Looking at the biggest winners and losers across the NFL from Week 7, including a trade cycle that is heating up by the day.
It’s no small statement to declare anyone or anything to be the most surprising storyline so far this NFL season.
After all, the Cleveland Browns are 5-2 and tied for the most wins in the AFC with Deshaun Watson leading game-winning drives week after week, the preseason Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams are 3-4 and fighting for a playoff spot, the Houston Texans’ once-vaunted defense can stop anyone aside from Cam Ward and 38-year-old Kirk Cousins is among the NFL’s passing leaders.
But nothing — absolutely nothing — comes close to the shock factor of seeing J.J. McCarthy pass for 495 yards in his first five quarters as the New York Giants’ quarterback.
Whether it sustains is a whole other matter, but in this moment right now, entering Week 8, there is nothing more unbelievable or inexplicable than seeing McCarthy throwing the ball all over the yard for a division-leading team.
Not that anyone needs a reminder, but McCarthy was so bad last season for the Minnesota Vikings that the team needed to see only 10 career starts from the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to fire their general manager over it and ship the QB off for a fifth-round pick.
And nobody blinked as it happened — there was that little collective confidence that there was anything salvageable in McCarthy that the NFL world simply shrugged as the Vikings dumped him the first chance they got.
If any football fan returned from a two-week vacation to a secluded island — or Aaron Rodgers’ contemplation cave — without knowing what had transpired in that time and saw this video, they’d rightfully assume it’s an AI creation.
Here’s McCarthy’s New York Giants career so far …
-About three weeks after the trade, McCarthy comes off the bench in Week 6 with the Giants trailing 34-10 to the Saints early in the fourth quarter. On his fourth pass, he’s intercepted. And then … he goes on to throw for 243 yards and a TD the rest of the game while leading New York back to within one score and all the way to the Saints’ 14 in the final seconds before a turnover on downs.
-In his first start last week vs. a desperate Houston team that had one of the NFL’s best defenses a year ago, McCarthy completes 20 of 28 passes for a career-high 252 yards in leading the Giants to a 27-21 overtime win on the road.
If this somehow continues — and at this point anything seems possible this NFL season — we’ll gladly own our error for all the sharply pointed takes suggesting McCarthy wasn’t cut out to be an NFL QB.
For now, that will remain a what-if, but yes, McCarthy is the big winner of the week.
And so are the Giants, who are 4-2-1 and in first place in the NFC East in coach John Harbaugh’s first season, despite losing starting QB Jaxson Dart to a season-ending knee injury and having to now turn to their recently acquired third-stringer after getting their fill of the Jameis Winston Experience.
Wild times, indeed.
Let’s run through the other winners and losers of the week from around the NFL …
More Winners From Week 7 And The Trade Market
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Chasing History
We broke this down a little more in-depth here, but it’s official time to put Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Record Watch.
The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year is outperforming even his elite 2025 pace and is tracking to challenge Calvin Johnson’s single-season receiving yards record.
With 58 catches for 867 yards and 8 TDs through seven games, JSN in on pace for 141 catches for 2,106 yards and 19 TDs.
The NFL single-season record for receiving yards is 1,964 by Calvin Johnson in 16 games in 2021. Cooper Kupp, Smith-Njigba’s Seattle teammate, had the most over a 17-game season with 1,947 back in 2021 with the Rams.
Smith-Njigba has at least 76 receiving yards in every game so far, at least 100 years in six of the seven games and at least 120 yards in five games.
His 867 receiving yards are 206 yards or 31.6% more than any other player in the league so far.
Here are a couple other fun JSN facts …
Deshaun Watson Defying Expectations
It was just a couple months ago that Browns fans were booing Watson in a preseason game and dismayed that they were actually turning back to him as their starting quarterback after a miserable experience for both parties since the trade that sent him to Cleveland four years ago.
Now the Browns are 5-2 and tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the AFC North (while holding a head-to-head win over the Steelers).
Watson led Cleveland to a 55-yard game-winning field goal drive in the final 58 seconds Sunday to beat the Tennessee Titans 27-24, passing for 50 yards on that drive to set up Andre Szmyt’s 32-yard kick.
That was Watson’s fifth game-winning drive this season! So, essentially, he’s made the ultimately difference in all of Cleveland’s wins.
What a time to be alive.
Overall, Watson has passed for 1,482 yards, 7 TDs and 3 INTs while rushing for 215 yards and a TD after missing the last season and a half with a torn Achilles. He threw for a season-high 308 yards in the win, albeit with 0 passing TDs and 1 INT (with a rushing TD).
