Week 3 of the NFL season brought us fewer surprises than in the previous two weeks. In fact, the eight games that were decided by double-digit points left us wanting for more competitive football when the clock struck zero in Detroit Sunday night.
More than the drama-free slate of football, there was one key injury that could reshape the entire AFC playoff race. Meanwhile, a certain quarterback in New England continued his dominating play. Out west, the Arizona Cardinals absolutely laid the hammer down against a hapless San Francisco 49ers squad.
Here are your top 10 takeaways from Sunday’s slate of Week 3 action.
New England Patriots offense is scary good
The Patriots had nine possessions against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon. They scored on all nine possessions. Tom Brady completed a ridiculous 33-of-42 passes for 358 yards with two touchdowns and zero picks.
Through three games, Brady is now on pace to tally over 5,900 passing yards with 48 touchdowns and zero picks. He also crossed the 400 touchdown pass plateau for his career — a feat only three other quarterbacks in NFL history have accomplished.
As a team, the Patriots are averaging nearly 40 points and 446 yards of total offense per game.
In the team’s 51-17 win over Jacksonville, Brady received plenty of help from the running game. Making just his second appearance of the season LeGarrette Blount put up 78 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Meanwhile, Dion Lewis added 67 total yards and a score.
If New England is able to get this type of balance moving forward, its going to repeat as AFC champions. That’s not even up for debate, especially with the way Brady has played through three games.
The Arizona Cardinals continue to steamroll opponents
It started with two interceptions of Colin Kaepernick that were returned for touchdowns in the first quarter. It continued with Carson Palmer tearing apart what is quickly becoming a disastrous San Francisco 49ers secondary. And it culminated in a 47-7 win against the over-matched division rival.
In reality, Arizona looked like a top-notch varsity team going up against a junior varsity squad full of freshman. That’s how bad it was for the road team in this one.
Palmer may have thrown his first interception of the season, but he consistently found open receivers throughout the game. In the process, the veteran completed 20-of-32 passes for 311 yards with two touchdowns, both of which went to Larry Fitzgerald. Looking like the running back that led the NFL in rushing so many years ago, Chris Johnson added 150 total yards and two scores on 23 touches. Yeah, it was a blowout of epic proportions for Bruce Arians and Co.
Some will argue that Green Bay should be considered the favorites in the NFC through three weeks, but the Cardinals are definitely in the conversation. After all, they are outscoring their opponents by an average of nearly 26 points per game.
Pittsburgh Steelers season changes on a dime
When Ben Roethlisberger went down with an apparent serious knee injury in the second half against the St. Louis Rams, Pittsburgh’s championship aspirations depended a great deal on an MRI the future Hall of Fame quarterback was to take following the game.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, Big Ben escaped structural damage to the knee, including an ACL tear. Unfortunately, the veteran did go down with an injury that will sideline him for a while:
ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that Big Ben’s recovery time is expected to be closer to six weeks. With their star quarterback out for at least the next month, the Steelers are going to have to rely on a veteran in Michael Vick to hold down the fort under center.
In a division that boasts a 3-0 Cincinnati Bengals squad, this is a less-than-ideal scenario for the defending AFC North champions. That’s only magnified by the fact that Pittsburgh’s next four games are against the Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs. If Roethlisberger is out any longer, the Cincinnati Bengals and an improved Oakland Raiders squad are Pittsburgh’s next two opponents.
At 2-1 on the season, Pittsburgh remains in decent position at this point. The issue here, however, is that it could fall further behind Cincinnati in the division while having to play catch up in the wild card race once Roethlisberger does return.
Huge Sunday for elite wide receivers
Absolute huge day for some of the best pass catchers the NFL has to offer. A.J. Green caught 10 passes for 127 yards and two scores in the Cincinnati Bengals win over the Baltimore Ravens — a game that saw Baltimore fall to 0-3 on the season. Meanwhile, Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones put up 12 receptions for 164 yards and two scores in his team’s comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys.
