Seahawks QB Russell Wilson lost one of his most dangerous, if most underperforming, playmakers on offense when the team traded Harvin to the Jets last week.
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Considering his relatively low impact with the Seahawks in any game other than Superbowl XLVIII, the loss of WR/KR Percy Harvin should not be considered a major one for the defending Champions. And yet, in the wake of the trade, details have emerged indicating that Harvin was a locker room cancer causing fights and taking himself out of games where he was not seeing the ball enough. But by contrast, reports from the players themselves – especially star RB Marshawn Lynch – indicate that the team was very disappointed by the loss.
But more-so than losing who only had 23 regular season receptions in 6 total games played prior to Superbowl XLVIII, the controversial move may be a distraction, as many reporters will be eager to hear the Seahawks talk about losing Harvin following Sunday’s game against the Rams. Head coach Pete Carroll has done a great job balancing the team’s trash-talking with staying distraction-free even under the worse circumstances, but it is worth wondering if Carroll himself will get any flak for not being able to control Harvin, if indeed he was the bad egg people are making him out to be.
Here are the picks for Week 7 of the NFL season:
Indianapolis Colts over Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals haven’t won a game in over a month and that may remain the case as they go up against a surging Colts team.
Seattle Seahawks over St. Louis Rams – No Harvin, no problems. As bad as the Seahawks offense may look, the Rams is worse. If the Seahawks are destined for more losses after losing their deep threat, it won’t be today.
Baltimore Ravens over Atlanta Falcons – The one thing these two teams have in common is that they both scored over 40 points against the Buccaneers. Outside of that, the Ravens are simply a more complete team on offense and defense.
Chicago Bears over Miami Dolphins – The defensive playcalling of Miami is highly questionable and a team can’t afford to be lazy against a pass happy offense – especially one with the big-play receiving corps of the Bears.
New Orleans Saints over Detroit Lions – This counts as an upset considering the Saints road woes, but Drew Brees will have TE Jimmy Graham back in limited action at least, so that should create some critical matchup problems for the Lions.
Cleveland Browns over Jacksonville Jaguars – This feels like a letdown game for the Browns against a Jagaurs team that hasn’t even scored 20 points in a game yet. But they deserve the benefit of the doubt at least for now after throttling Pittsburgh last week.
Buffalo Bills over Minnesota Vikings – This won’t be the important big win new owner Terry Pegula wanted to see last week against the Patriots, but it’s a start against a struggling Vikings team.
Green Bay Packers over Carolina Panthers – The Packers are 2-0 at home and have played 2 of their 3 best games this season. Not to mention Aaron Rodgers leads an all-around better team than Carolina.
Washington over Tennessee Titans – When Kirk Cousins is turnover free he looks like one of the best QBs in football. When he isn’t, he looks an awful lot like Titans QB Jake Locker.
San Diego Chargers over Kansas City Chiefs – Don’t be too surprised if the Chiefs pull the upset considering their incredible ability to run the ball, but still – Philip Rivers is playing the best football of his impressive career and the Chargers are only 5 days away from critical a matchup with the Broncos. They will play this game like it’s a mini-playoff game.
Arizona Cardinals over Oakland Raiders – With Carson Palmer making a mini-homecoming in Oakland, it’s worth wondering if maybe keeping Palmer an extra year or two would have made a difference in the team’s trajectory.
New York Giants over Dallas Cowboys – Lost in how incredible the Cowboys have looked and how bad the Giants have looked is that the Giants are 4-1 in the new Cowboys Stadium, with their sole loss coming as a narrow 36-31 win by the Cowboys last year.
Denver Broncos over San Francisco 49ers – Whether or not the 49ers win is dependent on whether Colin Kaepernick and the running game can play well. Peyton Manning on the other hand is only 2 TDs away from the all-time passing record – he will, of course, show up strong in this game.
Pittsburgh Steelers over Houston Texans – Only way Houston wins is if J.J. Watt gets Ben Roethlisberger on his back. But some of the best defenders in the last decade have tried and failed to do so – not to mention Pittsburgh can simply run the ball away from Watt when they need to.
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