NFL Week 7 early games info and open thread

While we wait for Sunday Night Football and a chance for the Falcons to get back on track—pray that they do—there’s plenty of football to watch this afternoon. In fact, all three of Atlanta’s division rivals play at 1 p.m., so we’ll have a good feel for how the division looks by a little after 4 p.m. today.

Frankly, all three of these games are winnable for our NFC South enemies, which is deeply unfortunate. The Saints are playing a Packers team without Aaron Rodgers, the Panthers have a game but still so-so Bears squad, and the Buccaneers play the Bills, probably the toughest matchup on this list. With Carolina and New Orleans looking threatening, in particular, we’ll hope for a couple of tough luck losses to give Atlanta a chance to keep pace or jump back into first place in the NFC South.

Other than the divisional matchups, none of the early games promise to be that interesting, with a lot of lopsided contests on paper and only a small handful of games worth your time. My advice is to save your attention and beverages of choice for the late game.

That said, here’s the matchups for the afternoon slate, which will kick off in about five minutes. Knock yourself out talking about them here.

1 p.m. Games

Ravens vs. Vikings

Saints vs. Packers

Jets vs. Dolphins

Panthers vs. Bears

Cardinals vs. Rams

Buccaneers vs. Bills

Jaguars vs. Colts

Titans vs. Browns

4 p.m. and later Games

Cowboys vs. 49ers

Bengals vs. Steelers

Seahawks vs. Giants

Broncos vs. Chargers