Sports

You'd think the sky is falling for the Philadelphia Eagles, but that's nothing new. Even when they're winning, there's usually some reason for angst. 

Except this time, they're losing. A team that lost once from the start of October in 2024 to the end of September in 2025 lost twice in five days to start this month. They blew a game in the fourth quarter against the Broncos and then were surprisingly uncompetitive against the Giants on a Thursday night. That happened on a national stage, leading to an examination of what's wrong with the Eagles. 

This might be the time to take a breath and think rationally about the Eagles. 

Yes, there are issues. It's still the deepest roster in the NFL. They were capable of winning 20 of 21 games over a calendar year. This season's Eagles don't look like last season's Eagles yet and might never reach that level, but they should still be good enough to win many games and be a Super Bowl contender. As they prepare to face the Minnesota Vikings, ask yourself: Do we really think the Eagles, who lost three games all last season, are losing three in a row? 

The Vikings are a good team but they do have quarterback questions. Will J.J. McCarthy return this week, and will he play better than he did the first two weeks of the season? It seems like McCarthy might need another week and while Carson Wentz has been OK he's still an inconsistent option. The Eagles defense should be able to play well against him. 

The Eagles are -2 at BetMGM vs. the Vikings. The Vikings have extra rest coming off the bye and are at home. Yet, again, are the Eagles really losing three in a row? Despite all the negativity surrounding them, Philadelphia is the pick. And they'll hear all about if if they lose. Maybe even if they win. 

Kevin Sabitus via Getty Images

Here are the picks for Week 7 of the NFL season, with all odds from BetMGM: 

Bengals (+5.5) over Steelers

The Bengals haven't lost by fewer than nine points since Joe Burrow went on injured reserve. They're being outscored by 21.3 points per game over the last four. So why is this spread just 5.5 points? As we found out each of the last two Thursdays, a divisional matchup in prime time can bring the best out of a team that isn't very good or facing some adversity. If the Bengals have any decent performances left in them this season, we'll see it Thursday night. 

Jaguars (+3) over Rams

The Jaguars' familiarity with London matters for these de facto home games. The Rams flying into London on Saturday morning seems like a disadvantage, though Sean McVay has obviously thought it through. There's a much bigger factor: Puka Nacua's ankle injury. If he doesn't play, the Rams aren't the same. And the Jaguars are a good team. 

Chiefs (-12) over Raiders

Double-digit favorites in the NFL aren't usually a good investment, but the Chiefs are playing well lately. And the Raiders ... are not. Even in the win over the Titans last week, Las Vegas still looked like a bottom tier team. And there's enough bad blood between the sides that Kansas City won't let up if it has the chance to blow out the Raiders. 

Bears (-5) over Saints

The Saints have been on the road only twice this season. They lost by 31 and 12 in those two games and were out-gained in both too. There's some worry for a Bears letdown after a nice road win over the Commanders, but they have won three in a row and it feels like there's some momentum building. We'll see. 

Browns (-2.5) over Dolphins

The one thing the Browns should be able to do is run the ball. And the Dolphins can't stop the run. They're giving up 5.6 yards per carry, which seems like a misprint. As long as the Browns don't fall too far behind — and the defense is good enough that it shouldn't — then this is the exact type of matchup Cleveland can exploit. 

Patriots (-7) over Titans

Typically, backing a team that fired its coach is a smart move. There's a short-term bump. But here's another factor: Mike Vrabel. Vrabel was fired by the Titans in January of 2024 after ownership sided with since-fired GM Ran Carthon in a power struggle. Vrabel has downplayed his return but if New England gets a lead, he might want to blow out the team that fired him. 

Panthers (-1.5) over Jets

When winless teams start to get deep into the season, the urgency to get that first victory increases. Nobody remembers the one-loss teams in NFL history, while the 1976 Buccaneers, the 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns live forever. But the Jets are not only coming back from London and not taking the bye, it's likely they'll be without Garrett Wilson, the one player who could possibly save the passing game. The Jets will eventually win a game but it might take a while. 

