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Week 3 feels like it began to give a more solid taste of what the NFL season will likely shape up like. If there were some surprises in the first couple of weeks, by week three, some definite trends are beginning to emerge.
For example, we have to scratch our heads at the NFC East. Between the four teams in that division, they have compiled an overall record of 2-9-1. Two wins in the 12 combined games these teams have played, and one of those wins was against another NFC East team. The other win came against the winless Falcons, and it took a mighty comeback on the part of Dallas to squeak that win out. That’s right, the entire division has fewer wins than any of the remaining unbeaten teams. Not a good sign when the two teams tied for first in the division are both 1-2. The Eagles are winless, but at least they managed a tie. The Giants are also winless, but they got ripped by the visiting San Francisco 49ers. It is not looking especially promising for the NFC East so far, and none of the teams in that division look ready to jump among the elite teams in the league.
Meanwhile, some teams appear to be establishing their credentials of being top tier teams.
Heading into tonight’s big Monday Night Football showdown, there are five AFC teams that have maintained an undefeated record so far. The Bills stayed unbeaten by beating the undefeated Rams, while the Titans just hung on to defeat the still winless Vikings. And the Steelers also managed to withstand a tough challenge to eventually knock off the also still winless Texans. Whoever wins tonight’s game will join these three franchises as the remaining undefeated teams in the AFC.
As for the NFC, you have the Chicago Bears, who overcame a 26-10 Falcons lead in the final quarter to remain unbeaten at 3-0. For winless Atlanta, it’s hard to imagine just how dispirited they have to feel, as they keep blowing big leads. Yet, the Bears are not alone even in their own division, as the Packers outscored the Saints in a Sunday Night shootout. Green Bay’s offense so far looks like the best and most dangerous in the league so far, scoring almost 40 points per game to date. The other undefeated NFC team are the Seahawks, who survived a tough game against Dallas, and stayed perfect. With that win, they move into sole possession of first place, as both the Cardinals and Rams lost, joining the 49ers at 2-1, with each nipping on the heels of Seattle.
On the flip side, there are four winless teams remaining in the NFC, although the Eagles at least managed a tie this week against the Bengals. The Vikings, Giants, and Falcons all remain winless. On the AFC side, the Jets, Bengals, Broncos, and Texans are also winless, although again, Cincinnati managed that tie.
So, the NFC West is really good, the NFC East is pretty bad, and there are some favorites now emerging in the league, as well as some disappointments. The Texans, Eagles, and Saints have looked disappointing so far, while the Bills, Titans, and Bears look like they are at least meeting, if not exceeding, expectations to this point.
Let’s take a look at the games from week three of NFL action:
San Francisco 36, NY Giants 9 – Yikes! I was hoping that the Giants would at least have a good showing, if not outright pull off a win, against a 49ers team seriously depleted from injuries. It was 6-6 for a while, and then I think it was 16-6 by halftime, more or less when I left work. But by the time I got home and flicked the television on, the game was already out of hand, with the 49ers up, 29-9. I turned it off, not bothering to watch any of the rest of that game. I mean, seriously? They cannot even make a game of it against a good 49ers team that should have been unusually weak? Very disappointing that Big Blue could not even make this game competitive, and got blown out like that. Not a good sign for the remainder of the season, as the G-Men look, once again, like one of the worst teams in the league once again. The offense stalled yet again, and the defense got sliced up, also once again. Tiresome to watch, and indeed, there was no point in watching. For me, a fan of the Giants since 1981, I decided to turn that game off and watch the far more interesting Bills-Rams game instead. Just a bad, bad game for the Giants, who actually managed to outdo the Jets in terms of how bad they were this weekend, as well as against the 49ers, specifically. My prediction: Accurate
Buffalo 35, LA Rams 32 – This was an exciting game, with the Bills initially taking a big lead, followed by an impressive comeback by the Rams, who actually took a lead late in the game, before Buffalo finally rallied to win it right at the end. Both teams had entered this game looking solid, and both teams showed fight, showed heart, showed why they happened to still be undefeated to this point. It looked like the Bills were about to blow a big lead, because the Rams seemed to have all of the momentum when they were rallying. To their credit, the Bills answered back after LA took the lead, and Buffalo held on for the win to stay undefeated. A solid performance by both teams, one that they can each be proud of. My prediction: Accurate
