The Denver Broncos have a new head coach in veteran defensive genius Vic Fangio, but John Elway is also turning to another mediocre quarterback in 2019. In Week 7, Denver will be looking to snap a lengthy losing streak against the AFC West division rival Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7. In two other matchups, the Buffalo Bills will host the Miami Dolphins while the Cincinnati Bengals host the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now, let’s find out which teams are offering the best value in their respective Week 7 matchups.
2019 NFL Week 7 Must-Bet Games
Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos
- When: Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 8:20 PM ET
- Where: Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Denver, CO
- TV: FOX/NFL
- NFL Week 7 Odds: Kansas City -3
The Chiefs are back and looking to take another step forward in 2019 after going 12-4 and reaching the AFC Championship game last season. Denver is in another bit of a rebuild as they look to rebound from their 6-10 campaign under first-year head coach Vic Fangio. While I like the widely-respected Fangio, unfortunately, the Broncos have chosen mediocre veteran quarterback Joe Flacco as the guy to get them there and I just don’t believe that’s going to work.
Denver finished an uninspiring 24th in scoring (20.6 ppg) last season and they’ve been searching for the answer at quarterback ever since the legendary Peyton Manning hung up his cleats following the Broncos Super Bowl 50 win back in 2015. Kansas City has a boatload of talent on the offensive side of the ball starting with reigning MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs also upgraded a defense that was abysmal in finishing 31st overall and 24th in points allowed (26.3 ppg) a year ago.
For this Week 7 matchup, the Broncos are the pick to win and cover the chalk as a manageable 3-point road favorite, seeing as how they got past their AFC West rivals 27-23 at Mile High last season before recording a 30-23 win at home in Week 8. Kansas City’s offense is just too potent for the Broncos to keep pace with.
Pick: Kansas City -3
Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
- When: Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 1:00 PM ET
- Where: New Era Field, Buffalo, NY
- TV: CBS
- NFL Week 7 Odds: Buffalo -4.5
Miami will be in the first stage of their latest rebuild under first-time head coach Brian Flores, but there’s plenty of hope as the former Patriots linebackers coach takes the reins. First and foremost, the Dolphins have moved on from mediocre quarterback Ryan Tannehill and will be going with veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick and second-year signal-caller Josh Rosen. Then, there’s the fact that the Dolphins have some decent talent on both sides of the ball and are coming off a 7-9 season in 2018 that suggests they aren’t as far from being a winning team as some people might think.
Buffalo is looking to improve on their 6-10 mark with second-year quarterback Josh Allen fully in the driver’s seat right now. The Bills made some upgrades to their pitiful offensive line while giving the strong-armed Allen some more weapons to help him become more efficient and successful.
While the Dolphins did suffer an embarrassing 42-17 blowout loss to Buffalo in their meaningless regular season finale last season, Miami did manage to get past their longtime AFC East rivals 21-17 at home in Week 13. I like Miami to cover the chalk in this Week 7 division rivalry simply because these two teams look a lot more evenly matched than anything else and this one looks like a classic field goal finish to me!
Pick: Miami +4.5
Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals
- When: Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 1:00 PM ET
- Where: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
- TV: CBS
- NFL Week 7 Odds: Pick ‘Em
While Cincinnati went 6-10 a year ago and Jacksonville went 5-11, I genuinely believe the Jags are a lot closer to becoming a winning team in 2019 than the Bengals are. First, Cincy will be playing for a first-time head coach in Zac Taylor and while I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, the fact of the matter is that no one really knows how a first-time head coach or quarterback will perform at the NFL level. The Jaguars also went 10-6 in 2017 while reaching the AFC Championship game and I suspect they’ll have a decent chance of getting back to that kind of record in 2019 after adding widely-respected veteran signal-caller Nick Foles in the offseason.
While Zac Taylor is recognized as one of the game’s most innovative offensive minds, I’m wondering just how he’s going to help the Bengals improve on a defense that ranked dead last overall and an equally discouraging 30th in points allowed (28.4 ppg). I’m expecting Jacksonville to get back to power rushing the ball with Leonard Fournette while Nick Foles gives the Jaguars an added dimension of passing the ball that they never had with former starter Blake Bortles under center. Jacksonville gets the outright road win in a game I’m completely stunned they’re not favored in.
Pick: Jacksonville as a PK
