NFL Week 7 Picks: Odds, Prop Bets and Predictions Before Thursday Night

Injuries are commonplace in the NFL—a grim fact of life. There are constant updates on injury reports, practice participation and more. Each team seems to have a half-dozen hobbled players in any given week.

When a star player goes down—especially if he's on offense, and happens to play quarterback—that is when the media reaction, matchup assessments and predictions really start to run a full gamut of what-if scenarios.

The Dallas Cowboys are limping along without Tony Romo and Dez Bryant in the lineup. Brandon Weeden has somewhat expectedly wilted under the withering glare streaming in through AT&T Stadium's glass panels, giving way to Matt Cassel as starting QB in Week 7. 

Pittsburgh too is on its third quarterback. With Ben Roethlisberger working his way back from a knee injury and Michael Vick dinging his hamstring in the Steelers win over Arizona in Week 6, it could be Landry Jones to the rescue, per ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler.

Those two quarterbacks are the subject of Week 7's prop bets and will certainly have an impact on the way many people break down the odds and over/unders in their contests. Here's a look at the full Week 7 schedule, complete with spread, over/under odds and predictions. Odds and prop bets are both courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of Thursday, October 22 at 7 a.m. ET.

Thursday, October 22
Sunday, October 25
Monday, October 26
Time (ET)	Away	Home	Over-Under	Prediction
8:25 p.m.	Seattle Seahawks (-6.5)	San Francisco 49ers	42.5	SEA 27-21 SF
9:30 a.m.	Buffalo Bills (-7)	Jacksonville Jaguars	42	BUF 23-21 JAX
1 p.m.	Minnesota Vikings (-2.5)	Detroit Lions	44.5	DET 26-24 MIN
1 p.m.	New Orleans Saints	Indianapolis Colts (-4.5)	52	IND 34-27 NO
1 p.m.	Pittsburgh Steelers	Kansas City Chiefs	N/A	PIT 22-13 KC
1 p.m.	Houston Texans	Miami Dolphins (-4)	44.5	MIA 30-20 HOU
1 p.m.	New York Jets	New England Patriots (-10)	48	NE 24-22 NYJ
1 p.m.	Cleveland Browns	St. Louis Rams (-5.5)	42	STL 24-19 CLE
1 p.m.	Atlanta Falcons (-4)	Tennessee Titans	48	ATL 31-21 TEN
1 p.m.	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Washington Redskins (-3)	43	WAS 17-13 TB
4:05 p.m.	Oakland Raiders	San Diego Chargers (-4)	47	SD 32-27 OAK
4:25 p.m.	Dallas Cowboys	New York Giants (-3)	45.5	DAL 27-24 NYG
8:30 p.m.	Philadelphia Eagles	Carolina Panthers (-3)	46.5	PHI 31-27 CAR
8:30 p.m.	Baltimore Ravens	Arizona Cardinals (-10)		AZ 28-17 BAL

Total Passing Yards Week 7
Total Touchdown Passes Week 7
Player	Over-Under
Jones	210.5
Cassel	220.5
Jones	Over 1.5 (+130), Under 1.5 (-160)
Cassel	Over 1.5 (+120), Under 1.5 (-150)

The London Game: Buffalo Bills (3-3) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5)

If English NFL fans were to ever adopt a football squad without actually bringing one to London—much in the same way American soccer fans choose Premier League sides—mere exposure might have them gravitating toward Jacksonville. 

This is the third year in a row the Jaguars have made the pilgrimage to the soggy sod at Wembley Stadium. In 2013, they lost to San Francisco 42-10. Last season, it was a resounding 31-17 loss to Dallas. The on-field product hasn't been great, but who doesn't love a good underdog? (Probably Arsenal fans.)

Indeed, the Buffalo Bills are favorites in this contest, even though their quarterback situation is murky. E.J. Manuel stepped in for an injured Tyrod Taylor in Week 6 and performed adequately (263 yards, one touchdown, one interception). 

Taylor hopes to play this week and provided an optimistic assessment to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News: 

His return to the lineup would be a welcome boost for Buffalo, which managed just 21 points against Cincinnati and could be without wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who injured his left ankle after scoring a touchdown against the Bengals and wasn't at practice on Wednesday, per Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News.

LeSean McCoy looked sprightly in his return from injury on Sunday, rushing for 90 yards and scoring a touchdown. His performance will be absolutely critical against the Jags, with the passing offense potentially in tatters. Runs like this one, via the NFL, will keep any defense on its toes: 

Tight end Charles Clay will also be one to watch. He saw a team-high 13 targets against Cincinnati and has had some big games this year. If Manuel plays, or Taylor is not mobile enough to let the deeper routes develop, he could play a big role as safety valve.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Buffalo's defense will have its own challenges facing Blake Bortles, who is looking to build off two of the most prolific starts of his young career. 

Bortles has talent all around him in the passing game. Allen Robinson is turning out to be a fine deep threat, with 11 of his 28 receptions going for 20 yards or more. Allen Hurns has reeled in 29 catches, four of them touchdowns, and tight end Julius Thomas should be in fine form after catching seven passes for 78 yards and a score against Houston, just his second game of the season.

