Week 7 of the 2011 NFL season was defined by a couple blowouts, a few incredible individual performances and a massive trade. There may not have been some of the close games that we love to watch, especially when it came to the Sunday night blowout, but watching a one-sided slaughter can be fun sometimes too, especially when your fantasy team is on the right side of that slaughter.
Monday Night Upset, DeMarco Murray Carson Palmer Trade And Five Things That Made Week 7 Awesome
From DeMarco Murray’s performance to the massive trade between the Raiders and Bengals, here are the five things that made the seventh week of the 2011 NFL season awesome.
Anyway, here are the five things that made the seventh week of the 2011 NFL season awesome.
| DeMarco Murray Ran All Over the Rams |
DeMarco Murray, Dallas' rookie running back, got the start in place of the injured Felix Jones on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams. The Cowboys, up until Week 7, didn't have the greatest running game and had struggled to move the ball down the field on the ground at times. Not anymore.
Murray ran the ball 25 times for 253 yards and a touchdown against the Rams which helped the Cowboys win. Murray’s performance set a new record for the most rushing yards in a game by a Cowboys running back.
| Drew Brees Throws Five Touchdowns |
Everybody knew that the Colts didn't stand much of a chance without Peyton Manning heading into Week 7's game against the Saints in New Orleans. However, how many people would have guessed that the Saints would blow the Colts out by a score of 62-7?
Drew Brees had one of the best games of his career. He completed 31 of 35 passes for 325 yards five touchdowns and no interceptions. That game him a passer rating of at lease one million. Two of his touchdown passes were to Marques Colston, two were to Jimmy Graham and one was to Darren Sproles. If Brees and the Saints continue to perform the way they did this past weekend, they'll go deep into the playoffs.
Rematch between the Saints and Packers anyone?
| The Suck for Luck Campaign is Heating Up |
We're almost to the halfway point of the 2011 season and there are still three winless teams -- the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins and the St. Louis Rams. Of course we all know that Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck will likely be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft and the team who gets that first overall pick would be happy to have him or trade the pick to the highest bidder.
The “Suck for Luck” campaign is heating up. It’s highly unlikely that all three teams finish the season without a single win, but it’s not impossible because they don’t play each other. It will be interesting to see how these three teams finish the season.
| MNF Home Underdog Strikes Again |
If I was a betting man, I would likely put money down on the home underdog of a Monday Night Football game more often than not. Heading into the Monday night game between the Ravens and the Jaguars in Jacksonville, the matchup looked about as one-sided as Sunday night's game between the Saints and Colts did. After all, the Ravens were 5-1 and the Jaguars were 1-5 and rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert had yet to win a game.
All of that didn’t matter.
The Jaguars defense played well and the Ravens offense looked bad. They weren’t even able to get a first down until the third quarter. The Ravens scored a touchdown in the final couple minutes of the game but that wasn’t enough to top the Jaguars four field goals. In the end, the Jaguars beat the Ravens without scoring a single touchdown.
| The Trade |
We have heard over and over and over again from Bengals owner Mike Brown that the team was not going to be trading Carson Palmer because they didn't want to reward Palmer for walking out on the team and on his contract. As we neared the 2011 NFL trade deadline, a trade of Carson Palmer seemed to be the least likely thing that could happen, but not only did it happen but it was huge.
On the heals of losing starting quarterback Jason Campbell, the Ravens not only gave up a first-round pick in 2012 for Palmer but they gave up a conditional second-round pick in 2013 that can become a second first rounder if the Raiders reach the AFC Championship game either this year or next year.
Wow. I mean, I'm a Bengals fan and that blew me away. Brown obviously let Palmer walk because this deal was too good to walk away from. Unfortunately the Palmer traded didn't work out this weekend when he three three interceptions, including a pick-six, against the Kansas City Chiefs, but it's still early. Who knows, Palmer's presence in Oakland may end up being just enough to catapult the Raiders deep into the postseason by the time the season ends.
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