Week 3

BUFFALO BILLS (31) vs. MIAMI DOLPHINS (21)

Nobody expected this game to be remotely close or competitive, but on the opening kickoff, the Dolphins proved that they were not going to be a walking doormat this week. After a 53 yard kickoff return from Dee Eskeridge, their offense waltzed right down the field and converted on three third down attempts to score an opening drive touchdown for the first time all season thanks to Ollie Gordon III! Unfortunately, after the Bills scored on their opening possession to even the score, Miami started to lose their momentum. Eventually, Buffalo took the lead and were in position to go ahead by double digits near the end of the first half, but a Bradley Chubb sack forced a 39 yard field goal. For the ageless wonder Matt Prater, this was an easy chip-shot, only for it to shank wide to the left! Once the Dolphins offense returned to the field, instead of stalling out, they actually managed to capitalize off their opponent’s mistakes! On a 16 play drive, Tua Tagovailoa converted on three more third down attempts to set up first and goal, capping off the drive with a game tying touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle with eight seconds left! 

The Bills got the ball to start the third quarter, and to the surprise of nobody, they marched right down the field to take the lead with a walk-in touchdown to James Cook that might have been prevented if it were not for an unnecessary roughness call by Jordyn Brooks. However, to the defense’s credit, they forced a punt on Josh Allen’s next couple of possessions. The only problem was that their offense kept playing from behind as they went three-and-out on their first two drives of the period. That was until the fourth quarter started. On fourth and four at the Buffalo thirty-six yard line, the Dolphins offense stayed on the field and needed to convert it badly, or else it was going to take a miracle for them to win this game. Getting past Tre’Davious White on a mesh route, Waddle got in stride for a fifteen yard pickup to keep the drive alive. Not too long afterwards, Tua found Tyreek Hill for the game-tying touchdown, and we finally saw a game where Miami showed some energy!

Josh Allen still had plenty of time to put the team on his back and lead them to victory, but a third straight punt gave the Mafia fans in attendance some reason for concern. The booming kick from Cam Johnston pinned the Dolphins inside their own five yard line, yet a flag was thrown onto the field. Maybe it was holding on the return team, but instead, it was roughing the kicker on Zach Sieler! Right on cue, Miami! Because of the penalty, the Bills offense resumed play from the opponent’s 36 yard line and it did not take long for them to take the lead thanks to a simple swing play to Khalil Shakir. However, for the first time this year, some hope was returning on the Miami sideline because they were not lying down. 

On the next offensive possession, Tua led his team from his own 37 yard line all the way to the Buffalo 21. With a few minutes left, as long as they did not screw up, they had the momentum they needed to tie the game again. Then, this play happened. On first and ten, Deone Walker fired off the rush unblocked and got right in the face of the Miami quarterback. As Tua was hoping to look for Waddle on a stick route, Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard read the play the whole way and jumped in front of the wide receiver for the game winning interception. Once that happened, it was game over. On Allen’s final drive of the night, he forced Miami to burn all three of their timeouts and ran the clock all the way down to 27 seconds and Prater put on the finishing touches with a 48 yard field goal to increase the Buffalo lead to 31-21.

Just when you think that the Dolphins might finally have a shot, they predictably implode at the worst possible time. Tua had a decent performance for the most part, but besides that interception on the final pass attempt, he only threw for 146 yards on thirty-four pass attempts. Josh Allen was not exactly pushing the ball down the field with ease either, but he was efficient and did not make any mistakes, which was enough to win. Give Miami credit for showing some fight, yet I have seen this movie before over the last two years and this game proved nothing to me.

The Bills stay undefeated and are dominating the AFC right now at 3-0, staying home to take care of business against the New Orleans Saints. Meanwhile, the Dolphins cannot get it done once again as they fall to 0-3, heading back home for a primetime showdown against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.

CLEVELAND BROWNS (13) vs. GREEN BAY PACKERS (10)

It is only fitting that we start with the biggest upset of the week: the 0-2 Cleveland Browns beating the 2-0 Green Bay Packers by a final score of 13-10. I knew that this was going to be a trap game for the Packers, but I did not think that they would actually lose this game until the very end. This could have been prevented as well.

While Jordan Love got sacked five times and Josh Jacobs did not have a lot of room running the football, Green Bay was still ahead 10 to nothing with all of the momentum on their side. Their offense managed to string together a couple of drives, and while the Browns did have a few chances to score through the first 45 minutes, they kept setting themselves back with bone-headed penalties and badly accurate throws from their quarterback Joe Flacco. Then the final ten minutes of the game ensues.

This all started with a 38 yard run by rookie Quinshon Judkins, who made his first NFL start after sitting out the first two weeks. He ended up having a strong debut with 94 yards on 18 carries, but a chop block penalty from inside the five yard line forced Cleveland to kick a 35 yard field goal. Fortunately, Andre Szmyt did not whiff on the attempt like he did a couple of weeks ago and the Browns were only down by seven. From Green Bay’s perspective, it was not the worst thing in the world. As long as they held onto the ball and controlled the clock, they would manage to get out of there with a third straight win.

However, just three plays into the next drive, Love threw just an absolutely blind interception to Grant Delpit that swung the entire momentum of the game. The stud safety returned it all the way to the four yard line, and it only took one play for the offense to tie things up at 10. Now, instead of picking up two first downs to run out the clock, the Packers had to march down the field and get into field goal range for the lead. The good news was that they did just that as their offense made enough plays to run the clock all the way down to 27 seconds and set up a 43 yard attempt for Brandon McManus. The bad was that zero points were scored as the field goal got blocked by Shelby Harris and the Browns got the ball back at their own 47 yard line with 20 seconds remaining!

