{"id":229164,"date":"2025-10-16T14:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T14:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/229164\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T14:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T14:06:11","slug":"a-massive-monday-night-clash-mike-vrabel-returns-to-tennessee-and-the-icy-hot-bowl-what-to-watch-from-week-7-in-the-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/229164\/","title":{"rendered":"A massive Monday night clash, Mike Vrabel returns to Tennessee and \u2018the Icy Hot Bowl\u2019: What to watch from Week 7 in the NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n It\u2019s a weekend chock full of interesting NFL storylines on both sides of the Atlantic, capped off by an NFC showdown between two of the league\u2019s top offenses.\n <\/p>\n

\n Here are five things to look forward to in the NFL\u2019s Week 7.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions are two of the favorites to take the NFC crown this season, in large part because of their electric offenses and two of the least talked about star quarterbacks in the league.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Bucs\u2019 Baker Mayfield and the Lions\u2019 Jared Goff have been the top two QBs in both passing yards and touchdown passes in each of the last two seasons. Goff already has a league-leading 14 TD<\/a> passes this season, Mayfield has 12.\n <\/p>\n

\n But, for whatever reason, you don\u2019t see those two being featured in breakouts or roundtable discussions nearly as often as other signal-callers. Baker\u2019s Bucs have a 5-1 record this season, tied with the Colts for the best record in the league.\n <\/p>\n

\n And Mayfield is must-see TV. He could very well end up winning league MVP if he continues ripping and running the way he\u2019s been.\n <\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s an awesome Monday night matchup: Two former #1 overall picks \u2013 who were traded away from former teams but are now dominating with their new ones \u2013 are about to pop off in primetime and get the shine they deserve.\n <\/p>\n

\n Yeah, you heard me. I\u2019m a bit biased on this. So what? Don\u2019t @ me.\n <\/p>\n

\n I\u2019m justified, too. The Atlanta Falcons just pulled off one of their biggest wins in years, taking down the Buffalo Bills<\/a> on Monday Night Football. Led by Bijan Robinson, ATL leads the league<\/a> in rushing, at 151.2 yards per game. They\u2019re second in the league in total yards per game at 378.8.\n <\/p>\n

\"Atlanta<\/p>\n

\n And that defense under new DC Jeff Ulbrich\u2019s system is starting to click. They lead the NFL in yards allowed, at just 253.4 yards per game. They\u2019ve held opponents to fewer than 300 yards every game this regular season\n <\/p>\n

\n Opposing QBs are averaging only a 57.7% completion rate, tied for best rate in the NFL. The Falcons head to the Bay Area to face the San Francisco 49ers next on Sunday Night Football.\n <\/p>\n

\n The AFC North showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals will be historic \u2013 it\u2019s just the second time in NFL history the opposing starting QBs are 40 or older.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pittsburgh\u2019s Aaron Rodgers, 41, and Cincinnati\u2019s Joe Flacco, 40, will go toe-to-toe in what Rodgers\u2019 teammate Cam Heyward called the Icy Hot Bowl. The only other time two 40-year-old starting QBs tussled was when the New Orleans Saints\u2019 Drew Brees took down Tom Brady\u2019s Bucs twice in the 2020 regular season, but Brady had the last laugh beating Brees in the playoffs en route to winning the Super Bowl.\n <\/p>\n

\"Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

\n The Steelers-Bengals game presents an incredible nod to human potential, and a great chance to see two old dudes \u2013 both of whom just happen to be Super Bowl-winning QBs like Brady and Brees \u2013 duke it out.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Tennessee Titans fired head coach Mike Vrabel in 2024. He\u2019d guided Tennessee to back-to-back AFC South championships in 2020 and 2021. His Titans were the No. 1 seed in the AFC in 2021, the same year he was named NFL Coach of the Year.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tennessee then had two-straight losing seasons and apparently ownership thought Vrabel was the problem.\n <\/p>\n

\n Welp.\n <\/p>\n

\n Since then, Brian Callahan had amassed a 4-19 record as Tennessee\u2019s head coach. They fired him<\/a> on Monday, interestingly the very week that Vrabel returns to face his former team.\n <\/p>\n

\"Head<\/p>\n

\n Vrabel, in his first season as the head coach in New England, already has four wins, with his Patriots sitting atop the AFC East at 4-2.\n <\/p>\n

\n Fun fact: I used to play against Vrabel. One year, while playing for the Buffalo Bills, I had to block him when he was on the Patriots\u2019 punt team. He got frustrated when he couldn\u2019t get off the line, so he reached up under my facemask, grabbed my neck and started strangling me in the middle of the play. Dude is a savage competitor.\n <\/p>\n

\n If you want to see a good old-fashioned passionate butt-kicking, be sure to watch Vrabel get some revenge in Tennessee as he, Drake Maye and the Pats continue to roll.\n <\/p>\n

Rams, Jags and a spot of tea<\/p>\n

\n Finally, NFL fans in England are getting treated to an enticing matchup.\n <\/p>\n

\n For just the second time since 2007 in the NFL London series, both teams have a winning record going into the game. The Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars are 4-2 \u2013 and both have the potential to be playoff teams.\n <\/p>\n

\n Jacksonville looks like an entirely different animal under first-year head coach Liam Cohen. They already have as many wins as they had all of last season.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Rams, meanwhile, have been practicing on a baseball field all week. They transformed the Baltimore Orioles\u2019 Camden Yards into a football field, as LA decided to stay in the Baltimore area after playing the Ravens. Smart move as they\u2019ll now have about five or six hours knocked off of their flight to the British capital.\n <\/p>\n

\n Away @ home\n <\/p>\n

\n Thursday\n <\/p>\n

\n Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals, 8:15 p.m ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Sunday\n <\/p>\n

\n Los Angeles Rams @ Jacksonville Jaguars (game in London, UK), 9:30 a.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Philadelphia Eagles @ Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n New England Patriots @ Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Carolina Panthers @ New York Jets, 1 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n New Orleans Saints @ Chicago Bears, 1 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Las Vegas Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Indianapolis Colts @ Los Angeles Chargers, 4:05 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n New York Giants @ Denver Broncos, 4:05 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Washington Commanders @ Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Atlanta Falcons @ San Francisco 49ers, 8:20 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Monday\n <\/p>\n

\n Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Detroit Lions, 7 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n

\n Houston Texans @ Seattle Seahawks, 10 p.m. ET\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a weekend chock full of interesting NFL storylines on both sides of the Atlantic, capped off by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-229164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}