NFL Week 7 Picks: Predicting the Winner and Score for All Upcoming Matchups

Heading into the regular season, no one could have predicted that the Super Bowl runner-ups from last season (Carolina Panthers) would start 1-5 in 2016 after going 15-1 last year. Not many expected the New England Patriots to win three out of four games with quarterback Tom Brady suspended, but here we are, with the Patriots as the team to beat in the AFC.

The season is still young as we are steadily approaching the halfway point, and some teams are still trying to figure out their identities. 

Can the Pittsburgh Steelers offense still function with Landry Jones under center? Have the Arizona Cardinals finally turned a leaf? We'll find out in Week 7. But for now, let's make some predictions.

Date	Teams	Time (ET)	National TV	Prediction
Thursday, Oct. 20	Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers	8:25 p.m.	CBS/NFL Network	Packers win 34-14
Sunday, Oct. 23	New York Giants vs. Los Angeles Rams*	9:30 a.m.	NFL Network	Giants win 27-21
Sunday, Oct. 23	New Orleans Saints at Kansas City Chiefs	1 p.m.	Fox	Chiefs win 27-24
Sunday, Oct. 23	Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans	1 p.m.	CBS	Titans 30-21
Sunday, Oct. 23	Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles	1 p.m.	Fox	Vikings win 28-14
Sunday, Oct. 23	Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals	1 p.m.	CBS	Bengals win 31-15
Sunday, Oct. 23	Washington Redskins at Detroit Lions	1 p.m.	Fox	Redskins win 35-30
Sunday, Oct. 23	Oakland Raiders at Jacksonville Jaguars	1 p.m.	CBS	Raiders win 24-17
Sunday, Oct. 23	Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins	1 p.m.	CBS	Bills win 21-14
Sunday, Oct. 23	Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets	1 p.m.	CBS	Ravens win 17-9
Sunday, Oct. 23	Tampa Bay Buccaneers at San Francisco 49ers	4:05 p.m.	Fox	Buccaneers win 28-12
Sunday, Oct. 23	San Diego Chargers at Atlanta Falcons	4:05 p.m.	Fox	Falcons win 34-28
Sunday, Oct. 23	New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers	4:25 p.m.	CBS	Patriots win 31-17
Sunday, Oct. 23	Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals	8:30 p.m.	NBC	Cardinals win 20-17
Monday, Oct. 24	Houston Texans at Denver Broncos	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Broncos win 20-10

Key Games 

New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

As mentioned, Jones will fill the void left by Ben Roethlisberger when he went down in Week 6 with a torn meniscus, as reported by Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The Steelers still have plenty of weapons on offense, even without Big Ben. With Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, Sammie Coates and Markus Wheaton all in the fold, Pittsburgh still stands a chance against New England, right?

Wrong.

As admirable as their efforts will be on Sunday against the Patriots, the Steelers will, inevitably, come up short. The Patriots are just too good. It seems the only team in the NFL that can challenge them is the 5-0 Minnesota Vikings. 

Brady is slinging the ball around on offense since his return from suspension, putting up 782 yards with a 76 percent completion rate, including six touchdowns to zero interceptions.

Just look at how easy he made it look in Week 6 against a solid Cincinnati Bengals defense, via the Patriots' official Twitter account:

Against Pittsburgh, expect the Patriots to start fast and keep their foot on the accelerator until Brady throws his third touchdown pass of the day to Martellus Bennett at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Jones and the Steelers offense might find some success in garbage time, scoring a Bell touchdown to help bring the score to 31-17, which will make the final box score look a little more respectable despite being dominated for four quarters. 

Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals

The Seahawks stumbled out of the gates to begin the season with some poor offensive showings. Since then, they have rattled off three straight wins for sole possession of first place in the NFC West.

Nipping at their heels, however, are the Cardinals, who have begun to look like the team that made it to the NFC Championship Game a year ago with two consecutive wins over the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets.

The real reason for the Cardinals' revival after a rough start, however, has been the play of second-year running back David Johnson. The NFL's official Twitter account shared footage of Johnson's 58-yard touchdown run from Monday night against the Jets:

With eight touchdowns and 568 rushing yards, Johnson has nearly matched his production from last season through six weeks (581 yards, eight touchdowns in 2015). He's been impressive to watch so far in 2016, and the rest of the Cardinals offense is beginning to catch up as the likes of John Brown and Carson Palmer are starting to get into the flow of the offense again.

This game is no cake-walk for either team, but the Cardinals have the home-field advantage and a better offense at this point of the season. Furthermore, Arizona's defense is finally starting to make plays and create turnovers, such as this interception made by Tyrann Mathieu on Monday, via the NFL:

The Honey Badger is back, and so are the Cardinals. Look for a hotly contested game on Sunday night that will see Johnson run over the Seahawks defense en route to a two-touchdown performance that will be enough to edge out the Seahawks late in the game. The Cardinals will get it done at home 20-17 in what is a must-win game for the 3-3 team, which is looking to reclaim its place as a Super Bowl contender.

Player stats are courtesy of ESPN.com.