Pick Six: 10 crazy stats from NFL's Week 7, plus Cowboys-Eagles picks for Monday night

Hello football friends, and welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

If you know a Ravens fan, please give them a hug today, because they probably need it. The coach they fired in January (John Harbaugh) has the Giants in first place. The offensive coordinator who left in January (Todd Monken) has the Browns in first place. 

And then there's the Ravens themselves. They somehow managed to lose by 22 points on Sunday in a game they led 13-0 at halftime. It had been 75 years since an NFL team lost by at least 20 points in a game in which they led by 13 or more at the half. 

Unfortunately for Ravens fans, we'll be reliving that game in today's newsletter, plus, we'll be handing out some grades and making some picks for tonight's NFC East showdown in Philadelphia. 

As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, just click here.  

1. NFL Week 7 grades: Bengals beat Ravens with super second half, Steelers win in Paris

Every week, I put on my professor hat and hand out some grades, and I'm going to start things off here by giving the city of Paris an "A" for hosting their first regular-season game ever on Sunday. In the week leading up to the game, the NFL was probably panicking a little due to the civil unrest and protests in Paris, but by the time Sunday rolled around, everyone welcomed the NFL with open arms. C'est la vie. That's the only French I know. 

Anyway, let's get to the grades, starting with Pittsburgh's win in Paris. 

Steelers 16-10 over Saints

• Steelers takeaway: Every Steelers win seems to be the same: This team won't wow you, but they get the job done. On defense, the Steelers suffocated the Saints' ground game, holding New Orleans to just 18 yards rushing. Payton Wilson, who had a red-zone interception, was one of several players who came up big for a Steelers defense that shut out the Saints in the second half. Offensively, the Steelers played efficient, mistake-free football. Jaylen Warren hit 100 rushing yards for the third time in the past five weeks, and the Steelers have gone 3-0 when that happens. Aaron Rodgers did a good job of getting all of his pass-catchers involved, and he showed that he still has his long ball with a 51-yard pass to DK Metcalf that came on Pittsburgh's only TD drive of the game. This team has quietly climbed to the top of the AFC North, and they might be there for a while. Grade: B
• Saints takeaway: This loss basically summed up everything that's wrong with the Saints this year. Going into Week 7, they had given up the third most rushing yards per game in the NFL, and it was more of the same here with the Steelers running through New Orleans for nearly 150 yards. The Saints also ranked in the bottom six of the NFL in allowing opponents to convert on third down, and yup, the Steelers dominated them there, converting 62.5% of their third-down attempts. The Saints' star on offense was Tyler Shough, but he got no help from a nonexistent rushing attack that totaled just 18 yards. With Shough carrying the offensive load, he couldn't afford to make any mistakes, but he ended up making one with a red zone interception after a seven-minute drive to start the second half. This team has a lot of issues, especially on defense, and it's hard to see them getting fixed anytime soon. Grade: C

Bengals 35-13 over Ravens

• Bengals takeaway: The Bengals had their ugliest first half of the season, but they more than made up for it by destroying the Ravens over the final two quarters. The offense totaled just 59 yards in the first half, but then Joe Burrow came out on fire after halftime. He went 16-of-18 for 249 yards and four touchdowns in the second half alone. The only reason the Bengals were in the game heading into halftime is that the defense saved the day. The Ravens had two red zone trips in the first two quarters, and the defense held them out of the end zone each time. The defense also came up with a clutch fourth-down stop in the fourth quarter with the Bengals clinging to a 14-13 lead. If the Bengals play the rest of the season as they did in the second half, there's no reason they can't win the AFC North. Grade: B+
• Ravens takeaway: This was a total second-half meltdown by a Ravens team that watched a 13-0 halftime lead turn into a 22-point blowout loss. Jesse Minter is suddenly starting to have the same problems that John Harbaugh used to have: He's blowing big leads. For the second straight week, the Ravens blew a double-digit lead and ended up losing. All three of their losses this year have come in a game where they led by double digits. In this game, Minter gambled and lost in the fourth quarter on a fourth-down play where he decided to go for it. The Ravens had a chance to take the lead with a short field goal, but instead, they had Tyler Huntley throw a pass, and it went incomplete. If Lamar Jackson is your QB, it probably makes sense to go for it there, but if you have a backup in the game and a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, just take the points. This is a painful loss for a Ravens' team that's now 0-2 in division play. Grade: D

As for the other grades that we've handed out so far in Week 7, you can check those out here. 

