Latest / Unicorn Football Talk / Reaction NFL Week 7 + College Week 8
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- Emily: Unicorn Football Talk is back to react to NFL Week Seven and College Week Eight. Let's jump in, Hillary, and start where we always start with the NFL unbeatons and who is winless. And we are down to a very small list, we have one unbeaten left. Let's first talk about the two teams that were knocked out. The five and Chiefs lost to the Seahawks. Yay. And Hilary: Yay! So exciting. Emily: double yay. The 49ers lost to Atlanta. They are now six and one. Hilary: Yay, and I did not see that one coming at all. Emily: I was hopeful actually, so I'm not totally surprised, but Thank you, Atlanta. But we still have the Vikings undefeated, and who saw that coming? they beat the Colts, they are six and and their next up opponent is Detroit. Hilary: Okay. Emily: All right. And we are down to one sad winless team. happy to say the Dolphins won last week. They are now one and five. They beat the Jets, and we still have the 0-6 Chargers. maybe 0-7 next week. next up. they are playing the Rams. Hilary: Wow. Those guys just can't get a break. No easy games for them in the foreseeable future. Emily: Nope. All right. Looking forward to checking in on that next week. All right. QB injuries. I think pretty soon we could probably get rid of this check-in. So there were no new injuries this week. That might be the first week with no injuries, which is pretty notable. Quick update Jalen Hurts, we talked about this last week, kind of the weird story with blood clots in his lungs. the only update. Is that the NFLPA has called for a full independent inquiry after the league initially suggested the Eagles followed proper protocols and following public pressure, and union pushback, the NFL agreed to work alongside the union to review the timeline, travel decisions, and medical reporting. So we will hear more on that. Hilary: Yeah, and wishing good things for Jalen Hurts and a speedy recovery on this one. Emily: Yes, totally. all right, the Giants. the only thing of note here is just that JJ McCarthy had his first start and he looked good. And it is JJ from here on out for the Giants. Good luck, Giants. Hilary: Yeah, and the last thing I think on that list is Lamar Jackson again did not play. And it's just interesting because I originally didn't think his injury was particularly significant, but this is week three, week four without him. Emily: Yeah. I've heard he might play this weekend, I thought the same thing. I didn't think the injury was that bad, but yeah, he's been out for a few weeks. and then I just want to report Baker Mayfield was back for Tampa Bay. He had a big day and a big win. Hilary: Yeah, Tampa Bay needed him back. Emily: All right, so I'm gonna do something a little different this week with my time. week seven is in the books and let's check in and see how the NFL is doing. are the teams that we thought were gonna do well doing well? Are there some surprising teams at the bottom? And I'll just do a quick go around division by division. Sound good? Hilary: Sounds great. Let's do it. Emily: All right, let's start with the AFC. AFC East to me is the least surprising division. It it is what I thought it would be. You have Buffalo and New England at the top, and the Jets and the Dolphins at the bottom. The headline for me is about New England. They started a little rough and they've been coming on a bit stronger. don't know what they will be. I could see them going either way from here. AFC North, I think it's pretty surprising to see the Browns at the top of this division. We've got Browns, Steelers, Bengals, and then Ravens at the bottom of the division. So a little bit surprising. The headline for me again, Browns on top, Ravens are struggling without Lamar Jackson. Hilary: Yeah, that's a tough division for the Ravens without Lamar. Emily: right. AFC South is a bit of a mess. when I list these out, they're an order of who's at the top versus down to the bottom. We've got the Jags, Hilary: Okay. Emily: Colts, Texans, and Titans. It's the worst division in the AFC. the headlines for me are that the Colts fired their GM. We talked about that last week. The Texans are a surprise to me, struggling at two and five. And I don't know what's going on in Tennessee. I didn't think they'd be good, but they are still bad Hilary: Not Emily: and not good. Yeah. All right. Last division in the AFC, the AFC West. I don't think most of this is a surprise. It's a very strong division. Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders, Chargers. Chiefs, Broncos, not a surprise. I think it's just the the fact that the Chargers are undefeated. I don't think anyone saw that coming. And they could be and seven this time next weekend. The Raiders started strong, they're fading. I think we sort of expected what what they are, which is sort of a mid mid lean team. Hilary: An improvement from last year, no doubt. Emily: Yes. All right, let's move over to the NFC. The NFC East. What a mess. Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, Commanders, all big time franchise names, but none of them are doing great. but the Giants are at the top with JJ McCarthy at the helm at this point. And really curious to see where they'll end. Cowboys won last night, but they're still not looking great to me. Hilary: I believe with the Giants win over the weekend, they won over the weekend, correct? Emily: Yes. Hilary: I believe that puts them at a record that is equivalent to what they managed for the entire season last year. So some positive changes happening in New York, as expected with Harbaugh coaching Emily: For sure. Hilary: change. Emily: Yeah, agreed. All right. NFC North. not surprised that all the teams are in it. We, I think we all knew that was a good division. The Vikings, Bears, Lions, Packers. they have great records. We have a six-and-o record, five and two, four and two, four and three. the headline is the Vikings being the only undefeated team with Kyler Murray at the helm. Are they for real? When will they crumble? I don't think anyone believes that they're for real. Hilary: not on board because right now their defense and their kicker are carrying the team in my opinion. Their offense needs to step up as the season progresses or they will not be able to sustain their unbeaten record. Emily: Agree. All right. Two more to round us out. The NFC South. It's like your meh division. No one with a winning record. Panthers, Falcons, Tampa Bay, and the Saints in that order. To me, the headline is the three and four Falcons. They look so much better than their record now that they have Penix back. yeah, I think they could be the contender there. But of course, also with Tampa Bay, having Baker Mayfield back, they could also make a run. And then let's end it with our favorite division, the NFC West. I think as expected, it's a strong division, but maybe not expected is the order that we are landing in at this point. 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams are, you know, as you would expect at the top, and the Cardinals at the bottom. to me, the headline, the Seahawks, the champs are four and three. And that was a surprise. There were a couple of very winnable games there. And the Rams officially can't go undefeated which is what everybody was predicting at the beginning of the season. Hilary: Okay. That's a good roundup, Emily. I some surprises in there for me. moving on from that, I guess I took a little bit different tactic this week in NFL coverage too. And I thought we're well into the season and I wanted to check in with some of the major trade and free agent moves that happened at the beginning of the season. So I had too many. I'm gonna highlight five this week and I'm gonna come back with another five next week. But First up is Mike Evans. He was a free agent signing. He went from the Tampa Bay Bucks to the 49ers. And the intent here from the 49ers was to provide Brock Purdy with a wide receiver one option. The results I think Mike Evans, it's been a game changing acquisition for the 49ers. He looks revitalized in the first couple of weeks. I know he's struggling with a few injuries right now, but He's a top offensive receiving threat and Purdy's favorite target. They've got what looks like great chemistry already. He's also providing veteran experience and leadership in what is a heavily injured receiver's room. And he opens up the San Francisco offense. He makes the defense account for him, and that takes some of the pressure off of McCaffrey and Kittle. He set out this week against the Falcons and the 49ers lost. So take with that from you, Will. Win for the Forty Niners. The results for the Bucks have been disastrous and it's just been a major loss to their offensive scheme. No one on their roster has currently been able to make up for Mike Evans' departure with his play catching ability and deep ball threat. big move for the 49ers that paid off. Emily: Yeah, agree. Hilary: Yeah. Okay, next up, Kenneth Walker three, free agent signing from the Seahawks to the Chiefs. This one's a little bit who Emily: Who who's Kenneth Walker? Hilary: this one is a little close to our hearts, but the intent on this one was to provide the Chiefs with an explosive run game. Last year their run game averaged under four yards per carry. the results, game changing player for the Chiefs. Seamless fit into their offensive scheme. And until this past Sunday, he was averaging more than 100 yards per game. that allows for a more balanced offensive attacks. The