Giants (+7) over Broncos

Last week, teams with rest advantage did well. The teams with more rest than their opponent went 6-2 with three underdogs (Seahawks, Falcons, Bears) winning straight up. The Giants not only have three extra days of rest, but the Broncos are playing right after a London trip in Week 6. In addition, where is the Broncos' offense? It hasn't been very good yet. Oddsmakers giving the Giants a full touchdown is a bit surprising. 

Colts (+1.5) over Chargers

If you are skeptical of the Colts' 5-1 start, you're not alone. Oddsmakers agree. How else to explain this line? The Chargers' injuries haven't all gone away. They barely beat a terrible Dolphins team last week. It's not like the Chargers have a great home-field advantage. This seems like a trap game. But the Colts deserve more respect than this. 

Commanders (-2) over Cowboys

The Cowboys will seemingly get CeeDee Lamb back this week. But the offense hasn't been a problem. Can Dallas' defense stop anyone? It hasn't yet this season. The Commanders are seeing regression hit after a magical 2024 season, but they'll still be able to move the ball against the Cowboys. It's just a question of whether Dak Prescott can carry Dallas to a win, as he's being asked to do every week. 

Cardinals (+6.5) over Packers

Let's just acknowledge it: The Cardinals looked better with Jacoby Brissett replacing Kyler Murray. Last week was by far their best offensive game of the season (a season high 400 yards; Arizona had just one game above 293 before last week), and it came in a tough test at the Colts. The Packers are a good team but they haven't looked great since Week 2. And Arizona has to feel confident with Brissett getting another start. 

Falcons (+2) over 49ers

The 49ers are in trouble. The defense might be really bad without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. It was already slipping without Bosa, and losing Warner seems like a point of no return. And this week they get a game against a Falcons team that just put up 335 yards in the first half against the Bills. We might look back on this line in a few weeks and wonder how the Falcons were underdogs. 

Buccaneers (+5.5) over Lions

Last season, the Lions lost two regular-season games. One was against the Buccaneers at home. Detroit outplayed Tampa Bay in that game, but the Bucs have shown many times over the past few seasons that they are not overwhelmed when they face elite teams. The Lions' injuries, with Brian Branch's suspension, leave them a little vulnerable on defense against Baker Mayfield too. 

Seahawks (-3) over Texans

The Seahawks are the NFL's secret elite team. This spread indicates that nobody, including the betting market, has caught up to how good Seattle is. The Texans are coming off a bye and that's a factor, and they did look better in their last two games. But how much of that was due to a soft spot in the schedule, facing the Titans and then a depleted Ravens team? Houston's defense is fantastic, but I trust Seattle to get a solid home win. 

Last week: 12-3

Season to date: 51-40-2

The Tennessee Titans’ firing Brian Callahan this week signaled the unofficial start of the coaching carousel.

Six weeks into the season, a league built for parity is finding there is little to go around. Nearly half (14) of the league’s teams this season are two games over .500. Three others have winning records and another three (the Chiefs, Panthers and Commanders) are 3-3 with an upward trajectory.

On the opposite end, six teams are 1-5, with their playoff hopes all but over in October. Only one of those teams (the Saints) has a rookie head coach. Callahan was the first coach to be dismissed, but there are toasty seats across the league.

Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins

2025 Record 1-5
Career Record 29-28

For a while, McDaniel looked like the future of coaching. He was different. He was fun. He was creative. But McDaniel’s schtick has run out of steam. The Dolphins have the longest postseason drought in the league, and that’s not changing this season.

After being blown out by the Colts in week one, you can at least hand this to McDaniel: his team has fought. Even after losing Tyreek Hill for the season, the Dolphins’ offense has been productive. But after another inexplicable late-game collapse last week against the Chargers, it feels like his time has run out. The on-field product has been poor. And the vibes in Miami seem as fractured as anywhere in the league.

