NFL Week 7 Picks: Injuries That Will Open the Door for Big Upsets

Late-week NFL injuries are always the hardest to bear, whether or not the reason for the grief lies with the fantasy lineup that's being affected. This week, new injuries have clouded the status of several key players for Week 7, while others have been ruled out entirely.

Injuries don't always play a role in a team's success, as the NFL is supposed to have the kind of talent in the reserves to make up for any disparity of one player missing time.

But as the case in any sport, one man can certainly make a difference in this team sport. There's three teams on upset watch in this list after the NFL injury reports became more clear today, including two you probably didn't expect.

Dallas Cowboys at Carolina Panthers

WR Dez Bryant, RB DeMarco Murray

Murray is out with a foot injury, and Bryant was a surprise entrant to the injury report on Friday afternoon. Cowboys writer Nick Eatman first reported the story on Twitter, as the third-year WR's groin seems to be hampering him.

"

Dez Bryant questionable to play Sunday with a groin injury. Matt Johnson has been ruled out because of another hamstring setback.

"

"— Nick Eatman (@nickeatman) October 19, 2012"

Dallas is favored in the game and has the talent to overcome their two big-play threats not being available. But should Bryant miss this game, it would be a critical blow to the Cowboys' chances in this game, and maybe the rest of the season.

Tony Romo has developed some nice chemistry with Bryant over the past two weeks, and he's really been the only receiver in this offense to do anything productive. Should Bryant sit out this weekend, I look for Carolina's front seven to gameplan completely around Jason Witten and Miles Austin.

Without a big-play threat, Romo is in danger of turning the ball over at the same frequency he has over the first five weeks of Dallas' season.

Prediction: Carolina 23, Dallas 21

Green Bay Packers at St. Louis Rams

CB Sam Shields, DT B.J. Raji, LB Nick Perry

These three defenders out for the Packers spells trouble against a suddenly solid Rams running and passing game. Sam Bradford seems to have found some time in the pocket of late, and the Rams are a dangerous wild card-type team in the NFC West.

With speedster Daryl Richardson expected to get more carries in coming weeks and a myriad of young receivers eager to prove themselves in St. Louis, this is the obvious trap game for Green Bay, injuries aside.

That defense has looked much better over the course of the weeks following the Seattle debacle, but should the offense falter at all, the defense won't have Raji around to show us what he's got (that never gets old).

A tight-scoring affair goes to Jeff Fisher's team at home, and Cortland Finnegan comes up with a late Aaron Rodgers pick to seal the deal.

Prediction: St. Louis 20, Green Bay 17

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals

RB Rashard Mendenhall, RB Isaac Redman

Mendenhall and Redman headline a huge group of Steelers inactives, as noted by beat writer Mike Bires:

"

RBs Rashard Mendenhall & Isaac Redman, SS Troy Polamalu, T Marcus Gilbert and LB Chris Carter ruled out for Sunday game in Cincy #steelers

— Mike Bires (@mikebires) October 19, 2012"

With Baron Batch and Jonathan Dwyer now expected to handled the bulk of the carries, Cincinnati should be able to force Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh offense into obvious passing situations.

Batch has shown a nice burst, while Dwyer hasn't shown much outside of a few preseason flashes. The Steelers really need a win this weekend, but so do the Bengals, and since the running game seems to be the missing piece in Pittsburgh, I'm taking Cincinnati in this virtual pick 'em game.