2. NFL Week 7 winners and losers: Aaron Glenn's seat is scalding hot

You can't have a week of NFL action without having winners and losers, so here are some winners and losers. I always get sad when there's a kicker on the loser's list, and yup, you guessed it, there's a kicker on the loser's list this week. 

Carter Bahns came up with this week's list of winners and losers, and we're going to check out his losers below. 

LOSERS 

• Aaron Glenn's job security. It is never a good look to be the team on the losing end of a winless opponent's first victory. The New York faithful booed their team off the field at halftime and were less than pleased two quarters later. The angst directed toward coach Aaron Glenn is palpable, and the pressure on him has never been higher. The Jets are now 2-5 and will be underdogs in at least two of their next three games: at home against the Raiders, on the road at the Chiefs and back home to face the Bills. This could get quite a bit worse before it gets better.
• Everything about the Panthers. All the Panthers needed to do to maintain a commanding lead in the NFC South was beat the division's worst team at home. That should not be too big of an ask for a squad with a dark horse MVP contender in Bryce Young, right? Apparently not, because the Panthers not only failed to take care of business against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but also lost in devastating fashion by 30 points. It was a complete no-show from Dave Canales' team, which fell behind by 27 points at halftime after surrendering a 26-point second quarter to the Buccaneers. 
• Packers kicker Trey Smack. Smack had his potential go-ahead field goal tipped at the line of scrimmage, and it sailed wide right to set Detroit up with a game-winning drive. That added insult to injury after Smack already missed a field goal earlier in the game. Smack, a rookie sixth-round pick, was phenomenal at the start of the year and made his first five attempts with a long of 59 yards. He is suddenly down to just 11-for-16 on the season with four misses in his last two games. 

If you want to see Carter's list of winners (and a couple of other losers), be sure to click here. 

3. Overreactions from Week 7: Do the Vikings already regret trading J.J. McCarthy? 

Everyone on the internet loves to overreact to things, and that's especially true when we're talking about the NFL. Personally, I overreact to everything. With that in mind, Zach Pereles decided to take a look at several things that happened during Week 7 to decide for yourself if we're all overreacting.  

Statement: The Vikings should regret trading J.J. McCarthy.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. In arguably the best performance of his young career, J.J. McCarthy threw for 252 yards in a 27-21 overtime win over the Texans. He made some truly exquisite throws and didn't have a single turnover, an issue that had plagued him with the Vikings. Meanwhile, the Vikings slugged out a 16-10 win over the Colts. Minnesota is 6-0, but the offense continues to be stop-and-start, to put it nicely. But there should be no regret just yet because 1) it's been one game for McCarthy, so let's not go overboard, and 2) it just wasn't working out in Minnesota for him. It wasn't. He was bad in training camp. He was bad in the preseason. He was bad and/or hurt last season. Sometimes players need a change of scenery.

Statement: The Ravens will miss the playoffs.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. Lamar Jackson's return can't come soon enough. The Ravens are now 4-3, which is fine, but they're 0-2 in the AFC North. Their offense looks like one of the best in the NFL with him and one of the worst without him. Jackson and the Ravens will face the Bills next week and then the Jaguars. They need to win one of those two — at least — to get back on track, and then an easier stretch (Chargers, at Panthers, Texans, Buccaneers) ensues. I'd bet on Baltimore figuring it out with Jackson back.

Statement: 49ers can't win the Super Bowl with their current offense. 
Overreaction or reality: Reality. The 49ers had four active wide receivers Sunday: Jordan Watkins, Brandin Cooks, Jacob Cowing and Christian Kirk (in his first game of the season after a calf injury). More than half of Purdy's completions went to George Kittle or McCaffrey. Everything fell apart last week when Evans exited, and with a shorthanded, short week, the 49ers didn't have any answers. How could they? This isn't an injury bug at wide receiver. It's injury Godzilla. The good news is the bye is here, and reinforcements should be coming back. If they don't — or if they get hurt again — the 49ers will be looking at more offensive issues. 

There are plenty more overreactions, and you can check them out here.

4. 10 crazy stats from Week 7: Ravens suffer historic loss

Every Sunday night, I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports, and every Sunday, that email always includes some crazy stats about the games that were just played. 

