NFL Week Seven: Bills-Chargers, Big Trade in Big D, Desperate Patriots

There are rumblings that Tony Romo will play this week. Jerry Jones certainly wants him to play, the coaching staff probably doesn’t—choosing to ensure he’s healthy for the rest of the season over risking further injury in a game they’ll probably win easily anyway (against the Rams).  

I’m going to assume Jerry Jones wins out and Romo plays. I mean, does anyone think Wade Phillips has the guts to overrule Jerry Jones?

Me neither.

Almost overshadowing the Romo injury was the big trade Jerry Jones pulled off for Roy Williams.

I want to make myself perfectly clear, just in case I don’t get my point across or there’s some confusion over where I stand on this: The Detroit Lions absolutely embarrassed Jerry Jones in getting him to agree to this deal.

Any thought that Jones was a shrewd negotiator is no more. This is one of the most ridiculously lopsided trades in NFL history.

Jerry Jones saw his quarterback go down with an injury, panicked, and mortgaged his team’s future for a decent wide receiver who may or may not have motivation issues.

Think about it. A first, third, and sixth-round pick for Roy Williams and a seventh-round pick. I took over the Detroit Lions on Madden and tried making the same trade. Let’s just say video game Jerry Jones is a far better negotiator than real life Jerry Jones.

Kind of makes the Randy Moss trade look pretty good, doesn’t it?

I said it last week, and I’ll say it again: The Cowboys are an absolute mess. Between Wade Phillips, Jerry Jones, Pacman Jones, T.O., and Tony Romo’s finger—let’s just say the Vegas money is on something bad happening down in Dallas.

Chargers and Bills Battle for Title of “Best AFC Team Not From Tennessee”

The Buffalo Bills get their crack at the San Diego Chargers this week. The Patriots and Jets already had their cracks, and lost by a combined score of 78 to 39.

That said, the Dolphins did squeak out a win. But in retrospect, the Chargers were probably looking ahead to their AFC Championship rematch.

The Bills match up pretty well against the Chargers. All indications are that Trent Edwards will be back under center, so they don’t have to worry about the J.P. Losman issue. Marshawn Lynch is a beast, and the Chargers can be susceptible to the run at times.

If you look back to the last two times the Chargers lost to New England, it wasn’t Tom Brady, it was Lawrence Maroney who dominated the games.

Expect Marshawn Lynch, who is twice the running back Lawrence Maroney is, to make his mark on this week’s game.

This game is far more important to the Bills than it is to the Chargers. The Chargers won their big game last week. They’re due for a letdown. The Bills are being questioned by anyone and everyone after their pathetic effort against the Cardinals.

They need to win to get their early-season swagger back.

In the NFL, as we all know, the more desperate team tends to win.

Speaking of Desperate

The New England Patriots are a desperate team. They’ve bookend a beatdown of the 49ers with awful performances against the Chargers and Dolphins.

Either game by itself could be written off as a fluke. But if it keeps happening, it’s not a fluke, it’s a trend.

The Patriots’ defense has taken a ton of heat this season, but the real problem lies in the offense. The offense needs to score more points.

In the NFL, the magic number is 21. If you score 21 points, you have a plus-80-percent chance of winning. Score less than 21 points, and the odds that you’re going to lose go way up.

The Patriots have scored 21 points just once this season, against the pathetic 49ers. To put this into perspective, this team never scored less than 24 points EVER last season.

There are many people, including Bill Belichick, that are defending Matt Cassel right now. To me, there is no argument. No rational person can make an argument that Cassel is playing well right now.

This offense, the same except the quarterback, started off the season averaging 38 points per game last year. With Matt Cassel, the offense can’t get out of its own way.

Did everyone else forget how to play? Or is Matt Cassel perhaps the worst quarterback to wear a Patriots uniform since Scott Secules?

Matt Cassel must play well this week. If he doesn’t, then Belichick needs to swallow his pride and end the experiment.

Game of the Week, Offensive Version: Colts at Packers

This game should be a great offensive battle. I highly recommend watching. But something’s bothering me about NFL "experts," and this seems like the proper place to bring it up.

Please, stop comparing Eli Manning to Peyton Manning. You know who you are. Eli isn’t in Peyton’s league. The only reason they should ever be mentioned in the same breathe is that they’re related. Please stop, you’re making yourselves look foolish.

Game of the Week, Defensive Version: Vikings at Bears

The Bears are still smarting from their gut-punch loss to the Atlanta Falcons last week. The Vikings barely beat the Lions, but at this point they’re just happy to beat anyone.

This game will feature some fantastic defense on both sides of the ball, but it’ll come down to the quarterback. Kyle Orton has progressed to the point where he has a positive impact, instead of a neutral one, on the Bears’ offense.

Gus Frerotte is Gus Frerotte.

I can’t imagine the Bears losing this game. This means, if you’ve been paying attention to my picks recently, bet the farm on the Vikings.

Sean Crowe is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail]. His archive can be found here. You can find everything he writes, including articles for other publications, here.

Crowe is also the New England Patriots Examiner at Examiner.com. Check it out for all the latest on the New England Patriots.