What’s Hot and What’s Knott in Football – Week 7

By Rhys Knott

Resurrections are hot in Week 7. Jalen Hurts resurrected the Eagles’ pass game. The Bengals’ offense could be about to resurrect Joe Flacco’s playoff hopes, Ja’Marr Chase is definitely resurrecting Zac Taylor’s career, and Aaron Rodgers is single-handedly resurrecting the tight end position! 

Mac Jones’ first four starts in San Francisco have been hot, and does Greg Newsome not like London! 

Week 7 appeared to be the least inspiring week of the 2024 schedule, and, with one notable exception in the Mile High City, it duly delivered.

A Confusing Falcons Backfield

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What’s Hot in Football – Week 7

Where to begin? It’s a close-run thing, but Bo Nix has to be slightly hotter than Christian McCaffrey. 

Fourth quarter, Bo Nix to be more precise. The Giants seemed to be cruising to a first road win with Jaxson Dart under centre, then Nix (with a little help from two missed PATs from the Giants) showed why he was a 12th overall pick. Dart actually threw for more yards and touchdowns, but Nix’s legs made the difference. 

On the subject of using your legs, Christian McCaffrey seems to be back to his best. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that leaning heavily on one player will inevitably damage that player. Kyle Shanahan needs a plan B, and he needs one quick! 

In 2025, not much is hotter than Ja’Marr Chase; his 16 catches against the Steelers set a new single-game reception record for the Bengals! 25-year-old Chase rattled up 161 yards on those catches! Chase also gained nine of the Bengals’ 27 first downs; the Steelers’ receiving corps only combined for 12! 

Chase didn’t just put the Steelers’ pass catchers to shame. The rest of the Bengals’ team only managed 181 receiving yards between them! 

There’s a hint of “You had one job” about the Steelers’ defensive backfield. After Jalen Ramsey’s two-sack game when the defense forced Dillon Gabriel to attempt 52 passes in Week 6, the Steelers’ defense was looking dominant. 

The only pass catchers hotter than Chase are Devonta Smith, who racked up a whopping 183 receiving yards against Brian Flores’ god awful Vikings defense. Smith helped Jalen Hurts record a perfect passer rating!

Chargers’ rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II is second on the list; the Charger gobbled up seven catches for 164 yards!

After Chase torched Pittsburgh, you might think Joe Flacco has some sort of special hold over the Steelers, but that’s far from the case. Thursday night’s win was just his 12th win in 23 attempts! 

The problem seems to be Mike Tomlin’s teams playing Thursday Night Football games on the road. The veteran coach now has a 2-10 record when his team has to travel on a short week (and yes, you’re right, that should probably be in the Knott section). 

Aaron Rodgers’ love affair with tight ends is still hot, though. He had Donald Lee, Jermichael Finley and Robert Tonyan (even Jimmy Graham for a season) in Green Bay. He even made Tyler Conklin the Jets’ fourth most reliable receiver last year (can you imagine such a thing?). 

Rodgers is spoilt for choice in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have four tight ends who have caught passes this season. Pat Freiermuth leads the way after his five for 111 yards and two touchdowns in Cincinnati. Rodgers targeted his tight ends 18 times on Thursday night. 

That’s 53% of the passes he threw against the Bengals. Overall, in 2025, 50% of the passes Rodgers has thrown have been to tight ends!

On the subject of quarterbacks who are putting up numbers, no 49ers’ quarterback has thrown for more passing yards in their first four games than Mac Jones!

Meanwhile, back in New England, Jomes’ replacement, Drake Maye, is breaking Patriots’ quarterback records! It’s not like they’ve had any good quarterbacks before.

And some guy called Patrick Mahomes led a Chiefs offense that completely dominated their divisional game against the Raiders.

Matthew Stafford against the blitz? That’s a hot quarterback right there!

The Rams’ quarterback play isn’t the only hot part of Sean McVay’s 2025 offense, either. 13 personnel is hot in Los Angeles, too.

Some would say throwing interceptions is Knott, but what if taking interceptions is actually hot? Think about that for a second. 

15 players made an interception in Week 7! Only two of them ended their games on the losing team; now that is hot. And continuing a theme from Week 6, interceptions where the quarterback does everything right are back. And goodness me, are they hot!  

Juauan Jennings didn’t help Mac Jones on this one in Santa Clara, but Kaden Elliss’ catch is definitely hot.

Chig Okonkwo gets an assist on Marcus Jones’ pick in Tennessee.

D.J. Turner went full alpha male on D.K. Metcalf; the grip strength here is scalding hot!

And who doesn’t love a big guy pick? Not quite a thicc six for Grover Stewart but still plenty of athletecism.

Winning in-season trades is hot, too. The Browns traded Greg Newsome and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Jaguars for Tyson Campbell and a seventh-round pick. It worked out for the Browns as Campbell hauled in a pick, with a little help from a friend. 

Newsome, on the other hand, has played two games in London in 2025. He lost both of them, and his defenses have conceded 450 yards through the air with seven passing touchdowns! Newsome’s teams have conceded 56 points in total! The worst Newsome since Gavin!

But enough serious stuff, here’s Steve Avilla celebrating the Rams drawing the Jaguars’ defense offside to make a first down. 

What’s Knott in Football – Week 7

Complaining about officiating is Knott, but when everyone except the officials has seen the Eagles’ false start on tush pushes, it’s difficult not to. Ron Tolbert’s crew somehow missed the 49ers’ offensive linemen dragging Christian McCaffrey into the endzone for a touchdown. Even Terry McAulay knows that’s a 10-yard penalty (McCaffrey would have just punched it on the next play, but still). 

On the other side of that coin, conceding penalties is very Knott. Only one of the most penalised teams in Week 7 won their matchup. That was Denver, and that game was an outlier in every conceivable way!  

The Jaguars conceded 119 yards on 13 penalties! This one was the most egregious of them all. 

Elsewhere, the AFC North is very Knott! Those four teams have a combined record of 10-16. But that’s not all, the Ravens have the worst defense in the league, while the Bengals are 30th! Even the better teams in the division are still bad. The Browns’ defense is 22nd for points conceded per game, and the Steelers rank 17th! 

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles those Chargers colour rush uniforms are so Knott! You’d lose too if you were dressed like a banana.

But Cam Ward’s fumble is the most Knott thin you’ll see in Week 7! 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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