NFL Week 7 Picks: Early Predictions for Every Game

As expected, Week 6 of the 2014 NFL season provided quite a roller-coaster ride—and it's not even over yet. We still have a Monday Night Football contest between the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams remaining on the slate, but let's go ahead and look forward to Week 7 anyway.

Predicting the outcome of a week's worth of games only seems to be increasing in difficulty with every passing day. After all, how many of us predicted the Dallas Cowboys to beat the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field, or better yet, the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals to tie in Week 6?

Glancing ahead at the slate of Week 7 games, we can expect this trend to continue, as some pivotal divisional matchups and other compelling contests are sure to shock us all once more. As we impatiently await these teams to take the gridiron again, here's a look at predictions for every Week 7 game.

Home	Away	Pick
New England Patriots	New York Jets	Patriots
Buffalo Bills	Minnesota Vikings	Bills
Baltimore Ravens	Atlanta Falcons	Ravens
Jacksonville Jaguars	Cleveland Browns	Browns
Green Bay Packers	Carolina Panthers	Packers
Chicago Bears	Miami Dolphins	Bears
Indianapolis Colts	Cincinnati Bengals	Colts
Detroit Lions	New Orleans Saints	Lions
St. Louis Rams	Seattle Seahawks	Seahawks
Washington Redskins	Tennessee Titans	Redskins
San Diego Chargers	Kansas City Chiefs	Chargers
Dallas Cowboys	New York Giants	Cowboys
Oakland Raiders	Arizona Cardinals	Cardinals
Denver Broncos	San Francisco 49ers	Broncos
Pittsburgh Steelers	Houston Texans	Texans

Marquee Matchups

Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

This figures to be a high-octane battle between two of the AFC's most prolific offenses. In Week 6, the Bengals and Colts offenses combined for 70 points—judging by how their defenses are currently performing, we could see more of the same on Sunday.

Cincinnati "should have" notched a win in Week 6, but kicker Mike Nugent whiffed on a 36-yard field goal as overtime expired. The Bengals racked up 513 yards of offense but looked dreadful on defense, failing to sack Cam Newton while allowing the quarterback to gain a total of 391 yards and three touchdowns.

Indianapolis jumped out to a hot start against the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football but allowed the Texans to climb back from a 24-point deficit to make a game of it in the end. The Colts notched 456 yards of offense, but their defense allowed for a nail-biting conclusion. After all, according to Around the NFL, quarterback Andrew Luck is on pace for quite a season:

We could see these teams combine for over 1,000 yards when they meet in Week 7. Indianapolis gets the nod in a close game due to home-field advantage and its ability to create explosive plays through the air.

Prediction: Colts 34, Bengals 31

New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

This game will have plenty of impact on the race for the NFC East title. Following Week 6, the Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles sit atop the division with the Giants nipping at their heels. A win in Week 7 would propel Dallas to the top or keep New York well in the mix.

The Cowboys were nothing short of impressive in their win in Seattle. DeMarco Murray picked apart the Seahawks defense, while Tony Romo remained very efficient. Perhaps even more surprising was the play of the Dallas defense that limited Russell Wilson and Co. to just one offensive touchdown.

New York was a completely different story on Sunday. Its defense couldn't contain the Philadelphia offense, and the once-efficient Eli Manning looked lost on the field. Making matters worse, the team lost wide receiver Victor Cruz to injury, via the Giants' official Twitter account:

The Cowboys are surging, playing at home and are facing a Giants team that doesn't look near as dangerous as it did in previous weeks. Dallas will take this one by a fair margin.

Prediction: Cowboys 31, Giants 17

San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

So, what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? We're about to find out when Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense meets Patrick Willis and the 49ers defense.

Manning is on the periphery of obtaining the all-time passing touchdowns record. He is just two shy of Brett Favre's career mark, according to a tweet from Around the NFL:

Taking into consideration the weapons he has at his disposal, it won't be long before he achieves the feat. After all, going back over the last two weeks, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and tight end Julius Thomas have combined for seven touchdown receptions.

San Francisco is once again among the league's elite defenses, ranking in the top 10 against both the run and the pass. However, it could be difficult for Colin Kaepernick and Co. to keep pace with Manning, as San Francisco's signal-caller hasn't been overwhelming this season, and Denver is allowing just 88.3 yards per game on the ground.

While the 49ers may be the deeper team, the Broncos are simply more explosive. If Denver gets out to an early lead, it will be difficult for San Francisco to stick to its ground-and-pound game plan. The home team will be too much to handle in this instance.

Prediction: Broncos 27, 49ers 19