Concert Review: Verge Campus Tour (Rae Sremmurd/Mike Stud/KaneHoller)-- Salem, MA-- October 29th, 2015

Salem State University got a rare moment of big-school glitz when the Verge Campus Tour featuring Rae Sremmurd, Mike Stud and KaneHoller rolled through the small, suburban Massachusetts campus last night. This was the first time since I transferred to Salem State in the fall of 2012 that a major concert was held on campus, so naturally I was excited to finally get the experience that so many of my friends that attended other universities had every year they were in school. Unfortunately, the show that ended Salem State's major concert dry spell ended up being a thoroughly underwhelming experience.

California-based electropop duo KaneHoller opened up the night. Before KaneHoller came out, the show's host went on a long rant about keeping the energy up the whole night. Based on the level of enthusiasm this speech was met with, it seemed liked the crowd was going to honor his request. However, as soon as KaneHoller came out and started playing, the electric atmosphere that was in the room instantly vanished. KaneHoller's performance was about as energetic as a nursing home cribbage game. Every single song featured the same lo-fi synth beat on a loop and lifeless choruses that were repeated to the point where I seriously contemplated vomiting in the middle of the floor. Adding to the sterile nature of their music was the fact that both members of the group stood around the stage like there were in the most boring trance in human history. The only time the group or the crowd showed any life was when they broke out into a random 5-minute techno instrumental interlude in the middle of their set. Given how poorly their normal songs were received, this seemed like a cheap gimmick to win over the crowd and while it certainly worked for most of the audience, it just left me cringing. Synthpop is a genre that I normally have a soft spot for, but KaneHoller lacked the intensity and memorable hooks that's required to make it work.

Mike Stud was up next. This kid has emerged out of nowhere recently to become a viral sensation, so I was intrigued to check out his set and see what all the hype was about. Stud came out and got about 20 seconds into his first song before his mic malfunctioned, which caused him to leave the stage for nearly 10 minutes while the problem got resolved. Once the technical difficulties were figured out, Stud came out and finished the rest of his set without incident. While Stud didn't put on an objectively bad show (his stage presence and rapping/singing were respectable), his style of poppy, fratboy-friendly hip-hop just didn't click with me. Stud writes nothing but cheesy, formulaic songs about drinking and getting girls that are solely made for high school and college kids who typically don't listen to rap. In other words, he's cornering the market on cornball white party rap now that Sam Adams and Asher Roth have faded into obscurity. Music like this can be fun once in a while, but it gets old really quick. If you're a fan of Stud's work, you'll enjoy the hell out of his performance. If you're not, his live show will do nothing to change your mind.

Headliner Rae Sremmurd took the stage to wrap up the night after a surprisingly brief 10-minute changeover. While I'm a pretty big fan of their debut album SremmLife, I was kind of nervous to see them because I've heard rumblings that they're a terrible live act. These rumors proved to be true. I can say with total certainty that Rae Sremmurd are amongst the laziest and most unpolished performers I've ever seen. They spent the duration of their 45-minute set lip-syncing, jamming out to their music and yelling out random shit about Halloween and smoking weed while only occasionally bothering to actually rap along with their overpowering backing tracks. Live shows are a huge part of being a professional musician and if you can't be bothered to actually perform your music for your fans who dished out their hard-earned money to see you, you don't deserve to have a record deal or bask in the glory of fame and fortune. Don't get me wrong, both Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy have a shitload of energy and are experts at hyping up a crowd, they just don't care enough about their craft to put any legitimate effort into their live performance. I'll still listen to Rae Sremmurd's studio material because it's a whole lot of fun to listen to, but I wouldn't even entertain the thought of seeing them live again.

