Jay Ajayi making history and the fall of the Minnesota Vikings

By Neil Reynolds, American Football Expert & Columnist

Image: Ajayi has rushed for over 400 yards in the last two weeks

There is a dominant force sweeping through the NFL at the moment and, cue the dramatic music, that unstoppable and dangerous phenom hails from... Chadwell Heath! British running back Jay Ajayi is simply unstoppable at the moment and he headlines the six things that caught my eye in NFL week seven.

The Jay Train rolls on

British running back Jay Ajayi continues to do his very best Marshawn Lynch impression as the Miami Dolphins have righted their season with back-to-back wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills.

Most NFL fans - even the most optimistic of Dolphins fans on this side of the pond - were surprised to see Jay top 200 yards against the Steelers because it is such a rarely-achieved feat in the league. So to do it a second time in as many weeks with 214 yards on Sunday put Ajayi in special company alongside O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams.

Watch London-born Miami Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi highlights against the Buffalo Bills in Week 7.

Miami's offensive line is now at full strength and playing very well indeed. But Jay is making the most of his good blocking up front and is being decisive, getting his foot in the ground and turning upfield with north-south runs. Jay is now the hottest running back in the NFL and if he continues this form, don't rule out a play-off run for the Dolphins that seemed unlikely a couple of weeks ago.

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No winless teams left

This is a nod to how wide open the NFL has become and how there is no clear-cut favourite for the Super Bowl - although I would take New England right now if you pushed me to pick a winner - the Minnesota Vikings fell as the last undefeated team on Sunday night and the best they could get to was 5-0.

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The Vikings were banged up on the offensive line and it was an injury or two too far as Philadelphia's defence came to play and out-Minnesota'd Minnesota! The Eagles won with tremendous defence, some big special team plays and just enough offence, which had been the Vikings' trademark keys to success prior to Sunday.

Philly's defence was especially impressive, recording six sacks and a couple of Sam Bradford turnovers as the former Eagles quarterback struggled against the team he was traded away from late in the summer.

Image: Jordan Hicks and the Eagles made life difficult for former Philadelphia QB Sam Bradford

No Goff yet?

When you see how badly Case Keenum struggled at Twickenham on Sunday (32 of 53 for 291 yards and four interceptions), Jared Goff must be really behind the learning curve if he cannot get a game with the Los Angeles Rams.

Goff has been slow to come to terms with life in the NFL and the Rams appear content to let him learn at a leisurely pace. But something has to change on an offence that was putrid and bogged down for much of Sunday's 17-10 loss to the New York Giants.

Image: Jared Goff (R) is yet to see NFL action despite being selected first overall at this year's draft

It doesn't help that Todd Gurley cannot get going at running back, but somebody at quarterback has to make opposing defences pay for crowding the line of scrimmage. Keenum is not that guy so maybe it is time to give Goff a shot.

Rams head coach Jeff Fisher says no, for now, and says he would prefer to make a change at receiver first. But with the Rams heading home and now on their bye week, isn't this the perfect time to ease Goff into the line-up? Or at least take an extended look in practice to see what he has to offer.

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A plus for AJ

I cannot wait to watch A.J. Green tear up Wembley Stadium for the Cincinnati Bengals because he is one of the most talented wide receivers in the game today and in recent league history. The long-striding Randy Moss impersonator caught eight passes for 169 yards and one touchdown on Sunday during a 31-17 win over Cleveland.

And he reeled in two of the most spectacular catches you will see in the NFL this season. And both were one-handed grabs that defied logic.

These Bengals are far from perfect this season and sit in the middle of the AFC pack at 3-4, but Green gives them an opportunity to create big plays every week and seeing him in person in London this week is going to be a real treat.

Highlights of the Cleveland Browns clash with the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7 of the NFL.

Gamers get it done

Not for the first time this season, three quarterbacks put their team on their backs to good effect on Sunday, once again emphasising the importance of the position in today's NFL.

Andrew Luck threw for 353 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions as the Indianapolis Colts out-lasted the Tennessee Titans with a 34-26 win. Matthew Stafford threw a game-winning touchdown strike to Anquan Boldin with 16 seconds left to help Detroit to their third win in a row, this time over the London-bound Washington Redskins.

Image: Matthew Stafford led a perfect two minute drive to give the Detroit Lions a lead in the last seconds of their game against Washington

And, most impressively, Philip Rivers got the job done again, twice bringing his San Diego Chargers from 10 points behind to win 33-30 in overtime at Atlanta. Rivers threw for 371 yards and one touchdown as San Diego won for the second week in a row.

London calling

The third and final NFL International Series game takes place in London this weekend and Sky Sports will be on the sidelines to bring you all the action from Wembley as Cincinnati host Washington.

It has been another great autumn to be involved in the NFL and you can see how committed everybody is to bringing more games to these shores. That was one of the big reasons behind the NFL playing games at Twickenham, as they did for the first time on Sunday.

Image: Wembley will host the last of this year's international series, shown live on Sky Sports 2

With two stadiums now in place and a third coming on line at Tottenham Hotspur in 2018, the NFL has much more flexibility in its scheduling and that means we are going to see even more contests played in the UK in the next couple of years.

There are exciting times ahead for all of us who follow the NFL as fans or as journalists. And long may it continue!

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