Indianapolis 36, NY Jets 7 – It seemed this weekend that the two New York NFL franchises were competing with one another for how ugly they could look. I suspect that my Giants won, b virtue of getting blown out at home to a watered-down 49ers team. But the Jets sure put up a good fight in that regard, by not putting up a fight in Indianapolis. This game went from bad to worse to completely out of hand. Quarterback Sam Darnell had a very bad game, getting sacked twice (once for a safety) and throwing thee interceptions, including two pick sixes. Winning on the road can often be tough, and Indianapolis can be especially tough when the Colts are hot, as they clearly were today. But this effort by the Jets was bad. The offense looked horrendous, and the defense hardly looked much better. And the Jets, like the Giants, are 0-3. Apparently, the two New York teams are competing for the first pick in the draft this season. Just an awful game for Gang Green, and even though it is still only September, the JETS once again seem to stand for Just End The Season yet again. Brutal. My pick: Accurate
Chicago 30, Atlanta 26 – Another late game collapse by the Atlanta Falcons. This has got to be embarrassing, and more than a little demoralizing. It seems obvious by now that the Falcons never quite got over that humiliating collapse in the Super Bowl, blowing that 28-3 lead to the Patriots, where it seemed that they did everything possible to accommodate New England. They never looked the same after that. Still, they took a 20-point lead against the Cowboys last week, and then blew that. Now, they had a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter at home against Chicago, and that went awry, as the Bears scored 20 unanswered fourth quarter points to pull off a stunning come-from-behind road win to stay unbeaten. A huge win for Chicago, and yet another crushing loss for the Falcons, who are watching their season seem to spiral out of control yet again. Some major changes will probably be coming to that organization in the near future, because whatever good they show in getting these big leads is obviously overshadowed by the bad that allows teams to come back from them. My pick: Accurate
Cleveland 34, Washington 20 – The Browns were not playing especially well for much of the first half, until the final six minutes, when they scored two touchdown to take a 17-7 lead by halftime. Washington dominated the third quarter, actually taking a 20-17 lead after scoring two touchdowns. But Cleveland completely dominated the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal to put this one on ice, earning their second straight win. The two teams were more or less even in most categories, except for one glaringly obvious one that has a lot of impact: Washington committed five turnovers, to none for the Browns. Cleveland is now 2-1 on the season, while Washington falls to 1-2. My pick: Accurate
Pittsburgh 28, Houston 21 - The Steelers managed to overcome several momentum swings and pull off what was expected: another victory at home against a weaker opponent. Pittsburgh did not play extremely well, but it is saying something that they nevertheless played just well enough to ultimately win after all of that. As for the Texans? Well, the most difficult stretch of their season was surely going to be first three weeks. Yes, it was brutal, and not surprisingly, the Texans are 0-3 after that. But the good news is that the rest of their schedule should feel like they are looking downhill after that stretch. Take their next two games: both home games, first against Minnesota, then Jacksonville. The Vikings are not as bad as their 0-3 record suggests, but neither are the Texans. And the Jaguars could be tough, but both of those games feel winnable to me for Houston, in a way that the three games to open this season up did not. My prediction: Accurate
New England 36, Las Vegas 20 - A lot of people were suggesting, or in some cases outright predicting, that the rug would be swept out from under the Patriots this season, that it would be a disaster for them. Some even seemed to hint that they might be one of the worst teams in the league. After all, they had not only lost Tom Brady, but a number of their defensive starters decided to sit the year out. Okay, but here's the thing: they still have most of the players that produced truly great results in recent seasons. Indeed, I agree that they might not be what they once were, but to think that they will go from one extreme to the next feels just...well, absurd. The Patriots look tough so far after three games. Not like the best team in the league, at least not anymore. But like a decent team, and quite possibly a playoff contender? Yeah, that is what it feels like thus far. They got another solid win at home, knocking off the previously unbeaten Raiders, and soundly at that. My prediction: Accurate
Cincinnati 23, Philadelphia 23 (tie) – Is it me, or do the Eagles seem to have more ties than pretty much any other team in the league? Ties do not happen too often, but the Eagles seem to have been involved in a few of them. This one, though, probably should have been a win. They were the better overall team, with more talent and more experience. Plus, they had home field advantage. Yet, they were on the verge of losing, before saving themselves from that fate with a very late touchdown with just 21 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter, as Carson Wentz ran it in to force overtime. Once there, neither team scored, and thus, the tie. My pick: Inaccurate