Pulling this off was going to be a long shot for this offense to get the ball in scoring range, especially since they have a kicker who missed two 30 yard kicks in the opening game of the season. However, thanks to David Njoku, Szmyt was sent onto the field with time to spare for a 55 yard game winning field goal. Instead of that kick getting blocked or falling short of the mark, the ball went right through the uprights and the upset was officially complete! 

Cleveland was not perfect or lights out at any point in the game. Their defense was starting to bend and the offense could not get on the score board for a majority of the afternoon. However, once the fourth quarter rolled around, things settled in and they made the most out of their opportunities. For Green Bay, this is one of the most humiliating losses they have experienced in a long time. We knew that their first game on the road was going to be more of a struggle than people expected, but to blow a double digit lead to this football team is just inexcusable. All they had to do was just close the deal and they failed to finish. 

The Browns pull off a huge upset and get their season back on track at 1-2, but will take the road for what should be just as big of a challenge as they take on the Detroit Lions. Meanwhile, the Packers suffer a big stepback as they now finish the week 2-1 and will need to find a way to bounce back next week as they visit the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (41) vs. TENNESSEE TITANS (20)

Just three plays into the game, Cam Ward tried to check down a pass to Tony Pollard in the flat, but the ball was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Kenny Moore. That was seriously all it took for Indianapolis to steal all of the momentum to win this game. However, if there is one thing the Titans did right in this game, they finally forced the Colts to punt for the first time all season early in the second quarter! The only catch is that it was the only time that happened the entire afternoon. By that point, Tennessee was down 17-6 and it only got worse from there. Just look at their final drive of the first half.

On third and two at the Indianapolis 40 yard line with less than a minute remaining, a run to Tony Pollard got stopped short of the first down marker, with the Colts calling timeout to make sure they had enough time left to score on their last possession. Initially, head coach Brian Callahan kept the offense on the field because it was fourth and one, but somehow called a timeout of his own. Normally, the team would get together on the sideline to discuss what they are going to do, yet the offense did not budge. All of a sudden, Ward looks over to the sideline and finds out that the field goal team is being sent out with 25 seconds left on the play clock. It was a 57 yard attempt, but Joey Slye had a big leg that started off the season strong, so a make would have at least made it a one score game. Instead, they do not even run a play as the clock runs out and Tennessee is forced to take a delay of “game” penalty. It does not end there, though. The special teams unit stays on the field for a 62 yard attempt, just one possession after Slye could not make a kick from 64 yards away! To nobody’s surprise, the kick was no good and Indianapolis had just enough time to make a chip shot field goal and walk into the locker room with a 20-6 lead. Coaching malpractice at its finest, ladies and gentlemen!

In the second half, the Titans offense put together two incredible touchdown drives thanks to their rookie quarterback. They ran 29 total plays for 150 total yards, capped off with scores from Tony Pollard and Elic Ayomanor! Here is the issue. The Colts offense reached the end zone on their first three possessions of the period before running out the clock on their fourth and final. 

Once again, the two main stars of the show for Indianapolis were Jonathan Taylor and Daniel Jones. The All Pro running back totaled just over 100 yards with three touchdowns, and even though their quarterback did not have the most star-studded performance on paper, he was still efficient and made more than enough plays to keep his team ahead. 

Cam Ward, on the other hand, got sacked four more times in a blowout defeat, and this season is getting to the point where you do not know when their first win will be this year. Any time that it looks like they finally have life in a ball game, they just completely self-destruct five minutes later. Their defense is atrocious, their offensive line is a landfill, and their quarterback can only do so much with a limited arsenal. Brian Callahan might not even make it past week four if this pattern continues, which will further make this organization into a complete laughing stock.

The Colts stay undefeated and are dominating the AFC South with a 3-0 record, but will have a big test ahead as they travel across the country to play the Los Angeles Rams. Meanwhile, the Titans get annihilated once again to fall to 0-3 and will take the road to see if they can show some fight against the Houston Texans.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (48) vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS (10)

Jake Browning and Carson Wentz got the starts for the injured Joe Burrow and JJ McCarthy in Sunday afternoon’s matchup, and right from the jump, the latter had the better afternoon. In only two minutes, the Vikings offense carved the Bengals defense down the field in just six plays, capping it off with an opening drive touchdown to Josh Oliver in the red zone. However, they went three-and-out on their next possession, which gave Cincinnati an early opportunity to even the score. On second and nine at the 29 yard line, Browning stepped up and tried to escape the rush, but swung the entire game around by throwing an 84 yard pick six to Isaiah Rodgers. Once the Vikings went up 14-0, the floodgates and they turned what many hoped would be a competitive fight into a blowout.

After the two minute warning of the first half, Minnesota was ahead 17-3, so the Bengals still had time to get back in the game. However, any sort of false hope that was left got crushed when Rodgers not only punched the ball out of the hands of Noah Fant, but scooped it up and returned it all the way to the end zone for his second touchdown of the afternoon! If that performance does not win him NFC Player of the Week, I don’t know what will. Cincinnati’s offense got the ball back twice towards the end of the first half, but coughed it up both times, which allowed the Vikings to take a commanding 34-3 lead at the break. When their best wide receiver is having ball security issues, that just confirms that it was not their day. At that point, the game was already set in stone.

Jake Browning finished the game with two interceptions and three sacks taken, while only throwing for 140 yards. Carson Wentz did not throw for a ton of yardage either, but at the same time, he did not put the ball in harm’s way. He only threw six incompletions, had a couple touchdown passes with zero turnovers, and the Vikings could have scored more points if it were not for a lot of pre-snap penalties. I did say that whichever team screwed up first was not going to have a ton of momentum to win, and it turned out that Cincinnati had no chance once the pick six happened. 