With that in mind, here are 10 crazy stats from Week 7: 

1. Ravens suffer historic meltdown. The Ravens led the Bengals 13-0 at halftime, but they ended up losing 35-13. This was the largest loss ever in the Super Bowl era by a team that led by at least 13 points at the half. It was also the third-largest loss in that situation in the NFL's 106-year history (the last time this situation came up was in 1950, when the Colts blew a 20-7 halftime lead in a 55-20 loss to the Giants). Since 2020, the Ravens have now lost 17 games where they held a double-digit lead at some point, which is the most in the NFL in that span. All three of their losses this year came in a game where they led at some point by double digits. 
2. Cardiac kids. The Browns are the first team in NFL history to have their last three wins ALL come on a field goal in the final 10 seconds of the game. Overall, the Browns have won five games this season, and Deshaun Watson has led a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter of all five of them. That makes him just the third QB since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to pull off that feat, joining Troy Aikman (1990 Cowboys) and Matthew Stafford (2016 Lions). 
3. Buccaneers pull off bizarre blowout win. The Bucs beat the Panthers 43-13 on Sunday, and they did that even though Baker Mayfield only threw 11 passes in the game. This marked the first time since 1993 that a team won by at least 30 points in a game where its QB had 11 pass attempts or fewer. 
4. Giants can win no matter who's playing at QB. J.J. McCarthy was the Giants' starting QB in their win over Houston. The Giants are now the first team since the 2016 Patriots to have three different starting quarterbacks win a game before November (Jaxson Dart, Jameis Winston, J.J. McCarthy). 
5. Big play Trey. The Cardinals didn't win, but Trey McBride did have 10 catches for 111 yards in Arizona's 30-16 loss to Denver. That makes McBride the first player in NFL history to have at least seven catches in each of his team's first seven games to start a season. 
6. Harrison Smith joins exclusive club. The Vikings safety picked off Daniel Jones in Minnesota's 16-10 win over the Colts. Smith now has 40 career interceptions and 22 career sacks, making him just the third player since the sack became an official stat in 1982 to record at least 40 interceptions and at least 20 sacks in his career. Smith joins the exclusive 40-20 club with Hall of Famers Ronde Barber (47 interceptions, 28 sacks) and Charles Woodson (65 interceptions, 20 sacks).
7. Super Stafford. With three TD passes against the Raiders, Matthew Stafford now has 155 in his career with the Rams, which is a franchise record. That makes Stafford the first QB in NFL history to be the all-time TD pass leader for two different franchises. Stafford also holds the Lions' record with 282 TD passes. 
8. Nix not messing around. Nix scored on a 62-yard run against the Cardinals, AND he threw a 52-yard TD pass. That makes him just the fifth player in NFL history to have a TD pass and a TD run of at least 50 yards in the same game. Nix joins Justin Fields (Nov. 13, 2022, with Chicago), Lamar Jackson (Sept. 18, 2022, with Baltimore), Cam Newton (Dec. 9, 2012, with Carolina), and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ace Parker (Oct. 9, 1938, with the Brooklyn Dodgers).
9. Home not so sweet home. After giving up 43 points to the Buccaneers on Sunday, the Panthers have now surrendered a total of 128 points in their first three home games. That's the second-highest total in NFL history through three home games, trailing only the 2019 Dolphins, who gave up 132 points. 
10. Chiefs hit rock bottom. The Chiefs didn't reach the red zone a single time against the Seahawks, marking the first time in Patrick Mahomes' career that they didn't have a single red zone possession in a game. They also became the first team in NFL history to not have any run plays of 10 yards or more, any pass plays of 20 yards or more, along with no touchdowns, no red-zone drives, and two missed field goals. The Chiefs also scored just three points, tying for the fewest in a game that Mahomes started. 

If you see any other fun facts, feel free to tweet them at me.

5. Monday night preview: Picks and best bets for Cowboys at Eagles

The Cowboys and Eagles are facing off in what feels like a must-win game for both of these teams. They both sit at 2-4, and the team that loses tonight is going to fall way behind the Giants (4-2-1) in the NFC East race. 

The Cowboys would seem to have the advantage here because the Eagles once again won't have Jalen Hurts, who is likely going to miss the rest of the season due to blood clots in his lungs. Philadelphia will be rolling with Tanner McKee at quarterback for the second straight week, and although he struggled in his debut, he could find some success tonight while facing a Cowboys team that has had one of the worst defenses in the NFL this year. 

If the Cowboys lose to a team starting a backup QB, it might be time for them to just pack it in for the rest of the season. 

