This week was another rollercoaster — and if you’re a Jets fan, you might never recover. Saquon Barkley showed his old team, the New York Giants, what he is capable of. The Minnesota Vikings finally added a loss to their record, resulting in the Kansas City Chiefs being the last team standing with an undefeated record. And the tradition of destroying a team with more than 30 points on the board continues. 

The New York Giants are regretting their trade of Saquon Barkley. 

The Philadelphia Eagles played in Giants territory Oct. 20, marking the first time Saquon Barkley was back at MetLife Stadium since he was traded. Barkley was taunted with boos from Giants fans, but as Jason Kelce tweeted so eloquently, they should be booing their organization for letting the best running back in the league get away. Barkley let his old team know what he made of, scoring a touchdown and running the most yards of the season so far.

Now the Giants are 2-5, the last in the NFC East for the first time since the 2018-19 season, the same season Barkley was drafted. The Eagles are second in the league for the second season in a row, but this time they are behind the Washington Commanders. Philly fans are hoping their rocky start was an adjustment period and due to DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown injuries. Now that Smith and Brown are back playing, this trio could give Philly one of the best offenses in the league. 

The Vikings’ winning streak comes to an end. 

The Minnesota Vikings fell for the first time this season to the Detroit Lions on Oct. 20. This game was stressful for both sides, especially in the fourth quarter, with constant switching of who was on top. 

With less than six minutes left in the game, an attempted run by Lions running back David Montgomery that was punched out of his arms caused a fumble. Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. picked up the ball and ran 36 yards into the end zone, giving Minnesota the lead. 

With the score at 28-29, the Lions had two minutes to score something for the win, and they executed. Detroit was able to bring the ball down as far as they could, courtesy of Jared Goff delivering crisp passes to his receivers. At the 44-yard mark with 19 seconds left, the Lions brought out their rookie kicker, Jake Bates. Earlier this season in an Oct. 13 game against Dallas, Bates was two for two in the kicking range of 40-49 yards. He once again nailed the ball into the center of the field goal, effectively ending the Vikings’ winning streak. 

The Chiefs stay undefeated. 

On Oct. 20, it was deja vu from last year’s Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs matched up against the San Francisco 49ers. However, unlike last year’s Super Bowl, it was not a nailbiter to the very end, as Kansas City had room to breathe. 

The Niners were off this game, and it showed in the third quarter. Quarterback Brock Purdy scored a touchdown, but third-string kicker Anders Carlson missed the field goal. 

The final quarter of the game was the extra room the Chiefs were looking for at the beginning of the season, grabbing two touchdowns by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr. The Niners had one last chance to score a touchdown, but their two-point conversion was blocked. 

Next week, the Chiefs take on the Las Vegas Raiders Oct. 27, where they will likely be keeping their undefeated record. Meanwhile, the Niners will be playing at home against the Dallas Cowboys, where it could be a tough battle. 

Another week, another stomping. 

Each week there seems to be a blowout. Oct. 13, it was the Lions demolishing the Cowboys 47-9. Then Oct. 20, the Washington Commanders blew out the Carolina Panthers 40-7. At least this game was a home game. 

The Commanders grabbed 10 points in the first quarter, 17 in the second and another 10 in the third. This all occurred without a single field goal from the Panthers. Unlike the Lions, the Commanders slowed down in the fourth quarter. They scored only a field goal and the defense allowed a touchdown for the Panthers, putting them on the board with less than 12 minutes in the game. 

In terms of team statistics, the Commanders grabbed each one with some room, besides yards per play (the Commanders had 6.7 while the Panthers had 4.2). Washington specifically embarrassed the Panthers in total yards, with the Commanders at 421 yards and Panthers only at 180. 

This upset is no surprise, with the Panthers continuing their streak with another bad year while the Commanders are, somehow, now good. Next week, the Commanders should have more real competition against the Chicago Bears. The Panthers should just end the season now. 

Week 7 Predictions: Who should you start and sit?

If fantasy football were easy to predict, there would be no point in playing. With injuries, poor performances, breakouts and everything in between, this season has been especially anger-inducing for managers. Each week, there is a big-name player who busts and a previously unheralded player who has a great game. This makes making a start/sit column difficult, but here are our picks for this week’s slate of games.

Start

Russell Wilson (QB, PIT) (Home vs. NYG)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shocked many people by naming Russell Wilson the starter over Justin Fields for the Steelers’ Oct. 20 matchup against the Jets. Wilson proved this a wise choice by arguably having his best game since his Seattle days. He threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns, adding another one on the ground. This week’s game is against a weak Giants team, one that got shredded by Jalen Hurts and the Eagles last week and has a poor secondary. Wilson could take advantage of this and continue to grow into this Steelers offense.

Javonte Williams (RB, DEN) (Home vs. CAR)

The Panthers’ defense is awful. There’s no other way to say it. They are in the bottom two in almost every stat. In fact, they’ve given up over 13 points to opposing running backs for all but one week this season. To add to that, their offense is pitiful and is unlikely to take a large lead early. The Broncos are likely running the ball a lot this weekend, meaning Williams will have many opportunities to leave his imprint on the game. Williams also had a great game last week, putting up 23 points versus the Saints. This matchup bodes well for him and could be a great opportunity to continue that momentum.

Jayden Reed (WR, GB) (Away vs. JAX)

Reed has had a pretty great season thus far, hitting double digits in all but two weeks. He is clearly quarterback Jordan Love’s number-one target and the Packers’ best-receiving threat. Now, he’s playing a Jacksonville Jaguars team that played their last two games in London, so it wouldn’t be unexpected for them to feel the effects of jet lag and traveling across the Atlantic. Even without that aspect, the Jaguars have given up a lot of points. In fact, they’re the fourth-worst defense when it comes to opposing WR points. This could all create the perfect mixture for Reed to have another great game.

Sit

Baker Mayfield (QB, TB) (Home vs. ATL)

This is nothing against Mayfield, who’s actually having a great season. However, both of his top receiving options, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, were injured in their game against the Ravens Oct. 21 and both look unlikely to make the game against the Falcons. Because of this, it’s hard to feel good about Mayfield at all. After all, who is he going to pass to?

De’Von Achane (RB, MIA) (Home vs. ARI)

Achane started the season off on fire, before cooling down significantly with the injury in his Sep. 12 game from Tua Tagovailoa. While Tagovailoa may be back from his concussion this week, it wouldn’t be a surprise for it to take a couple of weeks for him to get fully back to his pre-injury form. Additionally, the Cardinals did a great job of shutting down the Chargers’ run game Oct. 21, which leads to worries about how the Dolphins will fare this weekend. Overall, Achane has been underwhelming recently, and playing a Cardinals defense that hasn’t given up any touchdowns on the ground over the last three weeks is unlikely to change that.

Diontae Johnson (WR, CAR) (Away vs. DEN)

The level of the Panthers’ defense was mentioned earlier, but their offense isn’t much better. They were only able to score seven points last week, and their quarterback position remains in flux as both Andy Dalton and Bryce Young have looked unspectacular thus far. Johnson has had a streaky season as he’s had three great games (19.5+ points) and four awful ones (less than six points). This uncertainty, coupled with the lack of a strong starting quarterback, led to worries about how well he’ll play this week. Additionally, the Broncos have quietly been strong defensively, and have done a good job of limiting opposing receivers. All in all, this seems to be leading to another one of the games in which Johnson is more of a bust than a boom.