Tee Higgins Taking Off
Tee Higgins is in his seventh NFL season and has been consistently good throughout that time, but he’s now on pace to blow past his career-highs if he continues to play like he has so far this fall.
After catching 6 passes for 148 yards and a TD in a win over the Ravens last week — doing all of that in the second half — Higgins is up to 33 receptions for 571 yards and 2 TDs through six games.
It doesn’t take a math major to see how significant that is considering his career-high for a season is 1,091 yards set all the way back in 2021.
Higgins’ 148 yards Sunday tied for the third best single-game total of his career and came just two games after he had the second-best total of his career — 157 yards on 11 catches vs. the Jaguars.
Seahawks, Seismic Simmons Swap, Staying Alive and Stock Up
It’s alliterative speed round time …
My, how the Seahawks’ outlook has shifted substantially in just a week.
First, Seattle delivered its best performance of the season in a 20-3 win over the previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, improving to 4-3 and holding onto second place in the NFC West while gaining a game on the 49ers.
Then, it was reported that running back Zach Charbonnet would make his season debut this week in his long-awaited return from a torn ACL
That will provide a major lift to a rushing attack that has been just average this season with first-round rookie Jadarian Price sidelined (and struggling before he got hurt) and Emanuel Wilson having to take on the lead role.
Then, the Seahawks made a major trade Tuesday to acquire eight-time Pro Bowl and three-time first-team All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts for a 2027 third-round pick and 2028 fifth-round selection. Nelson’s arrival will shift Grey Zabel from left guard to right guard while bolstering the Seattle front and that aforementioned rushing attack.
The arrow is absolutely pointing up again for the Seahawks.
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The Chicago Bears then made an even bigger trade Thursday, acquiring four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons from the Titans for 2027 and 2028 first-round picks (plus a 2027 fourth-round pick with a 2028 fifth-round pick coming back to Chicago).
Simmons had 38 tackles, 6 tackles for loss and 4 sacks for Tennessee this season after a career-best season in 2025 with 67 tackles, 17 TFLs, 11 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.
The Bears already looked like Super Bowl contenders thanks to their potent offense, and Simmons should fortify a defense that had already been good enough most weeks this season.
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After an 0-4 start, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are very much alive in the NFC South race after a 43-13 thrashing of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The NFL’s worst division is again wide open with the Panthers atop the standings at 3-3, the Atlanta Falcons at 3-4 and the Bucs and New Orleans Saints at 2-5.
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We’ve got four stock-up shout-outs …
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores: Minnesota is now the only remaining unbeaten team in the NFL at 6-0 after a 16-10 win over the Colts. The Vikings are giving up the fewest points (12.3/game) and second-fewest yards (252.8/game) while tying for the NFL lead with 21 sacks. Flores had a complicated exit from his first head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins, but expect his name to be prominent for many teams with openings this offseason.
New York Jets WR Omar Cooper Jr.: The rookie wideout sustained a high-ankle sprain in Week 1, undermining the start to his NFL career. But he’s making up for lost time in a hurry with back-to-back 100-yard games since returning to action. After catching 6 passes for 103 yards and a TD vs. the Patriots, he followed that last week with 5 grabs for 115 yards and a score vs. the Dolphins. The 30th overall pick in the draft out of Indiana is looking like a steal for New York.
Miami Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon II: The Dolphins won a game! Miami beat the New York Jets 28-25 on the road for their first win of the season, led by 103 rushing yards and a TD from Gordon. Since stepping into the lead back role following De’Von Achane’s season-ending injury, Gordon has rushed for 291 yards and 3 TDs in three starts. A sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State last year, he had just 199 rushing yards and 3 TDs on a meager 2.8 yards per carry last season. What he’s doing with his extended opportunity now is making him millions on his second NFL contract when that time comes.
Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.: Penix has made a mighty difference for the Falcons since his return to the field in Week 3. He’s passed for 1,157 yards, 9 TDs and 1 INT in five games and is coming off arguably his best performance of the season after completing 25 of 34 passes for 213 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs in Atlanta’s 29-20 upset of previously unbeaten San Francisco. There were very real questions after Penix’s first two seasons whether the former No. 8 overall draft pick was going to make it as an NFL starter, but those questions are being impressively answered so far this fall.
NFL Losers Of The Week
The Jekyll And Hyde Panthers
It looked like we might have to retire the “Jekyll & Hyde Panthers” moniker after the team finally won back-to-back games, over the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, for the first time since the middle of last October.
Since then, Carolina had see-sawed from solid (and sometimes superlative) wins to humbling losses, back and forth week after week.
