{"numbering":"no_numbering","slides":[{"title":"Here they come","video":"Tx1jp3_Y2hom","thumbnail":{"uri":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/short_form_video/hero/102520_MAIOCCO_HIT_SITE.jpg","alt":"49ers backups stepping up in win over Patriots impressed Matt Maiocco","title":"49ers backups stepping up in win over Patriots impressed Matt Maiocco"},"credit":"Getty Images","published":1603682620,"caption":"

Two weeks ago, the 49ers were left for dead after being embarrassed by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins. Riddled with injuries and with a question mark at quarterback, the reigning NFC champions were cooked at 2-3.

Unfortunately for the rest of the NFL, the "psychopath" 49ers didn't get the message.

After a Kyle Shanahan-engineered win in Week 6, the 49ers rolled into Gillette Stadium on Sunday and dismantled the skidding New England Patriots to move to 4-3, very much in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt.

Elsewhere, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just keep rolling, moving to 5-2 after stomping the Raiders. However, a dark cloud is moving into Tompa Bay.

The Atlanta Falcons lost in a way only they and Penn State can. And the New York Jets continue to give new meaning to the word inept.

Things became a little clearer in Week 7.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Sunday's action.

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Tom Brady's move from New England to Tampa Bay has been just about perfect aside from a few minor hiccups. The Bucs are the most complete team in the NFC and the offense still can get a lot better with more time to gel.

There's no reason to change anything.

And yet, Brady's odd fascination with resident lunatic Antonio Brown continues. Brown's NFL suspension will end after Week 8, and Brady, for some reason, talked coach Bruce Arians and the Bucs into bringing him on board.

Brown's skill is undeniable and he should be able to make life easier on Mike Evans. If he doesn't self-destruct first, that is.

Last time we saw Brown, he was doing 1,000 insane things to get out of Oakland. This included trying to fight general manager Mike Mayock and making a weird guerilla Instagram video after a phone call with Jon Gruden.

Brown poisons locker rooms and leaves rubble in his wake. I have no idea why Brady, a man known to be risk-averse, is so hellbent on playing with Brown.

But if Brown isn't on the up-and-up, it could be a huge detriment to the Bucs' Super Bowl aspirations.

"},{"title":"Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury have arrived","image":"https://www.nbcsports.com/sites/rsnunited/files/slide/image/Murray_K_Kingsbury_K_Getty.jpg","credit":"Getty Images","published":1603685010,"caption":"

There were a lot of questions when the Arizona Cardinals elected to hire Kliff Kingsbury after a mediocre career at Texas Tech. There were more questions when the Cardinals elected to move on from first-round pick Josh Rosen and draft Kyler Murray after his electric Heisman Trophy-winning season.

Could Kingsbury's system, seen as a gimmick in NFL circles, be successful? Would Murray, who many expected to play baseball, be the star NFL quarterback Kingsbury believed him to be?

Most of those doubts went out the window after Murray won Offensive Rookie of the Year last season. The next set of questions was about whether or not Murray and Kingsbury would be ready to compete in the NFC West this season.

They opened the season with a win over the reigning NFC champion 49ers, but then the offense sputtered over a 3-2 stretch that had some believing the Cardinals still were a year or two away from the big stage.

Then, Sunday night came and the Cardinals erased all doubt in a 37-34 overtime win against Russell Wilson and the previously undefeated Seattle Seahawks.

Murray threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns, while also racking up 67 yards and a score on the ground. All told, the Cardinals gashed the Seahawks for 519 yards.

Of course, they also gave up 572 to Wilson and Co. The defense remains a work in progress, but it has playmakers in Budda Baker, Patrick Peterson and Byron Murphy Jr.

More importantly, they have Murray and Kingsbury on the other side and that's enough to win on any given Sunday.

The Cardinals are here. Not to be plucky and notch a few upset wins, but to contend for a division crown.

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The Raiders walked into Week 7 still flying high off their Week 5 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

A weird week that involved a positive COVID-19 test from right tackle Trent Brown and the required isolation of safety Johnathan Abram wouldn't stop them from proving they were for real against Brady and the NFC's best team. A win Sunday would've shown Jon Gruden's rebuild was ahead of schedule despite obvious issues on the defensive side of the ball.

Reality came knocking for the Raiders on Sunday, and the Silver and Black didn't like what it had to say.

Brady diced the Raiders up to the tune of 369 yards and four touchdowns. The 454 yards the Bucs gained were the most Paul Guenther's weary defense has surrendered this season, but not by much.

The Raiders now have given up at least 337 yards in all six games. That 337 number was put up by the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. They've given up over 400 yards four times in six games.

On Sunday, they only hit Brady once and did not force a turnover. They rank 31st in points allowed per game (32.8), 26th in yards allowed per game (403.7) and 28th in passing yards allowed per game (283.8).

The defense is a complete mess. Offseason additions Cory Littleton, Nick Kwiatkoski, Maliek Collins and Carl Nassib have done little to improve a unit that needed to take a leap.

The Raiders survived their early-season stretch at 3-3 and are, in theory, in the playoff hunt.

But they aren't going to the postseason with that defense. In fact, they still have a long way to go to be the team Gruden wants them to be.

All they had to do was look across the field Sunday and see a complete team with all the parts to be a Super Bowl champion.

The Bucs have an efficient offense led by Brady, one that can beat teams through the air or on the ground with Ronald Jones. Tampa also has a relentless defense that forces turnovers, gets to the quarterback and makes stops when needed.

The Raiders' offense is improving under Derek Carr, but the defense will keep them from realizing their playoff dreams in 2020.

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No, these aren't the 2019 49ers. The pass rush isn't the same without Nick Bosa and Deforest Buckner. The secondary has been put together with duct tape and glue for most of the season.

The 49ers are losing offensive weapons left and right. And yet, here they sit at 4-3, reinventing themselves as they go along.

A Week 6 win over the Rams steadied the ship, and Sunday's bludgeoning of the Patriots should have them riding high into next Sunday's showdown with the division-leading Seahawks.

While the win over the Rams was about the offensive scheme and the playmaking of George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, Sunday was about a defense that forced four turnovers and a running game that racked up 197 yards despite running back Raheem Mostert being on IR.

Jimmy Garoppolo was unspectacular Sunday. Shanahan once again designed the offense to limit Garoppolo's ability to make mistakes and lose them the game. Of Garoppolo's 20 completions Sunday, 10 came at or behind the line of scrimmage. Of the other 10, only one went more than 15 yards down the field.

The 49ers' offense was equally dangerous running and throwing the ball in 2019, despite Garoppolo's flaws. In 2020, Shanahan has elected to make it more about hiding Garoppolo and winning without forcing him to make tough downfield throws.

That's a formula that won't work next week in Seattle and probably not against the Green Bay Packers the following week.

But it has worked the past two weeks and gotten the 49ers back on their feet, steady enough to get back into the ring to fight for the NFC West crown.

The Rams could have delivered the knockout blow to the 49ers. After two straight wins, the 49ers are gaining momentum.

The 49ers will go as far as Kyle Shanahan can take them in 2020. They needed Garoppolo to take a leap. He hasn't done that, so Shanahan has audibled.

But wins lead to belief, and a confident 49ers team is a dangerous opponent, no matter the offensive game plan.

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NFL Week 7 takeaways: Now-confident 49ers alive, in thick of NFC race