Week 7 Recap
Week Record: 1-2-0
Season Record: 9-10-0
❌ NE +3 — LOSS
Bears 30, Patriots 24
My Take: It was a solid football game between two top 10 teams. Chicago averaged 0.17 EPA/play. The Patriots were 0.16 EPA/play. A literal 0.01 difference. For +3, I'm fine with that.
The difference? Drake Maye through an interception in the end zone. Chicago didn't turn the ball over.
The Patriots defense tried blitzing Caleb Williams. In total, they blitzed on 59% of dropbacks, which led to pressure on 46.2% of dropbacks. Against the blitz, Williams was 13/20 for 212 yards (10.6 YPA) and a touchdown. The pressure got there, but the coverage wasn't holding up.
✅ PIT -3 — WIN
Saints 10, Steelers 16
My Take: The London game. Did you watch this? I had money on it and I didn't.
The Saints running backs:
Alvin Kamara: 6 carries for 5 yards (0.8 YPA)
Kendre Miller 8 carries for 6 yards (0.8 YPA)
QB Tyler Shough was a beast on the ground for the Saints, running for 7 full yards.
It's hard to lose when your opponent quite literally doesn't have a running game.
Steelers LB Patrick Queen had 5 run stops. TJ Watt had 3 pressures and a sack.
❌ SF -4.5 — LOSS
Falcons 29, 49ers 20
My Take: With Mike Evans (Achilles) already out, it certainly wasn't ideal when Christian McCaffrey missed the 2nd quarter with a hamstring injury. He returned for the 2nd half, but ended up with just 7 carries on the game.
Top 49ers receivers by routes run (out of 43 possible dropbacks):
George Kittle 35
Brandin Cooks 35
Jordan Watkins 31
Christian McCaffrey 23
Jacob Cowing 21
Kyle Juszcyk 15
Christian Kirk 14
Not ideal.
Meanwhile, Michael Penix Jr. was under pressure on just 8.6% of dropbacks (3/35) despite the fact that the 49ers blitzed 37.1% of the time. Drake London had 7 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. Bijan Robinson had 5 catches for 59 yards. The 49ers failed to slow down the Falcons stars.
