Three key matchups to watch in NFL Week 7 games

NFL games are not just matchups of two complete teams. They are also a series of individual one-on-one matchups that can ultimately help decide the outcome.

Every Friday, we are going to take a look at three potentially significant individual matchups that will be taking place in Sunday's and Monday's games.

Here are the matchups we are looking at for the Week 7 games. 

Kenneth Walker III (RB, Kansas City Chiefs) vs. Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy (DT, Seattle Seahawks)

After helping lead the Seahawks to the Super Bowl a year ago, and winning Super Bowl MVP in the process, Walker will be making his first return trip to the Pacific northwest as a visiting player on Sunday and it will be fascinating to see the reception he receives.

On one hand, he helped hang a championship banner and was a central part of it. Banners fly forever, and the players that contribute to them are typically lifelong heroes. 

On the other hand, he's a player who left in free agency, and NFL fans are not usually receptive to that coming back.

Walker has been playing at an MVP level for the Chiefs this season and been one of the best offensive players in the league. He is going to get a fierce test on Sunday night against the defense he helped win a Super Bowl with, and that includes Seattle's dynamic defensive tackle duo of Williams and Murphy.

While the offensive line also figures to play a major role in this, Walker has done a lot of his damage this season in Kansas City on yards after contact. So even if Williams and Murphy win their matchups on the line of scrimmage, that is no guarantee they are going to slow down Walker.

Malik Nabers (WR, New York Giants) vs. Derek Stingley Jr. (CB, Houston Texans)

The Texans are playing their way back into the playoff race in the AFC, and they have a great chance to extend their winning streak to three games on Sunday when they play the Giants.

The Giants are making a quarterback change and turning to J.J. McCarthy, and he figures to lock on to Malik Nabers for most of the game. Given the way Nabers has been playing over the past few weeks, that would be a smart decision.

Nabers has shown little rust after coming back from his season-ending 2025 injury, and has topped the 100-yard in each of the past three weeks, catching 29 passes for 398 yards and two touchdowns over that stretch.

While Stingley is one of the NFL's best cornerbacks, he has not quite played up to that level this season for a Texans defense that has been a surprising disappointment. If the Texans want to extend their winning streak and keep playing back into the AFC South race they might need him to lock in against one of the NFL's best wide receivers.

Orlando Brown (OT, Cincinnati Bengals) vs. Trey Hendrickson (Edge, Baltimore Ravens)

Walker vs. the Chiefs is not the only big matchup of the week featuring a player going against his former team.

Hendrickson will also be facing his former team when the Ravens take on the Bengals in a big AFC North matchup. Hendrickson missed two games this season due to a finger injury, but is back in the lineup and will no doubt be fired up to make an impact against the Bengals.

Bengals tackle Orlando Brown Jr. will be tasked with slowing him down, and it will be one of the biggest matchups of the game when it comes to determining the outcome. Hendrickson is still an elite pass rusher, but Brown has struggled at times in pass protection so far this season. 

One way the Bengals might be able to counter that: Run directly at Hendrickson. As strong as he has been in the passing game throughout his career, his ability to stop the run has always been a focal point of criticism and no team should understand that more than the Bengals.