Scores:
Kane Holler 2/10
Mike Stud 4/10
Rae Sremmurd 2.5/10

Setlist
Rae Sremmurd (missing 4-5 songs, but I'm sure they closed with "This Could Be Us" and "No Type"):
Lit Like Bic (intro played over PA)
Come Get Her
No Flex Zone
Blase (Ty Dolla $ign cover)
My X
YNO
Nightcrawler (Travi$ Scott cover)
Safe Sex Pay Checks
Throw Some Mo (left during this song)

The Best and Worst of Bradley Cooper

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "Burnt" star Bradley Cooper.

Film starring Bradley Cooper that I've seen:
Wet Hot American Summer
Wedding Crashers
The Rocker
Yes Man
The Hangover
The A-Team
Limitless
The Hangover Part II
Hit and Run
The Words
Silver Linings Playbook 
The Place Beyond the Pines
The Hangover Part III
American Hustle 
Guardians of the Galaxy
American Sniper
Aloha

Best Performance: Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Like most of the moviegoing public, this was the first time I began to take Cooper seriously as an actor.  Cooper's turn as Pat Solitano, a bipolar man trying to get his life back together after a violent episode in which he beat up the man his wife was having an affair with, is one of the most sensitive, emotionally-deep and spellbinding performances I've ever seen. This performance was critical in Cooper's transformation from the guy who stars in nothing but third-tier romantic comedies to one of the finest dramatic actors working today and I firmly believe that if Daniel "All I Do is Win Oscars" Day-Lewis wasn't nominated, he would've taken home Best Actor in 2012.

Worst Performance: Hit and Run (2012)
Cooper took this role as a favor to his good friend Dax Shepard, who wrote and directed this film. In hindsight, he should've done audiences a favor and passed on the role. Cooper overacts the shit out of his role as the film's antagonist, Alex Dimitri, a professional bank robber looking to seek revenge on his onetime getaway driver (Shepard) who testified against him in court and sent him to prison years earlier. Armed with fake dreadlocks and a pair of sweet sunglasses, Cooper tarnishes the quality of an otherwise solid movie with his obnoxiously over-the-top performance.
 
Best Film: Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
As someone who loves absurdist comedies, it doesn't get much better than Wet Hot American Summer. Armed with a fantastic ensemble of then mostly-unknown actors including Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, Wet Hot American Summer unleashes an onslaught of quirky characters and out-of-left-field humor to create a consistently hilarious film that's unlike anything I've seen before. The thing that strikes me the most about this film is how much better it gets on repeat viewings. The jokes are thrown out at such a rapid pace that it takes multiple viewings to absorb all of them and once you do, the film goes from great to all-time great.

Worst Film: Aloha (2015)
Aloha is one of those movies where you'll be left scratching your head at how so many talented people were able to make a film that's this horrible. Despite boasting a great director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) and an ensemble cast featuring top-flight actors in Cooper, Emma Stone, Bill Murray, Rachel McAdams and Alec Baldwin, Aloha still manages to be a catastrophic failure. The film is remarkably corny, the tone is all over the place, the story is absolutely absurd and everyone besides Baldwin gives uncharacteristically lifeless performances. Aloha is easily the worst thing anyone attached to this film has ever been involved in and is bound to live in infamy as one of the biggest wastes of talent in the history of cinema.

 Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Trumbo" star John Goodman.    