It doesn’t necessarily stop there.
Revitalizing a career that seemed to be on the downswing, Larry Fitzgerald has now scored five touchdowns in the past two weeks after tallying two scores on nine receptions against San Francisco on Sunday. Heck, Baltimore Ravens receiver Steve Smith put up 13 receptions for 186 yards and two scores in a losing effort against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The list goes on. All said, a total of 12 receivers went for 100-plus yards on Sunday. The interesting dynamic here is that 16 receivers hit the triple-digit plateau in Week 2 — an indication that the pass happy NFL we have become accustomed to over the years has taken an even more dramatic turn.
Marcus Mariota shows rookie tendencies
After taking seven sacks in the Tennessee Titans Week 2 loss to the Cleveland Browns, Mariota probably wishes he had held on to the ball on Sunday rather than make two big mistakes against the Indianapolis Colts. The two interceptions this reigning Heisman winner threw pretty much cost Tennessee the game in a 35-33 loss to what looked to be a reeling Colts team.
The most costly one came on a pass to Kendall Wright with a little over six minutes remaining in the game and the Titans up by six. Colts safety Dwight Lowery, who had picked off Mariota earlier in the game, came down with an interception. One play later, Andrew Luck hit Donte Moncrief for a touchdown to put the road team up for good.
It’s these types of mistakes we are going to have to expect from Mariota moving forward this season. It’s also these types of mistakes the first-round pick avoided in his first two games, totaling six touchdowns compared to zero interceptions. Unfortunately for the Titans, it came at a time when they could have helped force the Colts into a 0-3 hole to start the season.
NFC South has two legitimate playoff contenders
The division that sent a 7-8-1 team to the playoffs last season is now the only division in football with two undefeated teams heading into Week 4. By virtue of wins by the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, the NFC South has two legitimate playoff contenders.
Carolina may have been taking on a New Orleans Saints team that was forced to start Luke McCown under center, but it still found a way to end the day in the win column. It’s the third consecutive workmanlike performance for a Panthers squad that still seems to have a tremendous amount of holes on both sides of the ball. And while New Orleans was without Drew Brees, Ron Rivera’s team was missing a star of its own in the form of All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly.
In Dallas, the Falcons were also facing a backup quarterback in Brandon Weeden. No one knows how that game would have turned out if both Tony Romo and Dez Bryant were active, but teams can only play who is actually on the field on a given Sunday. In this, Atlanta outscored the Cowboys 14-0 in the final stanza to pull off a third consecutive fourth quarter comeback.
Showing much more poise under first-year head coach Dan Quinn than we have seen in the past, Atlanta is a serious playoff contender in the NFC. And if Julio Jones (12 receptions, 164 yards and two scores on Sunday) has anything to say about it, the Falcons are a legit threat to the Panthers in the much improved NFC South.
Philadelphia Eagles right the ship, but Sam Bradford continues to struggle
It remains to be seen whether Bradford is the long-term solution in Philadelphia. Even after pulling off a solid 24-17 victory over a previously undefeated New York Jets squad, the veteran signal caller didn’t necessarily come out smelling like roses. Going up against a stout Jets defense, Philadelphia’s offense tallied just 231 total yards while converting 4-of-15 third-down opportunities.
For his part, Bradford completed 14-of-28 passes for 118 yards with a touchdown and zero picks. His inability to get anything going through the air allowed New York back in the game, as the Eagles put up a total of 65 yards in the second half. The biggest takeaway from Sunday’s game is that Philadelphia was able to come away with a win, especially with so many injured stars sitting out.
Running back DeMarco Murray missed the game with a hamstring injury, which allowed fellow free-agent signing Ryan Mathews to carve up the Jets rush defense to the tune of 108 yards on 25 attempts. Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s defensive front stepped up with the likes of Cedric Thornton, Mychal Kendricks and Kiko Alonso all sidelined.
While that’s fine and dandy, the Eagles are going to need Bradford to perform at a much higher level at quarterback if they plan on competing in a wide open NFC East moving forward this season. His performances in the team’s first three games simply won’t get it done.