Was that two-game winning streak and the belated breakout from fourth-year QB Bryce Young a sign that the Panthers were ready to change their ways?
Nope.
They relinquished any momentum with a putrid 43-13 loss to the Buccaneers, giving up 5 sacks and 4 turnovers.
Incredibly, Tampa Bay dominated the game despite QB Baker Mayfield throwing for just 64 yards and a TD in his return from injury.
Young played his worst game of the season, completing 14 of 27 passes for 163 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs while also losing a fumble.
It’s just impossible to take this team seriously the way it oscillates between compelling competency and abject disaster (remember the 59 points and 552 yards Carolina allowed to the Bears in Week 1).
Poor Shane Steichen
It’s hard to know what Shane Steichen truly is or can be as a head coach because he’s unfortunately been dealt a losing hand in Indianapolis and will likely pay the price for it with his job.
Steichen had the Colts off to an 8-2 start last season before Daniel Jones’ injuries mounted and knocked the QB out for the season and it all went off the rails with seven straight losses to finish.
Then the Colts had an abysmal offseason, getting worse as a roster while grossly overpaying free agent WR Alec Pierce to return only for him to then have belated offseason surgery on his left ankle/heel in March, missing the entire offseason and almost all of the preseason only to get reinjured in Week 2.
Jones has been a disaster in his return from a torn Achilles, throwing for just 1,398 yards, 4 TDs and 7 INTs.
Steichen has the team owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon on the sideline during games looking over his shoulder and jotting notes in a notebook, his general manager just got fired last week, his best offensive lineman got traded on Tuesday, wide receiver Josh Downs (what’s left of a once-solid WR corps) has requested a trade and other key pieces may move as well.
The Colts are 2-5 after three straight losses and likely due for a full reset after this season. It’s hard to see Steichen returning, if he even makes it to Week 18.
Aaron Glenn In Over His Head?
We’ve picked on New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn plenty in this space the last year or so, but it’s nothing personal — he just doesn’t seem to be cut out for the job.
Yes, the Jets are in rebuilding mode, but the way they spent in free agency and on the trade market this offseason indicated they expected to be more competitive and win games this year.
Well, the Jets are 2-5 with one of those wins coming against the terrible Titans and they just lost to the previously winless Dolphins.
Give Glenn some credit for improving the defense in his second season as New York ranks ninth in the league in yards allowed (315.4/game) and 13th in scoring defense (21.4 PPG).
But after going all of last season with 0 defensive interceptions to make dubious NFL history as the first team to manage that, the Jets have just 1 pick in seven games this year.
It’s hard to point to anything and say Glenn has left his imprint on this team in one and a half seasons.
He should feel his seat getting warmer.
Texans, Titans, Time To Reset In Philly?
The Texans teased a potential surge back into playoff contention in winning back-to-back games after an 0-4 start, but it’s hard to buy into that notion now after they lost to the McCarthy-led Giants at home last week.
Houston is 2.5 games behind the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South and well off the wildcard picture.
Worse, the defense that was elite last year and supposed to be the team’s identity doesn’t seem to be turning the corner.
The Texans rank in the bottom half of the league in both yards allowed (342.0/game) and scoring defense (24.3 PPG) after giving up a league-low 277.2 YPG and the second-fewest points (17.4 PPG) last season.
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The Titans decision to trade Simmons was a bit stunning considering he was viewed as a perfect fit for head coach Robert Saleh’s defense and a key building block for the team’s turnaround.
The draft capital is substantial, but those are going to be late first-round picks from the Bears — the Titans aren’t likely to find another Simmons with those picks.
So is this an admission that the team — one of the biggest spenders in free agency this year (albeit recklessly and foolishly) — are acknowledging they need a full reset just seven games in Saleh’s tenure?
This is the kind of move a team makes when it feels it’s at least two years away from contention.
Considering that Tennessee has to face the increasing likelihood that former No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward is not the future at QB, maybe that is indeed the reality.
Tough time to be a Titans fan.
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The Philadelphia Eagles are now 2-5 and 2.5 games back in the NFC East with QB Jalen Hurts out of the season, RB Saquon Barkley clearly not fully over his hamstring injury yet and now there’s chatter about the potential for star WR DeVonta Smith to be shut down for perhaps the season due to his hamstring injury.
Add in the sudden retirement last month of longtime right tackle Lane Johnson and the trade of starting center Cam Jurgens to the Baltimore Ravens, and it’s fair to wonder if the Eagles might be considering blowing up their roster to some degree.
