Week 7 is the kind of slate survivor pool players circle immediately: a few favorites with real appeal, a few spots that look safer than they might at first glance, and at least one game that could be messier than the spread suggests. After the Arizona Cardinals upset the Los Angeles Rams and wiped out a lot of entries last week, the margin for error feels thinner now. That makes the best picks in Week 7 all the more important.
Minnesota looks like the clearest place to land. The Indianapolis Colts are headed on the road to face a Vikings defense that has been one of the league’s toughest units under Brian Flores, and the timing could hardly be worse for Shane Steichen’s team.
The Colts dropped their Week 6 loss to the Tennessee Titans, then parted ways with general manager Chris Ballard, setting off rumors of a possible fire sale in Indianapolis. Offensively, they enter the week ranked 22nd in total offense, and they’ll need to rely on an inconsistent passing game against the NFL’s fifth-ranked run defense.
Flores’ group has given up only six touchdowns through five games, and while this one may stay close, the Vikings are the side I’d trust most here.
Houston also deserves a serious look, even if the matchup may not deliver the kind of runaway result the betting line hints at. The Texans are back home against the New York Giants after putting together back-to-back wins to steady themselves from an 0-4 start.
The Giants will turn to former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy at quarterback in a game that shapes up as a defense-first fight.
New York’s offense has struggled, but its defense has been solid enough to make life tricky for Houston, which is ranked fifth in pass defense through six games. With David Montgomery sidelined, the Texans may lean more heavily on the passing game, which has been uneven early on.
None of that points to a Giants upset, and I still expect Houston to leave with a 3-4 record, but it does suggest a tighter game than many will want to believe.
Then there’s Pittsburgh, which has the feel of a team hitting its stride at just the right time. The Steelers go to London to face the New Orleans Saints after rallying from a 16-3 fourth-quarter deficit for a 26-19 comeback win.
That was their third game with at least 26 points in four weeks, a sign the offense is finding a rhythm. The Saints bring plenty of issues on defense, ranking 31st in points and 29th in yards allowed, which gives Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh offense a path to another productive day.
But New Orleans also owns the No. 11 scoring offense in football, and Tyler Shough could make things uncomfortable for a Steelers defense that may have trouble shutting the door completely. Even so, the momentum is on Pittsburgh’s side, and Jaylen Warren looks positioned to set the pace as one of the game’s biggest X-factors.
In Other News...
Vikings Could Catch A Break As Colts Injuries Start Looming
The Colts second injury report of the week gave Minnesota a little more to monitor heading into Sundays game at U.S. Bank Stadium. The reports, which track participation from Wednesday through Friday and note designations like IR-OUT and limited work, showed a handful of Indianapolis starters dealing with availability concerns as the weekend draws closer.
Sauce Gardner, Tyler Warren and Rigoberto Sanchez were among the Colts players who were not on the field Thursday, leaving their status worth watching as the week moves along. Indianapolis did have some players move in the right direction on the report, but with no final game designations out yet, the Vikings still have to wait for the last word before knowing exactly who theyll be facing. [Read more 🡒]
Vikings Fans May Have Blamed The Wrong Coach For Last Season
The frustration around last seasons finish still lingers in Minnesota, and it is easy to see why special teams keeps coming up in the discussion. A single kickoff return, along with a handful of other key moments across the year, fed the belief that the Vikings let a playoff spot slip through their hands. But when you zoom out from one play to the broader arc of the season, the blame gets harder to pin on any one coach or unit alone.
Matt Daniels has remained a central figure on that side of the ball, and his work has continued to matter for both special teams and player development. The bigger lesson for the Vikings is that the seasons disappointment was built from more than one breakdown, from quarterback play to coaching decisions to late-game execution, which is why the aftermath still feels unfinished. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Herbert Is Suddenly At Center Of A Chargers Debate
The quarterback market keeps a Minnesota angle in view, even after the Vikings made their own offseason choice by bringing in Kyler Murray and letting Sam Darnold walk. Justin Herbert has been productive across his first six seasons with the Chargers, and the questions around his future have only sharpened the intrigue for teams that are always watching from the edge of a franchise-altering move.
For the Vikings, any Herbert talk is less about immediate need than about the kind of rare opening that can reshape a contender in a hurry. Nothing official has been confirmed, and Los Angeles has given no clear answer on where it stands, but the uncertainty alone is enough to keep Minnesota in the conversation as long as Herbert's status remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]