NFL Week 7 Recap: Cleveland, You Will Have an October to Forget

Well, Cleveland, the worst is over?

The first meeting this season between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals began with a bang--an opening kickoff touchdown for the Bengals, and that...well...pretty much did it. This was a gift win for the Bengals, though it was much closer than it should have been. But the main story from the this game was DeShaun Watson. He ended up injured during that game and was out. Instantly, the update was that it was a torn ACL. He's done for the year. Again.

Fans in Cleveland cheered like they won the Super Bowl. Now, I normally do not condone such a hideous display of schadenfreude. I do not like the thought of taking pleasure in the pain of others.

Notice I said, "normally." DeShaun Watson isn't normal. Let's make one thing perfectly clear. DeShaun Watson is a rapist. Plain and simple. The Browns knew this baggage but threw a number of Brinks trucks at Watson anyway. Browns fans knew about Watson, yet despite that, they embraced him and even defended him. Example:

And Cleveland fans wonder why they can't have nice things. Mind you, when Ben Roethlisberger faced the same shit, Browns fans couldn't wait to bury the Steelers and their fans and rub that in like a broken record, yet here they were, in Week 2 of the 2022 season, shaming Watson's victims. Here's some numbers for you: this is Watson's 3rd year with Cleveland. Out of a maximum 51 games, Watson's only been in 19 of them, barely over a full season's worth of games. The number of women Watson assaulted is higher than that. This was because he was suspended for about 2/3 of the 2022 season for that obvious reason, and he missed a lot of games due to injury. In that time, he threw 17 touchdown passes. The number of women Watson assaulted is higher than that, too. That's the quarterback Browns fans defended two years ago, and I guarantee you, if he played like the Watson of old, they'd still be defending him. They only turned on Watson because he sucks now.

Cleveland, all I have to say is this: the next baseball season is five months away.

The San Francisco 49ers are screwed! The Niners hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of last year's Super Bowl, which was an overtime thriller that almost went to double OT. Regarding this game, it wasn't even close. Patrick Mahomes threw no touchdown passes, but he didn't need to, as Brock Purdy had another "purdy" awful performance, throwing three interceptions. And it gets worse. Brandon Aiyuk, the receiver who received big bucks from the Niners, tore his ACL and his MCL. Out for the season. It gets even worse than that. Deebo Samuel left the game during the first quarter, and it was reported on the following day that he has pneumonia. YIKES. So Deebo's out, CMC's still out, and Aiyuk's done for the year. Oh boy.

Week 7 began with the Denver Broncos blasting the New Orleans Saints in Sean Payton's return to New Orleans as an opponent, and we would later see the last London game of the season--the Jacksonville Jaguars winning over the New England Patriots; saving Doug Pederson's season. Elsewhere, the Green Bay Packers faced the Houston Texans in a back and forth battle, which ended with the Packers winning with a last-second FG by new kicker Brandon McManus. I remember hearing about this signing and being very shaky about it. The reason is simple: he has the same baggage as Watson. So yeah, McManus is a hell of a kicker. He's also a rapist. Both of these things are true. See, Cleveland? That's what a fan accepting truth about a player looks like.

While the Packers were causing CJ Stroud to have his worst game of his young career, the Detroit Lions handed the Minnesota Vikings their first loss of the season. Oh man! It looked iffy after the Vikings recovered a fumble and ran it back all the way for a 29-28 lead, but Detroit got into FG range and Jake Bates did the rest. So with that, the group of death known as the NFC North just became even tighter. The Lions and Vikings are tied at 5-1, and it's the Lions who have the tiebreaker. As for the Packers, we are right behind them at 5-2, and the Bears remain at 4-2 because they were idle this past week. Everyone in the North plays in Week 8, but my focus is Week 9. Why? Simple: Lions @ Packers.

The best revenge truly is living well. Saquon Barkley made his return to MetLife Stadium against the Giants, and tore them apart. Saquon said this was not a "revenge game." Yeah, the 176 yards he ran for say otherwise. A 28-3 victory for the Eagles, they definitely needed this after the crap from last week. Elsewhere in the early window, the Bills blasted the Titans, the Seahawks soundly defeated the Falcons, and the Colts barely squeaked out a win over the Miami Dolphins, who could get Tua back as early as next week.

Other than the SB rematch, not much happened in the late window. Rams picked up a win over the lowly Raiders, and the Commanders blasted the Panthers--though they are hoping that Jayden Daniels won't miss any games. So on to Sunday Night Football, which saw the Jets and Steelers face off. We had Russell Wilson vs Aaron Rodgers in 2024. What a world! Russ' first start as a Steeler was very impactful--37 points and a blow out win over the Jets, who are now 0-2 since firing Robert Saleh. This was also Davante Adams' debut as a Jet; yes, Rodgers used that power that he claimed that he didn't have to reunite with Adams, but in the second half, Adams never saw the ball. And here's the thing: on a weekend where New York sports is on a massive high (Yankees won the pennant, Mets fell short but still had a great year, and the WNBA's Liberty finally won their first title), the Jets continue to embarrass themselves.

We received a Monday Night double dip this week, first off, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 41-31, but it was actually much more decisive than that. TB led 10-0, but gave up 41 unanswered points. It gets worse for TB, as they lost not one, but BOTH of their top WRs during that game. Mike Evans was injured early in the game, and Chris Godwin suffered a devastating ankle injury during garbage time. Godwin had surgery, he's done for the year, and possibly for the Bucs--he'll be a free agent after this year. As for the other game, the Los Angeles Chargers faced the Arizona Cardinals in the first ESPN+ Exclusive NFL game, and that saw all of LAC's points provided by Cameron Dicker, while the Cardinals won with a last second field goal. With the Seahawks possibly being without DK Metcalf of weeks, the Niners being injured all to hell, and the Rams surrendering the season, could the Cardinals win the NFC West?

Week 8 will kick off with the Los Angeles Rams hosting the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. On Sunday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers will face each other, and on Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers will host the New York Giants.

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