Can you say “witnesses to history?” That sums up Week Seven in general. The great Peyton Manning finally broke Brett Favre’s precious touchdown record and now holds it all to himself (with Demaryius Thomas to thank).
Then you have Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys continuing their rise to the top of the NFL with a victory over the rival New York Giants, while DeMarco Murray continues his record breaking season with 913 rushing yards in just seven games. The Arizona Cardinals continue to be a threat in the NFC, Tom Brady and the Patriots won a Thursday Night thriller off a blocked field goal against the Jets, the Rams special teams pulled out two incredible trick plays, Sammy Watkins again continues to make an impact on the Bills offense, Russell Wilson became the first quarterback EVER to pass for 300+ yards while rushing for 100+, and the Jaguars got their first win of the season.
With all that in mind, it isn’t easy for me to award the best from Week Seven. But I must, and the show must go on. I present NFL Week Seven Awards.
Best QB: Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos)
Should this really come as a surprise? Peyton Manning continues to teach the art of quarterbacking with ease. As well as breaking Favre’s touchdown record, Manning threw 22/26 (84.6 completion %, with two dropped passes as well) for 318 yards, four touchdowns, no picks, a 157.2 rating, and a 99.4 QBR.
Peyton was near flawless Sunday night, making the big-time throws, including a beautiful touchdown pass to Wes Welker. But of course, it was his wingman Demaryius Thomas (no pun intended) that got his record breaking 509th touchdown pass. Manning doesn’t have the strongest arm anymore, but more than makes up for it with the best football smarts in the country, expertly reading a good Vic Fangio 49ers defense and doing an excellent job of leading his receivers.
His touchdown record is the only thing that beats that new car smell.
Honorable Mentions: Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson
Best RB: Denard Robinson (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Give the Jaguars credit. They took advantage of a Browns team that didn’t take them seriously, and sent Cleveland a wake up call.
That came mostly because of Denard Robinson. In just his second season, Robinson has earned his breakout game, dominating the Browns rush defense, breaking tackles, and guiding the Jaguars to excellent field position, and ultimately, their first win of the season.
Including a long of 20 yards, Robinson rushed for 127 yards, a touchdown, and on 5.8 yards per carry. It was a workhouse day for the second-year running back, who provided the spark in a 24-6 Jacksonville victory.
And yes, this is THE VERY SAME DENARD ROBINSON that played quarterback at college for Michigan. Not bad at all.
Honorable Mentions: DeMarco Murray, Chris Ivory, Jerick McKinnon, Arian Foster
Best WR: Demaryius Thomas (Denver Broncos)
Winners get wings, and Demaryius Thomas has earned his second “wide receiver of the Week” award of 2014 (I gave him the award in Week Five). As well as catching Peyton’s record breaking touchdown pass, Demaryius continued his case as the best receiver in the game.
I haven’t been quiet about my fandom of Demaryius’ yards after catch (YAC) style of play. His quick athleticism and speed is a deadly combo when included with Peyton’s laser rocket arm. Thomas caught eight receptions for 171 yards, two touchdowns, a long of 49 yards, and 21.4 yards per catch, as he helped the Broncos easily beat the 49ers 42-17.
Eat your heart out, Calvin Johnson, there’s a new sheriff on the block.
Honorable Mentions: Sammy Watkins, Golden Tate, Dez Bryant, Doug Baldwin
Best TE: Gavin Escobar (Dallas Cowboys)
The Cowboys offense is among the NFL’s best, and with a new set piece in second year tight end Gavin Escobar, it looks to get even better.
Tony Romo’s underrated mobility in the pocket and Escobar’s ability to get open connected perfectly on Sunday against the Giants, as Escobar caught two of his three receptions for touchdowns, while finishing with 65 yards and 21.7 yards per catch.
How about them Cowboys?
Honorable Mentions: Greg Olsen, Cooper Helfet, Larry Donnell, Rob Gronkowski
Defensive Player of the Week: DeMarcus Ware (Denver Broncos)
Ware in his first year with the Broncos defense has already made a huge impact. On Sunday night, DeMarcus and the defense prevented Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers offense from making the game close.
Ware became a nightmare for San Francisco, with all four of his tackles going solo, with three sacks, three tackles for a loss, and four quarterback hits. The defensive end had quite the night as he feasted on Kaepernick and helped Peyton Manning’s historic day become more special.
Better ingredients, better defense.
Best Kicker: Shaun Suisham (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Though not talked about a whole lot, Shaun Suisham gave the Steelers the points needed to win, going 3/3 from his kicks (including a long of 44), and 3/3 from XP. Suisham contributed to the Steelers’ 30-23 victory over the Texans on Monday night.
Biggest Upset: St. Louis Rams
What occurred in the game has been talked about throughout the entire country already, so I’ll try and make this brief.
The Rams entered Sunday 1-4 and ready to get their butts kicked by an angry Seahawks team that came off a devastating loss at home to the Dallas Cowboys the previous week. Apparently St. Louis didn’t get the memo, as they escaped with a 28-26 victory at home.
This included two trick plays on special teams. The first came when Stedman Bailey disguised that he caught the punt perfectly, and with the Seahawks completely off guard, ran it for 90 yards and the touchdown. The second came in the fourth quarter, when Jeff Fisher decided to fake punt it on fourth and three from the Rams 18. Punter Johnny Hekker threw a perfect pass to Benny Cunningham, once again catching Seattle off guard, as St Louis later hung on for the victory (BS fumble calls aside).
Russell Wilson had a terrific day, but Austin Davis came away with the win, only missing on three of his 21 passes, and he ended up throwing for 152 yards, two touchdowns, and a 96.3 QBR to go with a 128.6 rating. Rookie Tre Mason also rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown.
It wasn’t exactly the Greatest Show on Turf, but it was enough to beat the defending champs, whose world has been turned upside down.
Best Team: Indianapolis Colts
After starting 0-2, the Colts surged and have earned a 5-2 record, with the latest victim being the Cincinnati Bengals, who they destroyed 27-0 at home.
Quarterback Andrew Luck continued his incredible year of passing, throwing for 344 yards and two touchdowns. It wasn’t the prettiest of his games, as he earned a 49.2 QBR, but it was his fifth consecutive game with 300+ yards passing, tying Peyton’s 2009 streak for the Colts franchise record.
What was really surprising was Trent Richardson. Rushing for 77 yards and 5.5 yards per carry (including a long of 11), nobody expected T-Rich to have an efficient game such as this after struggling for most of his career as a Colt. Backing him up was Ahmad Bradshaw, who rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown. T.Y. Hilton had another great game, as he caught seven passes for 107 yards.
As you can imagine, the Colts defense did their job against a struggling Andy Dalton and company, completing four sacks, six tackles for a loss, nine deflected passes, and nine QB hits. This came despite the Colts offense turning it over twice on fumbles.
It was another convincing victory for Andrew Luck and company.
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