NFL Week Seven Winners and Losers

As we near the end of October, more teams separate from being playoff contenders to having high draft picks. Coaching plays a part in which team advances or goes home. It’s time to break down the weekends winners and losers.

Winners: Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia hasn’t lost three straight games in over two years. That streak remains after a dominant Sunday win.

The Eagles played one of their best, complete games of the season. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 19 of 23 passes for 326 yards, three touchdowns and the perfect 158.3 passer rating. Hurts overcame his lull by utilizing the best players around him and made sure to put both his star receivers in position to constantly beat the Vikings secondary.

Philadelphia’s defense had a good game too. Linebacker Jalyx Hunt intercepted Minnesota quarterback Carson Wentz and returned the ball 42 yards for a touchdown. Hunt’s score gave the Eagles their first double digit lead of the afternoon and forced the Vikings to play aggressive and take more risks early. The defense also sacked Wentz twice and forced two fumbles.

Philadelphia’s day got better when Washington and New York (more on them later) lost later in the afternoon. The Eagles are easily the best team in the NFC East and should remain atop the division at least another month.

Quinshon Judkins

Cleveland’s offense has been anemic the first half of this season, but one bright spot has been rookie runningback Quinshon Judkins. Whenever the second round pick has played major minutes, opposing defenses have had to second guess how to defend against the Browns offense.

Miami is last in the NFL against the run, and Cleveland made sure to establish the ground game early. The Browns also didn’t have to throw the ball much because of how the Dolphins offense kept turning the ball over, so Judkins almost single-handedly put the game away before the fourth quarter. His three rushing touchdowns was the first for any Cleveland runningback since 2000.

The Browns desperately needed offensive sparks to both give their elite defense a rest and to put pressure on opposing defenses to stop blitzing the quarterback each possession. While rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel gets more time to develop, read the field and build trust with his receivers, Quinshon Judkins should be the main player in the Browns offense and continue building off a solid rookie season.

Chicago Bears defense

It’s simple for any viewer to look at a sports team and say they’re easy to beat when those people never played a professional sport. When the team mentioned is thought to be one of the worst, it still takes effort to both play and win against them. This is why several teams have struggled against the 2025 New Orleans Saints. Anyone who follows the NFL knows they lack a lot of talent, but it doesn’t always show because of how hard they play. The Bears were not the team that overlooked New Orleans.

While the Saints defense kept the score close most of Sunday afternoon, Chicago’s defense was the most dominant unit all game. They had three interceptions off New Orleans starting quarterback Spencer Rattler. The Bears defense also forced Rattler to fumble the ball on the Saints first drive of the game. Chicago recovered it and got the games first points after six plays.

Turnovers weren’t the only issue for Spencer Rattler and New Orleans’ offense. The Bears defense sacked him four times and forced a turnover on downs situation. Chicago’s defense has improved the last few weeks, and this was a game more analysts should seriously re-watch given how many playoff contending teams haven’t taken their less talented opponents seriously.

Jim Bob Cooter

It’s a matter of time before both casual NFL viewers and serious analysts start to throw out offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter as a 2026 head coaching candidate. Cooter has led what many believe to be the league’s best offense the first-half of 2025 and the most efficient offense by points per drive this century. This is the same offense many believed was filled with underwhelming talent before the season started.

Sunday was another buzzsaw performance by Indianapolis. The Chargers defense didn’t know who to stop in Cooter’s Daniel Jones-led offense. The Colts had one of the best balanced attacks that showed on the stat-sheet and scoreboard. If Jones didn’t complete well-thrown passes to his easily open receivers, then running back Jonathan Taylor gashed Los Angeles’ front seven for a touchdown. The Chargers defense has multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl players who cause chaos for almost any team they play. Indianapolis broke them down each possession no matter how long they were off the field.

Jim Bob Cooter has done something no other NFL coach could do: get Daniel Jones to play better each week behind center and get every Colts offensive player to improve and continue development each week. Many don’t know or believe Indianapolis can keep this up near or in 2026, but there’s a lot to like with how Cooter’s coaching has improved and how he’s learned valuable lessons over the years with different offenses.

