Week
3 got started with the Chiefs heading to Philadelphia. Not only was this Andy
Reid's return to Philadelphia since he was fired last season, but the Eagles
also honored quarterback Donovan McNabb. McNabb was drafted by the Eagles with
the 2nd pick overall in the 1999 NFL Draft. And in typical Eagle fandom, he was
booed. In their defense, they were expecting the Eagles to draft the Heisman
Trophy winner Ricky Williams out of Texas.
Instead
both Reid and McNabb were hailed as heroes by the Eagle faithful. Maybe it is
the fans looking back about how good it really was. The franchise didn't win a
Super Bowl during that time, but it was one of the most successful periods in
the franchise's long history. But the night was spoiled by the Chiefs as they
won to get to their first 3-0 start in 3 years and currently have a 2-0 record
vs. the NFC East. Remember that high powered Eagle offense? It has now
sputtered.
Sunday's
games featured its share of close games and blowouts. First the blowouts.
The
Panthers got their first win of the season with a 38-0 win over the Giants. New
York is 0-3. Not exactly the way to start a season. These things have a way of
snowballing. How soon before Tom Coughlin starts hearing from the New York
media that he is coaching for his job?
And
the sad thing: the Jets are 2-1 despite setting a franchise record in
penalties with 20 in their win over Buffalo.
Houston
laid an egg against the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens. This is a team
that is expected to compete for the Super Bowl? While they came back against
the Chargers and won in overtime over the Titans at home, the Texans went to
Baltimore and got blown out. The game turned into a rout when Tandon Doss
returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown before halftime. I still think Houston
will win the division, but I am starting to have my doubts about this team
being a deep playoff team. Their upcoming games: Seattle, at San Francisco in
prime time, Rams, and at Kansas City before their bye week in Week 8.
Speaking
of the AFC South, the Colts defeated the 49ers in San Francisco. The 49ers
appear to still be in shock after their Week 2 loss in Seattle. In Week 1 the
49ers scored 34 points and had 494 yards in their win over the Packers. Since
then the 49ers have scored a total 10 points and gained 544 yards. Meanwhile
the Colts debut Trent Richardson in their backfield. Richardson rushed for 35
yards and a one-yard touchdown in the first quarter but Ahmad Bradshaw carried
the ball 19 times for 95 yards and touchdown. Eventually Richardson will become
the feature back in the Colts' backfield.
Green Bay was involved in one of the two entertaining games of
the early Sunday slate. The Bengals are proving that they might be for real in
the AFC North with their 34-30 win over the Packers. Cincinnati jumped out to a
14-0 lead and then Green Bay responded with a 30 point barrage. Both teams had
their share of turnovers with 4 each, but the
Bengals capitalized on a Packers fumble on 4th down in this clip here that
resulted in the winning score.
Meanwhile
reports of the Browns demise since trading running back Trent Richardson MIGHT
have been greatly exaggerated. Quarterback Brian Hoyer getting the start over
Brandon Wedon threw for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns. Cleveland relied on a some special
teams trickeration getting a touchdown off a fake field goal.
Seven
teams are currently undefeated: Bears, Broncos, Saints, Dolphins, Patriots, Seahawks,
and Chiefs. Who will be the last team to remain unbeaten? It is safe to assume
that there will at least be one unbeaten left as the Saints and Dolphins play
each other on Monday Night. It could come down to the Bears and Broncos as the
final two unbeatens. Chicago has proven to be one of the most complete teams as
displayed in their win over the Steelers on Sunday night and the Broncos easily
destroyed the Raiders on Monday night.
Right
now there are six teams that do not have wins: Buccaneers, Redskins, Jaguars,
Vikings, Steelers, and Giants. There will be one fewer team from this list.
Either the Steelers or Vikings will return from London with a win.
Each
of these teams could be on this list for a while. The Giants can't block
anyone. The Redskins are expecting too much out of Robert Griffin III. Tampa
announced they are benching
quarterback Josh Freeman for rookie Mike Clennon. The Vikings may have
Adrian Peterson but it is not enough to be competitive in the quarterback heavy
NFC North. And the Jaguars... well, they're the Jaguars. We might have our
third team since the 1970 merger to go an entire season winless (Buccaneers
1976, Lions
2008).
