One hope remains in Dolphins’ season

Same old, same old. Nobody can stop New England, Devin Hester, Adrian Peterson, or the league’s insistence on propping up Los Angeles as a viable option for a NFL team.

Ten things to watch for in Week 7:

Perfectly awful

1. The Dolphins (0-6) have lost a franchise-record nine consecutive games, and pretty soon they’ll be officially eliminated from the playoff race. They could still make their season, however, if they could somehow knock off the undefeated New England Patriots on Sunday in Miami. That would bail out their aqua-clad brethren from the 1972 team, who might breathe a little easier knowing their perfect record would once again be safe. It was Miami, remember, that handed the 1985 Chicago Bears their only defeat, halting that team’s quest for perfection at 12-0.

Devilish Devin

2. Chicago’s Hester scored two more touchdowns Sunday, burning the Vikings on an 89-yard punt return and an 81-yard bomb. Now he’ll face the Eagles, who have given up a higher percentage of 20-plus-yard kickoff returns than any team in the league (14 of 16). Philadelphia does know how to cover punts, though, and is tied for seventh in that category, giving up an average of 5.9 yards a return.

Purple reign

3. Only six weeks into the season and the offensive rookie-of-the-year award is Peterson’s to lose. The Minnesota tailback ran for a club-record 224 yards in 20 carries against Chicago on Sunday, with touchdown carries of 67, 73 and 35 yards. Next, the Palestine, Texas, native will face the Cowboys, who -- even though they couldn’t stop the pass -- did a good job of shutting down the running lanes against New England. Dallas can focus even more on stopping the run in this one, because it’s Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback and not Tom Brady.

Pick-me-up opponent

4. With consecutive losses to Pittsburgh and previously winless New Orleans, the Seattle Seahawks have fallen and they can’t get up. Or maybe they can. They play host to the woeful St. Louis Rams, and that’s one team that can make an opponent feel good. With their 22-3 loss to Baltimore on Sunday, the Rams (0-6) matched their worst start since 1962. Next stop, their own little slice of history.

Give it a West

5. It’s about time for Oakland to beat an AFC West opponent. The Raiders, who have lost 16 consecutive division games, have a prime chance to end that drought when they play host to Kansas City. No division opponent has a longer winning streak against the Raiders than the Chiefs, who have won eight straight. The Chargers matched that with a victory over Oakland on Sunday. Denver has beaten the Raiders five straight.

Southern discomfort

6. Lost in the Colts’ march to a Super Bowl title is that they sputtered at the end of the 2006 regular season with AFC South losses at Tennessee, Jacksonville and Houston. Indianapolis visits the Jaguars again Monday, and Peyton Manning & Co. have to be wary of a team that has won four straight since its three-point loss to Tennessee in the opener. Especially dangerous for Jacksonville is former UCLA star Maurice Jones-Drew, who in the last two games had touchdown runs of 52 and 57 yards.

Home they geaux

7. The rally cry in New Orleans is “Geaux Saints!” But so far this season, a victory at the Superdome is entirely foreign to them. Now that they have stopped their losing slide, the Saints (1-4) are poised to give the hometown fans something to cheer against Atlanta. The last time the Falcons played in the Superdome, they were doomed from the start. It was the emotionally charged Monday night game, when the Saints christened their rebuilt digs with a 23-3 triumph.

Hobbling home

8. Tennessee’s five-game road winning streak came to an end with Sunday’s loss at Tampa. More painful, the Titans lost quarterback Vince Young to a quadriceps injury. Kerry Collins was decent as a fill-in but clearly was a step down from Young, last season’s offensive rookie of the year. Now we’ll see whether Young can recover quickly enough to face his hometown Houston Texans, who passed on him in the 2006 draft.

Strange standings

9. There have been some weird outcomes this season -- San Diego loses three straight? Green Bay is a powerhouse? Miami can’t win a game? -- and the standings reflect that. To wit: Through six games, there isn’t a team in the NFC West or AFC West with a winning record. Even stranger, Buffalo is in second place in the AFC East. . . at 1-4. We all know the Patriots will make the playoffs, but could they set a speed record for wrapping up a division?

(Same old) L.A. story

10. The NFL’s herky-jerky push to return to the Los Angeles market isn’t dead. At least that’s what Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says, and he’s on the league’s committee to study the situation. Jones, who has a conference call with other owners and league officials today to discuss their options, says he spent two weeks before training camp working on a potential L.A. return. “I usually would rather have been a little more relaxed,” he said. “But there is a lot of urgency, and it’s shared by several owners, and it is important.” That said, don’t hold your breath.

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sam.farmer@latimes.com