NFL Week 7 takeaways: Are the 49ers in too deep a hole? Who are kings of the NFC North?

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NFL Week 7 takeaways: Are the 49ers in too deep a *****? Who are kings of the NFC North?

The Sunday afternoon games of Week 7 featured plenty of kicker heroics, particularly in the NFC North:

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The NFC North is the best (and tightest) race in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs breezed to a road victory over the banged-up San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl rematch, New York Giants fans got a bitter taste of Saquon Barkley on Sunday, and did the Jacksonville Jaguars maybe, sort of, get back on track with a convincing win over the New England Patriots in London?

The Athletic NFL writers Jeff Howe, Ted Nguyen and Dan Pompei share their thoughts on all of these storylines and more.

Whether it’s a relatively down year for the defense or the injuries piling up on offense (********** McCaffrey is still out, Brandon Aiyuk left Sunday’s game on a cart), do you feel it’s too steep a climb back to Super Bowl contention for the San Francisco 49ers?

Howe: Super Bowl contention doesn’t feel likely, but it’s too early to write off the 49ers because of elite talent and their recent history of peaking late in the season. The injuries are a concern, no doubt, but the Niners are dealing with other issues. They still haven’t won back-to-back games this season, and they simply gave away victories against the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals. They’re just too inconsistent, whether it’s week to week or quarter to quarter. Even still, they’re a game behind the Seahawks, and McCaffrey should be able to solve quite a few problems whenever he returns.

Nguyen: It’s starting to feel that way. The defense is no longer an elite unit; they’re fine, but they aren’t going to dominate a lot of games with the natural talent drain. This team has to win on offense, but they haven’t been the hyper-efficient and explosive offense that they’ve been the past two years (and if Aiyuk is out for the season it’s going to be even ******* for them to return to that level). With the slow start to the year and dropping a couple of winnable games, this might be too much to overcome. They’ll likely be a playoff team, but unless rookie Ricky Pearsall starts producing like a star soon, it’s hard to envision this team in the Super Bowl.

Pompei: So far, the 2024 49ers are a far cry from the 2023 49ers, and there will be consequences for their uneven start. That being said, this is a team that should be better in December than it has been in September and October. Maybe they should be much better, but they have been compromised because of injuries. (Can you imagine a backfield with McCaffrey and Jordan Mason?) The 49ers have not been in sync yet this year, and if they ever begin to click, they will be a tough out. They may be able to win their division without having a great record, as the NFC West has no dominant team thus far.

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Are you impressed that the Packers survived against the Texans despite three giveaways — or concerned that the Packers are still giving it away three times in a big game during Jordan Love’s second full season as the starter?

Nguyen: Love is going to take gambles and he’s going to have games like this. As long as he’s also making rare plays, it’s tolerable — not ideal. But what was most impressive about this game was the Packers’ defense. They were absolutely suffocating on Sunday, pressuring C.J. Stroud frequently. The Texans offense has been held together by Stroud’s heroics and mastery on third-and-long situations, but on Sunday that came crashing down. The Packers defense held Stroud to only 86 yards passing. Anytime you can do that to an MVP candidate, you deserve praise. Matt LaFleur made the change at defensive coordinator to Jeff Hafley so they can win games on days when the offense is struggling, and it paid off today. Love has to be better and the offense will have better days, but the Packers defense was lights out.

Pompei: It would have been nice for the Packers to get a win in the takeaway column, but it’s nicer to get a win in the standings. And it says something about the Green Bay defense that it can overcome three giveaways. Packers fans of a certain vintage will understand this way of winning is sustainable. When Brett Favre was under center, the Packers routinely overcame turnovers, finding ways to put up more points than their opponent. That’s what Love’s Packers did Sunday, and if Love has a little Favre in him, there should be few complaints.

Howe: I’m definitely impressed with this Packers win. Love has very quickly become one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and that game-winning drive felt inevitable. They’re loaded at the skill positions, and Love seems to trust just about all of them. He does need to improve his ball security, though. He has eight interceptions in six starts this season, including at least one in each outing. Love did overcome an early-season stretch like this in 2023; he’ll need to do it again or that will be a much ******* concern in the playoffs.

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Speaking of the NFC North: After the Packers’ win over an AFC power and the Detroit Lions knocking off the now-one-loss Minnesota Vikings on the road (and the Chicago Bears, on bye, sitting at 4-2 after three straight wins), how does the NFC North stack up in your mind?

Howe: The division has three Super Bowl contenders and a Bears team that can stay in any game because they’re so good defensively. Depending how much Caleb Williams improves throughout the season, the Bears also have a shot at getting into the playoffs. The Lions are the best team in the NFC at the moment, maybe even the best team overall. But with the Vikings’ defense and Love’s high ceiling, these teams can take down anyone at any time.

