Darren McFadden and Kenny Britt Among NFL Week 7's Top 10 Offensive Performers
Week 7 was a wild one in the NFL.
We saw upsets, controversy and some of the most brilliant offensive performances of the year.
Teams who were supposed to be blown out stayed competitive throughout the day. The Bills lost to the Ravens in overtime.
The Browns went on the road to beat the Saints.
These 10 performers played pivotal roles in helping their teams stay competitive throughout the course of the game whether they won or lost.
10. Hines Ward, PIT
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Ward was an integral part of the Steelers’ controversial one-point victory over the Miami Dolphins. Ward had seven receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown. His 21-yard touchdown gave the Steelers the lead in the second quarter.
Ward made a brilliant play ducking under a Benny Sapp tackle while keeping his feet in bounds. He proceeded up field and broke through a Chris Clemons arm tackle attempt and spun his way into the end zone.
He made another fantastic catch in tight coverage for 26 yards over Benny Sapp, again. The play should have led to a field goal before the quarter ended, but the Steelers offense sputtered to end the half.
Still one of the premier wide outs in the game, Ward continues to make big plays to help his team win games.
9. Matt Ryan, ATL
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Matt Ryan had his best game of the season. He made strong, accurate throws throughout the 39-32 home win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ryan did throw an interception in the game, but he also completed 24-of-33 attempted passes (72.7 completion percentage) for 299 yards and three touchdowns.
Ryan threw a dart to Brian Finneran to get things rolling for the Falcons. Ryan found Finneran in the back of the end zone behind the Bengals defense and provided a strike that only Finneran could catch.
Ryan looked good all day, making big throws down the field, to the sidelines, and over the middle. The Falcons were balanced on offense all afternoon and it was Ryan’s hot start that made it possible.
8. Steve Johnson, BUF
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Despite playing for the lowly Buffalo Bills, Steve Johnson has been getting it done statistically in his third season.
Johnson entered Week 7 with four touchdowns in five games.
Johnson led the team Week 7 with eight receptions for 158 yards. His 33-yard touchdown in the second quarter gave the Bills a 14-point lead. On a simple fly route, Johnson sped past the Baltimore secondary and was too fast to catch up to. Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Johnson in stride, and Johnson ran right into the end zone.
Although for a losing team, Johnson is putting up numbers. The Bills have been competing in most of their games over the past month, and Steve Johnson has played a major role.
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7. Michael Turner, ATL
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Michael Turner finally looked like the star he was becoming two seasons ago. His running helped open things for Matt Ryan and the passing attack because the Bengals had to respect Turner.
On 23 carries, Turner abused the Bengals defense for 121 yards and two touchdowns while adding two catches for 23 yards. His three-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter sealed the game for the Falcons.
His signature run of the day came with under six minutes left in the second quarter when the Bengals stacked the box with eight defenders.
He made six Bengals defenders miss, and broke through tackle attempts before finally being brought down by two defenders.
Michael Turner looked like the ‘Burner’ of old, running through people Week 7.
6. David Gettis, CAR
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Rookie David Gettis was the key to the Carolina Panthers’ 23-20 upset home win over the San Francisco 49ers.
With Steve Smith back in the lineup, defenses had to shift their attention to the veteran. This left the rookie Gettis to roam freely and put up a career day in just his sixth game of the season.
He came into the game with 10 receptions for 119 yards and zero touchdowns.
He had eight receptions for 125 yards and two scores in the contest.
His first career touchdown came on an amazing route that left Nate Clements sitting on the ground. His first move to the sideline made Clements slip. Gettis then cut back inside and was left wide open in the front of the end zone for the easy score to tie the game.
In the fourth quarter, Gettis once again beat Nate Clements and the 49ers’ secondary on a play action pass for 39 yards. This led to a scoring opportunity but Gettis dropped the pass in the end zone on fourth down that would have tied the game.
Gettis would make up for his drop with less than two minutes to go in the game.
Streaking up the sideline, Gettis got a step on Shawntae Spencer, and made a nice catch in the end zone falling to the ground to tie the game.
Gettis was the MVP in the Panthers’ first win of the season for his fantastic performance.
5. Lee Evans, BUF
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Lee Evans had arguably the best game of his career in the road loss to Baltimore.