Nothing
like a good old fashioned ass kicking to get the Cowboys back to winning. The
only foul-up was a fumbled punt return in the first quarter. The Cowboys
offense gained 193 rushing yards, 175 were gained by running back DeMarco
Murray. In his debut in 2011, Murray rushed set a franchise record for rushing
yards with 253 and it was against the Rams. During this recent matchup against
the Rams, Cowboys linebacker Demarcus Ware surpassed Harvey Martin as the
franchise's all-time sack leader.
San
Diego is having an up-and-down season. The Chargers could easily be 0-3, 2-1,
or even 3-0. All of their games have been decided by 3 points. The Chargers
opened the season with the Texans coming back from 21 down to win on a
last-second field goal. The following week the Chargers headed east to beat the
Eagles. And then last Sunday the Titans scored a late touchdown and the
Chargers failed miserably at pulling off another Music City Miracle.
Week
4 is the start of teams going on the bye week. The Packers and Panthers have
the week off, so if you have players on your fantasy team that are on those
teams adjust your rosters accordingly.
NFL
Week 4 starts with the 49ers opening their NFC West schedule in St. Louis. If
you recall from last season the Rams were 4-1-1 in the NFC West and were 1-0-1
against the 49ers. Both teams are coming off blowout losses as mentioned
earlier.
The
NFL is playing two games in London this season. The first one involves the
Vikings playing the Steelers. In terms of star power and franchise recognition,
this is one of better matchups the NFL has sent overseas since Chargers-Saints
from 2008. The Steelers are one of the more recognizable franchises in the NFL
while the Vikings have Adrian Peterson. But both team haven't been living up to
their franchises' profiles as both teams are currently winless.
Other
early games features the Battle of Ohio between the Bengals and Browns. It
might be watchable. If the Browns can repeat what they did in Minneapolis last
Sunday, they might not be as bad as folks expect since they traded away Trent
Richardson.
Here
in the Metroplex we are getting the Cowboys at Chargers in the late Fox slot
while most of the country will see the Broncos host the Eagles. Coach Kelly
might have been the master of the hurry up offense while at Oregon, but Peyton
Manning has perfected it in the NFL.
Sunday
Night has the potential to be a quarterback duel as Tom Brady leads the
Patriots into Atlanta to take on the Falcons and Matt Ryan.
Monday
Night features the Saints taking on the Dolphins in the weekend's only game
involving undefeated teams. If you recall, the Dolphins were one of the teams
that were interested in Drew Brees when he was a free agent back in 2006. Miami
was concerned about his shoulder injury that he suffered late in 2005 and took
a pass on him. The Saints scooped him up and in February 2010 New Orleans was
hoisting their first Lombardi Trophy in Miami.
For
those concerned, Ms.
Roberts took a drubbing going 7-9. I have faith that she will recover as
her team will have a pick in the middle of the first round of the upcoming
draft. As for me, I went 9-7. I have been losing one game each week and I
intend for that to end now! Mr. Blake (with his picks
via facebook at the link) once again posted double-digit wins and has won three
consecutive weeks in a row. He has widened his lead to 7 games over me while
Ms. Roberts trails me by 2 games.
A
word of caution to Mr. Blake. I once had a seven-game lead at one point last
season and then I lost it as Ms. Roberts took the title of best football
prognosticator for 2012. It can be done.
|
|
Me
|
Monica
|
Eli
|
|
Week
3
|
9-7
|
7-9
|
12-4
|
|
OVERALL
|
30-18
|
28-20
|
37-11
|
Picks
are in BOLD
Games
airing in DFW are noted by (DFW) and are Central Time.
BYE
WEEK: Packers, Panthers
THURSDAY NIGHT, 7:20 PM (CT) NFL NETWORK
49ers at Rams
FOX NOON
Seahawks at Texans (DFW)
Bears at Lions
Giants
at Chiefs
Cardinals at Buccaneers
CBS NOON
Steelers vs. Vikings at
London (DFW)
Ravens at Bills
Colts at Jaguars
Bengals at Browns
FOX 3PM
Cowboys at Chargers
(DFW)
Eagles
at Broncos
Redskins at Raiders
CBS 3PM
Jets
at Titans
SUNDAY NIGHT, 7:30 PM (CT) NBC
Patriots at Falcons
MONDAY NIGHT, ESPN 7:30 PM (CT)
Dolphins
at Saints
No comments:
Post a Comment