The Vikings bounce back from last week and are back on track at 2-1, with a trip out to Dublin to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the Bengals enter panic mode as they finish the week 2-1, with a trip across the country to play the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (21) vs. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (14)

Looking at the final box score, there is no way that the Patriots should have lost this game. They were more efficient on third and fourth down, totaled over 360 yards of offense, won the time of possession, and Aaron Rodgers only threw for 139 yards! However, what killed them were five turnovers in a seven point defeat.

It started on the opening drive, where Rhamondre Stevenson right on cue coughed up the football to give the Steelers an early chance of taking the lead. Aaron Rodgers proceeded to lead his offense into the end zone on the first two drives of the day to go ahead 14-0, while the Patriots were stuck in a huge hole they created for themselves. The good news was that the defense tightened up and kept Pittsburgh in check. After letting up 144 yards on the first two possessions, New England only allowed 27 more yards of offense until the Steelers final drive of the game, but more on that later. 

The Patriots offense, on the other hand, left so many points on the board because they could not stop getting in their own way. For instance, on the final drive of the first half, Drake Maye was on pace to complete a 94 yard drive in seventeen plays for their second touchdown of the afternoon. On second and goal, Maye had Kayshon Boutte wide open in the left corner of the end zone, but the pass was underthrown and intercepted by Brandin Echols to maintain a 14-7 lead. Then at the start of the third quarter, Rodgers threw a pick of his own to the former Steeler Robert Spillane, who returned it all the way to the eleven yard line. Two plays later, Stevenson coughed it up for the second time today, and the Steelers defense saved the day again. On their next drive, it was Antonio Gibson that could not hold onto the ball! When New England tied the game at 14, it felt like that the issues would stop, but it did not. With a chance to take the lead, Maye got strip sacked by Nate Herbig and the Pittsburgh defense created their fifth takeaway of the afternoon! FIVE TURNOVERS!

With close to seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Patriots defense eventually tapped out and Rodgers pulled off a vintage game winning drive he has pulled off many times before. Jaylen Warren wore New England out as he drove his team all the way inside the twenty yard line, and on third down at the seventeen yard line, Rodgers capped off the drive with a back-shoulder touchdown pass to Calvin Austin that put Pittsburgh ahead 21-14. However, Maye still had plenty of time left to tie the game, so evening the score was not out of the realm of possibility.

Maye managed to lead the Patriots inside the Pittsburgh 30 yard line,but they faced fourth and one at the 28 yard line. The quarterback managed to complete a pass to Demario Douglas on a corner blitz, but instead of diving for the first down, the receiver stepped back and Echols made the tackle short of the marker to seal the deal. What a fitting way to end an atrocious game for New England. After all, they wore throwback uniforms to turn back the clock!

Overall, both offenses were really hard to watch, but the Steelers made the least amount of mistakes and capitalized on their chances down the stretch. This might not have been a convincing performance for this football team, yet it was at least enough to win. Mike Tomlin finally won a game at Gillette Stadium for the first time since 2008 and is now 4-0 against Mike Vrabel, so he deserves just as much credit as the defense for this performance. As for New England, they did not earn the right to win that game. All they had to do was just hold onto the football yet they kept treating it like it was an expired milk bottle. Keep in mind, Pittsburgh did not have one of its best pass rushers, its best young corner, and one of its starting safeties. Instead of being 2-1, they are 1-2 for the fifth straight season that might be 1-3 if they lose at home again next week. I thought things would be better without Jerod Mayo, and so far there has been some improvement, but they cannot fix the simplest mistakes and it keeps killing them week after week.

The Steelers bounce back on the road and are now 2-1, with a trip out to Dublin for a fun Sunday morning showdown against the Minnesota Vikings. Meanwhile the Patriots lose their second home game of the season to fall to 1-2 and will enter a must-win matchup against the Carolina Panthers.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (33) vs. LOS ANGELES RAMS (26)

In a postseason rematch between the Eagles and Rams, it was somewhat a tale of two halves. After Matthew Stafford threw an interception to Zack Baun on the first drive of the game, Philadelphia’s offense quickly capitalized off the turnover with an opening drive touchdown for an early 7-0 lead. However, Los Angeles’ defense turned it up a notch  by not allowing a point for the rest of the first half, while their offense did just enough to take a double digit lead. By halftime, they were up 19-7, but it was not so much of a convincing performance. Since that early turnover, the Rams offense scored on their next five possessions, but only four of them ended with field goals. Outside of a 44 yard touchdown strike to Davante Adams that gave LA their first lead of the day, the Eagles defense played well enough to ensure that the game would not get completely out of hand.

On just the second play of the third quarter, Jalen Hurts got strip sacked by Jared Verse that was recovered by Nathan Landman at the ten yard line, who has gotten his hands on the ball every week so far this season. One play later, Kyren Williams was wide open in the flat for an easy touchdown that put the Rams ahead 26-7. At that point, nobody was thinking about an Eagles comeback. Saquon Barkley got bottled up, they could not throw the ball whatsoever, their offensive line gave up four sacks, and the defense let up six scoring drives at that point. Yet all of a sudden, once their offense got the ball back, they looked like a totally different football team.

It all started with a 38 yard catch by a wide receiver that had hardly been involved in their team’s offense through two weeks: AJ Brown. In the first half, he once again was only targeted once and did not come up with a catch. However, that completion gave the Eagles a spark and it did not fizzle out for the rest of the afternoon. On the next play, Hurts found Dallas Goedert wide open down the seam for a 33 yard touchdown, their first score since the opening possession. After their defense forced a punt, Hurts went right back to work, starting from their own thirteen yard line and leading them right down the field in 13 plays, capping it off with another touchdown pass that was caught by Brown on the back shoulder! Now Philadelphia was only down by five points and the Rams were on the verge of a rare choke job in the Sean McVay era!

