A Chiefs fan’s guide to watching NFL’s Week 7

The Kansas City Chiefs have already played on Thursday which means that Sunday is a wide-open schedule for the NFL fan without a favorite team on display.

If you’re a football fan without a favorite team to root for today (e.g. since the Kansas City Chiefs have already played), you might be wondering where you should invest your time and attention today. Fortunately we have you covered. There’s a lot at stake in Week 7 and even if the Chiefs aren’t playing, there is a lot of good football ahead along with some important things to watch.

Divisional match-ups aplenty

The Chiefs and Raiders weren’t the only divisional rivals to square off against each other in Week 7. In fact, the entire NFL schedule is loaded with such games. No one could have expected the New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins would be so important for the AFC Wild Card hunt (or perhaps even the divisional lead), but right now, there’s not a single sub-.500 team in the AFC East.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping to put some distance between themselves and their competition in the AFC North, which makes today’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals a must-watch given the emotional nature of these games each and every year. If the Bengals lose, they’re in an early hole they likely won’t be able to climb out of.

Even the Jaguars road game against the Indianapolis Colts is going to warrant some attention given the fact that the Colts are in last place in the division and yet they’re also one game out of first. If the Colts can win, they’re going to further mess up the most contested division in the NFL and make the AFC playoff race very interesting at the halfway point of the season.

Broncos v. Chargers

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Among the important divisional match-ups is this Sunday afternoon contest between the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers. The Bolts are going to have to beat their divisional opponents in order to make the postseason and overcome their early season woes—that starts with Denver.

Last week, the Chiefs lucked out by having the rest of the main division rivals, the Raiders and Broncos, lose in the same week they lost to the Raiders. The Chiefs would certainly love to see Denver lose two in a row so that they lose no ground in the standings to a team that was just in the Super Bowl two years ago.

Denver knows this is a very important week to win, not only to stave off the now surging Chargers but to also gain an important jump in the standings after another Chiefs loss on Thursday.

Are the Bills a 4-2 team?

One team to keep an eye on today is the Buffalo Bills who are playing a non-conference opponent in the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs are 2-3 and are hoping to claim a road win in order to even their record and keep pace in the NFC South. But for the Bills, a win keeps them in stride with the New England Patriots as they hope to surprise in the AFC East.

If the Bills are able to hold off the Bucs for an important win on Sunday, they will move to 4-2 on the season and will become very relevant in the playoff picture as it is beginning to unfold. The season is still quite long, but a 4-2 team has reasons to feel good about its chances to play in January. They’ve already toppled the Broncos and Falcons, which shows just how tough the Bills can be.

Watch out for young defenders like Shaq Lawson and TreDavious White as young playmakers who are remaking Buffalo week by week.