The Carolina Panthers had an inspiring upset win in Week 7. The New York Giants’ rushing attack led them to their sixth victory of the season. Carolina and New York received high scores this week.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Chargers desperately need a bye week, the Green Bay Packers can’t relax and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a listless outing in North Carolina.
Overall, there were six one-score games this week. How much of an influence did coaches have on the outcomes in Week 7? USA TODAY Sports examines the performances of several coaching staffs.
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Carolina Panthers coaching staff: A
Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks deserves a lot of credit. The Panthers were undermanned and a clear underdog, but they came out and outplayed the Bucs all four quarters.
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Panthers quarterback PJ Walker had a career-high 126.5 passer rating in the 21-3 win over the Buccaneers. This throw by Walker and touchdown catch by wide receiver DJ Moore against Tampa Bay’s zone coverage is as good as it gets.
The Panthers dialed up timely plays versus Tampa Bay’s zone coverage. Carolina tallied a season-best 343 total yards on offense – and they did it all without the recently traded running back Christian McCaffrey
New York Giants coaching staff: B
Running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones both rushed for over 100 yards versus the Jaguars.
Giants coach Brian Daboll is utilizing his best player on offense, and it’s proving to be a winning formula. Barkley is having a resurgent year.
This run should’ve gone for negative yardage, but Barkley turned it in to a big gain
Sometimes the game plan is to simply figure out ways to deliver your best player the football and give your O-line an opportunity to run block, which they’ve done above average this season.
The Giants motioned the fullback to the strong side here and ran a power run for Barkley.
New York rushed the football 39 times and gained 236 rushing yards in the 23-17 victory. The Giants haven’t started 6-1 since 2008.
Chicago Bears coaching staff: C
The Bears offense played with no rhythm or continuity on Monday night, but they still managed to come away with a decisive victory. That was thanks to four Chicago takeaways and a balanced rushing attack that the Patriots couldn’t contain.
The Bears only rushed four defenders on this play and still managed to pressure quarterback Mac Jones. The pressure made Jones throw off his back foot, which cause the football to float in the air longer than he wanted. As a result, it was picked off by Bears rookie safety Jaquan Brisker.
Jones’ interception prompted Patriots coach Bill Belichick to make a QB change.
Rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe enjoyed success on his first two series, but the Bears eventually dialed up defensive play calls that flustered the young quarterback.
On one defensive play call, the Bears dropped defensive end Robert Quinn in coverage and blitzed linebacker Nicholas Morrow. Zappe got happy feet in the pocket, and he panicked as the pocket began to collapse, which caused an errant throw that was intercepted by Bears rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon.
The Bears won the turnover battle four to one in their 33-14 road win.
Los Angeles Chargers coaching staff: D
The Chargers performed as if they were already on their bye week. The Seahawks stormed out to a 17-0 lead and kept a comfortable advantage over the Chargers through four quarters.
Brandon Staley’s defense got gashed for 214 rushing yards. Rookie Kenneth Walker thrashed the Chargers for a career-high 168 rushing yards. The Chargers’ cover 3 defense and two high safety looks are susceptible to solid gains on the ground if the defensive front doesn’t routinely win their assignments.
The Chargers even dropped their safeties a tad on this first-and-10 play, but it wasn’t effective because the defensive front wasn’t able to shed blocks. Plus, the Seahawks smartly called a run play away from strong safety Derwin James and outside linebacker Khalil Mack.
The 74-yard touchdown run by Walker sealed the deal for Seattle.
Buccaneers coaching staff: F
The Bucs should hold a players-only meeting this week. They had listless performance in Week 7. The coaching staff received an “F” but the players failed too. Tampa Bay didn’t show up to play against a Panthers team that is undoubtedly in rebuild mode. This dropped would-be touchdown by Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans summarized the day for Tampa Bay.
The 21-3 loss was just the fifth time in Tom Brady’s career that he was held to three points or fewer, per NFL research.
Extra credit
Seattle Seahawks coaching staff: A
Seahawks offensive line won the battle versus the Chargers defensive front. On this play, guards Phil Haynes, Damien Lewis and center Austin Blythe win their interior blocking assignments, and it clears the way for Walker to run for a 12-yard touchdown.
This Walker run epitomized the entire Sunday afternoon for the Seahawks (see above).
The Seahawks had 34 carries for 214 yards. They averaged an impressive 6.3 yards per carry. Seattle’s dominance running the football help them possess the football for nearly 34 minutes and led them to a big 37-23 road win.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on Twitter @TheTylerDragon.
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