When the Rams got the ball back on the ensuing drive, the offense went for it on fourth and one at the Philadelphia 46 yard line, but Kyren Williams got stopped short of the line and it resulted in a turnover on downs. However, the Eagles only picked up three yards on their next drive and decided it would be a good idea to go for it on fourth and six, which blew up in their face. It was a rare stop for the LA defense that they needed to make for them to hold onto the lead, but it was up to their offense to take advantage.

The good news was that they managed to get into scoring range but the bad was that they faced fourth down again and McVay decided to send Joshua Karty out for a 36 yard field goal attempt. This would put LA ahead by eight with plenty of time left on the clock, so Hurts would have gotten the ball back regardless, but the kick ended up getting blocked by Jalen Carter up the middle! Even though Philadelphia had to start from their eight yard line, one more touchdown would have given them the lead! A couple of clutch third down conversions by Brown placed the Eagles into the red zone, and a run by Saquon Barkley set up first and goal at the four yard line! However, fourth down approached once again and this play was literally going to decide the game. When the ball was snapped, DeVonta Smith beat Emmanuel Forbes on the out route and he had just enough space for the go-ahead touchdown! Philadelphia took the lead with 1:48 on the clock, but the two point conversion attempt did not succeed, so Los Angeles was going to have plenty of time to win the game themselves!

On the final drive of the day, Puka Nacua got the Rams into enemy territory and Kyren Williams did just enough on a couple carries to set up a 44 yard attempt for Karty. Then right on schedule, the comeback fittingly ends with another blocked kick that was returned for a touchdown by Jordan Davis! 

The two losses to the Eagles were tough last year, but this latest one had to sting worse for LA. After holding a 26-7 lead in the second quarter, it felt like they were going to get their revenge in the sweetest way possible. However, nobody gets any shortage of blame for this defeat. Their offense scored more field goals than touchdowns, the defense completely fell apart in the second half, and their special teams gave up two blocked kicks that would have closed the deal. All the Rams had to do was just finish the job and they gagged it away. At the same time, though, Philadelphia deserves a ton of credit for how they were able to fight back. They were down a lot and they could have thrown in the towel, but their adjustments paid off in the most crucial moments and they made way more plays down the stretch to keep their season undefeated. 

The Eagles make a furious comeback and are now 3-0, with a trip on the road for what will be another big test as they take on the Tampa Buccaneers. The Rams play well for one half but dismantle in the second as they lose their first game to finish the week 2-1, but will head back home to see if they can bounce back against the Indianapolis Colts.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (29) vs. NEW YORK JETS (27)

This game was somewhat of a blend between the Packers loss against the Browns and the Eagles win against the Rams. Tampa was ahead 23-6 before the start of the fourth quarter, then got outscored 21-3 as the Jets took the lead on a blocked field goal, but they still prevailed in the end thanks to a third straight game winning drive for Baker Mayfield. Without Mike Evans because of a hamstring issue and three of his starting offensive lineman, the Buccaneers quarterback still managed to put the team on his back and lead them to victory. However, this game should not have been close at all.

The Bucs offense had their moments, but only scored one touchdown on 11 drives. To their credit, it came at an important time in the game. After both teams swapped field goals on the first few drives that actually put New York ahead 6-3, Sterling Shepard came through with two big catches totaling 40 yards to set up a simple go-ahead touchdown on a slant to Evans for the lead. After Jamel Dean fired through with a pick six near the end of the first half, it looked like Tampa was going to run away with this game, yet they could not put it away when they had the chance.

Their defense, up until the final fifteen minutes, was playing tremendous. They held Tyrod Taylor to just 80 passing yards and completely took Breece Hall out of the gameplan. However, Taylor brought the Jets back into the game with two straight touchdown drives in the fourth quarter as he put up 117 passing yards in that span. Tampa had plenty of chances to put the icing on the cake, but two field goal attempts and a punt was all they could muster. 

Approaching the final minutes of the game, Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin was sent out to make a 43 yard field goal that would increase the lead to nine. However, Will McDonald leaped over the line and got his hands on the ball, then returned it all the way for a go-ahead touchdown! All of a sudden, the Jets were ahead 27-26 when they were down 23-6 and all they needed was one stop to officially complete the comeback! Yet just like he did against the Falcons and Texans in the last two weeks, Baker Mayfield had plenty of time left on the clock. With 1:48 remaining, all he needed was to get in field goal range and that would be enough to win.

After missing a wide open touchdown to Kam Johnson on the first place, Mayfield connected with Emeka Egbuka for a big 28 yard play and then found Shepard for an extra 20 to set up a chip-shot kick for McLaughlin. He has had a shaky year so far, but on this attempt, he delivered the win when it mattered and it allowed Tampa to escape with another last-second victory.

New York deserves some credit for being able to fight back the way they did without their starting quarterback, but at the same time, they put themselves in too big of a hole for them to come back. Even when they did take the lead late in the fourth, their defense could not make one last stop and that pick six from Taylor ended up being one of the biggest differences in the entire game. Their first win is going to happen eventually, but luck was not on their side this week.

From Tampa’s perspective, I personally don’t know how to evaluate this. On one hand, the Buccaneers proved their resilience once again with a third straight game-winning drive. On the other side of things though, they let the Jets hang around for way too long. The old cliche is that good teams find different ways to win, so let’s see if they are capable of putting opponents away when they have the chance, especially next week.

The Bucs show up in the clutch once again to stay undefeated at 3-0 and will stay home for what should be an exciting grudge match against the Philadelphia Eagles. Meanwhile, the Jets lose in gut-wrenching fashion once again to fall to 0-3, and will also stay in Florida as they play the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football.

