Week 3 is usually when the NFL season gains some definition. NFL has been known for it's parity and hence there are always going to be a few surprising teams every season. And of course the first few weeks is when we are going to be surprised the most as these teams come out and disprove the expert's pre-season predictions. But there could be a few anomalies in the first 2 weeks as teams can catch a break with their schedule or run into a couple of tough teams. So week 3 normally ends up being a good indicator because as the number of games go from 2 to 3, the chances of fluke performances drastically decreases. Granted, it's still early days and teams can totally go from good to bad or bad to good from this point on to the end of the season. The San Diego chargers have done this many times and they are again on track for something similar with a 1-2 start. But by game 3, we typically get a good handle on most teams, if not all.
After week 3, there are 3 teams that are 3-0 and you could say 2 of them are surprises - KC Chiefs and the Chicago Bears. KC Chiefs one could argue have had an easy start to their schedule. Granted San Diego is tough, but they got them at home early in the season. Then they played Cleveland and San Francisco - 2 teams that are now 0-3, with San Francisco being the surprising 0-3 team. But Chiefs actually look very good. Thy have a lot of speed with their young guns and the Niners were exposed. They were not even competitive against the chiefs and it was funny listening to the Niners radio honks after the game still talking like they are some great team destined to win their division. One dude was saying they played down to their competition and was citing how they played well against the Saints and badly against the Chiefs and the Seahawks.
The niners were completely outplayed by the chiefs and it is pretty arrogant to talk about "playing down to the competition". Thats like me saying I didn't get a date with Angelina Jolie because I didn't use my best pickup lines on her :-) I love Mike Singletary, but I think his act is wearing thin and his job is under threat. He has now fired his offensive coordinator and that sounds like nothing but a defensive move to put the blame somewhere else. I hope he survives, but it is pretty clear that he is just an emotional, motivational type coach. His X's and O's is just not there.
There were several other surprising results last weekend. I was surprised by Dallas crushing Houston on the road. I guess Dallas showed up with everything they got to save their season. I still think Houston is the better team, but they can't play like that in a big game. Where were you Matt Schaub? Buffalo lost to the Patriots, but they made the game pretty interesting. The Patriots just don't have the defense this season to dominate teams. Brady better get ready to air it out and line up Moss behind him. The other surprises were Seattle running circles around the Chargers special teams and winning the game. Also, the rookie QB Sam Bradford is doing really well. The Rams shocked the Redskins at home 30-16. What's going on with McNabb and the skins? Minnesota saved it's season too behind Adrian Peterson against the now 0-3 Detroit. Jets beat Miami to go to 2-1 and Atlanta defeated the Saints in OT. There were a couple of games like the OT one which could have gone either way last weekend.
Raiders lost to Arizona, but the could have won if only the fatso sea-bass had made a 32 yard field goal. He is the highest paid kicker in the league and has such a strong leg, but he misses way too many critical field goals in my opinion. For his talent level, he is pretty inconsistent. The other close game this week was the Monday nighter between Green Bay and Chicago. It's funny to watch the Chicago offense. I don't think there has ever been a more risk taking offensive coordinator paired with a more reckless QB. Martz and Cutler just throw the ball wherever they want and surprisingly, the packers sill found a way to lose this gam via penalties. They still had a chance to win the game if only Greg Jennings hadn't fumbled ball away during the 2-minute drill. Aaron Rodgers played very well and his reputation is being cemented every time he takes the field. Cutler was not bad either, but some of his throws are interesting to say the least. He will be throwing some interesting interceptions this season.
Speaking of QBs, Vick is playing like the QB I thought he would be when I saw him play at Va Tech. I thought he was going to be the era defining QB for this era much like Dan Marino was for the 80's. And then he never became a great passer though he could run and had the arm strength. Now, it looks like everything is coming together. May be it's his maturity or may be it's the coaching at Philly, but he is making all the right reads, throwing precision darts and running effectively only when needed. It was fun just watching his highlights this week. Lets see if this continues when McNabb comes back to town next Sunday. Kyle Orton threw for 476 yards against the Colts and still lost. I am surprised he could do that. It probably was bad defense on the part of the Colts. Its funny that the top 5 guys yardage wise among the QBs (Orton, Rivers, Eli Manning, Brees and Henne) all lost proving once again defense wins championships. Well, unless we are talking about fantasy football championships, then it's great to have these QBs.
Week 3 is done and week 4 will only be better. In college, Arizona State played a frustrating game as they tried to come from behind and ended up throwing interception after interception after moving the ball well. Pathetic performance against a ranked team that couldn't actually stop them. The devils stopped themselves.
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