NFL 2011: Week 7

In less than 12 hours, the early games for Week 7 will have already kicked off. Among those early bird games is the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium (The Glazers, who own the Bucs, also own Manchester United- one of soccer's big dynasties).

Among the later games is the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs. Why this is a game of note is, on Tuesday, Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown finally listened to Carson Palmer and Bengals fans everywhere by trading the disgruntled quarterback to the Oakland Raiders, in exchange for a few high draft picks in 2012 and 2013, which could give Cincinnati as many as nine first-round picks the next two drafts (with the added picks from the Chad Ochocinco trade as well). Palmer is the starting QB in Oakland, after Jason Campbell broke his collarbone in Oakland's win over the Cleveland Browns, where they used special teams to help them beat the Brownies. Even WKYC in Cincinnati will be airing this game. It's that big of a deal, and with that, is DJBC Sports Corner's "Big Game of the Week".

Another big late game is an NFC North rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. One would not have to ponder on why this is an important match, because rookie QB Christian Ponder will make his first NFL start against the NFL's lone unbeaten team.
Speaking of unbeatens, the Detroit Lions fell to the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday, but that's not what the game will be remembered for. It's what happened at the END of the game, when the two coaches were shaking hands, which will now be know as "Handshakegate".

In other games of note, Tim Tebow returns to his home state of Florida to play the Miami Dolphins as he will start as quarterback for the Denver Broncos. The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Arizona for a rematch of Super Bowl XLIII against the Cardinals. The winless (and Peyton-less) Colts travel to the Superdome for a rematch of Super Bowl XLIV against the Saints on Sunday night.

And now, Today (and tomorrow's) games:
Early Games:
Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2)- at Wembley Stadium
Pick: Tampa Bay 27, Chicago 17

Seattle Seahawks at Cleveland Browns (both 2-3)
Pick: Cleveland 23, Seattle 13

Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions (5-1)
Pick: Atlanta 28, Detroit 24

Washington Redskins (3-2) at Carolina Panthers (1-5)
Pick: Washington 27, Carolina 20

Denver Broncos (1-4) at Miami Dolphins (0-5)
Pick: Denver 31, Miami 6

San Diego Chargers (4-1) at New York Jets (3-3)- LT Bowl
Pick: San Diego 30, NY Jets 20

Houston Texans (3-3) at Tennessee Titans (3-2)
Pick: Tennessee 31, Houston 14

Late Games:
Big Game of the Week: Kansas City Chiefs (2-3) at Oakland Raiders (4-2)
Pick: Oakland 27, Kansas City 16

Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) at Arizona Cardinals (1-4)
Pick: Pittsburgh 35, Arizona 10

St. Louis Rams (0-5) at Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
Pick: Dallas 35, St. Louis 3

Green Bay Packers (6-0) at Minnesota Vikings (1-5)
Pick: Green Bay 31, Minnesota 0

Sunday Night Football:
Indianapolis Colts (0-6) at New Orleans Saints (4-2)
Pick: New Orleans 30, Indianapolis 3

Monday Night Football:
Baltimore Ravens (4-1) at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5)
Pick: Baltimore 33, Jacksonville 8

Bye Weeks: Buffalo Bills (4-2), Cincinnati Bengals (4-2), New York Giants (4-2), New England Patriots (5-1), Philadelphia Eagles (2-4), and San Francisco 49ers (5-1)