Week 7 was wild. Many games came down to the wire, multiple blockbuster trades occurred, and there wasn’t a lack of controversy this week. The Amari Cooper and Carlos Hyde trades could potentially change the NFL, and Cowboys and Jaguars fans know that. Here is a recap of a wild week 7.

The Dallas Cowboys lost 20-17 to the Washington Redskins on a controversial snap infraction call that brought the potential game-tying field goal from 47 yards back to 52 yards. Kicker Brett Maher missed the 52-yard field goal to give Washington the win. The flag was called against long snapper LP Ladouceur. “I just adjusted down so I could put my hands on the bottom of it so I could snap it in the right direction,” Ladouceur said, via ESPN. “Exact same thing I’ve been doing for 14 years … I’m not even trying to get him offside. I know the situation. Just too bad” (courtesy of sportingnews.com). “The illegal ball movement by the center causes the defense to come across the neutral zone and contact a lineman,” NFL VP of officiating Al Riveron wrote in a tweet sent out after the game (courtesy of sportingnews.com). According to Tadd Haislop of sportingnews.com, the words “illegal ball movement” are not written anywhere in the NFL rulebook. Many fans, including myself, believe that the flag should’ve instead been against Washington for offsides, which would’ve made it a 42-yard field goal to send the game to overtime. Nonetheless, the Cowboys offense still looked bad despite the officials taking away a chance at the win. The Redskins defense made Ezekiel Elliott a non-factor for the Cowboys offense, only allowing him to rush for 34 yards on 15 carries. “He’s a great, great player,” Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said. “It takes all 11 men on defense to get him stopped, and our defensive line played outstanding” (courtesy of espn.com). The Cowboys are now 3-4, while the Redskins improved to 4-2.

The Chicago Bears nearly sent Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots to overtime on a last-second Hail Mary that was caught at the one-yard line, but wide receiver Kevin White couldn’t quite get in the endzone, meaning the Patriots escaped with a 38-31 win. The Patriots defense swarmed in to stop White from getting the touchdown. “Just tried to fight and get in,” he said. “Tried to change the game, make a big-time play. So after I caught it, I thought I had a chance, like I said, for a split-second and once I felt a bunch of guys I knew it was over” (courtesy of espn.com). The Patriots earned their first road win of the year after losing to Detroit and Jacksonville. “You hold your breath when I saw him jump up and catch it,” Patriots QB Tom Brady said about the last-second Hail Mary. “I didn’t have the angle on the goal line. He was getting close to the end zone. They were pushing and we were pushing. It was probably a half yard or a yard, pretty close. Good for us to hold them out” (courtesy of espn.com). The Patriots improved to 5-2, while the Bears are now 3-3.

Multiple trades occurred across the league this week that could change the season for multiple teams. The blockbuster trade on Monday that sent wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys could change the whole offense for the Cowboys with the passing game being boosted by Cooper’s presence. In exchange, the Raiders acquired the Cowboys 2019 first round pick. For the Raiders, this is their 2nd blockbuster trade this season, as they traded Khalil Mack to the Bears earlier in the season. They will now have three first round draft picks at the 2019 NFL draft. Carlos Hyde was also traded to the Jaguars as the Browns received a fifth round pick in the transaction on Friday. Hyde should bolster the ailing run game of the Jaguars—that is, without Leonard Fournette, whose hamstring injury is the biggest question in the whole league right now. For fantasy owners, Nick Chubb would be a great acquisition off the waiver wire, as he is in line to get the bulk of the carries for the Browns. Eli Apple was also traded from the New York Giants to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a fourth round pick and seventh round pick.

Multiple teams came out of week 7 in the iUP fantasy football league with huge wins that could change the whole season. Here are my power rankings after week 7:

1.  Team Phoenix Pugs (6-1)-This team finally lost in week 7 in a nail-biting contest with Todd the God in which the Pugs lost by only 1.4 points. Still, this team is loaded with talent. The Chiefs trio of Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, and Kareem Hunt is still very productive, so this team should continue to win.
2. Watson’s Warriors (5-2)-A win over Zeke Squad in week 7 was huge for this team, but the biggest question for this team continues to be the status of Le’Veon Bell. Fortunately, the Warriors have James Conner, so they will have a replacement as long as Bell continues to sit out.
3. B-Town BroccoliFlorets (5-2)-Rookie running back Saquon Barkley continues to impress, and it’s helping this team tremendously. An all around good performance from the whole team got this team the win over Teenage Mutant Ninja Bortles despite the absence of Melvin Gordon. When Gordon returns, this team will be dangerous.
4. Zeke Squad (4-3)-Injuries ravaged this week’s game against Watson’s Warriors, with both LeSean McCoy and Sony Michel suffering injuries early in their respective games. Fortunately for this team, they have Nick Chubb and Doug Martin on the bench, and both McCoy’s and Michel’s injuries are not serious.
5. Clarke’s Batman (4-3)-Clarke’s Batman continues to win, but this week’s contest against Shake N Baker was not pretty for either side. Batman only scored 133.6 points and no one outside of James White was particularly great. Hopefully, this is just a one-week thing for this squad.
6. Todd the God (3-4)-The cards finally lined up for Todd the God, and this squad won a high scoring battle against Team Phoenix Pugs. If Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks continue to produce, great things are ahead for this team.
7. Shake N Baker (3-4)-The huge game by Mitchell Trubisky would’ve given this team the win against Clarke’s Batman if he wasn’t on the bench. The great running back trio of Phillip Lindsay, Jordan Howard, and Alvin Kamara has continued to pay off, and it will only get better when Leonard Fournette is well enough to return.
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Bortles (3-4)-This team has a lot of strength at wide receiver, with Julio Jones and Golden Tate, but could use work at running back. Dalvin Cook is out, and Mark Ingram has a lesser role in the Saints offense with Alvin Kamara getting the bulk of the carries. This team won’t win many games until this issue is resolved.
9. Team Lane (1-6)-This team barely pulled out a win over Team buc-ees, but this team still needs help at running back. With Joe Mixon as the best back on this roster, it’s time to aggressively pursue a running back.
10. Team Buc-ees (1-6)-Marshawn Lynch getting hurt affects this team tremendously at running back. Fortunately, Tevin Coleman is a serviceable backup that can be placed alongside Latavius Murray. Still, it may be time to pursue a top running back to bolster this team.

My MVP Rankings
1.  Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City
2.  Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams
3.  Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans
4.  Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas
5.  Tom Brady, QB, New England

Sources:
Haislop, Tadd. “Questionable Snap Infraction Call Costs Cowboys against Redskins.” Sporting News, 22 Oct. 2018, www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/cowboys-snap-infraction-redskins-video-call-penalty-field-goal/dis7t8y0j9y71irys73auzcwa.

Press, Associated. “Kerrigan’s Strip-Sack, Missed FG Help ‘Skins Top ‘Boys 20-17.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 22 Oct. 2018, www.espn.com/nfl/recap?gameId=401030837.

Press, Associated. “Brady Throws 3 TDs, Patriots Hang on to Beat Bears 38-31.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 21 Oct. 2018, www.espn.com/nfl/recap?gameId=401030832.

Written on October 24th, 2018