12 things we learned: Week Seven

After 7 weeks, there remains just one undefeated team and also one yet to register a win. There were plenty of upset wins in the week gone by, providing a strong reminder that this season’s Super Bowl title could be anyone’s. A judgement month of November awaits many teams, while certain fanbases are counting down the days until their 2026 season ends.

There was a lot to take out of Week 7’s action, and Preme Football have broken down the major storylines and talking points from each of the past weekend’s games into 12 simple paragraphs, so here are the main takeaways from the seventh week of the regular season.

1) No one seems to want Jeremiah Smith

It was heavily expected that there would remain 3 teams without a win after Week 7 going into it. The Los Angeles Chargers were on a bye week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the road to face the ever-improving Carolina Panthers, and the Miami Dolphins had struggled to convince many that they would win a game at all this season. Well, only 1 of the 3 remain. Tampa Bay not only upset Carolina, but completely played them off the park in a 30-point demolition that nobody could have predicted, which looked like what a game between the two sides might have a couple of years ago. Miami came out of New York with a tight win over the Jets thanks to their best performance of the season, leaving the Chargers as the last remaining team without a victory on the season. Who had that on their bingo card? All this, combined with the Tennessee Titans even winning a game last week, leaves the question wide open as to who the front runner is to finish with the league’s worst record, and the star wide receiver out of Ohio State that will come with it. What we do know is that it won’t be the Indianapolis Colts, who, despite being a live chance to finish their campaign with 2 wins, regrettably don’t have their first round pick in 2027.

2) Philadelphia‘s defense has fallen off a cliff this season

For all the talk about the injuries to the Eagles’ offensive stars early in the season, Tanner McKee and the second stringers (plus Saquon Barkley) gave a solid account of themselves on Monday night. While 21 points doesn’t jump off the page, they all came before the halfway mark of the third quarter, and the offense only really collapsed in the last period when they found themselves chasing the game. What was more of a disappointment was the defensive performance. They had no answer for the Dallas Cowboys on the ground and through the air all night, and this is simply a continuation of this year’s trend. The unit now ranks equal-last in the NFL for takeaways, 21st for points against and 27th for yards against. Standout cornerback Quinyon Mitchell continues to shine, while Jalen Carter has impressed in a few games, but the rest of their young defensive talent has regressed. In terms of their offseason acquisitions, Riq Woolen was completely exposed by George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb and already looms as a trade candidate, while Jonathan Greenard has missed most games. Cooper DeJean is enduring a slump after taking the league by storm, and 2025 first-round pick Jihaad Campbell is trending towards bust territory. Their 2026 season is over, and an intriguing trade deadline looms for a team that generally doesn’t struggle for self-confidence.

3) The Patriots need AJ Brown to be a true WR1

Despite losing their 2 best receivers from 2025 in Stefon Diggs and Kay’Shon Boutte during the offseason, New England felt as though they improved their room with the additions of AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs. Doubs got off to a reasonable start as a Patriot though 6 weeks but suffered an injury against the New York Jets, leaving the burden heavily on Brown, who is only recently coming off an injury of his own, in Chicago last Thursday night. Despite 321 passing yards from Drake Maye, he only accounted for 48 of those and once again failed to have a major influence on the game. Brown ensured it was no secret he wanted out of Philadelphia after a disruptive year with the Eagles in 2025, so the pressure should be on him to make the most of the fresh start he wished for, and his team will desperately need him to step up if they are to go back-to-back in the AFC.

4) Kansas City’s receiving corps looks thin against the best

Since deep threat Tyquan Thornton sustained a graphic ankle injury in Week 4, the same week as Rashee Rice hurt his hamstring, the Chiefs have struggled for continuity through the air. They got away with it in Week 6 against the dismal Los Angeles Chargers when Kenneth Walker III exploded for another huge performance on the ground, but were completely exposed by one of the league’s best defenses in Seattle on Sunday night. At 37, Travis Kelce is understandably not the ever-reliable target for Patrick Mahomes that he once was, and Xavier Worthy hasn’t quite been able to take the next step in his development in the absence of his teammates. It’s only been natural that the possibility of a potential reunion with Tyreek Hill has been raised, but don’t be surprised if they make a real splash for a big name receiver in the next couple of weeks.

5) Trading for Sauce Gardner has been a complete disaster

The Indianapolis Colts sat 7-2 and atop the AFC when they acquired Gardner in early November last season. Fast forward, and after Daniel Jones suffered a torn achilles to derail their 2025 season, they have won just 3 of their last 15 games altogether with 2026 all but over already. To make matters worse, the star cornerback didn’t come cheaply. They gave Adonai Mitchell up to the New York Jets, but more importantly what turned out to be pick 16 (Kenyon Sadiq) in the 2026 draft, as well as their first selection in 2027, which may well be number 1 overall. Jonathan Taylor has once again been the sole shining light in an otherwise grim season thus far, but his name has been hot on the trade table as the Colts loom as sellers at the deadline, and his career might finally get what it deserves – to play meaningful football at the business end of the season.