Tennessee 31, Minnesota 30 – I picked this game as the upset special, believing that the Vikings would surprise the Titans and hand them their first loss of the season. They very nearly did, but the Titans overcame a 24-12 deficit late in the third quarter to come storming back. Titans placekicker Stephen Gostkowsk had a very busy day, kicking six field goals through the uprights, including two in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to allow the Titans to escape with the victory. Tennessee remains unbeaten and improves to 3-0, while Minnesota remains winless and drops to 0-3. My prediction: Inaccurate
Carolina 21, LA Chargers 16 – This one was admittedly a surprising result to me. The Chargers just never seemed to get in any kind of a rhythm. Their defense played fairly well, preventing the Panthers from scoring any touchdowns. Yet, they got one field goal after the other, as Carolina placekicker Joey Slye ultimately kicked seven field goals, accounting for all of the Panther points. The chargers did not help themselves by committing four turnovers, while Carolina avoided tuning the ball over even once. And in the end, these two factors combined to allow the Panthers to have just enough to win an impressive road game, and get themselves off the list of winless teams. A disappointment for the Chargers, who are not looking like they can keep up with the two better teams in the division, the Raiders and especially the Chiefs. My pick: Inaccurate
Detroit 26, Arizona 23 – Speaking of surprising outcomes, I admittedly did not see this one coming. Of course, the Cardinals are a young and improving team, and I kind of figured that their bubble this season was going to burst at some point. It just did not seem likely that it would happen at home against Detroit, a team that had not won a single game dating back to October of last year, and their first road win since last September. Of course, the Cardinals did not help their cause by committing three turnovers, while Detroit committed none. A solid effort and a good win for the Lions, who move ahead of the Vikings in the NFC North, and finally get the monkey of a massive losing streak off their backs. My prediction: Inaccurate
Tampa Bay 28, Denver 10 – The Buccaneers re starting to look better than I had expected them to look this season. Honestly, I did not necessarily think that the experiment with adding Brady and Gronk would work. Apparently, I may have been wrong, because they look impressive thus far. Sure, they lost that one game to the Saints, but they did not look awful there, and have pulled off two straight wins since. This one was quite convincing, too, as Brady proved capable of winning in a place where he often has hit a brick wall in the past, with three playoff defeats coming in the Mile High City during his time in New England. But he played well yesterday, and it was enough for the win, even if this was not a postseason game. The Bucs move up to 2-1 on the season, while Denver drops to 0-3. My pick: Inaccurate
Seattle 38, Dallas 31 – What a game this was! Two teams that seemed to figure to be among the elite teams in the NFC this season (although I am still not sold on the Cowboys just yet, or anyone in the NFC East this season, frankly). The Seahawks seemed to be playing much better, and even owned a seemingly decisive 30-15 lead. But to their credit, the Cowboys battled back, and actually took narrow one-point lead late in the fame. But the Seahawks managed to answer with a touchdown, as Russell Wilson threw his fifth touchdown pass of the game, finding DK Metcalf for a 29-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion made the final score what it was, after the drive by Dallas ended in an interception in the end zone after what seemed like a promising start. This was the second straight game that Wilson threw five touchdown passes. Maybe Seattle’s defense does not look as tough and intimidating as it did a few years ago, during the salad days, but their offense seems to be one of the most dangerous offense in the league at the moment. Wow! And such a good game this was. My pick: Accurate
Sunday Night Football: Green Bay 37, New Orleans 30 – What a game this turned out to be! It was explosive, featured several momentum changes. It seemed like the Saints had momentum at points, and then Green Bay would answer back. These two franchises figure to have a real chance at a title this season, and so this was a featured match, with two of the greatest quarterbacks in history squaring off against one another. In the end, though, it seems that the problems and limitations that have prevented the Saints from going farther in the postseason have been hurting them this season, as well. They could not get the job done last week in Las Vegas against the Raiders, and once again, they stalled at the most inopportune time in this game. Their defense just had no answers to try and keep that incredibly explosive Packers offense in line, and Green Bay sliced that defense apart with clinical precision. The Packers defense also showed weaknesses at times, but with an offense like that, they should be in every game. As for the Saints, they have to start making things happen soon, before this slump starts to threaten to derail the early part of their season. My pick: Inaccurate
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