The Minnesota Vikings could be legit
Teddy Bridgewater struggled again on Sunday, throwing for 121 yards on 24 attempts without a touchdown pass. Minnesota also finished 3-of-9 on third down, as the second-year signal caller continued to throw the ball well short of the first-down marker in these situations. This might be an issue for the Vikings moving forward, but the rest of the team played stellar football.
Coming off a near 200-yard performance against the Detroit Lions last week, Adrian Peterson put up 126 yards and two touchdowns on 20 attempts. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s talented young defense forced two Philip Rivers turnovers in an impressive 31-14 win over a suddenly struggling Chargers team.
It’s this type of performance, coupled with struggles in Detroit and Chicago, that leads us to believe Minnesota is the only team able to contend with the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North. Even if that’s not the case, the Vikings are a serious wild card contender. That was unimaginable after a disastrous 20-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1.
The San Francisco 49ers are a really bad football team
After yielding 47 points to the Cardinals on Sunday, San Francisco has now given up 40-plus points in consecutive games for the first time since Joe Namath guaranteed a Super Bowl victory for his New York Jets in 1969. To put that in perspective, 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula had just turned one. The 65-point differential in the team’s past two games also represents the worst two-game stretch for the franchise since 1963.
Not a single thing worked in this game. Colin Kaepernick threw two first quarter interceptions, both of which were returned for touchdowns. When San Francisco’s defense made a play, it was called for a penalty. Heck, that Eric Mangini-led unit allowed a 30-year-old Chris Johnson to go for 150 total yards and two touchdowns. This is how bad it was in the desert on Sunday.
Despite still boasting a 1-2 record, San Francisco might quickly find itself in the midst of a long losing streak. It hosts the Green Bay Packers next week before taking on the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks. In his first season as head coach, Tomsula could very well be staring a 1-6 start right in the face.
More so than finding a way to actually win football games, San Francisco needs an identity moving forward this season. What is its plan on the offensive side of the ball? Is Colin Kaepernick going to be the long-term solution at quarterback? Does the team have the personnel to run a blitz-heavy package on defense? These three questions will define the 49ers both over the short term and the long term.
Winless teams are in trouble
Since 1990, only three teams that have started out the season with three consecutive losses have gone on to make the playoffs. The Buffalo Bills were the last squad to accomplish this feat back in 1998. That’s two percent of all teams with a 0-3 record over nearly the last quarter century to overcome this massive early-season hole.
After Sunday’s slate of games, four teams will enter October without a win. Of those four teams, the only one that can’t be considered a surprise is the Chicago Bears. “Led” by Jimmy Clausen, the Bears put up a historically bad offensive performance against the Seattle Seahawks. In fact, they punted on all nine possessions against what was an angry Seattle defense. Needless to say, the Bears are going nowhere fast.
It’s the other three teams that have to be considered surprises. By virtue of a late-game defensive meltdown against Cincinnati, the Baltimore Ravens find themselves both at 0-3 on the season and three games behind the division-leading Bengals.
Meanwhile, in Detroit, the Lions have followed up a surprising playoff appearance from a season ago with three consecutive losses to start the year. Detroit’s early-season struggles have more to do with lackluster quarterback play from Matthew Stafford (five interceptions in three games) than any other area of the team. Facing stiff competition from Green Bay and Minnesota in the NFC North, the Lions are in real trouble here.
Most skeptics figured New Orleans was in trouble after an offseason that saw it lose key players on both sides of the ball. However, the biggest loss to date was what transpired against Carolina in Week 2. While Drew Brees escaped a serious shoulder injury, he did suffer a bruised Rotator Cuff against the Panthers.
Sitting out Sunday’s action with no clear timetable for a return, Brees saw his team fall to 0-3 in a division that boasts two undefeated squads. That’s not a situation that speaks to New Orleans earning a playoff spot after a one-year hiatus.