The on-field malaise has seeped off the field. In his postgame comments to the media last week, Tua Tagovailoa exposed problems in the locker room. He criticized players for missing or arriving late to player-only meetings, as well as the team’s weekly preparation. When players start publicly criticizing the culture, a coach is on borrowed time.

Blame for this year’s debacle should go across the organization. It was owner Stephen Ross who decided to run it back with McDaniel and GM Chris Grier this season, despite little evidence that the two could field a playoff-caliber team. Grier has assembled another disheveled roster, patching together a lopsided defense. He placed all his chips on the defensive front, leaving the weakest secondary in the league exposed. McDaniel’s offense has shown signs of life since week one, but Miami’s defense has been so uncompetitive that it’s almost meaningless.

The Dolphins have a manageable schedule coming up. But wins over the Browns or Falcons are unlikely to move the needle. They will only delay the inevitable. Whether it’s in-season or at the end of the year, McDaniel will be out. To finally end the 25-year hunt for a playoff win, though, the Dolphins will need more sweeping changes.

Hot Seat Meter 10/10

***

Aaron Glenn, New York Jets

2025 Record 0-6
Career Record 0-6

Coaches are rarely one-and-done in the NFL. Owners are too proud. Executives aren’t keen to admit that they hired a dud. If a coach is axed after one season, it’s typically because of an off-the-field scandal or because they commit the cardinal sin: they make the team look incompetent.

The Jets fired Robert Saleh last season, a defensive-minded coach whose pitch for the head coaching gig was that he would improve the team’s culture. That didn’t work. So Woody Johnson pivoted to Aaron Glenn … a defensive-minded coach whose pitch was that he would establish a new culture. So far, it’s been a complete failure.

Expectations were low for the Jets this offseason. Somehow, Glenn has driven them down. They are worse defensively than at any point under Saleh, sitting 28th in EPA/Play. The offense can churn out yards in the run game, but cannot get anything going through the air unless it’s garbage time.

More importantly, Glenn looks in over his head. He isn’t a scheme guru; he’s a culture-builder. He was supposed to restore accountability and competency to the building. He would say what needed to be said, and he would be on top of the little details that can be the difference in one-score games. But he’s continually flubbed his lines. He effectively quit on his own quarterback at the end of the first half against the Broncos in week six, then lit up a reporter for asking if the coach was pondering a quarterback switch. In all six games, he has bungled timeouts, struggled to grasp the basics of end-of-half situations and coached not to lose rather than trying to win. If that were all, Glenn would likely be given time. But it’s not. His own unit has fallen off a cliff – and he’s refused to make any staffing or schematic changes to stem the bleeding.

The Jets are not a talented team. But with the current roster, they shouldn’t be winless. There is talent along the offensive line, a handful of playmakers at the skill positions and quality starters at every level of the defense, though it’s hard to tell at this stage of the season.

Glenn has taken every opportunity to point back to his time in Detroit, when he was working alongside Dan Campbell. Going from laughing stock to contender was a slow build. Campbell won only three games in his first season as Detroit’s head coach. But even when losing, the Lions never looked unprepared or incompetent. The Jets do.

Glenn can afford to lose more games, so long as the Jets start to look competitive. That starts with a quarterback change or an overhaul of the defense. But with a tempestuous owner, Glenn cannot afford any more management calamities.

Hot Seat Meter 6/10

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Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns

2025 Record 1-5
Career Record 41-49

Stefanski is a two-time Coach of the Year who is fighting for his job, thanks largely to the failings of his front office and owner.

The Browns are in rebuild mode, betting on their rookie class to carry them into a new era. They are stocked with draft picks for next year’s draft, where they will have a chance to maneuver the board to land whichever college quarterback they prefer.

Perhaps Stefanski will show enough down the stretch that he will be kept around to see through the rebuild. He continues to oversee one of the NFL’s best defenses, and if the Browns can land a serviceable quarterback in the offseason, they could compete in the AFC North next season. Stefanski has proven that with solid quarterback play, he can piece together a good offense. But he was handed the roughest of assignments last offseason, asked to work it out with a creaking Joe Flacco – who has since been traded – or a pair of mid-round rookies at quarterback. That was always going to be a recipe for fewer than 20 points a game and a losing record.

