Iowa Football In The NFL: Week 7

It may be hard for some folks to believe, but the next Sunday slate of NFL games will be played in the month of November. 

That's both a very sad and very good thing. It's sad because November marks the end of the college football regular season, but it does mean that we have a clear picture of who the best teams in the NFL are, and there happens to be some former Iowa football players on those contending teams. 

Here's some of the top storylines from your favorite Hawkeye alums in Week 7 of the 2026 NFL season:  

The Minnesota Vikings don't score a lot of points, but when you have a defense that good, you don't need to light up the scoreboard every week. The Vikings found themselves in a dangerous spot when they entered the fourth quarter trailing the struggling Colts by four, but tight end T.J. Hockenson's go-ahead five-yard touchdown catch was enough to help Minnesota hold on for a 16-10 victory. 

The Vikings improved to 6-0 with the win and became the NFL's only undefeated team after the Kansas City Chiefs were dominated by the Seattle Seahawks, 20-3, later that night. 

Aaron Rodgers is far from the MVP-caliber quarterback he used to be with the Green Bay Packers, but he's still getting the job done in Pittsburgh. The Steelers secured a 16-10 triumph over the New Orleans Saints in Paris on Sunday and the nearly 43-year-old Rodgers tallied 212 passing yards and a touchdown. Twenty-four of those yards went to wide receiver Brandon Smith, the marking first receptions of his career. The Steelers are Smith's fifth NFL team in six years, so that moment had to feel good for him. We'll see if he'll get more targets as the season wears on. 

The Steelers are now 5-2 on the year and sit in first place in the AFC North. 

Few people thought the San Francisco 49ers' first loss of 2026 would come against the up-and-down Atlanta Falcons, but Atlanta stunned San Francisco with a 29-20 win in Georgia on Sunday afternoon. 49er tight end George Kittle tallied a team-high 88 receiving yards on eight catches, but he did lose a fumble that played a big role in the outcome of the game. 

San Francisco dropped to 6-1 with the loss, but it still has a two-game lead in the NFC West. 

The New York Jets were never expected to be a good team in 2026, but they had a chance to get to 3-4 with a win over the winless Miami Dolphins at home on Sunday. But in typical Jets fashion, they blew it, falling 28-25 at MetLife Stadium. New York safety Dane Belton recorded nine tackles (second-most on the team) in the defeat, but the Jets defense allowed 360 total yards to one of the league's worst offenses. 

New York falls to 2-5 on the season and it looks like Gang Green will be out of the postseason picture for the 16th straight season. 

Tampa Bay was left for dead after a 1-5 start, but anything is possible in the NFC South, and the Buccaneers showed that with a 43-13 victory over division rival Carolina on Sunday afternoon. Baker Mayfield was efficient when he needed to be, but the story of the day was Tampa Bay rushing for 258 yards behind star left tackle Tristan Wirfs and the rest of the offensive line.