Another week of NFL football in the books. More injuries, more Antonio Brown news, and more bad play calling. Just what we envisioned for Week 3.
Let’s get into it.
The week started off with some Minshew Mania as Gardner was dropping dimes left and right. Mr. Mustache was looking like a seasoned vet out on the gridiron. It was Mariota, however, who was looking more like the rookie QB. As a Ducks fan, you want to see your alumni do well, but like the the Titan’s o-line, I can’t really defend Mariota at this point. The former Heisman was sacked 9 times as the Titans fell to the Jaguars.
As for the Giants and Bucs game, I will say that Daniel Jones is the best athlete in New York sports history. The guru led the comeback against the Bucs, and he just might be a better run threat than Lamar Jackson. The G Men are looking ready for a 14-2 season, however it might be a little harder now that Saquon is out 4-8 weeks with a high ankle sprain. You know the common saying: “Even the men with the thickest calves can suffer a high ankle sprain and have to sit out 4-8 weeks.” Meanwhile for the Bucs, Jameis looked alright against the elite Giants defense. Three TDs and one signature pick isn’t a bad stat line for him. And Mike Evans had a monster day, catching all three of Winston’s TD passes. Maybe the Giants should have guarded him.
The untested Cowboys faced another easy matchup, this time playing against the future 0-16 Dolphins. This might be a loss for the Cowboys, seeing as they let the Dolphins get on the board. I’d feel worse for Josh Rosen, if we wasn’t extremely cocky. The former frat star had a decent day, but he’s certainly no Dak Prescott. Amari Cooper had himself a game with two TDs. Amari might be the best receiver in NFL history with the last name Cooper. Although Riley Cooper might fight him for that title.
The Bills continued their NFL dominance, edging out the Bengals by a score of 21-17. Josh Allen might be on his way to an MVP season, which will be his first of many. It’s hard to imagine any other team coming out of the AFC East. As for their running game, Frank Gore might be the Vince Carter of the NFL. The old head still doing it big. And I’m not sure how a 36 year old is better than most backs who are in their prime. For the Bengals, Andy “Running Back” Dalton showed off his speed with a rushing touchdown. Those QB sneaks sure do pay off. In all seriousness, the Bengals need to free John Ross. Man’s got talent.
It turns out that the Patriots are still the Patriots. And against a sorry team like the Jets, you knew they were gonna make it look easy. Belichick’s team took a commanding 20-0 lead in the 1st Quarter, and controlled the game from that point forward. Not much of a contest. I think we all still believe that the Patriots will win the Superbowl. The people in charge of power ranking have a pretty easy decision for the top spot.
The Vikings learned from last week and decided to dial back their QB’s number of passing attempts. Cousins only attempted 21 passes this week compared to his 32 from last week. And as a result, the Vikings got the win. Maybe they should continue that strategy. Dalvin Cook had another 100 yard game, and led Minnesota to a victory against the struggling Raiders. Crazy how Oakland probably would have won if they just treated AB with a little more respect. Karma certainly exists, and she’s making sure the Raiders learn to treat players with respect.
Joe Flacco is the starting QB of the Broncos. So that should tell you which team didn’t win this football game. In all seriousness, it’s weird to me that a team would take a chance on a guy who has already been replaced elsewhere. Although Flacco is still capable of making plays, wouldn’t the Broncos be better off trying to develop someone younger? Anyways, the Packers took care of the Broncos and Aaron Rodgers showed some of the good stuff. The QB vet hit Scantling with a deeeeep TD ball in the first quarter, making it look easy. The Packers remain undefeated, however that will change within the next two weeks against either Philly or Dallas.
Deshaun Watson had a signature game against the Chargers, totaling 351 pass yards and 3 TDs. DeAndre Hopkins had a somewhat quiet day, but Watson was able to find his other weapons. Like the Raiders, the Chargers have not benefitted from treating their players poorly. Melvin Gordon really could have come in handy on the ground for the Chargers, but instead they decided to be cheap, and are actually generating a profit off of Austin Ekeler. Talk about a commodity. Keenan Allen had himself quite the day, and the only reason I know that is because he’s on my fantasy team. 183 receiving yards and 2 TDs isn’t a bad stat line.