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (41) vs. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (24)

It turned out that the Commanders did not even need Jayden Daniels to win this game. With Marcus Mariota in the lineup, not only did the offense bounce back on track, but the defense and special teams had their best performance so far this season. Deebo Samuel set the tone with a 69 yard kickoff return and it lit a fire for Washington that they needed to play with some energy. The Raiders kept the game close for most of the first half, even tying the score at 10. However, once Jeremy McNichols fought out of a wall for a 60 yard touchdown run, it gave the Commanders a huge chunk of momentum that carried them the rest of the way.

Early in the third quarter, Washington was ahead 20-10 when their special teams unit came through with another huge game changing play. This time it was off a punt return from the rookie Jaylin Lane, who fielded the kick from his own ten yard line and weaved his way down the middle for an explosive 90 yard touchdown. After that play, Vegas did their best to fight back with a couple of scores, but they just did not have enough juice to win on the road. Geno Smith got sacked five times, the offense went three for fourteen on third down, and their defense let up over 200 yards on the ground. It was a fun breakout game for Tre Tucker, who caught eight passes for 145 yards with three touchdown receptions, but it was all for naught. 

Mariota, on the other hand, was efficient and patient. Outside of giving Dan Quinn a bloody nose on a friendly fire collision, he did not look too bad out there. The former second overall pick did not have to be overly phenomenal, but he still got the job done with just six incompletions, close to 250 yards from scrimmage, and a couple touchdowns. If there is anybody who deserves a lot of credit as well, it is offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury because he did not force any one of his guys to do too much on the field. They dominated the line of scrimmage, they were well balanced, they connected on deep shots when they were open, and it wore the Raiders out. Washington just proved to be the better football team, and even without two of their key starters, they still handled their business at home.

The Commanders bounce back with a big win to get back on the win column at 2-1 and will take the road for what should be a highly intense matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. The Raiders meanwhile lose their second game in a row to drop to 1-2 and will head back home for a must-win matchup against the Chicago Bears.

CAROLINA PANTHERS (30) vs. ATLANTA FALCONS (0)

Everyone is going to say that the Browns win over the Packers is the biggest upset of the week, and for valid reasons, but a close second would be the Panthers shutting out the Falcons! However, this was not a game primarily won by Bryce Young and the offense, but the defense and special teams. Things looked murky from the start when new Atlanta kicker Parker Romo missed two long distance field goals that waved wide in each direction. The first miss allowed Carolina to march down the field and reach the end zone for a touchdown while the second took place after a muffed punt! It was not like this was a totally lopsided game because the Falcons had multiple chances to get on the board. They just failed to capitalize on their chances.

However, things got worse in the second half. Just two plays in, Michael Penix looked for Bijan Robinson in the flat, but Chau Smith-Wade jumped the route for a pick six and it immediately increased the Panthers lead 17-0. On the next possession, they went for it on fourth down and four at the 45 yard line, but turned it over on downs and it set up an easy field goal for Ryan Fitzgerald. When Penix got the ball back, he did a better job moving the ball into Carolina territory, yet  it ended with his second interception of the day. It did not take too long for the Panthers offense to get in the red zone, and on fourth down at the one yard line, Rico Dowdle sliced in for another offensive touchdown. At that point, the game was decided and head coach Raheem Morris decided to put Kirk Cousins in for the final minutes, but the sequence was the same: failed fourth down attempt, field goal, turnover. 

This was not the offensive showcase that I was expecting, nor was it an absolute clinic by the Carolina Panthers. A 30-0 shutout is what it is, but that defense really set the tone from start to finish and while their offense might not have been perfect, they capitalized off the mistakes and took care of the football. Considering how they looked the first two weeks, this is a refreshing change of pace. 

I wish that this was it for Atlanta, but nothing ever is when it comes to this franchise. 24 hours after the game, the organization announced that it fired its wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, giving pass game coordinator TJ Yates additional duties. While it might not seem like too much of a big deal on the surface, this offense has been struggling to start the season and that cannot be the case. They already have enough talent on the roster, for starters, but there is a reason why they gave Michael Penix the keys to the car instead of Kirk Cousins. This was supposed to be the engine that would keep this team competitive, but so far, the results have not been promising. You can argue  that it would have been worse with Cousins under center, but it just makes his huge contract look even worse. It is a lose-lose situation for Atlanta right now and they need to figure it out quickly or else their season is going to fall down the tubes faster than it did the last few years.

The Panthers pull off a shocking shutout to get their first win of the year and are now 1-2, but will take the road for a must-win matchup against the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, the Falcons get stunned as they also finish the week 1-2, with a trip back home for a huge game of their own against the Washington Commanders.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (17) vs. HOUSTON TEXANS (10)

This was easily the ugliest game of the week. The nice way to put it would be that each defense stepped up and slowed down the opposing quarterbacks, but the reality was that it felt like both teams were doing everything to lose that game. Sloppy interceptions, missed field goals, and too many punts stole the show in Duval on Sunday afternoon. Heck, neither Trevor Lawrence nor CJ Stroud threw for 100 yards until the second half. The Jaguars were the only ones that led the entire afternoon but the biggest reason why was because they took advantage of a missed 52 yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn. Up until their final drive of the game, Jacksonville scored only three more points of the game and Houston eventually tied the game at ten thanks to a wide open 50 yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins. 

