What a weekend of football! Sunday night’s Ravens game may be the most on edge I have been during a game in some time. That is not to say I didn’t run the gamut of emotions through the game itself. From annoyance to optimism to downright defeatedness (it’s a word if I want it to be one) once the awful DPI was called on Nate Wiggins.
Questionable calls aside, the Ravens and Cowboys conspiring to present Tyler Loop the chance of redemption was my top highlight from a weekend stuffed full of them. I will leave the refereeing decisions alone, I don’t need to be one more voice shouting into the void about the lack of quality at times. That said, there has to be something done!
There were some fantastic performances, and there were some awful ones. Without any more prevarication, let’s dive into a few that really caught my eye.
The Good
The Jags, captained by Trevor Lawrence, are starting to resemble a buzz-saw early into the season. When I told a friend that this was the game I was going to put on in the early window, he felt sorry for me. I am not sure why because this Jags team is fun to watch! What Liam Coen and the gang have going with this quarterback and set of receivers is very impressive.
Parker Washington continues to make waves and has to now be considered a legitimate WR1. On a team with two first-round WR picks, that is no mean feat. The four-play run that ultimately ended in his TD was a standout example of just how important he is to Lawrence right now.
There can’t be many teams that get to a winning record after three weeks who could legitimately say they have played awful football as often as scintillating football. After 3 weeks the Broncos hold this honour, arguably playing more poor football than good. A dismal week one was followed by slow starts against both the Jags and Rams.
They must really like getting an absolute rocket from Sean Payton at halftime because their second-half performances in both of the last two weeks have been fantastic. Bo Nix has been dealing, something he will need to continue as I don’t see much of an improvement in their running game any time soon. The way they dealt with the Rams in the second half is the reason that many still have them to come out of a loaded AFC to challenge in the Superbowl.
Oh god, I’m going to do it. I did not expect to include the Browns in a positive light at any point this season but the fact that they don’t look dead in the water should be acknowledged. The Defence is warming up nicely and this means that even when their offense is sputtering, having taken a step back from the Bucs’ performance, they have a shot. Kudos to Todd Monken and his staff, they have this team looking like they have some life.
Ok, enough of that. The final spot here could have gone a number of ways, but I cannot ignore the job the Commanders did against the Seahawks. And this was not a poor Seahawks performance either. They out-gained the Commanders and threw everything they had at them. Ultimately though, a depleted defensive backfield showed as the game progressed.
Marcus Mariota and the rest of the team still had to take the chances they had though. The whole team, to a man, looked locked in and it showed from the off. Terry McLaurin had one of those games that makes you wonder why he doesn’t do it more often, and rookie linebacker Kain Medrano had a perfect start to his NFL career, picking off Sam Darnold. A nod also to Sonny Styles who looks every bit the star the Commanders hoped they were taking at No. 7 in the Draft.
The Bad
Drake Maye. What can I really say? He has had a torrid start to the season and whilst I still have no concerns about his ability, or that he will have a long career, he is coming down to earth with a bang. You just know it isn’t your day when your center bleeds on the ball before a snap, leading directly to a ridiculous-looking fumble.
Mike Vrabel needs to do something quickly to address the lack of offense. I am not certain that there is actually much he can do, and no, I don’t think A.J. Brown is going to be the answer either. Maye needs to get back some of the fearlessness he played with last year. Those tight window throws won’t throw themselves.
The vibes in Houston are not good right now. The Texans going 0-3 is a disaster and not one that is going to be easy for them to dig out of. The complete lack of a running game is hamstringing this team so badly. Yes, they are missing their two top receivers, but that coupled with no threat on the ground exacerbates the whole issue exponentially.
Having the best (?) Defence in the league is all well and good, and they have played well for the most part to this point. They can’t win games alone though, whatever pundits were saying pre-season. If this team is going to turn this around then the Texans’ coaching staff need to work out how to accommodate what still looks like a poor offensive line, and try to find something to kick-start the run game.
I feel as if the Chargers are going to reside in this section, if it becomes a section, rather a lot this year. Their offense is turgid, Herbert is making mistakes and there is a sense of panic already emanating from the team. When your defence forces five turnovers, you should have the game in the bag. Since 2013, teams with five or more turnovers and a turnover margin of -4 or worse were 2-81-1 coming into this game. My favourite part of that stat? The losing team on both previous occasions was…the Chargers. Make that all three now. Gross.
Cam Ward may well see the end of his career sooner rather than later if he cannot turn things round quickly in Tennessee. The Titans were abject on offense, only a week after showing signs of life against the Eagles. I have to believe that if his coaches ever see him nonchalantly walking around behind his offensive line before throwing a half-hearted pass again he will be torn a new one. They were sloppy and they did very little to deserve anything from the game against an injured Giants team that at least showed some spirit.
Individuals Who Caught My Eye
Amarius Mims is a big boy. At 6’8” and 350 pounds, he really shouldn’t have the juice to chase down a running back, although he did run a 5.07 40 at the combine. He did exactly that mid-way through the second quarter of the Bengals’ game against the Steelers and it was the first point in the day I let out an exclamation. Watching him thunder after Jaylen Warren was more than a little impressive.
Having come into the league raw, with only 8 starts in college (whilst appearing in 29 games), he was a high-upside gamble that looks as if it is properly paying off now. Joe Burrow must be happy about that as Orlando Brown Jr. on the other side is struggling.
The Dolphins are not going to win many games, I think we all know that. That said though, there is potential in there. I turned on the Chiefs v Dolphins for some of the first half, perhaps because we all like to watch a good team dunk on a bad one at times, but that was not what I saw. There is clearly a gap in quality, but I am not sure it is quite the gulf that I expected.
In Chris Bell and Caleb Douglas the Dolphins have a couple of exciting young receivers who have both flashed over the early portion of the season. Against the Chiefs Bell took a crosser inside his own half and proceeded to outpace the Chiefs Defence for a huge gain. Being able to flip a field like that was not on my bingo card for the Dolphins this year and it is nice to see they have some horses.
Rookie defensive backs are making some noise! Notably this week (and last in Masses’ case) Genesis Smith (Chargers) and Hezekiah Masses (Raiders) were the standouts. Whilst the Chargers ultimately found a way to lose a game in which they won the turnover battle 5-1, Smith did all he could to hold them in the game. Consecutive interceptions of Josh Allen had the Bills wobbling early on in a game that they just didn’t look right in. The second interception, whilst going to the turf, was extremely impressive.
Masses announced himself last week with two interceptions of Justin Herbert, following it up again this week just puts the exclamation mark on the fact that he has arrived. As part of the Raiders’ fourth-quarter turnaround against the Saints, Masses made sure that the door remained closed on any possible Saints comeback. I am even willing to forgive the fumble on his interception return, ultimately no harm done.
Takeaways
Week 3 has me feeling like the NFL is truly back now. I can’t help but feel that the first two weeks are effectively a pre-season for many starters who don’t see the field prior to the season. There is a definite sense that those players are now getting up to true regular season level and I am here for all of it!
The first big news of Week 4? The Giants have a new leader. My heart goes out to them that it is JJ McCarthy but that was where they landed. The Vikings committed daylight robbery by getting anything for McCarthy so hats off to them. He is New York’s problem now.
Look at that! I managed not to focus wholly on the Ravens, despite wanting to. Perhaps I will give them their own article at some point, perhaps I won’t. I remain determined not to make this overly Ravens-centric but the last word for today? Good fucking God Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers deserve statues after those final 7 seconds! See you on Sunday.
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