NFL 2009 Week Seven Wrap-Up

(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

This week, the top teams in the league put the bottom-feeders in their places. The NFL has championed the parity in their league over the past few years, but this season, it's not here. There are more really bad teams this year than there's been in recent memory.

There was another important trend that showed up this week: the AFC dominated the NFC, going 6-2 this week. Overall, the AFC has a very slim 16-15 lead over the NFC, but Week Seven gave way to the biggest margin of victory for either conference this season.

Cincinnati (5-2) def. Chicago (3-3), 45-10: The Bengals salted this away pretty early. They dominated in every phase and never once gave the Bears any hope. Chicago's defense looked lost and confused without Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris. Jay Cutler reverted back to his Week-One self and the Bears will not be successful with him playing that way.

Green Bay (4-2) def. Cleveland (1-6), 31-3: Why did Cleveland show up? Cleveland fans would have seen the same effort regardless. Joshua Cribbs is the Browns' only bright spot and even he was held out of the end zone. The Pack did everything right, even keeping Aaron Rodgers' jersey clean. They now get ready for one of the biggest games of the year as a certain No. 4 makes his way back to Lambeau next week.

San Diego (3-3) def. Kansas City (1-6), 37-7: Kansas City played San Diego extremely close last year...not so much this year. Philip Rivers seemed comfortable all game long as he picked apart the Chiefs' secondary. San Diego put on their best offensive display of 2009 and Kansas City seemed powerless to stop it.

Indianapolis (6-0) def. St. Louis (0-7), 42-6: Yet another blowout. Like always, Peyton Manning was excellent and the rest of his offense followed suit. There wasn't too much else of note in this game except for another phenomenal performance from Steven Jackson. It's amazing how defenses only key in on him and he still manages to break a hundred yards.

Pittsburgh (5-2) def. Minnesota (6-1), 27-17: Both defenses played well considering the circumstances, but this game came down to big plays. Big plays like Pittsburgh stopping Minnesota three times at the goal line. Big plays like Pittsburgh's two defensive touchdowns in the fourth. And big plays like Percy Harvin's kickoff return for a touchdown. In the end, Minnesota dominated time of possession and put up more yards, but the Steelers simply made more plays.

New England (5-2) def. Tampa Bay (0-7), 35-7: If I hadn't already heard that the NFL is going back to England, I would have hoped that this "contest" would be the last one. Anyway, the Pats did what they should have done and beat Tampa handily. Josh Freeman made his way into the game and will now probably be handed the reigns.

Houston (4-3) def. San Francisco (3-3), 24-21: The Texans were completely dominating this game until Alex Smith made his return into the Niners lineup. Smith immediately made an impact, leading three scoring drives and nearly orchestrating a comeback. Houston seemed to let up a bit and take their eyes off the prize. This game was a microcosm of how inconsistent each team's season has been. Neither will be more than a one-and-done playoff team until they play more consistently.

New York Jets (4-3) def. Oakland (2-5), 38-0: The Jets won this game easily, but the loss of Leon Washington hurts. He does so much for the Jets and he will be sorely missed. For Oakland, they finally benched JaMarcus Russell. Apparently he'll start next week, which begs the question: How much longer can they stick with Russell while he puts up horrible numbers? On top of that, he took no responsibility for his play.

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