After Round 1, the footy world was awash with positivity, thrilled that yet again the big full forward was tearing apart games and kicking goals. How times change.

It's now Round 7 and footy public is in meltdown. The idea of netball-like zones are being discussed on talkback radio in a desperate effort to alleviate congestion, while paranoid fans are discussing the nuanced differences between red and yellow balls and how they might negatively affect goalkicking conversion rates. Madness.

The best part is that by Sunday night, we might all be lauding this weekend of footy as the best in recent memory, such is the nature of the beast.

Here's What To Watch For in Round 7.

How do the Cats respond?

After Round 6's dour Friday night clash between Carlton and the Western Bulldogs, this week offers up a tantalising opening match-up with the Cats hosting the Giants at GMHBA Stadium.

Geelong dropped four points last Saturday when they allowed Sydney to turn a 22 point three-quarter time deficit into a 17 point win and the footy world now awaits the response from Chris Scott's side. Will they be tougher? Can they run out the game? Who will stand up in key moments?

The shambolic final quarter at home continued an average start to the season for the Cats who currently sit outside the top eight with a 3-3 record.

Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats handballs as he break the tackle of Kieren Jack of the Swans during the round six AFL match between the Geelong Cats and Sydney Swans. Darrian Traynor/AFL Media/Getty Images

Geelong are still missing a whole host of stars including Gary Ablett, Dan Menzel, Harry Taylor and Lachie Henderson but this clash could be the start of a winning streak with the Cats facing Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton and Gold Coast in the next month of footy.

The Giants didn't look convincing in their Round 6 win over Brisbane but Leon Cameron's side hasn't done a lot wrong and will travel to Geelong confident of pulling off an upset.

The last time the two squared off the Cats got the better of the Giants by 44 points but the occasion before that it ended in a draw. Who gets the points this time?

Can the Dons overcome the odds?

It's been a tense week down at Tullamarine. After preseason chatter of finishing in the top four and being potential dark horses for the flag, it's fair to say Essendon's year has not started well. They sit at 2-4 on the ladder but have won just one of their last five, and are desperate to stay in touch with what will again be a very busy top eight come the end of the year.

In addition to the external pressure which has been mounting on the club in recent weeks, there's some forgotten physical pressure on the Dons as well, considering this week's clash with Hawthorn will be their third game in just 11 days.

Yes, the easily overlooked burden of playing on Anzac Day -- one of the biggest blockbusters of the year -- is that the competing teams will often fall behind the rest of the competition in the freshness stakes, at least for a couple of weeks.

The AFL has in recent years been able to schedule the Pies and the Bombers against either the Tigers or the Demons in the next round because of the introduction of the Anzac Day Eve match, but the following week is business as usual.

The Bombers take on the Hawks on Saturday at the MCG, and Hawthorn will have had three extra days of rest over the same, three-round period. It might not seem like much, but for a team needing a spark to once again kick-start their season, it's just another hurdle to overcome.

The Bombers have some soul searching to do after their Anzac Day capitulation. Michael Dodge/Getty Images

Will the goals start flowing?

After a fairly lacklustre round of footy last weekend, which sparked a flurry of debate about the state of the modern game, what will happen in Round 7?

The backlash after Round 6 was perhaps a bit reactionary and over the top, but there's no sugarcoating the fact congestion is up and scoring is down. So far in 2017, the average total score per match is 169 points, down from 186 in 2017 and 185 the previous season.

Incredibly, only four clubs (Hawthorn, West Coast, Fremantle and Richmond) have boosted their scoring power this year and three of that quartet sit inside the top four.

The scoring situation prompted AFL football operations manager Steve Hocking to admit the league was closely monitoring the situation, stating: "Normally [scoring is] up this time of the year ... so it will be interesting to see what it looks like over the next four to five weeks and how that plays out. Teams settle into a pattern of play and an understanding across the competition of how teams are playing [which] generally leads to even lower scoring. That's a watching brief as far as we go."

So, will this round be any different? It could be, with the Cats and Giants, who meet on Friday night, both capable of piling on big scores, while the Crows could do a number on the winless Blues at home on Saturday night.

Richmond should be too strong for the Dockers at the MCG on Sunday, with a big score a possibility, while the floodgates may open for Collingwood against the Lions at the Gabba.

But one thing is for sure: if the low scores continue, the calls for zoning, interchange restrictions and even reducing the number of players on the field will only increase.