus because this kind of behavior is downright bush league and unbecoming of professionals and if they can’t get their act together soon and fix their issues on the field, expect this team to be a laughingstock once again.
 
The time has come for Dallas to make a coaching change.
Any way you slice it, things are not going well in Dallas. It doesn’t matter that they’ve traded for Amari Cooper, nor does it matter that they have a fine youth movement going on at the right positions. The fact of the matter is, this is not a well-coached team. Because when your star quarterback is regressing year after year and the play calling becomes outright abysmal on both sides of the ball, that falls on the head coach and well, when one takes all of those issues into account, alongside the fact that this team really hasn’t been to the playoffs all that much under Jason Garrett’s watch, it’s time for Dallas to start looking for a coach that can develop Dak Prescott and get this team going in the right direction and really, they should just go ahead and let go of Jason now to get the search going.
 
The Cleveland Browns also need to make a coaching change.
There is no denying the fact that Hue Jackson is a great offensive coordinator, and he’s seen great success at that position throughout his storied NFL coaching career. But some men, just aren’t cut out to be head coaches in this league and quite frankly, Hue is one of them. Because his head coaching record is downright abysmal and to make matters worse, the Browns have given Hue everything he needs to be successful this year and the end result? A 2-4-1 record, and several games that were close have outright slipped away and look, that comes down to the coaching, and I personally believe that Cleveland has given Hue more than enough time to turn this team around and since he clearly cannot get that done, it’s time to part ways and get a coach in there that can utilize the talent that GM John Dorsey has put on the roster. 

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