GAME-DAY NOTES
Facts, figures and story lines for Week 7:
RAVENs QB Lamar Jackson goes into Baltimore’s game vs. Seattle eighth in the NFL — and fourth in the AFC — in rushing with 460 yards (6.7 yards a carry). Says Seattle coach Pete Carroll: “He’s as good as we’ve seen.” Which begs the question …
DON’T The Seahawks watch the game when their own offense is on the field? Russell Wilson is popping up in midseason MVP chatter and for good reason. He’s completing 72.5 percent of his passes for 284 yards a game and has thrown 14 TD passes. He also has yet to be intercepted in 189 attempts while posting a rating of 100 or better in every start.
EAGLEs COACH Doug Pederson insists he didn’t guarantee that Philadelphia would go into Dallas and beat the Cowboys in a game with first place in the NFC East at stake (8:20 p.m., WPXI). What he said was: “We’re going down to Dallas, our guys are gonna be ready to play. And we’re gonna win that football game.” There. The word guarantee is nowhere to be found in those two sentences.
IRONY is the 12th man on the field Sunday at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., when the 49ers visit owner Daniel Snyder’s Redskins. Washington is 1-5 and again looking for a coach. San Francisco is 5-0 and coached by Kyle Shanahan, who was forced out the Redskins revolving door along with father Mike in 2013. In fact, Kyle was one of three up-and-comers on that staff. The
other two? Sean McVay and Matt LaFleur.
BEING WITHOUT Ben Roethlisberger not only hurts the Steelers, but it is also putting a drag on Big Ben’s place on the all-time passing charts. With him out and Eli Manning benched, fellow 2004 draftee Philip Rivers (56,411) would need just 105 passing yards when the Chargers meet the Titans to move into sixth all time.
THE SUDDENLY streaking Raiders will be looking to win their third game in a row when they visit Green Bay (1 p.m., KDKA). If they can pull it off, the three in a row all would have been on the road — something Oakland hasn’t done since the playoffs following the 1980 season.
FYI: More games (51) have been decided by seven points or fewer through six weeks than any other year at that point. This season also is tied for the most one-point games through Week 6 with nine.
Why ARE the Patriots favored by 91⁄2 points Monday night vs. the Jets? Tom Brady is 28-6 against them. Bill Belichick is 18-8 on Monday nights. And perhaps something a little more pertinent: The Patriots defense is giving up 8.0 points a game and has allowed just one passing TD all season.
THIS WEEK’s answer to the question that never gets old: How bad are the Dolphins? Going into their game at Buffalo, the Dolphins have rushed for one touchdown. By comparison, Tom Brady, 42 and slow of foot, already has three this season.