Joe Flacco turns back the clock, Colts record best

As the playoff picture begins to take shape after Week 7 of the NFL season, some surprising teams are starting to join the usual suspects at the top of the standings. In an interesting twist, the NFC is a tougher conference this season as the AFC deals with injuries to some of its top teams, and has a few surprising teams at the top.

One of those teams is i Indianapolis Coltswhich are still rolling with Daniel Jones at quarterback after a 38-24 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. After one of the most memorable performances of the season, Indy tops our Week 7 Big Winners list.

The Colts have the best record in the NFL

That’s right, the Indianapolis Colts and Daniel Jones have the best record in the NFL after seven weeks. These are the same Colts who took heat when they announced Jones would start the season over Anthony Richardson. Did they tank? Punning on Richardson? Neither?

As it turns out, Shane Steichen and his staff saw something in Jones that the Giants surely could never unlock, and he is now this year’s quarterback success story.

Sunday was supposed to be a big test for this Colts team against a Chargers team that has been beaten up, but still has an elite quarterback and a very good defense. Justin Herbert did his best behind a damaged offensive line, but the Chargers defense was helpless against Jones, Jonathan Taylor and the rest of the Colts offense.

The Colts finished the week with a 0.35 EPA per game, a number that led the league by a wide margin. They also led the league in rushing EPA in Week 7 as Taylor continued to build on defense, building his Offensive Player of the Year campaign.

There are still questions about Indianapolis’ defense, but it was able to capitalize on the Chargers’ third-string advantage by doing its best to protect Justin Herbert on Sunday. For now, this Colts team looks like a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

The Lions are making a statement to the rest of the NFC

Baker Mayfield was the talk of the NFL coming into Week 7 after becoming one of the MVP leaders with his heroics en route to a 5-1 start for his Buccaneers. Tampa Bay had a chance to cement itself as the class of the NFC on Monday night, but the Lions quickly put a stop to that with a 24-9 victory that felt even more than the final score.

Tampa Bay finished with the third-lowest EPA per game this week (-0.45), ahead of only the Dolphins and Raiders. It’s always bad company, but it was particularly bad in Week 7.

Some people wrote off the Lions after their Week 1 loss to the Packers, but now they seem to be clicking on both sides of the ball, even if it’s a little more inconsistent than last season. The defense was terrific Monday night against a very good Tampa Bay offense, and should have Terrion Arnold back in the secondary before too long.

Offense comes and goes, but a a pair of explosive plays by Jahmir Gibbs are more than enough to support that unit even on a night where it doesn’t have the bottom-to-bottom consistency of its prime.

Now the Lions sit comfortably at 5-2 and have one of the best records in football. They will be right at the top of the NFC for the rest of the season.

Joe Flacco turns back the clock on the TNF classic

Just a few weeks ago, Joe Flacco was under center in Cleveland on a terrible Browns team, which was about to get benched for Dillon Gabriel. Now, he’s throwing rocks at Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in Cincinnati, and he sure seems to be enjoying himself.

Flacco was spectacular in Thursday night’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, completing 31 of 47 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. 23 of those passes went to Chase, who caught 16 of them for 161 yards and a score.

The Bengals even called a designed run for Flacco to pick up a big first down late in the game, and it helped them pull off a big 33-31 win to stay in the playoff hunt. Flacco has about two more months as the Bengals’ starter before he returns to Joe Burrow, and he’ll need to keep playing like this to keep a Cincinnati team with a bad defense and a bad offensive line in the hunt. Still, he at least showed he still has that club in the bag in Week 7.

The Dak Prescott The MVP campaign is heating up

Dak Prescott has quietly played some of the best football of his career so far this season, and he has a Cowboys team that doesn’t have much around him at 3-3-1 through seven weeks. Prescott has long been one of the best pocket passers in the sport, and that has been bolstered by the addition of George Pickens this season.

Dallas too CeeDee Lamb back from ankle injury this week, and the offense exploded in a 44-22 victory over the Commanders to move into second place in the NFC East. The Cowboys have one of the best offenses in football and even run the ball well with Javonte Williams in the backfield, but Prescott is the straw that breaks the drink.

At this point, Prescott is essentially building the same MVP case that Joe Burrow was last season. The Dallas signal-caller is second in the NFL in both passing yards and touchdowns and also leads the league in KBR. If this Dallas team, even with their flawed defense, can sneak into the playoffs, Prescott will have as good an MVP case as anyone.