Chief have not had a thousand-yard rusher in the Patrick Mahomes era, which I thought was kind of an interesting stat. So obviously a win for Kansas City on that one. results for the Seahawks so far, not so great. Seattle's trying to manage their run game by committee. They've got injuries and they haven't been able to get a lot of traction going until this week when Manuel Wilson had a bit of a breakout game on Sunday. But the lack of the run game just puts too much pressure on Sam Darnold and JSN to drive the offense. Seattle's loss at this point, in my opinion. I don't know if you want to get into that one or not. Okay. Emily: Yeah. No, I'll just leave it at that. I think we just need to let it play out and see how it plays out the rest of the season. Hilary: Right. Of course, injury concerns for him, but so far, no signs of that. next up, Trent McDuffie was a trade from the Chiefs to the Rams. And the Rams gave up a 2026 first round pick in that trade, among some other things. But that's that was the major gift to the Chiefs, if you will. And the intent from the Rams, I think, is part of their win now strategy for the Super Bowl while they still have Matt Stafford under center. And they wanted to bolster the defense with a lockdown corner who's playing at a super elite level. And they got that. Trent leads the NFL right now with a 97% coverage grade. the passing rating against him by quarterbacks is 22% and an average of two yards per target. He mathed Missed the last two weeks with a groin injury, but assuming that he's near returning, the Rams are absolutely getting their money's worth and they met their objective with this deal. So where does that leave the Chiefs? Well, interestingly, they replaced McDuffie with the number six overall draft pick in Mansoor Delane. He's out of LSU and he's playing fantastic. His current stats rank him as a top 10 corner. And we saw him in action on Sunday against the Seahawks, and he held his own. Well, so I think both teams came out okay on this one. next up, the the trade, I guess, that was considered the blockbuster trade of the offseason. Miles Garrett was a trade from the Browns to the Rams. The Rams gave up a 2027 first round, a 2028 second round, a 2029 third round, and the player Jared Verse. So I'm going talk about that in a minute. The intent, part two of the Rams win it now strategy. Miles Guerra is a proven game wrecking player. He's a two-time defensive player of the year. And in 2025, he set the single season sack record at 23. Results so far? Non-existent impact because of injury. He played week one, then he had knee surgery and went to IR. He's currently eligible to return to practice perhaps this coming week, but the Rams have not capitalized on this move at all. As far as I'm concerned. And the result for Cleveland, hey, they replaced him with Jared Verse, who was the 2024 defensive rookie of the year, got rid of a massive salary for the rookie contract. And their defense looks good in their rolling. I think Cleveland came out of this okay, actually better off. Emily: Yeah, they're currently leading their division after getting rid of Miles Garrett. So good for them. Hilary: Right. Right. The last one I want to cover this week is the AJ Brown trade. That was from the Eagles to the Patriots. The Patriots gave up a first round 2028 and a fifth round 2027 pick in that deal. And the intent was to provide Drake May with an elite wide receiver one. So far, not so great. Injuries, he's played week one, went and spent four weeks on IR. He's back, but he's had Poor on field production. I think this one is a massive disappointment for the Patriots. They are not getting their value out of this one. And the Eagles, I know they've got some struggles with their injured quarterback and some other injuries, and their season maybe isn't going the way they wanted, but I think they win in this trade deal because they got great draft picks. They freed up cap space and split the dead money for AJ Brown over two seasons. And they shifted their offensive focus to Devonta Smith and Makai Lemon. And I think they're going to come out of this one okay. know if you got thoughts Emily: Yeah. Hilary: on that. Emily: yeah, agreed. I don't think AJ Brown would have saved the Eagles this season with what's going on with them. So good call on their part. Wow, that was a lot that we covered for a check in on the NFL. Are we ready to move on to college? Hilary: We are ready to move on to college and I've got a lot here too. I just love the college football. I anyway. Emily: Yeah, so I decided you have a lot. I'm gonna yield my time to you. and then we'll come back and wrap up with the games we're circling for the weekend. So take it away. Hilary: Okay, take it away. First up, I want to call out number nine