Here's one reason why each team should be feeling confident going into the game: 

• Why the Cowboys can win: On paper, the Cowboys have the better team going into tonight, and that should be enough to win as long as they don't make any boneheaded mistakes. For one, they can't have any turnovers. The Cowboys are 0-4 this year when they have at least one turnover, and if that happens tonight, it could give the Eagles life. It would also help if the offense gets off to a fast start. The Eagles have the fewest first-quarter points in the NFL this year, and if Dallas can shoot out to an early lead, it's unlikely that Philly will be able to keep up. 
• Why the Eagles can win: The Eagles are definitely beat up right now. Not only will they be missing Hurts, but Devonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks are also out. And let's not forget about Saquon Barkley, who's questionable with a hamstring injury. If there's one reason why the Eagles might be able to pull off the upset, though, it's because the Cowboys have one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Heading into Week 6, the Cowboys have surrendered the most rushing yards per game (149.8) this year, so if Philly can run the ball, that will give them a puncher's chance to pull off the upset. The Cowboys have given up at least 100 yards rushing in four games so far, and they've gone 1-3 in those contests. So, Philly needs to do everything possible to get its offense going on the ground. 

You can get a full preview of the game from Jared Dubin by clicking here.

If you're thinking about betting on the game, here are a couple of props. 

• ONE RECEIVING PROP I LIKE: Jake Ferguson OVER 2.5 receptions (-127 at DraftKings): The Cowboys tight end has gone over this number in four of his past five games. Not to mention, he's topped this number the last six times he's faced the Eagles, including last season, when he had five catches in each of his two games against Philadelphia. 
• ONE KICKING PROP I LIKE: Jake Elliott OVER 1.5 extra points (-132 at DraftKings): With Elliott needing just two extra points for this OVER to hit, the oddsmakers clearly have no faith in the Eagles to score touchdowns. However, I have no faith in the Cowboys' defense to stop anyone, so I'm taking the OVER here. In six games this year, every opposing kicker has made at least two extra points against Dallas. I think Philly will somehow manage to score two touchdowns, and Elliott will hit the over (In Tanner McKee's first start last week, Elliott made exactly two). 

If you're wondering how my props are doing this year, I'm 8-18 (3-10 on kicker props and 5-8 on all other props). After starting off 5-3, I'm now 3-15 on my last 18 props. It has been a NIGHTMARE. This is all clearly a sign that you should still be fading me until further notice. As a matter of fact, I might start fading myself. 

And now, it's time for some picks. 

PICKS FOR 'MNF'

Jared Dubin's pick:  Cowboys 24-20 over Eagles
Jordan Dajani's pick: Cowboys 26-20 over Eagles
John Breech's pick: Cowboys 23-17 over Eagles
Tyler Sullivan's pick: Cowboys 27-17 over Eagles
Prisco's pick: Cowboys 21-20 over Eagles

Over on our CBSSports.com picks page, six of our seven experts are taking the Cowboys to win straight-up, but only three of us are taking them to cover as a 4.5-point favorite. 

6. Extra points: Raiders might make a QB change

It's been a busy few days around the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything, I put together a quick roundup for you.

• Fernando Mendoza could be in line to start soon. After the Raiders lost to the Rams on Sunday, Klint Kubiak wouldn't commit to Kirk Cousins as his starter going forward. "We have to go watch the film," Kubiak said. "I think at this point, we're thinking about everything to fix our problems, how to fix our issues in the red zone, in the third quarter, personnel [and] scheme. We've got to talk about all of it." That's definitely not a vote of confidence. Now, that doesn't mean that Cousins will be benched for the Raiders' Week 8 game against the Jets, but it does mean that it could happen soon if he doesn't start winning. 
• Peyton Manning not a candidate for Colts job. After Chris Ballard got fired by the Colts, there was some speculation that Peyton Manning might be a candidate to take over the GM job in Indy, but that's not the case. According to ESPN, the Colts haven't approached Manning about the job, and even if they did, he likely wouldn't be interested. Manning is a man of many jobs right now, and he seems happy with his current lifestyle. 
• Cam Skattebo sends message to NFL. The Giants' running back got flagged for a rarely enforced penalty on Sunday when he was called for unnecessary roughness for lowering his helmet while he ran. Although he got penalized, Skattebo says he's not going to change his running style: He basically dared the NFL to keep penalizing him. "I'm going to run the ball like I want to run the ball. If I'm going to continue to get flags for it or fined for it, guess I'm going to play for free." Skattebo rushed for 124 yards against the Texans on Sunday, and you can read more about his situation here.