There are the teams you’re born rooting for, for better or worse, and then there are the bandwagon clubs – the franchises and star players that pique your interest, draw you in and drop you off. Each week of the 2022 campaign, we’re recapping some of the most encouraging and discouraging developments from around the NFL and deciding whose bandwagon to hop on or off – even if only for a week.
With three of the top five teams on bye, expectations weren’t exactly sky-high in Week 7. Upsets and upset veteran QBs were the name of the game this past week, with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers continuing to struggle while ex-XFLers stepped up to take them down.
So, who’s caught our attention – for better or for worse – this week? Here’s our roundup of highs and lows as we near the midway point of the season.
Hop on: Bengals with Burrow in shotgun
Two straight losses to begin the season had many screaming Super Bowl hangover for 2021’s runners-up, however the Bengals have won four of the past five and Joe Burrow has shone the past two weeks. Burrow has thrown for 781 yards at 78.48 per cent accuracy with six passing TDs, two rushing TDs and zero turnovers in wins over the Saints and Falcons. He put up 481 through the air against Atlanta in Week 7 as he continues slinging the ball to his stacked trio of WRs Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Cincy’s transition to running most offensive plays with Burrow in shotgun has made a huge difference.
The defence is holding up its end of the bargain as well, specifically in the third and fourth quarters. The Bengals are allowing a mere 3.9 second-half points per game through seven weeks. (MJ)
Hop off: Teams who thought they’d be better this season
We can find a few new reasons each week to dislike this Broncos team – very few are on the defensive side of the ball, in fairness to that unit – and this week I’m here to highlight the fact Denver is now 2-5 without their 2023 first-round pick they included in the package to acquire Russell Wilson. That pick currently sets up as a top-10 selection for Seattle. Denver, the most penalized team in the NFL, certainly figured they’d be above .500 and battling for the playoffs this year. New Orleans (traded pick to PHI) and Cleveland (traded pick to HOU) are also 2-5 and with each loss the Eagles’ and Texans’ front office smiles grow wider. (MJ)
Hop on: The Mahomes-to-JuJu connection catching fire
The JuJu Smith-Schuster we saw through the first five weeks of this season – 22 catches on 35 targets for 257 yards and no touchdowns – looked like a receiver trying to find his footing in a new offence. The JuJu we’ve seen these past two weeks – 12 catches on 13 targets for a combined 237 yards and a touchdown in back-to-back matchups – looks like he’s found it.
The last time Smith-Schuster registered more than 100 yards in a game was a 103-yard effort in Week 7 of the 2019 season, and after a lacklustre 2021 that was cut short due to injury just five games into what turned out to be his final season with Pittsburgh, it’s really fun to see JuJu get his groove back. He’s clearly having a blast, too:
The departure of Tyreek Hill over the summer opened up a great big role for someone to step into – one that, quite predictably, is more of a two-person job. While separately, neither Smith-Schuster nor his new teammate Marquez Valdes-Scantling have been known for consistency, together they appear to be the perfect complementary duo in Kansas City as Patrick Mahomes continues to work his magic. (ES)
Hop off: Pittsburgh’s dropped opportunities
Neither Tua Tagovailoa nor Kenny Pickett put up stand-out numbers on a Sunday night filled with strong storylines, with both tossing some very pickable passes throughout the night.
The difference was on defence, with Miami’s secondary feasting on Pickett’s passes to the tune of three interceptions while Pittsburgh failed to come up with any despite a handful of easy opportunities to do so. The Steelers’ secondary dropped four would-be interceptions Sunday night.
This was always going to be a change-filled season with plenty of growing pains on offence, but missed opportunities on defence aren’t something we’re used to seeing from those in black and yellow. (ES)
Hop on: Sam Ehlinger’s Colts
The Matt Ryan era is over in Indy and the latest Colts’ QB experiment ended as a worse failure than last year’s with Carson Wentz. Colts coach Frank Reich announced Monday second-year backup Sam Ehlinger will take over from Ryan as the team’s starter with Nick Foles as the No. 2.
Ehlinger, 24, has never thrown a pass in the regular season but he threw 94 TDs to 27 INTs in his four years at Texas before being selected by the Colts in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. Despite Ehlinger’s inexperience, he’ll be a far more mobile option than the 37-year-old Ryan who completely lost his ability to avoid oncoming pressure. The Colts are 3-3-1 with two losses to the Titans already but a division title is still well within reach if Ehlinger can be the answer. (MJ)
Hop off: Tom Brady and the Bucs
Well folks, this appears to be the version of Tom Brady many football pundits had for years predicted we’d eventually begin seeing on a weekly basis – a version of the GOAT that’s undeniably over the hill. Brady is now 45 and after balking at his off-season retirement is simply not performing like he did less than a year ago. Brady led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns in 2021 and the Bucs finished 13-4, losing in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams. Tampa already has four losses through seven games – the only other time Brady began a season 3-4 was in 2002 – and has thrown just eight TDs. The NFC South is among the weakest divisions in football but Brady and the Bucs just lost 21-3 to the lowly Panthers and now prepare for the Ravens on a short week. (MJ)
Hop on: Setting the stage for Sunday night drama
Aaron Rodgers and his young group of receivers haven’t given us much in the way of offensive highlights, nor has Green Bay’s defence stepped up in the way we all assumed they would. As if Rodgers’ eyerolls and body language during games hasn’t already said everything we need to know about how he feels the season is going, he’s served up some simmering post-game comments as well.
While Rodgers’ post-game tactics haven’t exactly spurred his team to any kind of success – and there seems to be a lot of finger-pointing, with very few pointed at himself – the bandwagon fan loves a little drama, and it feels like we’re in for plenty of that on Sunday night. (ES)
Hop off: New England’s messy QB situation
Indecision at the quarterback position is something we haven’t seen in New England since… well, it’s just not something we see in New England. But it took centre stage Monday night against the Bears, with Mac Jones getting the start in his return from an ankle injury and Bailey Zappe taking over early in the second quarter. While Zappe’s performance was more inspiring – as was Matt Patricia’s playcalling with the rookie at the helm – the club still came away with a pretty dismal loss to the Bears.
Bill Belichick always has a plan – and, yeah, he pretty much never shares it with the media – and in this case, between these two QBs, he said post-game that his plan was to play both. He also said Zappe was thrown into the game not because of Jones’ interception to Jaquan Brisker but because the gameplan called for it. But as the saying goes… if you have two starting quarterbacks, you actually have none.
All eyes will be on how Belichick navigates Sunday’s all-important divisional battle against the Jets on Sunday. Maybe the only question bigger than “Who will start the game?” is “Who will finish it?” (ES)
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