Kentucky. They're seven and one. They sit at the top of the SEC, and their only loss is to Alabama. A lot of people are super surprised by this, and I'm gonna make the argument that maybe we shouldn't be. Their new coach is former offense coordinator from Oregon, Will Stein. He's from Louisville. He's a former Louisville Cardinal player and he is bringing a high-energy culture and aggressive play calling. I want you to remember this is the team that called back-to-back game-winning two-point conversions and overtime against South Carolina and LSU. He is going Emily: I remember. Hilary: for it. Yeah, he is going for it. he was super successful in bringing in a large transfer class. The interesting part about that to me was that no scholarship players followed him from Oregon. He built the roster from existing players and transfer portal other than Oregon. And one of those transfers is the quarterback Kenny Minchie, who's playing really great. He's a transfer from Notre Dame and he was sitting on the bench behind CJ Carr. So I think that's a win for him to make the transition and get the exposure at Kentucky. The other thing I want to point out is Kentucky's playing really, really disciplined football right now. They are ranked number two in interceptions at 11. They have a plus eleven turnover margin, and they're one of the least penalized teams. They're on a bye week this week. And guess who they're up next in early November, Emily? Emily: Tennessee. They're going down. Not Tennessee. Kentucky's going down. Hilary: Kentucky's going down. Okay. Anyway, Emily: I hope. Hilary: shout out to Will Stein in Kentucky. Good things happening there. number one ranked Miami for the second week in a row. This week was the Malachi Tony offensive show against Pitt. He had 159 receiving yards at the half, which equaled all of Pitt's offense to that point. He finished the day with 194 receiving yards on a school record, 16 catches and three touchdowns. I'm putting him on a Heisman watch. That's where I'm at with that. All right. Calling out number 14, Wake Forest. Who the heck are they? They are the Demon Deacons. They're six and one, and they're four and one in the ACC. Their head coach is Jake Dickert in his second season. He was the prior head coach at Washington State Cougars for four years. The quarterback's Gio Lopez. He's a junior transfer. After he played the 2025 season for Bill Belichick at North Carolina. They've won four in a row, three of those on the road. Their loan loss is to now top-ranked Miami. And they're coming off the bye week to face Virginia at home on Halloween. So I think that's gonna be a tune-in game for me. Wouldn't be college football without a good social media troll. So this one is Texas Tech in their loss on the road at the Cincinnati Bearcats, which ends their undefeated season. Cincinnati chose George Straits. All my exes live in Texas as their stadium exit music. And that, of course, is a reference to the Brendan Soresby saga and Brendan's ill-fated transfer from Cincinnati to the Red Raiders. So Emily: I did not hear that one. I love it. I love it. Hilary: Yeah, love loving loving me some social media jabs there. Okay, Emily: Absolutely. Yes. Hilary: wrapping up games from this week, I guess, in my North Dakota State Bison News, they lost 1621 on the road to the New Mexico Lobos. So they sit at six and two. But here's a fun fact: going into that game, the best defenses in the FBS as ranked by points allowed per game. Number one, New Mexico Lobos. at ten and a half. Number two, North Dakota State Bison at eleven point three. And number three, Indiana Hoosiers at twelve. So go bison. All right. Need a breather here or should I keep keep going? Emily: Let's go. What do you have next for us? Hilary: Okay, what I've got is my college by the numbers breakdown. the undefeated list is down from six to three this week. Miami, Utah, and UCLA remain. And this is really unusual. Normally, the average number of teams at this point in the season still undefeated is around eight. The last year there were only three left at this point, is 1997. So yeah, yep. Emily: wow. Yeah, there have been a lot of upsets. Hilary: There has been a lot of upsets. So this week, Miami remains number one on the AP poll. Every other position in the top 25 changed. Think Emily: Every single one? Hilary: every single one. The new number two is Ohio State by default, even though they were on and off week. And I'm going to leave you with one more number of note, and that is seven. And that is the number of programs in this week's top twenty five that are led by new coaches. Emily: okay. Hilary: Okay. So that stat is the kind of thing that prompts schools to be willing to make a coaching change, even if there's a multi million dollar buyout involved. And