NFL Week 7 Predictions: Initial Vegas Odds, Lines, Spreads and Projections

At the conclusion of the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts game on Monday Night Football, Week 6 of the NFL season will be officially done with.

Good riddance.

Why? Well the injury bug has taken yet another elite player in the league—Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

According to the team's Twitter, Rodgers could miss the entire season.

Without him, the Packers turn to their backup, Brett Hundley.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston also left his game early with a shoulder injury and is scheduled to have an MRI, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN:

In addition to the Rodgers and Winston injuries, we also saw the last remaining undefeated team, the Kansas City Chiefs, fall at home at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

There are multiple divisional matchups in Week 7, with some even deciding who can take over first place in their respective divisions.

It's time to pick against the spread and make a few extra bucks betting (legally, of course) on some games.

Note: Odds for each game are courtesy of OddsShark. Predictions are courtesy of the author. 

Week 7 schedule

Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5) at Oakland Raiders

Prediction: Chiefs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Buffalo Bills (-3)

Prediction: Bills

Carolina Panthers (-3) at Chicago Bears    

Prediction: Panthers

Tennessee Titans (-6.5) at Cleveland Browns

Prediction: Titans

New Orleans Saints (-3.5) at Green Bay Packers

Prediction: Saints

Jacksonville Jaguars (-3) at Indianapolis Colts

Prediction: Colts

Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5) (London)

Prediction: Cardinals

New York Jets at Miami Dolphins (-3.5)

Prediction: Jets

Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings (-4.5)

Prediction: Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers (-4)

Prediction: Steelers

Denver Broncos (-2.5) at Los Angeles Chargers     

Prediction: Chargers

Seattle Seahawks (-7.5) at New York Giants

Prediction: Giants

Atlanta Falcons at New England Patriots (-3.5)

Prediction: Falcons

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles (-5.5)

Prediction: Redskins

Key Games

Los Angeles Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Depending on how the Seattle Seahawks do in Week 7, this game could decide first place in the NFC West.

At the beginning of the season, if you told me the Rams would be in first place come Week 7 I'd laugh in your face.

But this year has been nuts.

Live from London, the Rams will technically be "hosting" the Cardinals.

The Rams are coming off another win in Week 6 over the Jacksonville Jaguars with the help of two special teams touchdowns.

On the other side, the Cardinals are coming off a game in which they scored 38 to down the Buccaneers after a stellar 134-yard, two touchdown performance from running back Adrian Peterson.

That's where this game gets interesting: Peterson.

Prior to acquiring Peterson, the Cardinals running game was lackluster following the injury to David Johnson.

With Peterson, the Cardinals now have a serious ground attack to go up against a Rams defense that allows 128 rushing yards and over a touchdown per game to opposing running backs.

Even Rams running back Todd Gurley would agree that AP is pretty good.

Add in quarterback Carson Palmer and his receiving weapons, highlighted by Larry Fitzgerald, and that's an old but highly productive offense.

For the Rams, they still have Todd Gurley and some solid weapons of their own, though they don't seem to utilize wide receiver Sammy Watkins effectively enough.

Barring some special teams or defensive touchdowns, the Rams are going to have some matchup problems here.

I'll take the Cardinals outright, 25-17.

Green Bay Packers vs. New Orleans Saints

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Coming off a crazy, wild, high-scoring game in Week 6, the Saints will be at Lambeau Field to take on the Rodgers-less Packers in Week 7.

That's the key point for this game: The Packers will not have Rodgers.

As mentioned earlier, Rodgers is quite possibly done for the season, so we'll get a signature Drew Brees vs. Brett Hundley matchup.

When betting on a game like this, it's wise to avoid falling into the quarterback vs. quarterback argument.

Remember: Brees isn't competing directly against Hundley, and Hundley isn't competing directly against Brees—they're going up against defenses.

Lately, the Saints defense has been playing well. The 38 points the Detroit Lions scored against them in Week 6 isn't an indictment on their defense—the Lions scored two touchdowns not on offense. 

However, they did score three touchdowns via Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford turnovers in Week 6 and shutout the Miami Dolphins in London in Week 4.

No, the defense isn't perfect, and the Packers do still have all their playmakers, but can Hundley make the throws? I'm not sure he can.

Alex Gelhar of NFL.com has a fairly accurate depiction of what to expect with Hundley at quarterback right now.

The Packers can definitely rely on the run game for ball control and not make Hundley stress himself out by needing to throw to win, but as just a little more than a field-goal favorite, I'll roll the dice with a high-powered Saints offense and a defense that has been making plays and has recently shutout a team.

Saints win, 24-14.

New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons

Abbie Parr/Getty Images

Well, well, well.

In the words of WWE's Enzo Amore: "What do we got over here?"

A Super Bowl rematch? On Sunday Night Football?

Insert the two eyeballs emoji here.

For a couple of Super Bowl teams just a season ago, both teams are off to weird starts this season. Although the Patriots are 4-2 and the Falcons 3-2, it's odd how they've arrived at those records.

The Patriots had to storm back in Week 6 to beat the New York Jets, the lost to the Carolina Panthers, barely beat the Houston Texans and lost on opening night to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Falcons, on the other hand, beat the Packers at home (with Rodgers), beat the Lions on the road, barely beat the Chicago Bears on the road and lose to both the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills at home.

What?

Falcons running back Devonta Freeman sums the team up nicely following their collapse against the Miami Dolphins in Week 6.

Good news, Devonta—this is just the game to do that. Offensively, anyway.

What this game boils down to is the Falcons offense against the Patriots defense.

The Patriots offense has some defensive players on the Falcons to worry about, but I'm not worried about them scoring points.

But the defense of the Patriots? They might let up too many points to this Falcons offense.

Sure, the Falcons scored just 17 points against the Dolphins, but we know what this offense consists of.

Heck, the Patriots couldn't defense Jeremy Kerley in Week 6—what makes you think they can stop Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman?

This is one of those game where you have to bet the underdog.

I'll take my chances with the Falcons offense against the Patriots defense.

Falcons win in a thriller, 28-3.

But nah, seriously—37-34.

Statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.