By the end of the year, Stefanski will probably be the fall guy for Cleveland’s deeper failings. The Browns will hand the franchise over to a new head coach to usher in a new era with a new quarterback. But Stefanski will land a job elsewhere. The mess in Cleveland is not on him.

Hot Seat Meter 8/10

***

John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens

2025 Record: 1-5
Career Record: 173-109 (One Super Bowl win)

The injury-riddled Ravens dropped to 1-5 after losing 17-3 at home to the Rams last week, marking the worst start to a season in John Harbaugh’s 18-year tenure with the franchise.

Baltimore hit the bye at the lowest ebb of the Harbaugh era. If they can get the bulk of their starters back from injury after the break, most notably Lamar Jackson, they could still make a playoff run. But the odds of turning the season around are dwindling. Since the current playoff format started in 2020, only one team – Washington in 2020 – has started 1-5 and made the playoffs.

Harbaugh has lived a charmed life in Baltimore. Even during the years when the Ravens have faltered, the blame has never fallen on the head coach. This year is different, though. Baltimore’s defense is a mess for the second season in a row. The group sits 30th in EPA/Play, behind the likes of the Titans, Jets and Bengals. Last season, the Ravens were able to turn it around at the midpoint of the year, overhauling their approach and bringing in outside help to streamline what defensive coordinator Zach Orr was trying to do.

Harbaugh chose to run it back with Orr this season after falling short in the postseason. But it’s been a dud. Even before injuries took over, the Ravens’ defense was out of sorts. They struggled to get lined up, couldn’t communicate and couldn’t impact opposing quarterbacks. Harbaugh often gets a pass for a unit’s failings because he’s viewed as a former special teams coach and is billed more as a CEO-style head coach. But Harbaugh’s branding is a touch misleading. His background is in defense. He sits in every defensive meeting and makes the critical hires. It’s on him, as much as anyone, that the unit has struggled out of the gates two years in a row.

With Jackson at the apex of his powers, the Ravens are operating on a year-to-year timeline. It’s championship or bust every season. But Harbaugh is now 4-7 in the postseason since he won the Super Bowl nearly 13 years ago. And he is facing an uphill struggle even to make the playoffs this campaign.

The Ravens are not a rash franchise. And it’s tough to see who on the market would be a better fit for the Ravens than Harbaugh. But if the team fails to make the postseason, there aren’t many other levers to pull than changing the head coach.

Hot Seat Meter 4/10

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Brian Daboll, New York Giants

2025 Record 2-4
Career Record 20-36-1

No coach’s career is teetering as much as Daboll’s. His future rests on the arm of one player: Jaxson Dart.

Daboll went into the season with a singular mandate from Giants owner John Mara: find me a quarterback. After messing around with Russell Wilson for a few weeks, Daboll finally pivoted to the rookie. And the early returns have been strong. Dart has brought electricity to a previously moribund offense, piloting the Giants to two wins in three starts, including a win over the Eagles without go-to targets Malik Nabers or Darius Slayton.

Dart embodies everything Daboll wants in a quarterback: big, strong, mobile and a little reckless. While the rookie has been up-and-down in his three starts, he has undeniably brought a new jolt to the franchise.

This is a proof-of-concept year for Daboll. He entered the season with the warmest seat in the league. But he finally has his own hand-picked quarterback. The schedule for the Giants the rest of the way is tough; their next nine opponents all have a current record above .500.

The win-loss column will matter. It’s hard to run back a coach with 40-plus losses in four seasons. But Mara values stability and isn’t prone to rash decisions. As much as the team’s record, keeping or firing Daboll will come down to the environment. If Dart continues to show promise, if the Giants can snag another pair of upset wins and if the chemistry between the head coach and quarterback remains strong, Daboll will be given another year.

Hot Seat Meter 5/10