Iowa Hawkeyes in the NFL: Week 7 Roundup

Two of the NFL’s best teams both appear to be in Los Angeles — and the Rams and Chargers are both seeing significant contributions from an ex-Hawkeye.

Austin Blythe has not missed an offensive snap for the undefeated Rams, including all 61 in Sunday’s 39-10 win at San Francisco to help Los Angeles improve to 7-0.

Meanwhile, Desmond King tallied a season-high seven tackles to help the Chargers to their fourth-straight win, a 20-19 victory against Tennessee in London. King also recorded one pass defensed and his five on the season are tied with Adrian Phillips for the team’s second-most this season. He continues to man kick and punt returns for the Chargers — who are tied for the AFC’s second-best record — and ranks sixth in the NFL with an average of 13.9 yards on punt returns.

On the other side against Blythe and the Rams buzzsaw, C.J. Beathard struggled, completing 15 of 27 passes for 170 yards with two interceptions and a touchdown. He also fell victim to seven sacks, which is a problem that has plagued the 49ers all year. Their 27 sacks allowed are the league’s second-most.

Beathard’s lone touchdown pass was to George Kittle, which required a replay review to overturn the original call.

Kittle caught five passes for 98 yards — both team-highs — and is averaging 75.3 receiving yards per game in what is proving to be a breakout season.

Christian Kirksey nabbed an interception for the second consecutive game in Sunday’s 26-23 overtime loss at Tampa Bay after not recording any over his first four-plus season in the NFL. He also had 10 tackles - including a season high-tying seven solo — and one pass defensed.

Kirksey didn’t hide his feelings regarding the officiating after the Browns were dinged for 14 penalties for 114 yards.

Jaleel Johnson impressed in his first NFL start, tallying four tackles, including one-half sack in Minnesota’s 37-17 takedown of the Jets. Johnson played 30 snaps with reigning Pro Bowler Linval Joseph sidelined with a number of injuries.

Adrian Clayborn came through with his first sack as a Patriot in New England’s 38-31 win at Chicago. He talked earlier in the week about his sack drought and how he had still been pleased with his ability to pressure opposing passers this season.

Anthony Hitchens had three tackles in Kansas City’s 45-10 thrashing of Cincinnati. Rookie linebacker Ben Niemann also saw his first defensive action of the season after being limited exclusively to special teams previously. Hitchens’s backup, Terrance Smith, left the game with a knee injury, possibly clearing the way for more playing time for Niemann in the future.

Brandon Scherff — wearing No. 75 and playing right guard in the play below — put in some extra effort to help spring Kapri Bibbs on a 23-yard screen pass for a touchdown. The play helped propel first-place Washington to a 20-17 win over the Cowboys.

James Daniels continues to tip the scales of the Bears’ left guard battle in his favor, playing 44 snaps in Sunday’s loss to New England. His snap counts have been 27, 39, and 44 the last three weeks, while Eric Kush has played 37, 31, and 38.

He also shined in pass protection during the following play, though it was an incompletion.

Josey Jewell’s seven defensive snaps for Denver were his fewest since Week 1, though Denver primarily lined up in pass-oriented defensive sets after the first quarter. Jewell will see exponentially more playing time if a team were to snatch up starting linebacker Brandon Marshall before the trade deadline.

Micah Hyde recorded five tackles in Buffalo’s blowout loss to Indianapolis.

A number of ex-Hawks didn’t see the field with the Packers on bye, but look forward to Mike Daniels, Josh Jackson, and Bryan Bulaga lining up against the Rams in what could be an explosive showdown Sunday in Los Angeles.