With six receptions for 105 yards and three touchdowns, it’s difficult to believe Evans could have done more to give his team a chance at their first win.
Entering the game with just one touchdown, nobody thought Evans would explode for three touchdowns. He set season highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns against Baltimore.
He had two touchdowns in the first half. His 33-yard touchdown in the first quarter gave the Bills a 7-3 lead. At times, a player will disappear after blowing up in one half of football.
Evans still produced in the second half, scoring a 17-yard touchdown in the third quarter. On a quick, short throw, Evans took the ball near the line of scrimmage and made a defender miss before running into the end zone.
This was the type of performance Buffalo fans have been craving for with Lee Evans. The inconsistent receiver had a career day in the losing effort.
4. Ryan Fitzpatrick, BUF
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Ryan Fitzpatrick has been great for the Bills since taking over the starting position.
While they don’t have a win to show for it, Fitzpatrick has kept his team competing in most of his starts.
Fitzpatrick came out Week 7 with great accuracy to start the game. He led his offense down the field with little rushing attack throughout the game.
While he threw two interceptions, Fitzpatrick was on point throughout the game and completed passes to eight different receivers.
He threw four touchdowns for 374 yards as he completed 29-of-43 passes (67.4 completion percentage).
Fitzpatrick and the Bills came out firing, playing like the team they should…with nothing to lose. Unfortunately, a fumble in overtime by Shawn Nelson was the deciding factor. However, Fitzpatrick seemed to do all he could to lead his team to a huge upset road win.
3. Roddy White, ATL
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White turned in one of the best games of his career against a good Bengals secondary. Roddy White was getting it done all across the field.
He made plays out of short gains, taking a quick pass over the middle and turning it up field for 46 yards as he ran past defenders and knocked out of bounds.
He made a great catch falling down while going towards the middle of the field. To start the second quarter he made a fantastic one-handed catch in tight coverage by the sideline.
He beat the secondary deep on several plays, including a great 43-yard touchdown that he bobbled as he fell down but still managed to hang on.
On his 11-yard touchdown, he was wide open in front of the end zone. On the two-point conversion, he jumped up as high as he could and caught the ball at its highest point and came down with the critical completion.
He finished his brilliant day with 11 receptions for 201 yards and two touchdowns in one of the best receiving performance of the season.
2. Kenny Britt, TEN
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Kenny Britt had a rough week heading into the home game against the Philadelphia Eagles. His brawl caused head coach Jeff Fisher to bench Britt for the first quarter of play.
It appears that this was the motivation Britt needed to get things going for himself.
Britt proved his critics wrong by playing the best game of his career in three quarters.
Britt gave the Titans their first lead of the game in the second quarter with a nice, acrobatic touchdown catch in tight coverage.
The big, physical receiver abused the Eagles’ secondary throughout the game.
Britt scored an 80-yard touchdown because he was able to beat the secondary deep, but had to come back to the under thrown ball. As he caught the ball he was able to slip past defenders on his way back up field and turned on the jets on his way into the end zone.
Britt was a man on a mission. He repeatedly shook off defenders to get open, but was also dominant on jump balls.
On his third touchdown of the game to give the Titans the lead, Britt split between three defenders in the end zone to get wide open for the 16-yard score.
Britt finished the day with seven receptions for 225 yards and three touchdowns.
1. Darren McFadden, OAK
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The Raiders have been up and down this season but Darren McFadden, when healthy, looks like one of the best players in the game in his third season.
McFadden had a career day in the road rout of the Denver Broncos.
McFadden missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, but no one would have ever known.
Things have clearly clicked for McFadden, who looks stronger and faster than ever this season.
On just 16 carries, McFadden gutted the Broncos defenders for 165 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
He added two receptions for 31 yards and a score.
On a screen pass in the first quarter, McFadden made one defender miss and proceed then ran over Renaldo Hill. Hill tried to grab McFadden’s leg, but McFadden’s second effort gave him his second score of the game.
McFadden’s highlight play came on the 57-yard touchdown where he shredded the Broncos defenders up the middle and to the right side, pushing away a defender while hardly breaking stride.
McFadden’s 196 totals yards and four touchdowns on just 18 touches make him Week 7’s top performer.
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