The Browns had some questionable play calling in their loss to the Rams. Running the ball on a 4th and 9 was something I have never seen before. Like what is the likelihood of that ever working? It was even more frustrating watching the final drive, seeing Baker and the Brown’s offense throw the ball 4 straight times in the red zone. Aaron Donald and the rest of the Rams got to Baker quickly, but the future hall of famer could have done more to escape the rush. I still think the Brown’s will be decent, but there’s no way they win 10 games.
The Eagles were really missing Nick Foles in their loss against the Lions. Really could have used some of his late game magic. I was shocked to find out that Darren Sproles is still in the league, but it’s great to see that he’s still doing his thing, getting a couple carries. I’m curious if anyone can think of a player in his prime who is the most similar to Sproles? Dude was so versatile just a few years ago. Anyways, Nelson Agholor had a couple TD catches even though he got called out the other day by a die hard Eagles hero. Rightfully so, as he had some big drops last week against the Falcons. Marvin Jones might be the best Lions receiver since Megatron. And he’s also the best Cal alum in the NFL.
Matty Ice was a little too chill for Sunday’s game, as the Colts took care of the Falcons in a close battle. Julio Jones had one of the craziest touchdown grabs of the season, once again showing that he is the best receiver in the NFL. And he certainly doesn’t need a Richard Mille to prove it. The Falcons are pretty loaded at wide receiver, which is why they need a QB who can feed them the ball. The Colts on the other hand, have found their duo of Brissett and Mack. And I feel like Mack is a good name to have for fantasy. I think the Colts have the weapons to have a good season and future.
Chiefs vs Ravens was the game that we were all waiting for. Battle of the best two QBs in the NFL. And that’s no disrespect to Fitzpatrick, I just think these two have had better seasons so far. Pat Mahomes will most likely win another MVP award this year. The Chiefs took a commanding lead in this one early. But Lamar came storming back in the 4th Quarter, almost leading the comeback for Baltimore. And Mark Ingram had himself quite the day on Sunday. Probably his best performance since playing at Bama.
Kyler still looking for that first win in the NFL. It’s crazy to think that the Cardinal’s tie in week 1 might be the peak of their season. Especially since the Lions actually look like a good team. The Panthers, on the other hand, actually bounced back after their disappointing Thursday night game against the Bucs. Kyle Allen is looking like the Panther’s future. Either that or the Cardinals are just absolutely terrible at defense. I’ll go with the latter. As I said at the start of the season, the Panthers have an opportunity to actually make a run this season. And it appears they might be able to do it without Cam.
Saints vs Seahawks was a fun matchup, and it was great to see Teddy looking like his old self. No Brees, no problem for the Saints, as this year is certainly looking like the year of the Back Up. With all these injuries, it’s cool to see other guys step up to the challenge. And Bridgewater out-dueled Russell Wilson, so maybe he should get Russ’s contract? And how good was Kamara? 170 total yards with 2 TDs. That’s a good fantasy day. Russ had a decent game as well, but once again, he couldn’t get it done.
Sunday was a day to forget for Jimmy G. The overpaid QB had two interceptions, but was luckily bailed out by the 49ers defense. (That’s every sunday for Trubisky.) Or maybe it was just the Steelers’ terrible offense that won SF the game. No question that Mike Tomlin is on the hot seat. And just because he won the Super Bowl back in 2009 does not mean he should get a pass. After the game, Tomlin said, “our business is winning and we haven’t been good at business.” That’s a fair point, Mike. Maybe get Juju the ball a couple more times.
For our last game of the week, the Bears dominated the Redskins on defense, and made sure to harass Case Keenum as much as they could. My fantasy league opponent had the Bears defense, so I was not pleased with that. Trubisky actually had a decent, game, finishing with 3 TDs and only 1 pick. And 230 passing yards is a ton for him, so job well done, Mitch. And is there any hope for the Redskins? Maybe Paul “Boring Name” Richardson can save their season. He’s actually pretty damn good.
As always, if you’ve made it all the way through the recap, I really appreciate you giving my blog a read.
I will be back next week for my week 4 reaction. Stay tuned.
