A Vince Lombardi Trophy-winning coach returns to his previous stomping grounds, a Super Bowl rematch and a possible preview at a future championship match-up are just some of the underlying storylines in Week 7 of the 2024 NFL season.
There’s also the final game in London this season to begin Sunday’s slate of action as the New England Patriots take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Here are five things to know for Week 7.
Sean Payton returns to New Orleans
On Thursday night, the New Orleans Saints will host the Denver Broncos to kick off the week.
This will be the first time Broncos head coach Sean Payton will face his former team, having previously coached the Saints for 15 seasons and leading them to the playoffs nine times, including a Super Bowl title in 2010.
Payton said returning to the Superdome, a place where he had so much success, for the first time will certainly be an emotional game and he’s preparing his team for it.
“One of the things we talk about with our players is trying to handle all this stuff ahead of time. I have a great wife whose tickets are done with, family, my children,” he told reporters. “I think those around us know how challenging the short week is as compared to as if it was a full week.
“Certainly, there will be emotions going back there with players, but I do think that comes up quite a bit in our league. With players and, in this case certainly, the amount of time I was there, I understand it. We have to deal with the crowd noise. That place is loud, and you guys know that.”
It will be an extra special night in the Big Easy as New Orleans will also be honoring the team’s longtime quarterback Drew Brees at halftime, inducting him into the Saints Hall of Fame.
The combination of Payton and Brees was a successful one for years in the NFL, as New Orleans became a playoff regular.
49ers host the Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch
For just the 11th time in NFL history, the previous year’s Super Bowl participants are squaring off in the following season.
Amazingly, this is the second year in a row the Chiefs are taking part in one of these clashes, after facing the Eagles last season in Arrowhead Stadium where Kansas City lost 21-17.
The team that won the Super Bowl is 6-4 all-time in rematches the following regular season.
Will the Chiefs fare better this time? Well, they are coming off a bye and that’s historically when head coach Andy Reid is at his best. Reid’s teams are 21-4 all-time after a bye, which is the best record in NFL history.
On Thursday, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke to the importance of facing the 49ers, a team they have twice beaten in recent Super Bowls.
“It’s as big as a regular season game (that) you can play in,” Mahomes told reporters. “They’re a great football team and I always like going up against the best and that’s what we’re going up against this week. We understand that it’s going to be a big game.
“We understand that it’s going to take our best to win, so you just have to have extreme focus and know that it’s going to be one play that decides the entire game.”
Super Bowl preview in Green Bay?
While the Chiefs and 49ers are the among favorites to reach the Super Bowl again, the Houston Texans and the Green Bay Packers are trendy picks to make the big game.
Through six weeks of the season, both teams are playing like Super Bowl contenders with their young quarterbacks leading by example.
The Texans are 5-1 and CJ Stroud has looked like a true MVP candidate in his second season after a historic rookie campaign.
It’ll be Stroud’s first time playing at Lambeau Field and the 23-year-old explained what’s the difference between winning on the road in the NFL and college after his successful career at Ohio State.
“Honestly, I would just say just winning on the road in college is more so chaos and just dealing with crazy fans and people just trying to like throw you off your game,” Stroud told reporters on Thursday. “And in the NFL, it’s like the other team is trying to throw you off your game instead of necessarily the crowd and their environment.
“In the NFL, it’s kind of a little bit of both. But I definitely feel like that was a big difference for me. I feel like every game is like you’re playing against Georgia or like Penn State or one of these top teams on the field and then, on top of that, you’re playing against the Penn State crowd, but this is the NFL, so everything is a little ramped up.”
The Packers meanwhile are 4-2 and Jordan Love looks like he’s recovered from the knee injury that caused him to miss two games – Green Bay was undefeated without Love in the line-up with back-up Malik Willis stepping up admirably.
Stroud vs. Love should be lots of fun at Lambeau Field.
NFC North domination
The best division in the NFL so far this season has been the NFC North and it isn’t even close.
The Minnesota Vikings are 5-0, the Detroit Lions are 4-1, and the Packers and Chicago Bears are both 4-2 with all of them also boasting a scoring differential of at least +40.
Unfortunately for the four teams, they are going to all have to play each other twice.
This Sunday will see the undefeated Vikings hosting the Lions with Detroit coming off a convincing victory over the Cowboys.
Many have the Lions making the Super Bowl this season after coming up just short last year, and Jared Goff and Company could make a big statement on Sunday if they are the first to knock off Sam Darnold and the Vikings.
Despite the emphatic win over Dallas in Week 6, Goff sees plenty of room for improvement on offense for the Lions.
“Man, a ton of places. I thought I did miss a couple things in that game,” he told reporters on Thursday. “I was able to hit some of the big ones, but missed a couple guys you normally feel like you do hit and sometimes that happens, but I was able to hit the big ones and make up for it.
“So yeah, just continuing to get sharp and more and more on the same page, especially with these new guys and feel good.”
Another Monday night doubleheader
The Monday night doubleheader is back this week as we get the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Baltimore Ravens at 7:15 p.m. ET with the Los Angeles Chargers traveling to the Arizona Cardinals at 8 p.m. ET.
There are four Monday doubleheaders this season after Disney increased its number of games from 17 to 23 in the latest media rights deal, with this being the third. The final Monday night doubleheader isn’t until Week 15, so enjoy this one!
Ravens vs. Bucs looks like the more appetizing game on paper with both teams entering with a record of 4-2. Monday nights have been good to Lamar Jackson as his record is 5-2 all-time.
The same can’t be said for Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield: he’s 1-5 on Monday nights.
Full Week 7 schedule
Away @ home
Thursday
Denver Broncos (3-3) @ New Orleans Saints (2-4) – 8:15 p.m. ET
Sunday
New England Patriots (1-5) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) – 9:30 a.m. ET
Seattle Seahawks (3-3) @ Atlanta Falcons (4-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Tennessee Titans (1-4) @ Buffalo Bills (4-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Bengals (2-4) @ Cleveland Browns (1-5) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Houston Texans (5-1) @ Green Bay Packers (4-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins (2-3) @ Indianapolis Colts (3-3) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Detroit Lions (4-1) @ Minnesota Vikings (5-0) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) @ New York Giants (2-4) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Las Vegas Raiders (2-4) @ Los Angeles Rams (1-4) – 4:05 p.m. ET
Carolina Panthers (1-5) @ Washington Commanders (4-2) – 4:05 p.m. ET
Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) @ San Francisco 49ers (3-3) – 4:25 p.m. ET
New York Jets (2-4) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) – 8:20 p.m. ET
Monday
Baltimore Ravens (4-2) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2) – 8:15 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) @ Arizona Cardinals (2-4) – 9:00 p.m. ET