NFL Week 3 Takeaways
Photo by Ronald Martinez from Getty Images
Welcome to the week 3 takeaways, this time featuring a new segment at the end!
But I don’t want to spoil it for all the avid readers ready to know my great thoughts about the NFL, because they are great thoughts.
(Just appease me, alright?)
Browns defeat Steelers 29-17
I thought the Steelers would actually be decent this year.
I mean, think about it. They made the playoffs last year with a QB who could barely throw more than 5 yards.
Trubisky, despite his flaws, can at least do that!
Well, it turns out their offensive coordinator does not want to do that!
This offense is broken as hell, and I’m not sure what will fix it.
It’s probably time to see what Kenny Pickett can do, though.
Titans defeat Raiders 24-22
The Raiders are now 0-3 despite all their games being one score.
I figured their luck of last year wouldn’t repeat.
I didn’t think it’d take such a turn to where they are incredibly unlucky now.
Ravens defeat Patriots 37-26
This game had the potential to be another really tough 4th quarter for the Ravens after Mac Jones and the Patriots got an early touchdown to get back into the game, followed by a Lamar Jackson interception.
But when they needed a play, rookie safety Kyle Hamilton stepped up and forced a fumble to get the Ravens some breathing room.
Crisis averted.
Bears defeat Texans 23-20
Justin Fields attempts a pass 15 or more yards downfield 33.33% of his drop backs, and he completes 46.67% of them, good for 12th in the league.
That’s pretty good for a young QB!
The issue is, the Bears never actually let him throw the ball.
Maybe it’s their bad offensive line. Maybe it’s their receivers. Maybe they just want to take their time.
Regardless, at some point the training wheels have to come off.
I’m sure it’ll be rocky, but I’m also sure Fields can handle it.
Colts defeat Chiefs 20-17
The Colts struggled against the Texans and Jaguars, only to go and beat the Chiefs.
Are they good?
I don’t know.
Dolphins defeat Bills 21-19
I’ll start with this.
I still think the Bills are better than the Dolphins.
The Bills played this game very shorthanded, and Miami early in the season is an absurdly difficult place to play.
But we saw the Bills not at their best on the road in Los Angeles to start the season, and they blew the doors off the Rams.
This time, they got caught in a dogfight and fell short.
I don’t know if the Dolphins are Super Bowl contenders by any means, but they sure are good.
That much is obvious.
Vikings defeat Lions 28-24
I texted friends of mine while the Lions were up 24-14 that I was so happy the Lions were good now. They really deserved it.
And then they blew the lead and lost.
Whoops. Same ol’ Lions.
Bengals defeat the Jets 27-12
Man, the Bengals needed that one.
An 0-2 start and the Dolphins coming to town this Thursday, a win over the Jets was exactly what the doctor ordered.
As for the Jets…who knows?
Eagles defeat Commanders 24-8
Remember when DeVonta Smith had one of the greatest college seasons a wide receiver has maybe ever had and then everyone thought he couldn’t make it in the NFL because he was too small?
That was cute.
Considering the Eagles followed the same strategy with Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean in this past draft, they’ll hope that the rest of the league looks stupid again.
Panthers defeat Saints 22-14
Yeah.
I got nothing for this one, I have to be honest.
Jaguars defeat Chargers 38-10
The Jags had an impressive win last week against the Colts, but I didn’t read too much into it because they always beat the Colts in Jacksonville.
But man oh man, my mind is changing rapidly on the Jags.
They look so well coached as opposed to a year ago, it makes me wonder why on Earth the Eagles got rid of Doug Pederson in the first place, even if things are fine in Philly right now.
I say this, and I don’t say it lightly.
The Jags might just be the best team in the AFC South.
Rams defeat Cardinals 20-12
This may only be specific to certain people, but remember when playing NCAA 14 Road To Glory mode as a QB at a smaller school? Where your teammates weren’t the best and dropped a lot of passes?
That was what Kyler Murray felt this game with his receivers.
It’s also the Cardinals 7th straight home loss, which is bad.
If not for a miracle comeback against the Raiders last week, I think Kliff Kingsbury would be updating his resume.
Falcons defeat Seahawks 27-23
Both of these teams are rebuilding, so let’s focus on that.
The Falcons remembered they have Kyle Pitts, and Drake London looks like a stud. That’s good!
The Seahawks have a corner in Tariq Woolen who gets better each week, and both rookie tackles have been excellent. That’s also good!
Cons? Mariota isn’t the guy in Atlanta, and who knows if Desmond Ridder is or not. And the Seahawks defense outside of Tariq Woolen and Al Woods might as well just not exist.
It’s been rough.
Packers defeat Buccaneers 14-12
This game, hyped as the matchup between Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, really sucked.
It was not fun to watch.
Broncos defeat 49ers 11-10
Ok, a few things here.
That game sucked.
Russell Wilson finally looked like Russell Wilson on the last drive, but it was only the last drive. Other than that he was horrible. A sign of things to come, or a flash in the pan?
Jimmy Garoppolo had potentially the worst play in NFL history.
I don’t say that last part lightly.
Remember when Dan Orlovsky ran out of the back of the endzone for a safety on accident?
Garoppolo did that.
Except this time, it changed the game from 7-3 to 7-5, which then became 10-5, which meant the Broncos last minute touchdown was to win instead of for the chance to time.
So that safety lost the Niners the game.
Not to mention, after he stepped out of the back of the endzone, he threw a pick 6!
It didn’t count because he had already stepped out for a safety, but even still he made a horrible throw afterwards!
It was a game that summarized Jimmy Garoppolo. When he’s at his best, the Niners have the pieces to win despite his clear limitations.
But when he’s not at his best, he is awful.
Also, did I mention that game sucked?
Cowboys defeat Giants 23-16
This game also sucked, but unlike the Broncos and Niners game it sucked while both teams wore fantastic uniforms, so that counts for something.
And now, it’s time for the brand new segment I thought of on Sunday watching that horrendous Niners vs Broncos game.
Was this a good week in the NFL?
Now, this doesn’t count a game like the Ravens and Patriots game which had some drama at the end. It’s the NFL. There should be some level of drama.
I mean games that have you hooked from the get go.
So, let’s get to it.
Good Games: Bills vs Dolphins, Vikings vs Lions, Colts vs Chiefs
Bad Games: Rams vs Cardinals, Niners vs Broncos (the worst game of the year so far), Packers vs Buccaneers, Cowboys vs Giants
Three good games and four bad games.
This was a bad week for the NFL.
Going back and counting the first two weeks, we stand at 2-1 in favor of good weeks of the NFL this season.
Let’s hope that trend continues, because this one was sort of a stinker.
