2024 NFL Week 7: Hart’s Picks

One of my goals this year was to predict every game right for just one entire week of games. I came very close in Week 6 by correctly picking 13 of 14 games. The only loss? Of course, choosing the Denver Broncos to beat the Los Angeles Chargers .

For clarification, I had the Las Vegas Raiders written in as the team to win, but the paragraph did clearly state I would take the Steelers regardless of who started at quarterback. Thank you to the reader who pointed out that error. It has since been corrected to reflect the intent.

With last week's impressive pick performance, I'm sitting at 57-35 on the season. This week there 15 matchups since only the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears are on their bye weeks.

Without further ado, here are my Week 7 predictions which likely won't be even close to as good as last week. Enjoy!

Thursday Night Football – Denver Broncos at New Orleans Saints

Denver blew an opportunity to be 4-2 heading into Sean Payton's return to the bayou. Now the pressure is on to ensure the team stays above .500 and in the playoff race. Bo Nix will go up against Spencer Rattler in a battle of rookie quarterbacks. I think this will be a very close game, but I'm taking the Broncos. Don't let me down this week!

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) – New England PatriotsJacksonville Jaguars

A battle of 1-5 teams occurs when the Patriots head to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars. The Jaguars have one of the worst defenses in the NFL and the Patriots have one of the worst offenses. Drake Maye gets the start again for the Patriots. Can he do enough to win? I'm not so sure, so I'm going to take Jacksonville at home.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) – Tennessee TitansBuffalo Bills

The Bills made a splash this week trading for Amari Cooper. I'm not sure if he is going to suit up for them, but nevertheless—I'm taking Buffalo in this one because they are clearly the better football team.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) – Detroit LionsMinnesota Vikings

The Lions suffered a serious blow losing star defensive end Aiden Hutchinson for the year after a brutal injury. The Vikings are still undefeated, but this week I think they have met their match with the Lions who have been playing good ball. If the Lions win, they'll have first place in a super competitive NFC North.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) – Seattle SeahawksAtlanta Falcons

This game is a tale of two teams trending in different directions. The Falcons are winners of three in a row and after a hot start, the Seahawks have endured three losses. Positive momentum and hosting the game at home has me picking Atlanta.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) – Cincinatti Bengals at Cleveland Browns

Both of these teams are underperforming, but Cleveland is easily one of the worst organizations in all of football. Hard for me to pick them for any game given how bad Deshaun Watson is at quarterback and the fact they just traded away their best receiver. I've got the Bengals here.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) –Philadelphia EaglesNew York Giants

Neither of these teams have been impressive. The Eagles certainly haven't looked like a big-time contender whilst the Giants are absolutely putrid on offense. This game will be a scrappy rival game, but I'll take the Eagles in this divisional matchup.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) – Miami DolphinsIndianapolis Colts

The Colts are expected to have Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson back for this game. That should make enough of a difference to beat Miami who have only scored 60 points this year. They scored more points in one game against Denver last season. Pretty wild to think about.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Early Game) – Houston TexansGreen Bay Packers

This is probably my favorite game of the week. Two high-powered offenses hitting their stride and performing at a high level. The real question will be whose defense can do enough to help get their team the victory? I know a lot of folks are picking the hometown team at Lambeau, but I think Houston gets to 6-1 with a big victory on Sunday.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Afternoon Game) – Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Rams

The Rams are sitting in the cellar of the NFC West at 1-4 and are on the verge of being out of the playoff picture if they can't find a way to scrape together a win against the Raiders. Their offense hasn't done well through five games, but with extra week to prepare, I think they can start heading in the right direction beating Las Vegas.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Afternoon Game) – Carolina PanthersWashington Commanders

The Panthers have already given up 203 points on the season. Now they have to face Jayden Daniels and a powerful Commanders offense who hung tough with the Ravens last weekend but fell just short. I've got Daniels and company rebounding at home by multiple scores. This game won't even be close.

Winner:

Sunday Football (Afternoon Game) – Kansas City Chiefs at the San Francisco 49ers

My gut tells me to pick the 49ers at home, but the Chiefs are undefeated. Some way, somehow, they always manage to find a way to win. It's frustrating as a Broncos fan, but what can you do? I'm going with the Chiefs.

Winner:

Sunday Night Football – New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers

The Jets secured a trade for Davante Adams, but they are most certainly a team in disarray. The Steelers are expected to start Russell Wilson for the first time this season. If Najee Harris can perform like he did last week, that'll help the cause for the black and gold.

Winner:

Monday Night Football (Game 1) – Baltimore RavensTampa Bay Buccaneers

If you love watching offenses score a lot of points—this game is an absolute must watch. These two offenses are among the highest scoring in the entire league, so I expect this to be an absolute shootout. That'll be fun for Monday Night Football! I'm going to pick the Ravens to win this one.

Winner:

Monday Night Football (Game 2) –Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona Cardinals

Justin Herbert picked apart the Broncos' defense in the first half last week but struggled in the second half after Vance Joseph made some adjustments. However, the Cardinals have had some major issues stopping teams defensively. They have allowed some of the most passing touchdowns and yards to date. The Chargers are playing phenomenal defense too—which I think is the dealbreaker here.