NFL Week 7 All-Stars: Joe Burrow Makes A Big Statement; One Team Dominates

Baker Mayfield returned to the lineup for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it was nearly everyone around him on his team who stood out in Week 7. We have several players from the Bucs on our All-Star Team this week, and rightly so. They absolutely dominated the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, picking up a 43-13 win to keep up in the NFC South race. A handful of other stars also had standout performances. In fact, we had a slew of quarterbacks who had a strong case to be featured on this week’s All-Star Team. However, one second-half performance was too strong for us to overlook. So, who are our All-Stars for this week? Here’s a full look at our Week 7 All-Star Team. Easy call at quarterback this week, and most of Joe Burrow’s production came in the second half. The Cincinnati Bengals turned a 13-0 deficit into a 35-13 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow threw for four touchdowns after halftime, going 16-for-18 for 249 yards in the second half alone. We could have gone with Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who had three touchdowns as they handed the San Francisco 49ers their first loss, or either QB in Thursday’s game. Young stars Caleb Williams and Drake Maye went for 300-plus yards and two touchdown passes in the Chicago Bears’ win over the New England Patriots. Going back to Burrow, he has 15 touchdowns against three interceptions, giving him the best passer rating he’s ever had six games into a season. Tony Pollard had a monster first half, finishing with 129 rushing yards and three scores in the Tennessee Titans’ loss to the Cleveland Browns. Bucky Irving was busy in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ rout of the Carolina Panthers, rushing for 106 yards and two touchdowns as part of a 258-yard rushing day for the team. This wasn’t easy to choose, though. Quinshon Judkins went for 96 and two scores in beating Pollard and the Titans, and New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo finished with 124 yards and a touchdown in their win over the Houston Texans. A pair of regulars make the cut at wide receiver. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had nine catches for 150 and a touchdown as the Seattle Seahawks handed the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss, and Tee Higgins was central in Burrow’s huge second half, finishing with six catches for 148 yards and a score. The Detroit Lions’ 1-2 punch split the vote and missed out, with Jameson Williams getting 92 yards and two touchdowns and Amon-Ra St. Brown getting 153 yards and no scores in the win over the Green Bay Packers. Harder to get the nod in a loss, but Baltimore’s Zay Flowers had 137 and a score from a backup quarterback in Snoop Huntley. It was a bit of a quiet day for National Tight Ends Day — the card is in the mail — but we chose Colston Loveland, who had seven for 69 and a touchdown in their win on Thursday. Yes, Cardinals fans, we saw Trey McBride get 10 catches for 111 yards and a score, but he had 20 yards on six targets in the first half and got his yards late as they trailed big against the Denver Broncos. We could have chosen the young New York Jets standout Mason Taylor, who had 62 yards and two scores, but it’s hard to reward someone who lost to the Miami Dolphins. The Buccaneers needed a win badly and leaned heavy on their offensive line, with 49 rushes for 258 yards in a rout of the Panthers, who have now given up the biggest rushing days in the NFL this season. Props to the line of (l-r) Tristan Wirfs, Ben Bredeson, Graham Barton, Cody Mauch and backup Ben Chukwuma, who hadn’t taken an offensive snap all season and played every snap Sunday, filling in for an injured Luke Goedeke. Baker Mayfield, nursing an injured thumb, threw only 11 times, so zero sacks doesn’t mean quite as much. Yaya Diaby had been quiet this year, but broke loose for three sacks while playing only 22 snaps in the Buccaneers’ rout of the Panthers, including sacks of Bryce Young on back-to-back plays. Very few multi-sack games this weekend, so we go with Adetomiwa Adebawore, who had two sacks as the Indianapolis Colts nearly handed the Minnesota Vikings their first loss. Could go with Bengals star Dexter Lawrence as he had a sack and four tackles, but we’ll go with Tomi, a fourth-year pro who’s still only 25 and has eight sacks since the start of the 2025 season. Blake Cashman was all over the place in Brian Flores’ blitz-happy defense, piling up 12 tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits and four passes defensed. That little-of-everything game, at the center of a defense-driven win, gets the nod over Denver’s Alex Singleton, who had 19 (!) tackles and a sack in its win over Arizona. Props also to Atlanta’s Kendal Daniels, who sealed the Falcons’ win with a pick of Brock Purdy and had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Jessie Bates’ diving, toe-tap sideline interception of Purdy trying to throw the ball away might be the single most impressive play of the weekend. Purdy had just two picks in six games coming into Sunday’s game, and Bates also forced a fumble late to stop the 49ers’ last hopes of any comeback. Tampa Bay is all over this team this week. Tykee Smith and Zyron McCollum combined on a rare kick-two — Smith blocked a Carolina extra point and McCollum took it all the way for a defensive two-point conversion. Both of them also had interceptions off Bryce Young, who had two picks in his first five games combined. Watch the blocked extra point, and the Bucs have 10 defensive starters on the field on the block unit, a big investment that paid off. Tampa Bay’s special teams also recovered a muffed punt to set up a short field and an early score.