NFL Week 7 grades Bengals get an A for destroying Ravens Saints get B for Monday win vs. Seahawks

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If it wasn't clear to everyone before this week, it's definitely clear now: The are for real.Their offense is for real. Their defense is for real, and now, their place atop the AFC North is also for real. The Bengals are officially the first-place team in the division after going on the road and embarra sing the 41-17 on Sunday.The Ravens were the one team the Bengals weren't supposed to be able to beat. Going into Sunday, had never lost to the Bengals (5-0), he had never lost an October game to anyone (9-0) and the Bengals had only scored two offensive touchdowns against Baltimore in two years. However, that all changed in a game that might have signaled a changing of the guard in the AFC North.The fact that the Bengals won wasn't completely surprising, the surprising part was the way they won: They blew Baltimore out of the water. The last time these two teams met, the Ravens rushed for 407 yards, but they got nowhere near that total this time around on a day where the Bengals' defense dominated.  The turnaround of Cincinnati's defense has probably been the most overlooked story of the 2021 NFL season. If you watched the defense play last year, it was absolutely atrocious. Imagine watching play football against a group of elementary school kids and you'll have an idea of just how bad the Bengals' defense was last year.One of its biggest problems in 2020 was that it couldn't rush the quarterback. The Bengals finished the 2020 season with a league-low 17 sacks. This year, they've been terrorizing opposing quarterbacks, including Jackson, who got sacked five times bringing Cincinnati's season total to 19.For most of the game, whenever Jackson would drop back to throw, the  Ryan Getzlaf Men Jersey pocket would quickly collapse, which usually led to a bad outcome for Jackson, like this first-quarter sack by .    Not getting away from this time. Watch on CBS  Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals)  Although Jackson did make a few big plays for Baltimore, he seemed overwhelmed at times by the Bengals' pa s rush. Unfortunately for Jackson, he got no help from a Ravens ground game that was basically nonexistent. Although the Ravens ran for 115 yards, most of those came  Antoine Vermette Men Jersey from Jackson (88) with Baltimore's running backs totaling just 27 yards.The fact the Bengals' defense has turned things around makes Cincinnati a scary team. We already knew the Bengals' offense was good, and somehow, it seems to be getting better every week (It's averaging more than 30 points per game over the past four weeks).Just seven weeks into the season, is doing his best to lock up the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. The first-round receiver has been making plays all year and he made another huge one for the Bengals on a third-and-2 play in the third quarter.    He said he was going to break records. Watch on CBS  Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals)  That 82-yard score was a backbreaker. It put the Bengals up 27-17 and felt like it iced the game. Chase finished the game with 201 receiving yards, the ninth-highest total in franchise history. Chase now has 754 receiving yards through his first seven games, which is the most in NFL history for a first-year receiver.Chase has a connection with that you almost never see with a rookie receiver, even a duo who went to college together. (Miami) and (Philadelphia) are both playing with a quarterback they went to college with, but they're not putting up Chase's numbers. What Chase has done through the first half of the season is nothing short of unbelievable. Thanks to Chase, there's a good chance you'll never again hear anyone question the Bengals' decision to take him over in the 2021 NFL Draft.Burrow threw for 416 yards against the Ravens with nearly half of those going to Chase.  Seven weeks into the season, the Bengals aren't just sitting atop the AFC North, they're also sitting atop the entire AFC. That's not a typo: The Cincinnati Bengals are currently the top seed in the AFC. The Bengals have been exorcising a lot of demons this year and based on the way things are going, this is starting to feel like a team that might be able to exorcise the 31-year-old playoff demon that's been hanging over its head since January 1991.Alright, let's get to the grades for every game from Week 7. If you're looking for a deeper dive on Cleveland's 17-14 win over the that was played on Thursday, . A+      Everything the Bengals needed to do to defeat the Ravens on the road, they did. They battled through a slow start offensively to buy time before they could explode, and then they went nuclear. They used tight end as a pre sure-release valve to the tune of two touchdowns when running back couldn't get going and then, eventually, Mixon got going. They needed a big game from rookie first-round pick Ja'Marr Chase and, better still, they got a career-high 201 receiving yards and a TD from him. They needed to contain Lamar Jackson both on the ground and in the air Chris Wagner Women Jersey  and did, leaving Baltimore with nothing more to do other than move aside atop the AFC North.D      The only reason the Ravens escape a failing grade is because they actually put up a fight for a good chunk of this game: holding the Bengals to only three points for much of the first half and answering an awakened  Andy Welinski Jersey onslaught by Joe Burrow and Co. with some big plays of their own -- as the teams exchanged the lead time and again. But when Chase decided to take over the game, there was nothing the Ravens could do about it, and that's when their grade began swirling around the porcelain bowl. Chase reeled in more than 200 yards and the Bengals put up 41 points and more than 500 yards of total offense, while holding the Ravens to only 17 points in a humiliating lo s at M&T Bank Stadium.  B      It's a good thing Alvin Kamara didn't mi s the flight to Seattle because he was basically the entire Saints offense in this game. The running back accounted for more than 55% of his team's total offensive yardage on Monday night (179 out of 304) with 128 of that coming through the air on 10 catches. Although the Saints only scored 13 points, that ended up being enough thanks to a masterful performance from a defense that sacked Geno Smith five times while holding Seattle to just 219 total yards. It was the fewest yards the Seahawks have been held to in a home game since 2017.B-      The Seahawks' offensive game plan on Monday was to run the ball early and often, which turned out to be a disaster. The Seahawks' offensive line was no match for a Saints defense that went into this game ranked second in the NFL against the run. What that all added up to was an ugly performance that saw the Seahawks average just 3.2 yards per carry (28 carries for 90 yards). The only offensive spark for Seattle came on an 84-yard TD from Smith to DK Metcalf in the first quarter, but their air game got absolutely shut down after that. The Seahawks also got a disastrous performance from kicker Jason Myers, who mi sed two field goals (44, 53).B      One week after going off for 119 yards, topped himself against the . The rookie tight end finished with 163 receiving yards and the needed every single one. He had multiple big catches in the game, but none was bigger than a 28-yarder with two minutes left to play that helped set up 36-yard game-winning field goal. Koo headlined a Falcons special teams unit that had a huge day. Not only did Koo nail three field goals (33, 36, 36)), but Atlanta also blocked a field goal in the first  Devin Shore Women Jersey half. The Falcons' offense was able to turn the blocked kick into a TD. The Falcons' defense also picked off two pa ses that Atlanta's offense was able to turn into 10 points. The big plays from both the defense and the special teams allowed the Falcons to steal this game from Miami. also aided in the win with a performance that included 336 pa sing yards and two touchdowns, which overshadowed his two turnovers.B-      If the Dolphins are still thinking about trading for , likely didn't do much to change their mind in this game. Although Tua actually had a reasonably good day with 291 yards and four TD pa ses, he also threw two backbreaking interceptions that led to 10 points for the Falcons. The ugliest pick came on a first down from Atlanta's 32-yard line in the fourth quarter. Of course, this lo s wasn't all Tua's fault. The Dolphins QB didn't get any help from a Miami defense that gave up 336 pa sing yards to Ryan. D-      The seem to be taking a step back on offense every week and on Sunday,
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