When the Jaguars offense turned the ball over on downs at the Houston forty-seven yard line, the Texans were in position to take their first lead of the game and steal the rest of the momentum. However, that hope was crushed when Collins got the ball lodged out from Tyson Campbell and recovered by Jacksonville at the seventeen yard line! Remember, all Houston needed was a field goal to take the lead, and that turnover was the biggest one that cost them. With a few minutes remaining, Lawrence finally got out of a slump and engineered a clutch game winning drive. On the first play after the two minute warning, he connected with Brian Thomas Jr. for an electric 46 yard catch-and-run in stride to the ten yard line. The Jaguars capped off the drive with a walk-in touchdown for Travis Etienne, but they gave Stroud a lot of time to even the score and send the game into overtime.

With time to spare, Stroud did a good job leading his offense into Jacksonville territory and in fact got them in scoring range. He found Christian Kirk on a big fourth down play to keep the drive alive but in came third and one at the 28 yard line. Up to that point, the Texans did not do a good job running the football and only had one timeout remaining, so new offensive coordinator Nick Caley put the ball in his quarterback’s hands. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the wrong decision because after he got by Josh Hines-Allen, a high pass behind Christian Kirk got intercepted by Antonio Johnson to officially seal the deal. 

While this was an incredibly sloppy performance from both sides, the bottom line was that the Jaguars played better in the fourth quarter while the Texans gave it away. All three of Houston’s turnovers took place in those final fifteen minutes and all Jacksonville needed to do was capitalize on just one of them for them to get the win. This really says more about the team that lost than the team they won because they keep committing the same mistakes time and time again, but nobody is doing anything about this! There is no accountability, zero leadership, and no mental will to overcome these struggles. Now you have to start to wonder if the front office needs to consider a deep cleaning because to go from one of the most hopeful teams in the league two years ago to one of the only winless teams through three weeks is unacceptable. The longer this persists, the worse it is going to get and the more changes that need to be made.

The Jaguars hang on at home and improve to 2-1, with a trip across the country  for a huge challenge against the San Francisco 49ers. Meanwhile, the Texans get neutralized once again to fall to 0-3 and will head back home for a must-win game against the Tennessee Titans. 

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (23) vs. DENVER BRONCOS (20)

The Chargers and Broncos gave us the matchup we all wanted: a tightly contested rivalry grudge match that came down to the final play. Although, it was not like it was a back-and-forth contest. LA was leading 10-0 before the two minute warning, but they left a few more points off the board thanks to an interception thrown to Brandon Jones in scoring range on the previous possession. Even then, the defense somehow let Courtland Sutton get wide open on a 52 yard touchdown that cut the Denver deficit to three at halftime. When both teams returned to the field to begin the third quarter, the Chargers got off to an even worse start.

It took three plays for the Broncos to take a 14-10 lead and all three of them were in the hands of JK Dobbins. On the ensuing kickoff, Jonah Elliss ripped the ball out of the hands of the returner Derius Davis, with Denver falling on top of it at the 30 yard line! However, the Chargers were able to hold and force a 42 yard field goal, so they were still only down by seven points. Yet, the offense was still in a slump. Their first three drives of the second half ended with two punts and a field goal, but their defense was keeping them alive by allowing just three more points themselves. This slugfest was going to be decided in the final few minutes, but just when that time arrived, LA finally woke up and took over.

The unsung hero of the day for the Bolts was rookie running back Omarion Hampton, who finally came alive with a breakout performance. He ran for 70 yards on 19 carries and picked up 59 more receiving yards on 6 catches, serving to be one of the biggest bright spots on that offense. With 3:43 on the clock, Hampton got loose on a screen play for a pickup of 22 yards that got the Chargers within field goal range. Just a couple plays later, Justin Herbert escaped out of the pocket from the rush and threw a dart of a game tying touchdown pass to Keenan Allen for 20 yards with Riley Moss playing very tight coverage. However, the Broncos still had the two minute warning and all three timeouts to work with, so this game was far from over.

Instead of moving the ball down the field, though, they picked up zero yards on three plays and immediately punted it back to LA in less than a minute. Once that happened, it was game over. All it took were a couple big throws to Oronde Gadsden II and another catch by Ladd McConkey to set up a 43 yard field goal, with Dicker the Kicker putting on the finishing touches for the win. 

On the surface, it looks like both teams put up a strong fight, but Los Angeles just made a few more plays in the end. That is true. Then you look at the box score and realize that the Broncos offense just barely did anything in that game. They only picked up nine first downs, went two for thirteen on third down, the team committed ten penalties for ninety yards, and Bo Nix only threw for 153 yards. Maybe if the Chargers held onto the football and did not suffer a couple of defensive lags, the score would not have been as close. But at the end of the day, LA still won the game and did indeed show up in the clutch when called upon.

The Chargers keep their undefeated season alive as they are now 3-0 and will take the road for what should be a simple business trip against the New York Giants. Meanwhile, the Broncos lose their second game in a row via the same circumstance as they fall to 1-2, heading back home to potentially bounce back against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (44) vs. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (13)

My biggest problem with the Saints over the first two weeks of the season was their inability to take the lead in moments where it was time to get the job done. Unfortunately, they did not even come close to getting that done against the Seahawks on Sunday afternoon. Right away on the opening drive, the offense went for it on fourth and two at the Seattle 45 yard line. Spencer Rattler escaped to his right and actually had Alvin Kamara wide open down the field, but the pass was way overthrown, so it resulted in a turnover on downs. From that point on, this game turned into a complete and total rout.

In the first half alone, Sam Darnold threw just one incompletion and had a perfect passer rating, completing 10 out of his first 11 passes for 169 yards with two touchdown passes. The Seahawks scored eight straight times, from their first possession all the way until Drew Lock took over in garbage time. The special teams had just as big of an afternoon. Troy Horton, the fifth round rookie wide receiver out of Colorado State, opened the floodgates late in the first quarter with a 94 yard punt return touchdown. On the next possession, they blocked a punt that was recovered at the 11 yard line, which set up a walk-in score for Kenneth Walker to go ahead 21-0. The defense did not allow a touchdown until the first play of the fourth quarter, when Seattle was ahead 44-6! New Orleans just got crushed in all three phases of the game, and while there were a few decent moments, they will be vaguely remembered.

