Steelers’ Offense Rolling, Lions’ Secondary Exposed, Jaguars Perfect in October
The Steelers, Raiders and Packers entered Week 7 with three of the most disappointing offenses this season. But only Pittsburgh showed real signs of improvement during another wild Sunday in the NFL.
Quarterback Kenny Pickett had his best performance of the season in the road victory against the Rams. The Packers, on the other hand, put together a flat performance in Denver, with a costly interception from Jordan Love. As for the Raiders, their defense was unable to bail out the offense again against an undrafted rookie quarterback in Chicago.
The Lions were clicking offensively until they ran into the Ravens’ stifling defense. Not many expected a blowout win for the Ravens, but credit to them for exposing an area of weakness in Detroit’s defense.
We learned plenty about the Steelers, Raiders, Packers and Lions—for good and bad reasons. But that’s not all we learned in Week 7 of the NFL season.
Steelers turn a corner offensively in win vs. Rams
The Steelers outlasted the Rams’ secondary Sunday.
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
Pickett made many big-time throws during the 24–17 road victory against the Rams. With Diontae Johnson back on the field, the second-year quarterback was able to spread the ball around, completing 17-of-25 passes for 230 yards and no turnovers.
Pickett also had the game-sealing quarterback sneak on a fourth-down conversion—the Steelers (4–2) caught a break because the Rams (3–4) were unable to challenge the questionable spot. George Pickens recorded five catches for 107 yards, and Johnson contributed five catches for 79 yards. Even the Pittsburgh rushing attack stepped up during the win in Los Angeles. Najee Harris had 14 carries for 53 yards and recorded his first rushing touchdown of the season.
The Steelers faced plenty of scrutiny surrounding their offense before heading into their bye week, especially with offensive coordinator Matt Canada. They finally showed plenty of improvement Sunday, including a happy Canada in the booth.
Lions’ struggling secondary exposed vs. Ravens
Many were shocked to see how open the Ravens’ pass catchers were during their dominant win against the Lions. But Detroit’s secondary has struggled the past few weeks. It didn’t affect them much in the first six games, when the Lions were able to control the clock with running back David Montgomery, and the team’s pass rush could apply consistent pressure against opposing quarterbacks.
On Sunday, however, the Lions (5–2) didn’t record a sack against Lamar Jackson and only hit him once. Jackson finished 21-of-27 for 357 yards (13.2 yards per attempt), three touchdowns and no interceptions. With injuries in the secondary, Detroit had many miscommunication breakdowns, especially in coverage vs. tight end Mark Andrews. And given Montgomery is sidelined with a rib injury, the Lions only managed 84 rushing yards compared to the Ravens’ 146.
The Lions will likely bounce back from this ugly loss, but the team should be looking to add defensive backs before the Oct. 31 trade deadline or it might cost them in the postseason.
Jaguars’ impressive four-game winning streak
Lawrence has led an explosive offense through Week 7 of this season.
Matthew Hinton/USA TODAY Sports
Jacksonville (5–2) has had a perfect month with four wins in October. The Jaguars won their two games in London with wins against the Falcons and Bills. They then returned to the United States for a home win against the Colts, followed by a road win in New Orleans four days later. Not sure what the odds were, but I’m sure not many teams would have gone a perfect four-for-four with that much traveling in 19 days. After the impressive stretch, it’s time to take the Jaguars seriously as Super Bowl contenders.
The Jacksonville defense has played well for most of the season, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence has looked like an MVP candidate as of late. But the Jaguars are going to need more from Calvin Ridley to get past the best teams in the AFC. The wide receiver has been held to 40 receiving yards or less in five of their first seven games this season.
Adams was right about the Raiders’ offense
Davante Adams probably won’t be saying I told you so after the Raiders’ loss to the Bears, but his controversial comments were proven right. Adams expressed frustration with not getting the ball enough, which many found odd considering the Raiders entered Chicago with a two-game winning streak. But Adams knew the offense wasn’t playing well, and the Raiders couldn’t continue winning many games with the defense doing the heavy lifting (which was the case in the wins against the Packers and Patriots).
Ironically, the Raiders could have gotten away with another clunky offensive performance in Chicago, but the defense struggled against undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent. The Raiders, however, did attempt to get Adams more involved, but it didn’t help much. Adams had seven catches for 57 yards and one costly drop in the end zone.
It also didn’t help that the Raiders were without Jimmy Garoppolo and started Brian Hoyer. (Raiders coach Josh McDaniels probably should have gone with rookie Aidan O’Connell from the beginning.) Also, the Raiders have struggled to run the ball this season, with Josh Jacobs having another underwhelming performance (11 carries for 35 yards).
Packers deliver another flat performance in loss vs. Broncos
It was all set up for the Packers to have a get-right game against the struggling Broncos, but of course, it’s never that easy.
Love continued his struggles, despite having a mostly-healthy offense after a bye week. The first-year starting quarterback threw an interception to end the Packers’ late rally in the 19–17 loss to the Broncos—similar to how Green Bay’s Week 5 loss against the Raiders played out. Love has thrown seven interceptions in the past four games combined.
Even with wide receiver Christian Watson, running back Aaron Jones and guard Elgton Jenkins on the field, the Packers (2–4) only managed 331 total yards. Clearly, Packers coach Matt LaFleur has many offensive issues he needs to figure out, starting with Love’s head-scratching interceptions.
