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(CBS Chicago) — The Green Bay Packers person erstwhile again jumped retired to an aboriginal pb successful the NFC North race. Aaron Rodgers is successful his accustomed elite signifier starring a balanced Packers attack. Most precocious they disposed of the Bears, who are inactive uncovering their mode with Justin Fields. Elsewhere successful the division, Kirk Cousins is making plays and mostly giving the Minnesota Vikings a accidental to win. Jared Goff, similar the remainder of the Detroit Lions, are stuck successful shot purgatory.
Rolling into Week 7, the Packers look different favorable matchup, erstwhile the Washington Football Team comes to town. The Lions look for that elusive archetypal triumph against the Rams successful Los Angeles. And the Bears question to Tampa Bay to look the defending Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers. The Vikings person a bye.
SportsLine‘s Larry Hartstein breaks down NFC North matchups successful Week 7.
All times listed are Eastern.
Washington Football Team @ Green Bay Packers, Sunday, October 24, 1:00 p.m.
Since their opening week disaster, the Packers person reeled disconnected 5 consecutive wins. Their caller owning of the Bears made it the 3rd clip successful a enactment they’ve opened the play 5-1. Next up is simply a Washington Football Team that was expected to person 1 of the NFL’s champion defenses. It hasn’t turned retired that way. Now 2-4 aft falling to the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington has allowed the astir points and second-most yards of immoderate squad successful the league. And if that weren’t enough, the injuries are starting to heap up.
“Washington [is] wholly decimated with injuries,” Hartstein said. “Antonio Gibson is playing hurt. McLaurin is playing hurt. They’re missing Scherff connected the violative line. And they’re giving up the astir points successful the league astatine 31 points a game. So traveling to Lambeau, you would deliberation this is simply a large spot for the Packers.”
And usually it would be. But the Packers, comfortably up successful the NFC North, could person their eyes connected thing bigger. “They person a monolithic crippled connected deck, Thursday nighttime shot astatine Arizona,” Hartstein pointed out. “Arizona volition beryllium 7-0 aft apt demolishing Houston this week. So that is simply a tremendous look-ahead spot. And that’s truly the main hesitation I person with laying the points.”
Washington is susceptible of keeping the Packers honest, adjacent if they don’t ever amusement it. Taylor Heinicke has proved to beryllium a competent playmaker filling successful for the injured Ryan Fitzpatrick. And helium has Terry McLaurin, 1 of the game’s champion young receivers, to propulsion to. The antiaircraft line, portion disappointing truthful far, is susceptible of getting aft Aaron Rodgers.
Being susceptible and really winning are 2 abstracted things, of course. Rodgers has continued playing astatine the level that won him MVP past season. And he’s acquisition capable to cognize a let-down crippled erstwhile helium sees one. Davante Adams is averaging 14.5 yards per drawback connected his 46 catches, champion successful the league. And Aaron Jones is picking up 4.6 yards per transportation truthful acold successful an discourtesy that tin besides bushed teams connected the ground. AJ Dillon has besides been productive.
Detroit Lions @ Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, October 24, 4:05 p.m.
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Both Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff volition get their archetypal accidental to play the squad that traded them distant this past offseason. Stafford, who toiled successful Detroit for the archetypal decade-plus of his career, is present starring the high-powered Rams offense. And his stats — 306 yards per game, 16 touchdowns — enactment him easy among the NFL’s apical 5 passers truthful acold this season.
“Matthew Stafford, we are seeing what helium tin bash successful a large offense, averaging 9.3 yards per attempt, completing astir 70 percent of his passes,” arsenic Hartstein sees it. “Against this Lions walk defence — which is abysmal, giving up 9.8 yards per attempt, easy the worst successful each of shot — adjacent though this enactment is implicit 2 touchdowns, there’s lone 1 mode to play this game. You’re either laying it with the Rams oregon you’re staying off.”
Goff started with the Rams and led them to a Super Bowl quality successful his 5 seasons there. But conscionable arsenic the Lions defence is outmatched, helium doesn’t person overmuch to enactment with connected the violative broadside either. “They person had immoderate competitory games, the Lions,” Hartstein noted. “And past everything fell isolated Sunday against the Bengals, wholly outclassed from commencement to finish. I consciousness atrocious for Jared Goff. He’s 0-13 erstwhile Sean McVay is not his coach. He has thing astir him successful presumption of wide receivers, [who] are each injured. T.J. Hockenson, the champion target, is nursing an injury. He’ll astir apt play done it, but volition beryllium blanketed by the Rams.”
There’s small to suggest that the Lions tin support up with the Rams. Then see that Goff volition look a Rams defence that’s already tallied 18 sacks. It seems improbable that Detroit volition find their archetypal triumph successful Los Angeles.
Chicago Bears @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, October 24, 4:25 p.m.
Tom Brady is having different MVP-caliber play astatine the property of 44. He’s averaging a league-leading 344 yards per game, with 17 touchdowns against conscionable 3 interceptions. His counterpart, Justin Fields, who is fractional his age, is inactive learning the ropes successful his rookie season. He’s passing for conscionable 105 yards per game, with 2 TDs and 3 interceptions truthful far. While this volition beryllium the biggest property spread betwixt starting quarterbacks that the NFL has ever seen, the spread successful show is what volition impact the result of this game.
It’s unfair to comparison Brady and Fields astatine this constituent successful their careers. And determination is rather a quality successful the violative accomplishment players they person astatine their disposal. “He has truthful galore weapons, erstwhile you look astatine Antonio Brown and Godwin and Evans,” said Hartstein of Brady’s receiving core. “And look however good Leonard Fournette is playing, not to adjacent notation the choky ends they have. And connected the different side, Justin Fields, the passing crippled conscionable isn’t determination yet. Under 200 yards the past 2 weeks. He’s not truly connected the aforesaid leafage yet.”
Further highlighting the difference, 1 of Brady’s favourite weapons, choky extremity Rob Gronkowski, has been retired precocious with rib injuries.
Fields volition person the accidental to marque plays this week. The Bucs walk defence gives up 280.8 yards per game, which is 1 of the worst averages successful the NFL. Tampa is besides dealing with aggregate injuries successful the secondary. Cornerbacks Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting are connected injured reserve, portion Richard Sherman suffered a hamstring wounded aboriginal successful past week’s game. Safety Antoine Winfield started disconnected the week successful concussion protocol.
The Bears request to tally to person immoderate anticipation of success. With David Montgomery retired with a genu injury, Khalil Herbert and Damien Williams person proved susceptible replacements. “But the Bucs don’t fto you tally the ball,” Hartstein pointed out. “They lone springiness up 3.4 yards per carry. Most teams don’t adjacent effort to tally the shot against the Bucs.”
So what NFL picks tin you marque with confidence? And which Super Bowl contender goes down hard? Visit SportsLine to spot which teams triumph and screen the spread, each from a proven machine exemplary that has returned astir $7,700 since its inception, and find out.
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