Week 8 NFL Power Rankings

()=Last Week's Rank
1. (1) New England Patriots (6-0) Week 8 opponent: Miami Dolphins
2. (2) Green Bay Packers (6-0) Week 8 opponent: Denver Broncos
3. (3) Cincinnati Bengals (6-0) Week 8 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
4. (4) Carolina Panthers (6-0) Week 8 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
5. (5) Denver Broncos (6-0) Week 8 opponent: Green Bay Packers
6. (9) Arizona Cardinals (5-2) Week 8 opponent:Cleveland Browns
7. (7) New York Jets (4-2) Week 8 opponent: Oakland Raiders
8. (8) Atlanta Falcons (6-1) Week 8 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9. (10) Minnesota Vikings (4-2) Week 8 opponent: Chicago Bears
10. (6) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
11. (11) New York Giants (4-3) Week 8 opponent: New Orleans Saints
12. (15) St. Louis Rams (3-3) Week 8 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
13. (16) Seattle Seahawks (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
14. (19) Oakland Raiders (3-3) Week 8 opponent: New York Jets
15. (20) New Orleans Saints (3-4) Week 8 opponent: New York Giants
16. (24) Miami Dolphins (3-3) Week 8 opponent: New England Patriots
17. (14) Indianapolis Colts (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Carolina Panthers
18. (12) Buffalo Bills (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
19. (13) Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
20. (26) Washington Redskins (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
21. (21) Chicago Bears (2-4) Week 8 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
22. (18) Cleveland Browns (2-5) Week 8 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
23. (30) Kansas City Chiefs (2-5) Week 8 opponent: Detroit Lions
24. (17) San Diego Chargers (2-5) Week 8 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
25. (25) Dallas Cowboys (2-4) Week 8 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
26. (22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4) Week 8 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
27. (32) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
28. (23) San Francisco 49ers (2-5) Week 8 opponent: St. Louis Rams
29. (29) Baltimore Ravens (1-6) Week 8 opponent: San Diego Chargers
30. (28) Detroit Lions (1-6) Week 8 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
31. (27) Houston Texans (2-5) Week 8 opponent: Tennessee Titans
32. (31) Tennessee Titans (1-5) Week 8 opponent: Houston Texans

2015 Week 7 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers

Quarterback
MVP: Tom Brady (Patriots)
Shocker of the century: The Tom Brady revenge tour is still in full swing. Despite a slew of bad passes and costly drops by Brandon LaFell and Julian Edelman, Brady still finished with 355 YDS and 2 TD's against a stout Jets defense that ranks near the top of the league in every major category. Brady also managed to tear it up in the running game, rushing for a team-high 15 YDS and a TD. After 4 consecutive seasons of being merely a decent fantasy option, Brady is now back being to being an elite QB1. Brady faces a recently improved, but still very beatable Dolphins defense in Week 8.
Honorable Mentions: Ryan Tannehill (Dolphins), Phillip Rivers (Chargers), Andrew Luck (Colts)

LVP: Drew Brees (Saints)
The Saints may have won pretty handily against the Colts in Week 7, but their star quarterback was once again relatively quiet. Brees threw for just 255 YDS, 1 TD and 1 INT in this stellar matchup against the Colts weak secondary. It could've been a much bigger day for Brees, but tight end Ben Watson got brought down at the 1-yard line on 2 separate long receptions. Brees hasn't been playing terrible in 2015, but his lack of TD's (he's only thrown multiple TD's in 2 of his 6 starts) make him a less-than-ideal fantasy option at the moment.
Dishonorable Mentions: Blake Bortles (Jaguars), Eli Manning (Giants), Russell Wilson (Seahawks)

Running Back
MVP: Lamar Miller (Dolphins)
Lamar Miller seems like he's responded especially well to the presence of interim head coach Dan Campbell. In the 4 games with Joe Philbin at the helm, Miller didn't rush for more than 53 yards, had 0 TD's and was averaging just 11.8 touches per game. In the 2 games under Campbell, Miller has 2 100+ yard rushing games, 3 TD's and averaged 19 touches a game. Miller's Week 7 performance was a fantasy masterpiece (236 total yards, 2 TD's) that brought no shortage of joy to his owners. Miller is suddenly at the top of the fantasy running back and has handsomely rewarding any owners that were patient with him as he worked through his early-season struggles. Miller faces another juicy matchup in Week 8 when the Dolphins take on the Patriots weak rush defense.
Honorable Mentions: Todd Gurley (Rams), Arian Foster (Texans), Darren McFadden (Cowboys)

