Rams 'n' Raiders

St Louis, Kawika Mitchell and Sebastian Janikowski all get respect as KC's Picks of the Week return...

St Louis, Kawika Mitchell and Sebastian Janikowski all get respect as KC's Picks of the Week return...

Week Seven served up some big wins and some big individual performances after a week of shocks and surprises. Week Seven Review The St Louis Rams still came good with the surprises though, defeating the Dallas Cowboys to make it two-from-two under interim coach Jim Haslett. Matt Cassell defied his critics by leading New England to a heavy win over Denver, while the London-bound New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers both left the States with plenty to ponder after going down to the Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills respectively. Minnesota Vikings managed 41 points and a loss as the Chicago Bears special teams came good again, while the Tennessee Titans literally ran riot against the Kansas City Chiefs to remain the only unbeaten side in the NFL. Before thoughts turn to Wembley this weekend, Sky Sports' Kevin Cadle picks out the star turns of Week Seven - and one man who stank the place out...

Team of the Week -
St Louis Rams

I'd have to go with the St Louis Rams. Yes, what New England did against Denver was big, especially with everybody waiting for them to mess up, but as good as the Broncos can be, they're still a little brittle for my liking. You can't really say that about Dallas and that's who the Rams beat. This is the Dallas Cowboys we're talking about here, so that's a major, major accomplishment for St Louis. OK, they won last week but they had to win one sooner or later, but back-to-back wins tells the rest of the NFL that St Louis has a team to be reckoned with. The biggest change under coach Jim Haslett has been the attidude. All of a sudden we are seeing a happy team as well and a lot of that can be put down to getting rid of Scott Linehan. To me, Linehan was always an arrogant man and that meant those players were never willing to fight for him. And if you ain't got that, you ain't got a hope in Hell of winning football games. And you ain't gonna survive as a coach, either.

Player of the Week -
Kawika Mitchell - Buffalo Bills OLB

They may have had a powercut in Buffalo on Sunday night, but this man was nothing short of electric. He came up with not one, but two, huge defensive plays that basically took down the San Diego Chargers. First he picks off Philip Rivers just when San Diego was on the march and it looked like Buffalo would lose its lead, then he forces the fumble that leads to the field goal that ends up sealing the win. Linebackers don't normally make Player of the Week, but the Bills are still top of the NFC East - and that is down to Kawika Mitchell.

Play of the Week -
Sebastian Janikowski's 57-yard OT FG for Oakland Raiders

For the second week in a row we have seen history made, with Janikowski's 57-yard winning field goal in overtime. It's not just the length of the kick - he beat his own franchise record by a yard - but that was all about pressure! You gotta remember that if he misses that kick, then the New York Jets get the ball back on their 40-yard line and all of a sudden the Raiders are in real trouble. After Week Six's close calls we saw a lot of wide margins in Week Seven, but it just goes to show that there are three sides to every football team - and special teams will always have a part to play. If you win two of those three aspects, you will win games and this season I think everyone is paying special attention to their special teams.

Villain of the Week -
Larry Johnson - Kansas City Chiefs RB

He's been benched again after allegations of spitting in a woman's face... what the Hell kinda deal is that Larry? He might have apologised but come on, man! So life isn't great for the Kansas City Chiefs right now, but this isn't even about teams, or players, it's about being a basic human being. You just can't do that stuff. He knows it too. He's over-stepped the boundaries of the team but more importantly, he's over-stepped the boundaries of life.