There are six teams on a bye week, but there are still plenty of intriguing games this week. Here are my picks for Week 7.

Thursday, October 19

Saints 20, Jaguars 17

This Saints offense has struggled to score and consistently finish drives this season, thanks in part to an O-line that has severely underachieved and performed poorly. Matters will be tougher with three O-lineman out for this game and having to face against underappreciated edge rusher Josh Allen. Meanwhile, the mobility of Trevor Lawrence may be compromised due to a knee injury sustained late against the Colts. The Saints pass rush can make things tough on Lawrence and this Jaguars offense if he is not 100%.

Sunday, October 22

Ravens 23, Lions 21

The matchup to watch in this game will be the Lions rush offense vs the Ravens rush defense. The Lions will be without David Montgomery for a bit so Jahmyr Gibbs and Craig Reynolds will need to pick up the slack in the backfield, but it will be tough to grind out yards against Roquan Smith and company. For the Ravens offense, they need to score more touchdowns but that will be tough against a very stingy Lions defense that is very complete. Using Lamar Jackson more as a runner in this game could be very beneficial.

Raiders 26, Bears 13

The Raiders have a great chance to win their third straight game in a row by drawing a Bears team most likely without Justin Fields. The Raiders defense has been playing better as of late and could keep that up against rookie QB Tyson Bagent making his first career start. The main concern for the Bears offense is finding a way to neutralize Maxx Crosby. The Raiders also may be without Jimmy Garoppolo, but their offense has more weapons to attack a Bears defense that still has question marks.

Browns 27, Colts 10

Gardner Minshew needs to do a much better job protecting the ball this week if the Colts have any chance of scoring on this defense. This is probably the week Jonathan Taylor gets back to a normal workload and they are going to need him at his best. Meanwhile, the Browns could be getting Deshaun Watson back, which will help open up their offense again. They should be able to move the ball against a Colts defense really struggling.

Bills 34, Patriots 13

It’s hard to see this game being competitive at all. The Bills had an off night offensively last week, but that isn’t likely to happen again. The Patriots still have no identity on offense and their offensive line continues to struggle week after week. They need to be able to take some long drives and take care of the football or this could be the third blowout loss in four weeks.

Commanders 24, Giants 17

The good news for the Giants is they finally got their defense to start playing well last week. It will be interesting to see if they can repeat that performance again against a sneaky good offense. Sam Howell has mostly played well this year and the Commanders have a deep group of weapons on offense. Howell tends to hold onto the ball too long sometimes, so the Giants need to capitalize and get some sacks in this one. Defensively, the Commanders D-line can really dominate the Giants up front and that will be the difference in this one.

Buccaneers 20, Falcons 16

These teams are tough to gauge right now. They both have solid defenses and both have offenses that can disappear at times. The Falcons have a very good run game that will be tested against a stout Tampa Bay front. Desmond Ridder may need to attack the Buccaneers secondary to move the offense in this game. It’s hard to trust Ridder after his three interception game last week. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers offense has no run game and is relying heavily on a passing attack that is sometimes hot or miss. I think this game will ultimately come down to who can take care of the ball better and I trust Baker Mayfield more than Desmond Ridder.

Steelers 23, Rams 17

The Rams have a dilemma with each of their top two running backs injured for this game. The positive for them is that Cooper Kupp has looked great in his return from injury and now they face a Steelers secondary that has had its struggles this season. The key for the Rams offense will be stopping TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith coming off the edge. They could wreck the game for the Rams, similarly to what the Bengals did to them. The Steelers offense still concerns me, but getting Diontae Johnson back from injury could give them a big boost. The Steelers defense will get some takeaways and the offense will make enough plays to get a win.

Seahawks 27, Cardinals 16

The Seahawks offense has been disappointing so far this season after what they accomplished last year. Luckily they draw a Cardinals defense that has shown its deficiencies over the last couple of weeks. The Seahawks defense has also started to play better and did a great job in the second half last week against the Bengals after getting off to a rocky start. Joshua Dobbs also needs to play better and the Cardinals should find ways to get Marquise Brown more involved this week.

Broncos 23, Packers 19

I was very impressed with the Broncos defensive effort against the Chiefs on TNF last week. They can keep that going against Jordan Love, who has really struggled recently. The Denver offense is hard to evaluate this season, with their production being up and down all year. Both Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton need to start playing much better to give the offense more consistency. The Packers need to find a way to get Love more comfortable and playing better to avoid sinking farther in the NFC.

Chargers 27, Chiefs 23

I have some concerns for this Chiefs offense who have still yet to find a consistent WR option. The positive for the Kansas City offense is that they have a good run game that is led by Isiah Pacheco, and their defense has played well this season. For the Chargers, they need to get their run game going with Austin Ekeler back for his second game. Justin Herbert needs to play much better than he did last week, and I think he does as the Chargers go into Kansas City and get a win.

Dolphins 34, Eagles 30

The Dolphins continue to put up historic numbers on offense and will continue that this week. The Eagles secondary has some huge issues and hopefully get Darius Slay back. Limiting Tyreek Hill has to be the priority and they should make sure they have safety help at all times. The problem is that the Dolphins have the best run game in the league as well and can attack you in different ways. The Eagles need to win in the trenches on defense to disrupt them. Jalen Hurts also needs to play better and stop turning the ball over because this game is likely to be a shootout.

Monday, October 23

49ers 30, Vikings 17

The 49ers offense struggled last week but few teams have the personnel on defense to slow them down like Cleveland did. Even if Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel are out, they can still be productive offensively. The Vikings offense is going to need to play much better than last week when they only scored 12 offensive points. Defensively, Brian Flores has done a solid job with a defense that doesn’t have a lot of playmakers on it. This week will be quite the challenge for that unit.