LVP: LeGarrette Blount (Patriots)
It's no secret that LeGarrette Blount is one of the biggest enigmas in fantasy football. The Patriots tendency to commit to a different running back each week paired with Blount's erratic play when he's actually on the field make him the classic boom-or-bust player. Blount was at his absolute worst in Week 7 against the Jets, managing just 3 carries for -3 yards on the afternoon. Luckily for Blount, no Patriots running back got the job done (1 yard on 5 RB carries), which led to Tom Brady leading the team in rushing for the 1st time in his 16-year career. Look for Blount to fair much better in their Week 8 contest with the below-average Dolphins.
Dishonorable Mentions: Rashad Jennings (Giants), Frank Gore (Colts), DeMarco Murray (Eagles)

Wide Receiver
MVP: T.Y. Hilton (Colts)
The Colts 2015 campaign has been largely disappointing from both a reality and a fantasy perspective. One of the few bright spots for this Colts this year has been the play of their number one wideout T.Y. Hilton. Hilton had his best game of the year so far in Week 7, putting up 150 YDS and 2 TD's on 4 receptions. Despite his strong play of late, Hilton's hot streak will more than likely come to a close in Week 8 when he goes up against the Carolina Panthers elite shutdown corner Josh Norman.
Honorable Mentions: Jarvis Landry (Dolphins), Mike Evans (Buccaneers), Amari Cooper (Raiders)

LVP: Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals)
Sometimes even the greats can't take advantage of prime matchups. Despite facing the bottom-ranked passing defense of the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7, the resurgent Larry Fitzgerald was held to just 39 yards on 3 receptions. Fitzgerald is having one of the best years of his storied career in 2015 and it would come as a huge shock if this was anything more than a bump in the road. Fitzgerald will be a solid WR2 play in Week 8 against the Browns banged-up secondary.  
Dishonorable Mentions: Travis Benjamin (Browns),DeAndre Hopkins (Texans),Jordan Matthews (Eagles)

Tight End
MVP: Jordan Reed (Redskins)
Jordan Reed made one hell of a return to the field after missing 2 games with a concussion, sparking the Redskins improbable comeback victory over the Buccaneers with his 11 REC/72 YD/2 TD performance. Reed is one of the most injury-prone players in the NFL, but when's he on the field, he's one of the better tight ends in the league. Reed is owned in between 20-50% of leagues right now depending on what site you play on, so if you're having tight end problems and are willing to roll the dice on him being healthy for the rest of the year, he's definitely worth a look. 
Honorable Mentions: Rob Gronkowski (Patriots), Ladarius Green (Chargers), Eric Ebron (Lions)

LVP: Julius Thomas (Jaguars)
A week after making his first notable contribution as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Julius Thomas disappeared in Week 7. Thomas reeled in just 1 of his 5 targets for 4 yards in the Jaguars narrow victory over the Bills. Thomas reportedly sustained a groin injury early in the game, which explains why he was only on the field for 37 snaps and looked sluggish at times. Thomas will continue to be a matchup-dependent TE1 when the Jaguars return from bye in Week 9 as he continues to find his role in this young upstart offense. 
Dishonorable Mentions: Charles Clay (Bills), Jordan Cameron (Dolphins), Jimmy Graham (Seahawks)

Defense
MVP: St. Louis Rams
The stellar production of the Rams defense has gone relatively unnoticed in 2015 as the dominant defensive play of the Broncos and Cardinals have garnered a majority of the attention in fantasy land. However, the Rams absurd performance in Week 7 should finally get them the moment in the spotlight that they've long deserved. The Rams surrendered just 6 points and picked up 4 sacks, 4 fumble recoveries and a touchdown against a Browns offense that has been surprisingly solid for a majority of the 2015 season. The Rams potent defense has another excellent matchup in Week 8 as they take on the lowly 49ers offense at home.
Honorable Mentions: Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs

LVP: Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers defense has pleasantly surprised fantasy owners this year with their consistent productivity. This week snapped their streak of impressive performances as they posted their weakest performance since their Week 1 loss against the Patriots. The Steelers allowed 23 points, mustered just 2 sacks and failed to get a takeaway against a Chiefs offense that has struggled mightily since running back Jammal Charles went down with a torn ACL in Week 5. The Steelers defense is worth hanging onto for the long term, but they aren't worth starting in Week 8 as they face a Bengals offense who has only surrendered 6 sacks and turned the ball over 6 times this year. 

