NFL Week 7 Winners and Losers: Mike Tomlin Silences Critics of Steelers’ QB Move

It’s hard to shake off past failures in the NFL. Look at Steve Spagnuolo. He has won four Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator, including in each of the past two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. But he hasn’t come close to getting a second chance as a head coach in the NFL.

That’s O.K. with the Chiefs, because Spagnuolo continues to make the defense better, evident by a 6–0 start and how Kansas City flustered Brock Purdy in Sunday’s 28–18 win against the San Francisco 49ers.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has also had a hard time getting the football public to stop focusing on his past failures. Even now, some are having a hard time accepting that Goff has turned into an MVP-caliber quarterback.

On the other hand, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has made plenty of correct decisions in his decorated career, but not many gave him the benefit of the doubt when he started Russell Wilson over Justin Fields in Sunday’s win against the New York Jets.

It’s hard to please everybody, something Tomlin, Goff and Spagnuolo care very little about. They are three of five Week 7 winners. Let’s get to this week’s list—you can already guess where the Jets will land.