The Seahawks win their second game in a row via blowout and are now 2-1, but will take the road on a short week as they visit the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. Meanwhile, the Saints get crushed for their third straight loss and will fall to 0-3, staying on the road for an even tougher matchup as they play the Buffalo Bills.

CHICAGO BEARS (31) vs. DALLAS COWBOYS (14)

Wait. The Chicago Bears… won? They beat the Dallas Cowboys and blew them out in Soldier Field? Give me a minute, I need to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming. Nope, this is reality! Ben Johnson got his first career win as the head coach. 

This might not have been a perfect blowout for the Bears, but they made more than enough plays on both sides of the ball to win by 17 points. It started on the opening defensive drive, where it looked like Dallas was going to shove the ball down the opposition’s throats for the entire afternoon. On the second play, Javonte Williams stretched to the left side of the field for an explosive 26 yard pickup, but got the ball ripped out at the very last second by Tyrique Stevenson for a very impressive takeaway! That lit the spark that kept the Bears ahead for the entirety of the game because when their offense took the field after the turnover, Colston Loveland got wide open for a 32 yard pickup and then Rome Odunze broke Trevon Diggs’ ankles a couple plays later for an easy touchdown. On their next possession, Johnson dialed up the flea flicker and Caleb Williams found Luther Burden III all alone down the left sideline for his first career touchdown reception! Now the Bears were ahead 14-3 and their offense was finally playing with some energy!

However, the Cowboys ended up scoring eleven unanswered points to tie the game up and it felt like a “Here we go again” moment for the fans in the Windy City. Yet, Chicago did something that has rarely been seen so far this year: they kept their foot on the gas. Williams led two more scoring drives to cap off a four touchdown pass performance while nearly throwing for 300 yards. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds picked off Dak Prescott twice, and on a garbage-time possession led by Joe Milton, safety Kevin Byard came through with the game-ending interception for the fourth takeaway of the afternoon. 

It took a couple of weeks for the Bears offense to gel but Sunday proved that they are still improving and finding ways to get better. Even if it was against a terrible Dallas defense, this was the type of performance that Chicago needed to have for them to get their season back on track. Otherwise, the panic button would have set off by now and the fans would have already given up, which is ironically what might be happening in JerryWorld right now.

Right now, the Cowboys offense is not the problem. Yes, Dak Prescott turned into a checkdown magnet without CeeDee Lamb, but that has been the furthest issue with this football team. That honor goes to their defense, which is outright atrocious. So far through three weeks, they have given up the most passing yards and the sixth most points in the league. The first week against Philadelphia was one thing, but 400 yards to Russell Wilson and four touchdown passes from Caleb Williams had to make coordinator Matt Eberflus squirm. We all knew that the Micah Parsons trade was going to derail this group, but not this bad. Do not give me the injury excuse because the Bears were missing a few of their key guys as well. So far, Dallas has a bad football team right now and it looks like they are heading into another lost season, but we all know that nothing is going to change because they are owned by Jerry Jones.

The Bears earn their first win of the season and are on the board at 1-2, with a trip on the road to even the record as they play the Las Vegas Raiders. Meanwhile, the Cowboys get blown out as they finish the week 1-2, heading back home for a primetime showdown against… Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ers (16) vs. ARIZONA CARDINALS (15)

I love the way that this game played out. In a hard fought grudge match between two division rivals, both defenses played exceptionally, holding the opposition to under 20 points, yet one offense was able to overcome their struggles in the final moments. 

The biggest reason why the Cardinals lost, in my opinion, was very simple: the offense could not capitalize on their chances while the 49ers found ways to make up for their mistakes. Allow me to explain. Throughout the first half, each team went back-and-forth punting the ball back to each other and settling for field goals when they did get points on the board. Yet, while 49ers kicker Eddy Piñeiro was able to make both of his attempts, the Cardinals starter Chad Ryland only made one of his two tries. Fortunately, Arizona was able to tie the game at six but things got more frustrating from there.

Near the end of the third quarter, the defense forced a clutch goal-line stand at the two yard line to give their offense the ball back with a chance for the lead. However, the result was a three-and-out and the 49ers made up for it with a wide open touchdown pass to Kyle Juszczyk, thanks to a 34 yard shot down the sideline to Ricky Pearsall. When Kyler Murray got the ball back, he responded with a big 30 plus yard play of his own to Marvin Harrison Jr. and then tied the game by finding Trey McBride in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Once the defense picked off Mac Jones on the ensuing possession, the Cardinals had all of the momentum they needed to go ahead for the first time all afternoon! Instead, the offense went three-and-out again and they were forced to punt the ball back.

Thanks to a booming kick by Blake Gillikin, the 49ers were pinned at their own six yard line. On the first play of that drive, Mac Jones was able to escape out of the end zone and throw the ball away, but there was a flag on the play. The right guard Dominick Puni got called for holding in the end zone, which resulted in an Arizona safety, and that put them ahead by two! If you had not guessed by now, the offense could not score when they got the ball back, and San Francisco had a chance to redeem themselves again. 

Dealing with a PCL injury, Mac Jones was not always perfect on Sunday afternoon, but boy did he gut it out on the most important drive of the game. Two big completions to Kendrick Bourne followed by a 20 yard pickup from Christian McCaffrey set up a 35 yard game winner for Piñeiro, which easily split through the uprights. When the cameras pointed to Jones letting it out on the sidelines, it just proved how much heart and fight he still had left for the game, given everything that has happened in his NFL career.