Dishonorable Mentions: Houston Texans, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots 

Movie Review: Steve Jobs

Since Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs passed away in 2011 from pancreatic cancer, Hollywood has churned out films about his life at a breakneck pace. From the 2013 biopic Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher as Jobs to a dozen or so documentaries, the polarizing tech billionaire's accomplishments and upbringing appear to have been tackled at every conceivable angle. Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Moneyball) are the latest to throw their hats in the Jobs' biopic ring and their film- aptly titled Steve Jobs-is by far the most compelling and complex of the bunch.  

Steve Jobs is structured more like a stage production than a traditional film. Boyle and Sorkin tell Jobs' story through a trio of long-cut scenes that take place behind-the-scenes at the product launches for three of his most important: the original Macintosh computer in 1984, the NeXT computer in 1988 and the iMac in 1998. The formula may sound like it skims on the details, but each scene is stuffed to the brim with insight on Jobs' career and more importantly, what made him tick. By focusing on a microcosm of Jobs' life instead of telling his entire life story in two hours, Steve Jobs is able to provide a very interesting and original take on the biopic.

Through the series of conversations and events that take place backstage at these product launches, the fillmmakers highlight the relationships and characteristics that defined Jobs as a man and document how he became one of the wealthiest men in the world. Sorkin's writing has a way of accentuating a notable person's brilliance and impressive accomplishments without shying away from their flaws and Steve Jobs is no different. For every bit that portrays Jobs as a tech-visionary and marketing genius, the film also shines a spotlight on his holier-than-thou attitude to his associates at Apple and disowning of his first-born daughter and ex-girlfriend, who were on welfare around the time he became a billionaire. Steve Jobs doesn't hold back from damning details and legitimate criticism of its subject and Sorkin's ability to expose those human character flaws makes the film so much more realistic and satisfying than most biopics.

This film's brilliant construction and writing is amplified by career best work from Michael Fassbender.  Fassbender's performance is every bit as uncompromising and ferocious as the man he portrays. Scene after scene, Fassbender captures Jobs' intense, condescending persona by hurling pointed insults at everyone that challenges his vision and dealing with family and business issues in the poorest ways humanly possible. It's a bold, in-your-face performance that drives film's chaotic nature and is pretty much bound to stick with you for a long, long time.

The electric energy that makes Steve Jobs such an adrenaline-fueled viewing experience is also its greatest weakness. The film is such a whirlwind that you miss some of the bits of insight and interesting information that it drops along the way. The revolving door of conversations also takes away from the impact the supporting players have on the story. Seth Rogen and Jeff Daniels both have moments of scene-stealing excellence as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and former Apple CEO John Sculley, but their impact isn't as great as it should be given how limited their time on screen is. While this film is clearly designed to be a profile of Jobs' life and legacy, it would've been interesting if the film had spent a little more time exploring Wozniak and Sculley, who both played an integral role in Jobs' success. Steve Jobs is a masterclass in biopic filmmaking that will undoubtedly go down as one of the finest cinematic accomplishments of 2015.

4/5 Stars 

The Best and Worst of Bruce Willis

 The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "Rock the Kasbah" star Bruce Willis.


Films starring Bruce Willis that I've seen:
Die Hard
Pulp Fiction
Die Hard with a Vengeance
The Fifth Element
Armageddon  
The Sixth Sense
The Whole Nine Yards
Unbreakable
Tears of the Sun
Sin City 
Alpha Dog
16 Blocks
Lucky Number Slevin
Planet Terror
Live Free or Die Hard
Surrogates
Cop Out
The Expendables
Red
The Expendables 2
Moonrise Kingdom
Looper
A Good Day to Die Hard
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Red 2 
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Best Performance: Die Hard (1988)
Willis has played no shortage of memorable characters over his nearly three-decade career, but Die Hard gave birth to his most iconic one of all. Willis' charisma, likability and smart-ass comedic delivery made John McClane arguably the most badass action hero in movie history.