Pompei: Look, this division is going to come down to the last weeks of the season, maybe even Vikings at Lions in the final week. Or Bears at Packers. And it’s impossible to say how each of the four teams will progress or regress. But the Lions looked like the best team in the division heading into the season, and they looked like the best team in the division on Sunday. The issue is how much they will miss Aidan Hutchinson moving forward. Will they be able to acquire a player who can give them some of what they are missing? Will Aaron Glenn be able to scheme up some pressures (as he did Sunday)? Will one of their defensive linemen step up? If the answer is yes to one or more of the questions, the North could belong to the Lions.

Nguyen: 1) Lions. Jared Goff has gotten better every year; Sunday was the fourth game in a row in which Goff completed more than 70 percent of his passes. He overcame long-yardage situations because of penalties and negative plays. Detroit was excellent on third down against the best third-down defense in football. Goff stood strong and delivered against Brian Flores’ scheme, and the defense made enough stops even without Aidan Hutchinson. 2) Packers. Love is back from injury and he’s been up-and-down, but his ups are very high and his lows haven’t been costly thanks to a much improved defense. 3) Vikings. If you can sort out Flores’ pressure scheme, there are holes in this secondary and on Sunday it showed. Sam Darnold in pure passing situations is shaky — he can certainly make hard throws, but he’ll put the ball in harm’s way too. If they are on script this is a hard team to beat, but they still have to prove they can win when coming from behind. 4) Bears. Caleb Williams is getting better and the defense is legit. This team’s ceiling is tied to how much the offense line and Williams can continue to improve.

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It’s October, the perfect time to relitigate decisions made in March: Is the criticism of the New York Giants for letting Saquon Barkley walk (which will, surely, get much louder) warranted?

Nguyen: The Giants are going to have to start a total rebuild with or without Barkley. In hindsight, not signing Barkley is a good decision regardless of how well he’s playing for the Eagles. It was a win-win for both teams even if it doesn’t feel like it for the Giants, because they, frankly, aren’t winning. Barkley gets to maximize the rest of his prime behind the best offensive line in football and the Giants save money and maybe not fool themselves into not starting their rebuild as soon as possible.

Pompei: There isn’t any question the Giants would be better if Barkley was producing for them this season the way he has produced for the Eagles. He is on a pace to rush for 1,864 yards — his best season by far. For a variety of reasons, he didn’t always produce that way for the Giants. In six years in New York, he had two really good seasons, and he wasn’t impactful enough for the Giants to overcome other issues. Their record during his time in New York was 29-64-1. So while it shouldn’t be difficult to understand the decision the Giants made in the offseason, it is difficult to understand for Giants fans.

Howe: The whole situation could have been handled better than it was, but I’m not sure Barkley would have made the Giants markedly better this season. The Eagles are much better positioned to get into the playoffs, so a highly paid running back made more sense for them, whereas the Giants building around a running back may not have been the best financial strategy. Criticism for the mixed messages during negotiations were warranted, but not necessarily for the end result.

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While recognizing that the New England Patriots are not very good, do you hold any hope that the 2024 Jaguars will at any point resemble the edition that, about 11 months ago, was sitting at 8-3 and in control of their division?

Howe: No. It’s going to take a whole lot more than a win over the Patriots to forget about the fact the Jaguars have lost 10 of their last 13 games. They’ve got the Packers, Eagles, Vikings, Lions and Texans in their next five games, too. They’ll have to be significantly better than they’ve shown to avoid five consecutive losses, which would drop them to 2-10 and keep them in contention for the draft’s No. 1 overall pick. Beating the Packers would move the needle next week, but I’m not ready to buy any Jacksonville stock at the moment.

Nguyen: The same Jaguars that got pummeled by the Bears last week? I don’t have much hope that Jacksonville has improved much from a bottom-dweller team after a win against the Patriots. It looked like they were playing with a lot more effort though. I love that safety Andre Cisco called out the team for quitting last week and set the standard with a strong game today. For this team to get back to winning games, they’ll need Trevor Lawrence to play at an elite level every week. Rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. looks like a legitimate threat and the two are getting more and more comfortable together, so maybe the offense can greatly improve, but I’m not sure if the offense can get to a level where it can make up for the defense week after week.

Pompei: On one hand, the Jaguars have won two of three and have shown signs of improvement. On the other hand, their loss one week ago to the Bears was a rough one, and their two wins are against struggling teams (the Indianapolis Colts and now the Patriots). What’s more, the challenges will become steeper and the margin of error slimmer. Their next five are against good teams (the aforementioned Packers, Eagles, Vikings, Lions and Texans stretch). Jacksonville will have to win at least three of those games to be December contenders. The good news? Their schedule softens in the season’s final month — and the Jags are better than their record.

(Top photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)