Welcome to Hagan’s Haus, where football is the only thing that matters. You won’t find me in a church on Sunday because football is my religion and the number one priority in my life. I am so excited that the NFL season is finally back in action! I pride myself on studying the game of football. We can’t get all our picks or predictions right, but I am going to leave it here in the open every week for everyone to see. In Hagan’s Haus, it’s all about bragging rights.
Who is the best? Because winning is the only thing that matters. We don’t get points for second place. I challenge you to post comments on your weekly picks and compare them to mine. This isn’t about point spreads. I will give a score prediction, but winning is winning. Doesn’t matter if it’s by an inch or a mile. So try and beat me in picking NFL games. I promise you it won’t be easy, but it will be fun. Here are Hagan’s Haus 2017 week 7 NFL picks.
Last week: 8-6
Overall: 45-45
Teams on byes: Detroit, Houston
Thursday Night
Kansas City Chiefs (5-1) @ Oakland Raiders (2-4):
I want to pick the Raiders but they’ve looked awful the past 4 weeks. Chiefs win 34-27
— Matthew Hagan (@VegRock91) October 19, 2017
Sunday Morning
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3) 20 @ Buffalo Bills (3-2) 23: This is one of the harder games to pick this week. Tampa Bay is underachieving while the Bills are overachieving. Buffalo is doing it with great defensive play giving up just 14.8 points per game, the best mark in the NFL. Tampa Bay is going to struggle offensively in this game. The Bills will defend home field to push themselves to four wins.
Carolina Panthers (4-2) 34 @ Chicago Bears (2-4) 17: The Bears got a big road win but it happened against the Ravens making it seem less impressive. The Chicago defense is playing extremely well despite all their injuries. Stats do not tell the entire story of their defense. On the other side, Mitchell Trubisky still has a long way to go in his development. The Bears will continue to struggle through his development. Cam Newton will go into Chicago and keep the Panther train rolling toward the playoffs.
Baltimore Ravens (3-3) 10 @ Minnesota Vikings (4-2) 20: There is a chance this game sees less than 30 points total. Both teams are led by terrific defenses that don’t give up a lot of points. Minnesota is giving up 17.2 points while the Ravens are giving up 20.7. THe winner of this game will be determined by who has the better offense. Baltimore runs the ball well but Minnesota ranks third in stuffing the run allowing just 78.7 yards per game. The Vikings offense ranks 11th in total yards with 356 per game. Minnesota will make more plays on offense to win the game at home.
Tennessee Titans (3-3) 31 @ Cleveland Browns (0-5) 21: The Browns continue their quarterback carousel as the franchise remains a laughing stock. This week they get to face the Tennessee Titans who are battling to become the AFC South division leaders. The Titans are the fifth best rushing team in the league while the Browns actually excel in their rush defense. Marcus Mariota will be the difference as the Titans send the Browns to 0-6
New Orleans Saints (3-2) 38 @ Green Bay Packers (4-2) 28: The Packers are in trouble and everyone knows it. The offense will be left to Brett Hundley and the run game. Green Bay doesn’t have much of a run game at all and Hundley has very little experience to lean on. The defense can’t stop teams from throwing all over them allowing with all their injuries in the secondary. New Orleans has found their groove since starting 0-2. Drew Brees will throw for over 350 yards as he picks apart the Packers.
Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) 23 @ Indianapolis Colts (2-4) 13: Leonard Fournette may not be fully healthy but it won’t matter. The Jaguars won’t need much offense to win this game. Jacksonville’s defense is the third best pass defense in the NFL allowing just 166 yards per game. Jacoby Brissett will struggle to complete passes on Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye. The Jags will get a ton of sacks and force at least three turnovers to keep pace in the race for the AFC South crown.
Arizona Cardinals (3-3) 27 @ Los Angeles Rams (4-2) 31: This will be one of the best games of the week as the Cardinals travel to Los Angeles. Adrian Peterson will be looking to continue last weeks hot start with his new team. It will be possible too as the Rams rank 29th in stopping the run giving up 139.5 yards per game. Los Angeles, on the other hand, has the highest scoring offense in the NFL. THe Rams are going to make the playoffs this year which is why they must win this game. Todd Gurley will outperform Adrian Peterson to lead his team to a big divisional win.
New York Jets (3-3) 20 @ Miami Dolphins (3-2) 13: Both the Dolphins and Jets are hard teams to figure out. They win games they shouldn’t and lose games everyone thinks they should win. They are two of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL. This will be the second matchup up and the Jets won the first meeting 20-6. This game will be more of the same. New York’s defense will stifle Jay Cutler and Jay Ajaya to sweep the Dolphins.
Saturday Afternoon
Dallas Cowboys (2-3) 34 @ San Francisco 49ers (0-6) 21: This is the perfect game for the Cowboys to spark a win streak. The 49ers are 0-6 and already looking forward to the next John Lynch draft class. San Francisco only averages 18.8 points per game and it won’t be enough to keep up with the Cowboys offense. Ezekiel Elliot will have a huge day to open up the play action game for Dak Prescott.
Seattle Seahawks (3-2) 16 @ New York Giants (1-5) 17: This is a huge trap game for the Seahawks. After their win against the Rams, many believe that Seattle is still a top team in the NFC and the favorites to win the west. The problems along the offensive line are not going away. Seattle also has to find a consistent running back that will be the workhorse. The Giants fought an insane amount of adversity to get an upset win against Denver. The defense finally dominated in a way that helped the offense. This is going to be a defensive battle that Eli finds a way to win.
Cincinnati Bengals (2-3) 16 @ Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) 19: Pittsburgh is coming off their biggest win of the season. Nobody saw this coming, but the Steelers have an elite defense that is holding up the offense. Pittsburgh has the best pass defense in the NFL allowing just 153.3 yards per game. The also only give up 17 points per game which is in the top five of all NFL teams. Cincinnati is also a defensive juggernaut ranking second in scoring defense allowing 16.6 points per game. This will be a low scoring game and a dogfight. The “Killer B’s” will make one more play to win the game.
Denver Broncos (3-2) 20 @ Los Angeles Chargers (2-4) 27: The first meeting between these two teams came down to the final play of the game. Denver blocked a Younghoe Koo field goal attempt that would have sent the game to overtime had it been converted. The Chargers will be looking to win this time at home. Denver is coming off an embarrassing loss to the Giants. If this game comes down to special teams then the Chargers will lose. This time though, Melvin Gordon has over 150 total yards and leads the Chargers to a seven-point win.
Sunday Night
Atlanta Falcons (3-2) 31 @ New England Patriots (4-2) 34: It is the rematch everyone has been waiting for. Everyone knows the story, the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead to lose the Super Bowl. The blown leads aren’t going away either because last week the Falcons blew a 17-0 lead against Miami. The stigma is still there and the hangover is starting to show its teeth. New England is struggling defensively giving up 26.5 points per game. It will be a shootout but Tom Brady will lead the Patriots to a win.
Monday Night
Washington Redskins (3-2) 21 @ Philadelphia Eagles (5-1) 31: The Eagles may be the best team in the NFL. They play great two-way football and are a well-balanced team. Philly’s defense must defend the run well this week as the Redskins average 122.8 yards per game. These two teams met in week one and the Eagles won on the road 30-17. Expect something very similar in this game. Carson Wentz will be the player of the game.
You can “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles written by other great TGH writers along with Matthew!