Worst Performance: Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Calling Willis' performance in Moonrise Kingdom bad would be a stretch, but it's definitely the weakest performance I've ever seen from him. Willis' even-tempered performance just feels kind of awkward in Wes Anderson's quirky world, especially when he's sharing scenes alongside the likes of Edward Norton, Frances McDormand and Bill Murray-who are all fully committed to the zaniness of their characters.

Best Film: Pulp Fiction (1994)
There's really no way to properly articulate the love I have for Pulp Fiction without turning into a pathetic fanboy. Ever since I saw it for the first time when I was 13, I've been obsessed with it. This is the film that made me develop an appreciation for non-linear storytelling, introduced me to the brilliance of Quentin Tarintino's filmmaking and most importantly, advanced my love of film to the next level. As long as I live, I don't think another film will delight, entertain or floor me like Pulp Fiction does. 

Worst Film: Armageddon (1998)
I am one of the few jackasses on the planet that will go to great lengths to defend Michael Bay as a director. His explosion-heavy, little-to-zero substance style of filmmaking rightfully pisses a lot of people off, but I think he's a top-notch action director who has made a lot of really fun movies over the years. That being said, I simply can not defend Armageddon under any circumstances. Big-budget disaster movies are typically loud and dumb, but Armageddon takes that level of stupidity to new heights without any of the fun that's typically present in films of the genre. Armageddon plays out like a soap opera with absurd melodrama and overacting galore and by the time the final credits roll on this two-and-a-half hour cringefest, you'll be left wondering why Touchstone/Disney dumped $150 million into this project. 

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Burnt" star Bradley Cooper.    

Week 7 NFL Power Rankings

() Last Week's Ranking

1. (1) New England Patriots (5-0) Week 7 opponent: New York Jets
2. (2) Green Bay Packers (6-0) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
3. (3) Cincinnati Bengals (6-0) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
4. (7) Carolina Panthers (5-0) Week 7 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
5. (5) Denver Broncos (6-0) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
6. (10) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
7. (8) New York Jets (4-1) Week 7 opponent: New England Patriots
8. (5) Atlanta Falcons (5-1) Week 7 opponent: Tennessee Titans
9. (4) Arizona Cardinals (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
10. (12) Minnesota Vikings (3-2) Week 7 opponent: Detroit Lions
11. (9) New York Giants (3-3) Week 7 opponent:  Dallas Cowboys
12. (11) Buffalo Bills (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
13. (16) Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Carolina Panthers
14. (13) Indianapolis Colts (3-3) Week 7 opponent: New Orleans Saints
15. (15) St. Louis Rams (2-3) Week 7 opponent: Cleveland Browns
16. (14) Seattle Seahawks (2-4) Week 7 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
17. (20) San Diego Chargers (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Oakland Raiders
18. (18) Cleveland Browns (2-4) Week 7 opponent: St. Louis Rams
19. (19) Oakland Raiders (2-3) Week 7 opponent: San Diego Chargers
20. (28) New Orleans Saints (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
21. (17) Chicago Bears (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
22. (22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3) Week 7 opponent: Washington Redskins
23. (27) San Francisco 49ers (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
24. (32) Miami Dolphins (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Houston Texans
25. (26) Dallas Cowboys (2-3) Week 7 opponent: New York Giants
26. (23) Washington Redskins (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
27. (30) Houston Texans (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Miami Dolphins
28. (31) Detroit Lions (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
29. (21) Baltimore Ravens (1-5) Week 7 opponent: San Francisco 49erss
30. (24) Kansas City Chiefs (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
31. (25) Tennessee Titans (1-4) Week 7 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
32. (29) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Buffalo Bills