Losers: Pete Carroll

To show just how bad Las Vegas is this year, here’s a stat that should stun readers: in Pete Carroll’s 14 years with Seattle, the Seahawks weren’t shutout until a primetime game against Green Bay in 2021. It took 11 years to shut out a Pete Carroll coached team in his NFL return. Carroll was shutout in his seventh game with the Raiders.

Pete Carroll is known for his, “always compete” mindset. The philosophy has landed him four NFL jobs and changed the sport on how to critique certain styles, draft better players and what to look for in building a defense. Before Carroll went to both USC and Seattle, he had built solid, playoff rosters in both New York and New England before getting fired.

Sunday’s whooping in Kansas City may be the worst moment of his professional coaching career. Not only was this the first regular season shutout win in Andy Reid’s head coaching career, it was so lopsided that Las Vegas obviously quit early in the second half. According to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, the Chiefs became the second NFL team since 1950 to have as many first downs as opponents offensive plays run. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes II sat the entire fourth quarter and backup Gardner Minshew II downed the ball multiple times before the final two minute warning.

When Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider decided not to bring Pete Carroll back after the 2023-24 season, many thought the executive was unfair and the franchise didn’t appreciate what the elderly coach brought to the team. Every week it looks like Schneider was right and Carroll should have retired for good.

Washington Commanders

This site does a good job of reinforcing certain sports beliefs many people tend to gloss over. One is how losing teams in a conference finals can return the following season with either unrealistic or over bloated expectations. Washington is a great example of both this year.

The Commanders were throttled against their weaker division rivals in Dallas late Sunday afternoon. Every team has bad days and weekends, but this Washington loss worries analysts in numerous ways. They lost sophomore and former second overall pick Jayden Daniels to a hamstring injury in the second half of a blowout loss. The Cowboys offense did any and everything they wanted to with the Commanders defense. Head coach Dan Quinn was hired to shore up and solidify a rising defense that needed more pass-rush and secondary talent. Dallas torched Quinn’s tattered defense for over 400 yards and won by 22 points.

Sunday’s ugly loss bumps Washington to third place, and that might not last long with the Giants’ steady improvement since Jaxson Dart was named starting quarterback. It’s now time for the Commanders’ coaches to start second guessing everything.

Brian Daboll’s fourth quarter gameplan

After a few weeks of escaping the loser’s column, head coach Brian Daboll returns. Give him credit though, for getting better with holding a lead and getting his team to play better in the third quarter. However, the fourth quarter remains an obstacle.

New York gave up a whopping 33 points in a wild loss in Denver late Sunday afternoon. ESPN reported several times that teams trailing by 18+ points in the final six minutes had lost 1,605 straight games. According to NFL Network’s GameDay Highlights, the Broncos were the first team to score 30+ points in the fourth quarter after being shutout through the previous three. Denver made it a record surpassing the Atlanta Falcons 31 point week two performance at Green Bay in 1981. Those are the only times it has happened.

There are equal amounts of blame all around for the Giants in that debacle, but all the coaches are at the forefront because a team up 19-0 beginning the fourth quarter, and leading 26-8 with almost five and a half minutes remaining should close out the game with a comfortable lead.

Anyone who thinks the Atlanta Falcons will find consistency

Say what you want about Sunday night’s game, Atlanta continues to stump anyone who watches American football. One week the Falcons are unstoppable, the next they’re the worst team to take the field.

After pummeling conference and Super Bowl hopeful Buffalo, Atlanta played an unbelievably lousy game in San Francisco. The running game was non-existent and sophomore star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. took a beating against a 49ers defense missing their captains and best players. The Falcons defense held out a long time before San Francisco’s offense put a few scoring drives together and the game out of reach.

Head coach Raheem Morris must be frustrated like everyone else watching his team each week. Not only is Atlanta’s play inconsistent, if Penix Jr. suffered a serious leg injury, that could present a lot more problems the second half of this season.