With the rushing attack struggling (92.7 yards per game, 24th in the NFL), Buffalo should be sending hoards of pressure Bortles' way. However, the Bills have just nine sacks on the year, and Marcell Dareus and Mario Williams have aired grievances regarding head coach Rex Ryan's defensive scheme.

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

SB Nation's Stephen White provided some analysis, noting the Bills have an elite group of pass-rushers generally not in great positions to rush the passer:

"

One edge guy, either Williams or Hughes, generally gets to stand up and either set the edge/pass rush on the edge or drop into coverage when they line up in a base 3-4. The other edge rusher often has to line up on the offensive tackle rather than being on an edge. That's pretty much the opposite of an ideal situation for most highly skilled pass rushers.

Even having Mario Williams, a human cheat code with his ridiculous combination of size, strength and athletic ability, two-gapping an offensive tackle is a pretty dumb thing to do on a regular basis because it's obvious he doesn't like doing it! I greatly admire Williams' game, but he's just not that guy who wants to be lined up head-up and wrestle with a 300-pounder all game. (He's in the red circle in the image below).

That goes double for Hughes, who plays with plenty of heart, but doesn't have nearly the kind of size and strength you generally want in a 3-4 five technique defensive end.

Seeing Dareus and Kyle Williams line up at zero nose struck me as also unnecessary. 

"

The opportunistic Bills squad still has managed 10 takeaways this season, and Bortles is still very much prone to big errors. Head coach Rex Ryan should unleash his expensive herd of pass-rushers and see what havoc they can wreak.

The outcome of this game hinges on whether or not Taylor will play. Assuming he does, the Bills should win this one, but Jacksonville will score more points than in its last two trips to London. If Manuel starts, all bets are off.

Rivalry Watch: New York Jets (4-1) vs. New England Patriots (5-0)

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

There are a few fun rivalry matchups in Week 7. Oakland at San Diego can be a fun, scrappy contest—which extends to the Qualcomm Stadium seats themselves, as Raiders fans attempt to pack the stands and drown out the Chargers faithful—and Dallas plays a pivotal NFC East matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles in the league's most egalitarian division. 

However, the New York Jets versus the New England Patriots is the bad-blood matchup to watch in Week 7. 

Tom Brady has been putting on a masterclass at quarterback this season, throwing 14 touchdowns against just one interception (which didn't come until Week 6 against Indianapolis). His options in the passing game are plentiful. Brady has the human combine harvester Rob Gronkowski, a nice scatback in Dion Lewis and sure-handed wideouts in Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola.

Brady might have an additional talented target in Week 7, as the Patriots could see wide receiver Brandon LaFell come off the PUP list and return to action this week. He practiced for the first time this season on Wednesday, per the team's official Twitter account: 

LaFell racked up 74 receptions for 953 yards and seven touchdowns last season. At 6'2", he provides a nice complement on the flanks to shorter Edelman (5'10") and Amendola (5'11"). LaFell might seem like a luxury addition for a team putting up a league-leading 36.6 points per game, but the Patriots could use any and all weapons at their disposal against a tough Jets defense.

New York has the second-best defense in the NFL, per Football Outsiders' efficiency metric, Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA). The Jets have forced 15 turnovers, trailing only Denver and Philadelphia, and are allowing just 15 points per game.

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie are perhaps the best cover duo in the league. The Jets may have just eight sacks on the year, but quarterbacks have still managed just a 60.9 rating against them, per ESPN.com. Patriots offensive lineman Mike Williams isn't fooled by the low sack total.

"I just see an aggressive defense who gets to the quarterback," Williams said, per MassLive.com's Christopher Smith. "Their sack numbers are not there but they still get to the quarterback. They try to disrupt the passing lanes. They have a great, athletic group and they do that very well so it's just going to take a 60-minute effort."

Muhammad Wilkerson and company will have a tough test in disrupting Brady, although Dallas showed in Week 5 it could be done (for a half, at least). Stopping Lewis and LeGarrette Blount in the running game could be even more important, as Brady is likely to put up decent numbers. 

On offense, the Jets will try to pound away against New England's average run defense with Chris Ivory, who has rushed for 312 yards and two touchdowns in his past two games and looks primed to run rampant this season.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has been mostly mediocre this year, although he is coming off a stellar performance against the Redskins, throwing for 253 yards and two touchdowns while running in another. Even though Fitzpatrick is a dismal 1-6 all-time versus New England, Bill Belichick praised his abilities, via Michael Whitmer of the Boston Globe.

"You’re not really going to fool this guy too much. We have to do a good job of executing what we do, in the running game and the passing game. He’s hurt teams scrambling, so we’re going to have to handle all that," said Belichick.

Wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker give Fitzpatrick two reliable talents to throw to week in and week out. If they can draw the best out of him on Sunday, the Jets stand a chance on the road. However, the Patriots should nail him to the loss column again as their undefeated streak continues.