Unfortunately, what also came with this game were two notable injuries. The Cardinals lost James Conner due to a season ending ankle injury while Nick Bosa tore his ACL and will be out for the rest of the year as well. Both guys are huge losses in different ways. Arizona does not have a lot of depth in their running game and this is an offense that tends to go one dimensional, while San Francisco lost the heart and soul of their defense. Each of these teams have gone on to strong starts, but now the pressure is really on for them to overcome their struggles and still enter the playoff picture.

Overall, both teams fought hard and took it the distance, but Arizona let a winnable game fall out of their hands. They won the time of possession by 10 minutes, they were more efficient on third down, and controlled the turnover battle! Yet they still lost by one because they could not take advantage of their opportunities and it cost them in the end. 

The 49ers hold on for another tight finish to stay undefeated at 3-0, staying home to see if they can get another win as they welcome the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Cardinals lose their first game of the year to end the week 2-1 and will head back home on a short week to take on the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (22) vs. NEW YORK GIANTS (9)

Am I supposed to be happy that the Chiefs did not fall to 0-3 on Sunday night? Congratulations, you are not the Cowboys. I will give them some credit because it had been since 1975 the last time Kansas City beat the Giants in MetLife Stadium, but it was not like they played an outstanding game. Heck, the score was tied at six at one point! Their offense did not score a touchdown in the first half, it took a huge pass interference penalty from Dru Phillips for the Chiefs to take the lead, and they committed eight more penalties. However, even though it might not be saying much, this team looked a lot better than the Giants.

All I needed to know was that in pre-game warmups, Graham Gano injured his groin AGAIN! Once the news came out, I said “ball game.” Even though he still played and attempted two kicks, it is never a good thing to hear because that just means it is going to take a miracle for the offense to not run into a brick wall. Sure, enough that is exactly what happened to New York. The only reason why they even had a chance was because of their rookie running back Cam Skattebo. After Tyrone Tracy Jr. went down with an injury, the fourth round pick out of Arizona State totaled 120 yards from scrimmage and scored their only touchdown of the night. Unfortunately, nobody else on the Giants offense showed up. Malik Nabers only caught two passes, Wan’Dale Robinson was held to just one, and Russell Wilson only threw 160 yards with two interceptions. They were one for ten on third down, one for four on fourth, and they just got completely shut down after halftime. Just look at the last four plays of their final drive in the red zone: intentional grounding, four yard scramble, and two straight overthrows out of bounds. 

Even though this might not have been a convincing victory, it was a game that the Chiefs were expected to win and they got it done. They still have a long way to go, but the defense played with a purpose and the offense finally showed some intensity. As long as they held onto the ball, that was all it took to win, and they succeeded.

The Chiefs get their first win of the season and get their season back on track at 1-2, but will head back home for a highly entertaining grudge match against the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, the Giants fall back down to Earth as they drop to 0-3, staying home for another grueling game as they welcome the Los Angeles Chargers.

DETROIT LIONS (38) vs. BALTIMORE RAVENS (30)

Throughout the entire night, I kept thinking to myself that Lamar Jackson was going to find a way to win the game in the end. Even after the defense let up a 98 yard touchdown drive in 18 plays and close to 11 minutes, even after the offense could not score on the one yard line four straight times near the end of the first half, Baltimore still tied the game at 14 at the halftime break and took a seven point lead to start the third quarter. However, it was very clear that nobody wanted this win more than the Lions and they played absolutely tremendous on both sides of the ball.

Let’s put this in perspective. Over the last two years, the Ravens had one of the best rushing defenses in the league. On Monday night, they gave up 224 yards! 151 of them were credited to David Montgomery, and even though Jahmyr Gibbs got shut down in the first half, he still managed to finish with 67 yards on 22 carries. I get that Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy were injured, but that does not excuse the fact that this defense got their hearts ripped out on a national stage. Amon-Ra St. Brown had his way with Marlon Humphrey and showed up in the biggest moments of the night. Sam LaPorta came through with more than a couple third down conversions to sustain drives that felt like they were going to end with punts. They were seven for fourteen on third down, four for five in the red zone, and won the time of possession by holding onto the ball for 33 minutes. However, that was not even what impressed me the most on Monday.

Yes, their defense allowed 30 points. Yes, Lamar Jackson threw for close to 290 yards and three touchdown passes. At the same time, though, the Lions defense was swarming the pocket all night long. They sacked the two time MVP seven times, six of them in the second half! After the Ravens marched down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter, the offense only scored three more points before a late desperation score with less than thirty seconds remaining. Derrick Henry had one big run of 28 yards that gave Baltimore its first points of the night, but was held to 22 yards the rest of the way and swung the entire game around with another lost fumble early in the fourth quarter! His second in three weeks, mind you. Even Zay Flowers struggled, not even getting targeted until the third quarter. 

From Baltimore’s perspective, there is not one individual you can particularly blame for this loss. They just simply got outplayed on their home field and they have to live with that for the week. However, their season is already starting to fall through the cracks. It is starting to look like a carbon copy of the Bengals last year and that is not something to be proud of if you are the Ravens. The defense is horrible, the offense gets in the way at the worst time, and the result is heart-wrenching defeats. Next week is going to be their biggest one of the season, because if they fall to 1-3, then you know that John Harbaugh and Eric DeCosta will have to make serious changes.

The Lions pull off a huge win on the road and are now 2-1, heading back home to welcome the Cleveland Browns. Meanwhile, the Ravens get manhandled in their own stadium to finish the week 1-2 and will take the road for a huge must-win matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.