three programs did do that this week, announcing head coaching changes Maryland, NC State, and Baylor. Oregon also fired their offensive coordinator after three weeks in a row of failing to generate more than 17 points. So we are at that point in the season where people are starting to make some changes. Emily: Yeah, I think it just shows you in the era of the transfer portal and NIL how you can remake a roster and a team very quickly. Hilary: Correct. The turnaround and the expectation for the turnaround now is definitely on a shortened window. AP risers and followers, Utah and Texas made their biggest gains in the polls. The followers were BYU and Texas Tech. USC dropped out with their loss, and Iowa also, Iowa also dropped off. Okay. So did you know that nine of the preseason top 25 are now unranked? Sick. Okay. Six of Emily: No I do not. Hilary: them, six of them from the Big Ten. Oregon, USC, Michigan, Washington, Penn State, and Iowa. Louisville, Texas, AM, and Oklahoma round out that list. But I know the preseason polls are always a big wish list, but that seems like a lot. Emily: It does, Hilary: All right. And my last fun number is three. And that is for the first time since 1978, the Minnesota Golden Gophers hold all three of their traditional rivalry trophies. They captured the Floyd of Rosedale statue with their win over number 15 Iowa in a walk-off field goal at home. So congrats to them. That's a super fun stat. Emily: That is a fun stat. I love that you dug up all this info. I've learned a lot this week about college. Thank you. Hilary: You bet. Thanks for yielding your time. Emily: Okay, let's get ready for next weekend and what games we are circling. let's start with college since we were just talking about college. I don't mean to be a homer again. No, I'm not gonna circle Tennessee. but Northwestern at Oregon really intrigues me. Northwestern is six and one and ranked number twenty. Their only loss is to a very good Indiana team, but are they for real? I know Oregon is four and three. They aren't ranked and they lost last week, but they are Oregon and they are a very proud team and fan based and Audson Stadium is a really tough place to play. So I'm a little nervous for Northwestern. Hilary: Okay. And a fun fact there, that is a Chip Kelly homecoming, the offensive coordinator for Northwestern, used to be the coach at Oregon, so Emily: great call out. Great call out. I totally forgot about that. Hilary: Okay. I've got two games circled this week. One is number three Georgia versus number seventeen Florida at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Georgia is designated as the home team. I think this one's gonna be a close one. Emily: Yeah, do you know the history there and that this game is traditionally known as the world largest outdoor cocktail party? Hilary: I do not know that history. Emily: Yeah, the name has been around for many years. and I think just from a random person commenting on all the drinking that was going on openly. but for obvious reasons the name has been disavowed as an official title for a while. and the SEC specifically asked CBS to stop using the phrase when it was promoting it. But it's still out there if you if you Google it. Hilary: Yeah, it is All right. My other game this week is number sixteen, Wake Forest at home versus Virginia. they're favored by ten, but I still wanna check that game out since I highlighted them in my college section this week. Emily: All right, let's wrap up with NFL. I had a tough time circling one game. There are a lot of really interesting matchups this weekend, but I am going to circle Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Neither of them have a winning record in the Lacklester NFC South, but they both have their starting quarterbacks back. And they both came off big wins. The division is up for grabs and this is a really big game for both of them. So, I'm rooting for Atlanta, because they did us such a favor with beating forty niners. Hilary: Well, I'll always cheer for Atlanta because Penix is a former University of Washington Husky. Good guy. Okay. Emily: That too, good guy. Likeable. Hilary: I'm still working on watching some different teams as the season goes on. And so I'm calling out the Vikings versus the Lions. And I just want to see if Minnesota can get their offense going. We touched on this earlier. They are currently undefeated, but the defense is really, really carrying the team, I think. The kicker is scoring most of their points. It's Kyler Murray prove it time, I think. Emily: Yeah, that's a really interesting one. I thought about circling that too. All right, lots to look forward to this weekend. It was fun, as always, talking football with you, Hillary. Hilary: All right, Emily, Unicorn Football. Back next week.