Vikings take the NFL turnover-margin lead alone at plus-7 after Week 7, while the Colts sink to minus-9

Minnesota has the NFL’s best turnover margin to itself after Week 7. The unbeaten Vikings are plus-7, with 11 takeaways and four giveaways, after forcing the only turnover in their 16–10 win over Indianapolis on Sunday. They shared the lead with Washington at plus-6 after Week 6, and the Commanders stayed there on their bye.

The Colts are still last, and further back than a week ago. Indianapolis is minus-9 with 12 giveaways and three takeaways, tied with Philadelphia for the fewest in the league. Minnesota visits Detroit and Indianapolis plays at Jacksonville on Sunday, both at 20:00 Cairo time.

NFL turnover margin after Week 7, all 32 teams

Rank	Team	Record	G	Takeaways	INT	Giveaways	Margin	Week 7	After Week 6	Week 8 (Cairo time)
1	Minnesota	6–0	6	11	7	4	+7	+1	+6	at Detroit, Sun 20:00
2	Washington	1–4–1	6	8	3	2	+6	Bye	+6	vs. Philadelphia, Mon 03:20
T-3	Green Bay	4–3	7	13	9	8	+5	+1	+4	vs. Carolina, Fri 02:15
T-3	Kansas City	5–1	6	10	6	5	+5	0	+5	at Denver, Sun 23:25
T-3	Jacksonville	4–2	6	9	7	4	+5	Bye	+5	vs. Indianapolis, Sun 20:00
T-6	Las Vegas	3–4	7	12	5	8	+4	+2	+2	at NY Jets, Sun 20:00
T-6	Pittsburgh	5–2	7	11	7	7	+4	+1	+3	vs. Cleveland, Sun 20:00
T-6	Denver	5–2	7	10	7	6	+4	0	+4	vs. Kansas City, Sun 23:25
T-9	Cincinnati	4–2	6	9	4	6	+3	+1	+2	vs. Tennessee, Sun 20:00
T-9	NY Jets	2–5	7	8	1	5	+3	−1	+4	vs. Las Vegas, Sun 20:00
T-9	Detroit	4–2	6	6	4	3	+3	−1	+4	vs. Minnesota, Sun 20:00
T-9	Houston	2–5	7	6	3	3	+3	0	+3	Bye
13	Arizona	2–5	7	8	3	6	+2	0	+2	at Dallas, Sun 20:00
T-14	Tampa Bay	2–5	7	12	8	11	+1	+4	−3	vs. Atlanta, Sun 20:00
T-14	Baltimore	4–3	7	6	3	5	+1	−1	+2	at Buffalo, Sun 20:00
16	Cleveland	5–2	7	9	5	9	0	0	0	at Pittsburgh, Sun 20:00
T-17	Seattle	4–3	7	12	8	13	−1	0	−1	vs. Chicago, Tue 03:15
T-17	Chicago	5–2	7	10	4	11	−1	+1	−2	at Seattle, Tue 03:15
T-17	Carolina	3–3	6	7	3	8	−1	−4	+3	at Green Bay, Fri 02:15
20	NY Giants	4–2–1	7	9	6	11	−2	0	−2	Bye
T-21	Atlanta	3–4	7	9	3	12	−3	+4	−7	at Tampa Bay, Sun 20:00
T-21	San Francisco	6–1	7	7	3	10	−3	−4	+1	Bye
T-21	Tennessee	1–6	7	7	5	10	−3	0	−3	at Cincinnati, Sun 20:00
T-21	Buffalo	5–1	6	6	3	9	−3	Bye	−3	vs. Baltimore, Sun 20:00
T-21	Miami	1–5	6	5	4	8	−3	+1	−4	vs. New England, Sun 23:25
T-21	Dallas	3–4	7	4	2	7	−3	+1	−4	vs. Arizona, Sun 20:00
T-21	Philadelphia	2–5	7	3	3	6	−3	−1	−2	at Washington, Mon 03:20
28	New Orleans	2–5	7	9	4	13	−4	−1	−3	Bye
T-29	LA Chargers	0–6	6	10	5	15	−5	Bye	−5	at LA Rams, Sun 23:05
T-29	LA Rams	3–4	7	6	5	11	−5	−2	−3	vs. LA Chargers, Sun 23:05
31	New England	4–3	7	7	4	14	−7	−1	−6	at Miami, Sun 23:25
32	Indianapolis	2–5	7	3	2	12	−9	−1	−8	at Jacksonville, Sun 20:00