6) Refereeing took control of the Packers-Lions game

It’s never ideal when the officiating is the main talking point out of any game, let alone a high-stakes divisional matchup that comes down to its last play. But to say there were a handful of questionable decisions in Detroit on Sunday afternoon would be an understatement. Jordan Love was called for intentional grounding on a throw that landed no more than a few feet from a receiver, while both side received the benefits of roughing-the-passer calls that could only truly be described as regulation pressure acts on the quarterback. While Green Bay fans felt especially aggrieved after their defeat, Matt LaFleur will be the first to tell everybody that his team had plenty of self-inflicted wounds that were just as costly, not least Trey Smack missing 2 field goals from a combined 61 yards.

7) There will be plenty on the line in Pittsburgh this weekend

Not many would have picked both the Steelers and the Cleveland Browns to enter their second matchup of 2026 with identical 5-2 records, but after strong starts to the year from both, here we are. Although Mike Tomlin is no longer the head coach, Pittsburgh have continued to find ways to win games on the back of their elite defense, exemplified perfectly by their gritty 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints in Paris last weekend. Cleveland have somewhat graduated to adopt a somewhat more offensive style, which was the natural progression they needed to make with a new head coach of their own and after acquiring a plethora of offensive skill position talent with their early picks in recent drafts. Neither seem to be taken particularly seriously by anyone when considering this season’s contenders out of the AFC, but a 6-2 beginning to a campaign could see eyes start to open toward this week’s victor.

8) The Rams’ offense is still elite when switched on

Given they entered the year with the reigning Most Valuable Player at quarterback, the league’s second best wide receiver, a timeless red zone threat, and one of the league’s strongest backfield duos, Los Angeles’ offensive inconsistencies to begin the year were a major surprise. They had shown glimpses of their best but for the most part been stifled by the league’s high-level defenses for large parts of games. Without that timeless red zone threat, Davante Adams, last weekend in Las Vegas was a danger game against the Raiders, but the Rams returned to form in an emphatic way. The backfield duo, Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, each posted over 100 yards from scrimmage, while Puka Nacua’s 78 was a quiet afternoon by his standards. They scored 4 touchdowns in as many drives to conclude the first half, reminding everyone that although they’ve begun the season at 2-4, they are still going to be a force to be reckoned with when we reach the business end of the season.

9) Atlanta’s best form competes with anyone

Weirdly enough, the instantaneous reaction to the 2-4 Falcons defeating the 6-0 San Francisco 49ers on the weekend wasn’t filled with too much surprise. Not just because the 49ers are riddled with injuries and were ‘due for a loss’, but because the Falcons have slowly started to display their best football and how dominant it can be. Michael Penix Jr. has now been back on the field for 5 weeks and his connection with his fellow top-10 pick offensive weapons has only strengthened. In a weak NFC South, Atlanta would win the division with ease if they could produce performances like Sunday’s every week, but the gap between their best and worst remains monumental. A tough month awaits, but we’ll find out if this team has what it takes to consistently challenge the league’s true contenders.

10) The Giants deserve to be taken seriously

Visiting Houston to face a Texans side that seemed to have found the form that had them among the league’s preseason contenders, most wrote off any chance of a New York victory. True to the reputation that he has had built for him in his short career, JJ McCarthy’s fourth quarter performance against the New Orleans Saints was written off as a one-off fluke, and the expectations were that he would come back down to earth the very next week. While he might have only had 9 more passing yards in this game than he did in that quarter, he would have been infinitely happier with this performance given it led to a huge upset win on the road. Cam Skattebo responded perfectly to a demotion in role the previous week and Malik Nabers posted his fourth consecutive 100+ yard performance in the overtime victory. Although we aren’t even halfway through the season, only the Dallas Cowboys loom as a potential threat in the NFC East, as the Giants seek their first divisional title since 2011.

11) Expectations about Carolina’s rebuild can be tempered

Bryce Young’s rise from being on the verge of a bust to the commander of the Panthers offense has been rightfully acknowledged over the past 12 months, but it would be fair to say there have been some farfetched claims come with it. Carolina fans were quick to put his name in MVP talks after a strong start this year, but in a field with Josh Allen, Brock Purdy and Joe Burrow, they need to be reserved for a few years’ time. It’s no secret that the progression of any rebuild in professional sports isn’t linear, and the Panthers’ 13-43 home defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is just a reminder of that. While their goal should remain to defend their NFC South crown, there’s no shame in accepting that this young group is a few years away from reaching its potential, which promises to be threatening to rest of the league.

12) The Bengals are this season’s sleeping giant

For a team with such offensive talent and a much-improved defense, there’s been little to no talk about Cincinnati since the beginning of the season. They themselves looked to be asleep during the first half against the Baltimore Ravens on the weekend, but Zac Taylor’s halftime talk woke them up and saw them completely tear the Ravens to shreds, scoring 35 unanswered points after the break. Alongside a fairly clean bill of health so far, the aforementioned defense looks to be the factor that separates this years Bengals from the teams that have fallen agonisingly short of the ultimate glory in recent years, sitting 1st in the NFL in sacks and 4th in opposition touchdowns. Preme Football took the Cincinnati double in selecting both Joe Burrow as this season’s MVP as well as the Bengals to reign supreme in Super Bowl LXI, and after 7 weeks, there appears no reason to switch up on either prediction.

What was your biggest takeaway from the seventh week of regular season play?