5 QUESTIONS HEADING INTO NFL WEEK 7

By Adam Greene

5. IS THE SEASON ALREADY OVER FOR THE BALTIMORE RAVENS?

The Baltimore Ravens currently sit at the bottom of the AFC North standings at 1-5 and head coach John Harbaugh is suddenly on every “Coach on the Hot Seat” list. Does this mean the Ravens are ready to just sim to the draft? I say, no. Hear me out. Since the merger, four teams have opened the year 1-5 and made the playoffs. Most recently 2020 Washington Commanders, who won the NFC East at 7-9. 

That’s not the best example, but the two previous teams to make it, the 2018 Indianapolis Colts, who went 9-1 down the stretch and the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs who went 10-0 are. Do I think Baltimore can do the same? Let’s take a look at their schedule. 

First off, Lamar Jackson should be back on the field when the Ravens return from their bye this weekend. They host the Chicago Bears on Oct. 26. That’s not a gimme, but you’d certainly think the Black Birds will be favored at home with Lamar on the roster. After that it’s the hapless Miami Dolphins, at the Minnesota Vikings, at the Cleveland Browns, hosting the New York Jets and then hosting the Cincinnati Bengals before they finally get to face off with the future AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers. I could easily see the Ravens winning  all six of those games leading up to their matchup with Pittsburgh. Being 7-5 to open December changes everything. 

The Ravens’ odds have dropped to +1000 to win the AFC, but they’re at +155 to win the AFC North. A 10-7 finish and a Wild Card berth is absolutely on the table to the point where their Over 8.5 wins (-125) still looks like a solid play to me. 

4. AFTER BRIAN CALLAHAN, WHO WILL BE THE NEXT HEAD COACH FIRED?

That’s an interesting question because it’s not WHO should be the next head coach fired. The answer there is Aaron Glenn of the New York Jets, who just showed the populations on two continents last Sunday that he has no business leading an NFL team. The Jets are the worst-coached professional football team I’ve ever seen in my life. 

You have to remember that the Jets fired Robert Saleh about this time last year with a team that had actually won two whole games. I’m not sure the Johnson family is ready to do that two years in a row, but Glenn is right now No. 3 on the betting favorite list at +400. 

Who’s atop it? To no one’s surprise it’s the Miami Dolphin’s Mike McDaniel at -150. His opponent this week, the Cleveland Browns, has their own coach on the hot seat, Kevin Stefanski (+400) and this could turn out to be a loser leaves town match. My favorite of the four true contenders remains Jonathan Gannon (+220) of the Arizona Cardinals. The pugilistic pontificator is facing off against the Green Bay Packers this week, then is at the Dallas Cowboys, at the Seattle Seahawks and hosts the San Francisco 49ers. I can’t see the Cards winning any of those games. Maybe he’d have a shot if Kyler Murray hadn’t pre-ordered Battlefield 6 and suddenly gotten “inured” the week it came out. 

3. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES?

The Eagles have dropped from the favorites to win the NFC down to third at +550 and have lost two straight. If the Los Angeles Rams had been able to convert one of their two field goal attempts in the fourth quarter of their game a month ago, Philly would be 3-3 and would have lost three of its last four. There’s some problems with the personalities on the team, which is nothing new, but it seems to be worse this year. It’s easier to ignore when you’re stacking wins, not being run over by a couple of New York Giants rookies on the way to tear their shirts off with Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the players on the team are very concerned, feeling that it’s “the 2023 meltdown all over again.” 

When you add in the NFL’s disdain over the tush push and the Eagles’ insistence on running it multiple times in a row (and violating the NFL rules in the process, especially in the neutral zone and with false starts) they look like a bad bet to repeat to me now and I wouldn’t have written that a month ago. If they lose to the Minnesota Vikings this weekend, and they’re only favored at -1, the season could go south quick. 

2. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE BUFFALO BILLS?

There’s no way to mince words about it. The Bills’ Monday night 24-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons was abysmal. It was so bad that it had to make New England Patriots fans doubt the meaning of their 23-20 win over Buffalo the week before. Against the Falcons, the Bills were never really in the game. They’re lucky they weren’t blown out and this Atlanta team was beaten 30-0 by the Carolina Panthers in Week 3. 

It was a bad performance by Josh Allen, which can happen to anyone, but what makes it worse is that it happened two weeks in a row. With the NFL being seemingly wide open this season, this was the Bills’ year. They should have cruised to an AFC Championship at least and now, halfway through October, they’re not even leading the AFC East. Buffalo is still the AFC favorites at +320, but they better use this bye week to get completely right. The Bills can’t overlook their road game against the Panthers on Oct. 26, especially since they have the Kansas City Chiefs coming up seven days later.

I will say this, if Buffalo blows it this season, Sean McDermott and his entire staff should be fired.

1. WHO WILL WIN THURSDAY NIGHT’S GAME BETWEEN THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS AND CINCINNATI BENGALS?

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals (+5.5, O/U: 44.5)

Location: Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Kickoff: 8:15 p.m.

Broadcast: Amazon Prime Video

This is a pretty generous spread for the Bengals, who did play OK against the Green Bay Packers a week ago. It’s a short week and, many times, these are closer than you think they’d be. With Pittsburgh playing solid defense and a run-first plan, I can see just getting out of Ohio with a win.

Steelers 24, Bengals 20

Follow Adam Greene on Blue Sky @AdamGreene13, threads @adam.greene and Twitter @TheFirstMan