Turnover margin is the number of interceptions and fumble recoveries a team takes away, minus the interceptions it throws and the fumbles it loses. The Week 7 column is the margin from that game alone. Green Bay, Kansas City and Jacksonville are tied for third at plus-5. The Packers have 13 takeaways, the most in the league, and their nine interceptions are also the most of any team.

The biggest moves of Week 7

Team	After Week 6	Takeaways in Week 7	Giveaways in Week 7	Week 7 game	After Week 7
Tampa Bay	−3	4	0	Carolina (W 43–13)	+1
Atlanta	−7	4	0	San Francisco (W 29–20)	−3
Carolina	+3	0	4	Tampa Bay (L 13–43)	−1
San Francisco	+1	0	4	Atlanta (L 20–29)	−3
Las Vegas	+2	2	0	LA Rams (L 21–35)	+4
LA Rams	−3	0	2	Las Vegas (W 35–21)	−5

Two teams forced four turnovers without committing one. Tampa Bay did it in a 43–13 win at Carolina, which took the Buccaneers from minus-3 to plus-1 and dropped the Panthers from plus-3 to minus-1. Atlanta did it against San Francisco in a 29–20 win that ended the 49ers’ unbeaten start. The Falcons went from minus-7, second to last, to minus-3, and the 49ers fell from plus-1 to minus-3.

Las Vegas was plus-2 against the Rams and still lost 35–21. That moved the Raiders up to plus-4 and the Rams down to minus-5, level with the Chargers, who have 15 giveaways, the most in the league, and were on a bye.

Does the margin match the standings?

Teams	Count	Combined record	Win pct.
Plus margin	15	53–45–1	.540
Even	1 (Cleveland)	5–2	.714
Minus margin	16	48–59–1	.449

Mostly, yes. The 15 teams on the plus side are a combined 53–45–1, and the 16 on the minus side are 48–59–1. In single games the link is stronger. In the 78 games this season where one team had fewer turnovers than the other, that team is 62–15–1. Week 7 went the same way, 8–2.

The exceptions are big ones, though. Buffalo is 5–1 and San Francisco 6–1, and both are minus-3. New England is 4–3 at minus-7 with 14 giveaways, second most behind the Chargers. Washington is plus-6 with only two giveaways in six games, the fewest in the league, and is 1–4–1.

Turnovers by week

Week	Games	Turnovers	Per game
1	16	44	2.75
2	16	29	1.81
3	16	45	2.81
4	16	39	2.44
5	15	44	2.93
6	14	36	2.57
7	14	25	1.79
Season	107	262	2.45

Week 7 was the cleanest week of the season. There were 25 turnovers in 14 games, or 1.79 a game, compared with 2.45 for the season. Four games finished even on turnovers, and two had none at all: the Giants’ 27–21 win at Houston and Denver’s 30–16 win at Arizona.

What to watch in Week 8

Minnesota at Detroit puts the leader against a team that has given the ball away three times in six games. Kansas City, at plus-5, visits Denver, at plus-4, on Sunday at 23:25 Cairo time. Washington hosts Philadelphia on Sunday night, 03:20 on Monday in Cairo, and the Eagles have three takeaways all season. Green Bay opens the week at home against Carolina on Thursday night, which is 02:15 on Friday in Cairo. San Francisco, Houston, New Orleans and the Giants are on byes.