Gaffney's 2025 NFL Week 7 Team of the Week

Jack Gaffney
15 hours ago
4 min read

Closing in on the end of October already, NFL Week 7 saw a barrage of elite running back performances out of the likes of Jonathan Taylor, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Christian McCaffery, to name a few, and on the other side of the ball, we saw perhaps the best single-game pass rushing performance out of an interior defender and edge rusher, respectively. Never mind a monumental comeback by the Denver Broncos on Demaryius Thomas Day out in Denver vs. the New York Giants, this week was one for the ages. Now, who all makes our Team of the Week squad?

Gaffney's 2025 NFL Week 1 Team of the Week (First-Team)

Offense: Joe Flacco (QB, CIN), Penei Sewell (OL, DET), Jahmyr Gibbs (RB, DET), Oronde Gadsden II [R] (Pass Catcher, LAC)

Not a ton to say about Joe Flacco beyond the fact that the old man still has the fastball. Months away from turning 41, his 342 passing yards vs. Pittsburgh were the 11th-most by any QB this year, and just the second time in 2025 an expensive Steelers defense has allowed 300-plus passing yards. It's easy to say "just chuck it up to Chase and Higgins", but it's genuinely impressive how quickly he's gotten into a rhythm with that Bengals offense. It might be too big a hole to dig out of when it comes to making a playoff run, but at least now they have a chance.

Last night in Detroit, Jahmyr Gibbs was a one-man wrecking crew in the Lions' blowout win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with his 218 scrimmage yards (136 rushing, 82 receiving), which led the league in Week 7. Now, typically with the Lions this year, Penei Sewell being a standout guy is not exactly a rarity this year, and he was great the whole way last night, but watch him on this screen play, breaking out the "boy I oughta" head smack before running as fast as he's ever had in his life downfield to try and make a play.

Defense: DeForest Buckner (IDL, IND), Micah Parsons (EDGE, GB), Tatum Bethune (LB, SF), Patrick Surtain (DB, DEN)

One of the better trade acquisitions in the league this decade, Colts' IDL DeForest Buckner, had one of the more psychotic pass rush performances of his career on Sunday vs. the Chargers. 50 total pass rush snaps, 10 pressures, a pair of sacks, and, according to the folks over at NetGenStats, he had 12 pass rush "wins". Obviously, the Chargers weren't running much in this one since they went down a ton early, but the Chargers also only averaged two yards per carry with Buckner on the field as well. A banner day for not just him, but that defense as a whole, and I wish more fans could appreciate how good Buckner has been for nearly a decade now, and he's still playing elite ball.

Another lights-out pass rush performance, in the eyes of everyone but the man himself, it would appear, was Micah Parsons out in the desert vs. the Cardinals. His 11 pressures, eight quick pressures, and his hat trick in the sack department led the league outright in Week 7, and he was a hip drop tackle shy of another takedown of Jacoby Brissett. Now, if he's saying this is the first week the Packers have really cut him loose, that's a scary thought, but there's a decent chance the Packers get upset if he doesn't have his season-best outing.

Nowhere near a household name, even after his fantastic outing on Sunday Night Football, 49ers linebacker Tatum Bethune has one of the more impossible tasks of any athlete in American sports this year: "replacing" Fred Warner. He may never fully accomplish that feat this year, but I thought he was very good given the circumstances on Sunday. Missed a couple of tackles, but made a number of stops and was a penalty in the secondary away from picking up what would've been one of the more impressive sacks of the year. Watch him absolutely bulldoze Bijan Robinson right up the gut here.

I saw some chatter about Pat Surtain's shutout performance on Sunday compared to the depth of the Giants receiver room, but the bottom line is that Jaxson Dart didn't look PS2's way once in the opening 55 minutes of play, and the three times he did, it went incomplete, interception (by Justin Strnad, but he probably gets a PBU if he doesn't drop back in coverage), incomplete. I'm not going to fault him for the Giants' lack of talent on the boundary this week. His -6.2 coverage EPA was also good for the top 10 in the league this week, as well, for whatever it's worth.

Rookies: Travis Hunter (WR, JAX) and Mason Graham (IDL, CLE)

Better late than never for the Jags to start getting Travis Hunter involved heavily in the passing attack. After trying and failing on three first-half third-downs to get him the ball. While that London game was over in all but name at the 30-minute mark, Hunter and Trevor Lawrence were able to find some common ground in the second half, leading to the No. 2 overall pick's first career 100-plus yard game and first career offensive touchdown.

Not a ton of "standout" defensive rookie performances in Week 7, but Mason Graham ended up with another good outing against the run alongside his running mate, Malik Collins, racking up two tackles for a loss and then a hilariously quick pressure on Tua Tagovailoa as seen above.