As injuries continue to plague the NFL, Week 7 saw many past playoff teams return to their former glory. The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs are making their way back into the winner’s circle after struggling in past weeks and years. Here’s a breakdown of the best moments of Week 7. 

The Pats “Maye” be back 

No, this isn’t 2015. The Patriots are in first place in the AFC East with a 5-2 record. Their biggest moment of the season thus far came in the form of a narrow 23-20 win against the Buffalo Bills Oct. 5. 

Head coach Mike Vrabel seems to have his entire team and the New England fan base on his side, especially after a decisive victory over his former team, the Tennessee Titans, Oct. 19. Quarterback Drake Maye has emerged as the face of the franchise and a capable leader. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs has returned to being among the league’s best receivers. 

The season can only get better for the Patriots going forward. The team has a relatively easy schedule from here on out, save for matchups against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a rematch with the Bills. Trades will also be fruitful, as many top trade- eligible players will want to join a team seeing so much success. 

If New England continues on the same trend, we may see them return to the postseason once again. 

Bo Nix masterclass

The Broncos pulled off a stunning fourth quarter comeback win after being down 19 points through three quarters and reduced to zero points by the New York Giants. Where most quarterbacks would have backed down and looked to the next game, quarterback Bo Nix refused to give up. 

Nix led off the fourth quarter with a passing touchdown followed by a two-point conversion to get Denver on the board. After another touchdown by the Giants, Nix threw for a touchdown and ran for another to bring his team within four points. Finally, he ran for 18 yards with two minutes remaining to give the Broncos their first lead of the game. In the final drive, Nix brought the team within field goal range, and kicker Wil Lutz drilled the 48-yard attempt for the win. 

In perhaps the most thrilling game of the season so far, Nix stepped up for his team. 

The Chiefs are cruising

The Kansas City Chiefs are back above .500 with wins over the Detroit Lions and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Kansas City’s defense has been essential to the team’s success. They limited an extremely talented Lions’ offense to 14 points and shut out the Raiders. 

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been in fine form this season and is a way-too-early MVP frontrunner with 14 touchdowns and 1,800 passing yards. Wide receiver Rashee Rice’s highly anticipated season debut was beneficial for the Chiefs, as he brought down two touchdown passes against the Raiders. With the missing piece of the Chiefs’ offense back, Mahomes now has every possible offensive option available going forward, and we will likely see the Chiefs dominate again.  

Week 8 predictions: Who should you start and sit?

Six NFL teams have byes this week, more than any other week of the season. While there will be less football and fewer options for fantasy managers to decide who to start or sit, we should all be grateful for the football we do have, as we’re almost halfway through the season. That being said, in case you’re lucky enough to not have to start your 11th round 5th choice running back due to injuries and byes, here are the starts and sits for this week!

Start

Bo Nix (QB, DEN) (vs. DAL)

Nix had his best performance of the season last week against the Giants, scoring 40 points after  a 35-plus-point fourth quarter. Now he’s playing a fairly weak Cowboys defense — one that has given up more points than any other team to opposing quarterbacks, averaging 25 points a game. In fact, every single quarterback who has played the Cowboys this season has scored at least 17 points, so odds of success seem fairly high for Nix this week. Add in the fact that this is likely to be a high-scoring affair, the game script could lead to Nix having a number of opportunities to put points on the board.

Breece Hall (RB, NYJ) (Away vs. CIN)

There are precisely zero teams that give up more fantasy points per game against running backs than the Cincinnati Bengals (almost 31 per game). Hall has been disappointing since his strong Week 1 performance, but the game at Paycor Stadium could be the perfect opportunity for the Jets to bounce back. 

This could be one of the few games of the season that the Jets take an early lead and run the ball to kill the clock, meaning more touches for Hall. Hall has been getting the opportunities he needs — averaging18 carries and targets per game — and his explosiveness bodes well against the Bengals’ defense. 

Moreover, the Jets’ starting quarterback situation remains unclear. If they decide to replace Justin Fields with Tyrod Taylor, that could very well mean more check-down passes (Fields has a history of not throwing to his RBs as much as other QBs), making it easy for Hall to rack up points in PPR formats.

Rome Odunze (WR, CHI) (Away vs. BAL)

Odunze has had rough weeks back-to-back  after his strong start to the season. He went from averaging almost 20 points per game to just above five, but this Week 8 matchup in Baltimore could be exactly what he needs. While his production has gone down recently, Odunze’s overall opportunities haven’t (he still averages 7.7 targets per game), and this could be a great chance for him to revert back to the mean. In addition, this Ravens defense currently gives up the fifth-most points per game against wideouts, and no one should stand to benefit more from that than Chicago’s WR1, Odunze.

Sit

Brock Purdy/Mac Jones (QB, SF) (At HOU)

While it’s unclear which signal-caller Kyle Shanahan will have behind center against the Houston Texans, it’s clear that no matter who it is, they should not be starting in fantasy this week (unless Buffalo’s Josh Allen gets traded across the country). Only one quarterback this season scored more than 13.6 points against Houston. Quarterbacks are averaging only 9.26 points per game against the Texans – the lowest in the NFL. More so, the 49ers’ pass-catching options are fairly banged up, and due to the Texans’ inability to score, this game could be a low-scoring affair. Shy away from starting quarterbacks who are playing in this matchup.

Rhamondre Stevenson (RB, NE) (vs. CLE)

For all the faults of the Cleveland Browns both on and off the field, their run defense has been incredibly strong this season. They’ve only given up 3.5 yards per rush and the least fantasy points to opposing running backs. Stevenson’s season has been wildly up and down thus far, scoring under five and above 14.5 three times each. However, this does not seem like the matchup that gets Stevenson back on track, especially when taking into account his fumbling tendencies (three this season already) and the clamoring to give rookie TreVeyon Henderson more opportunities.

Keon Coleman (WR, BUF) (Away vs. CAR)

You’d think that the top wide receiver for the reigning NFL MVP and one of the best quarterbacks in the sport would be doing better than this. Coleman has only had two weeks in which he scored more than 7.5 points, and he only finished in the top 40 of WRs once.

Not only is Coleman not producing, he’s also not getting chances, averaging less than five targets per game. The Carolina Panthers give up less fantasy points to opposing wideouts than all but two teams and are especially good against receivers who play out wide (as opposed to the slot), allowing a league-low 53% completion rate on such passes. All in all, this makes it hard to feel confident about starting Coleman, and until he starts to produce, he should stay firmly on fantasy benches.