NFL: Five Week 3 Thoughts

What a week in football again! 3 weeks in you can start to see the formation of who's real and who's fake. Obviously a long way to go in the season but on this blog we overreact to small sample sizes and nobody can stop me. 

The Ravens are not Contenders

Ok this is the hater in me talking and I know it. Even in a win though, the Ravens did not look impressive. Watching this one at a bar in Pittsburgh after the Steelers game was a good time. As I was hoping for the Cowboys to come all the way back, a Cowboys fan came up to us and apologized prematurely for not getting it done claiming he's seen enough Cowboys games to know that they won't be finishing the comeback. Still though, exciting game and almost another embarrassment for the Ravens. The game featured this season's first recovered onside kick, something analysts say has a 5% chance of success under the new rules. 

End of the day, the Ravens had trouble holding on to another big lead going down the stretch. Derrick Henry looked menacing early turning out what looked to be a vintage performance, Lamar had another efficient game and the defense was steamrolling the Cowboys all the way until the 4th quarter. The Cowboys scored 19 unanswered points and came oh so close to a sweet sweet comeback. The Ravens are lucky to have escaped with this one, but if they keep playing like this January might be lacking purple and black.

I understand that this segment had basically no real analysis, I just wanted to take a moment to hate on the Ravens, one of my favorite pass times. Speaking of hating: 

The Bengals are in Trouble

I actually found myself defending Joe Burrow this week, something I never wanted to have to do. The Bengals are now sitting at 0-3 and a lot of the blame in the group chats I frequent was being placed on the QB. This is totally unfair, Joe had an awesome game going 29/38 for 324 yards and 3 TDs. This is enough to get it done in the grand majority of NFL games. The Bengals defense however, is atrocious. Credit where it's due, the Commanders have a good one with Jayden Daniels. I can't remember the last time the team in Washington had a legit QB, this is certainly something to be excited about. But the Bengals made his life so easy. The Commanders scored on 100% of their drives on Monday night. You can have the best offense in league history, but if your defense makes the opponent look just as good, you're asking for trouble. 

The Bengals have quite the hole to dig out of sitting at 0-3 now. They should have a decently "easy" opponent in week 4 facing the Panthers, but with a defense as bad as theirs, nothing is guaranteed. I find it to be truly a shame that they seem to be wasting what's looking like an awesome season so far from Joe Burrow. As he has in my circles, he's going to continue to get a lot of undeserved hate if the Bengals keep on losing. 

Josh Allen is QB1

I get it, nobody is going to dethrone Mahomes officially in the regular season after the way the last 2 playoffs went down. If anyone has a chance to though, it's Josh Allen. Coming into the year this season was thought to be a down year for the Bills. They lost star receiver Stephon Diggs and returned only 1 WR who had previously caught a pass from Allen in his career. None of this actually matters when you have truly elite talent at the top position. Allen has proven now through 3 weeks that if he's not the best QB in the league he's a very close second. His arm talent was on full display throwing for 4 TDs and spreading the ball around to 10 different receivers on Monday night. Allen also chipped in with 44 rushing yards to lead the team on the ground. This is a superstar we're witnessing. I hope like crazy that the Bills can win a Superbowl this year to get that final monkey off his back. The defense has been playing well enough to keep them in any game and you can always count on Allen to make big plays throughout the game and down the stretch. 

Of all the 3-0 teams, this is the one I've found most impressive (other than my mighty Steelers of course). The Bills showdown against the Ravens on Sunday night in week 4 in what will be a big test for both teams. If Allen plays anywhere near the way he played against the Jags then I will have to have another Ravens hater column locked and loaded. Either way, should be a stellar matchup. 

Hide All You Want, The Vikings Will Find You

 What on earth is going on in Minnesota? I am so shocked that I have to write about them 2 weeks in a row because seriously, what is going on!? My pick at the start of the year to come out of the AFC was the Houston Texans, they just got embarrassed by what was thought to be one of the NFL's worst teams this year. Thought is a key word here because Minnesota is actually awesome apparently. The Vikings just played a more efficient game than the Texans, limiting turnovers and creating 2 takeaways to control the field position. Sam Darnold continues to play great football throwing 4 TDs on Sunday. For reference, my Steelers haven't had a passer throw for 4 TDs since Ben Roethlisberger in 2021. Even crazier, Darnold is now up to 8 TDs on the year, more than Kenny Pickett had in either of his 2 seasons with the Steelers. 

Everyone thought week 1 was a fluke, week 2 shocked the world even more, you'd think that by now we'd be used to it? The Vikings have a very good defense, are well coached and are getting a great season from Sam Darnold so far. Darnold has played his way into a big payday next season and rightfully so. This is officially my favorite team in the NFC and I hope they keep this up. 

Poor Bryce Young

I feel like Andy Dalton has been around forever. It's long been joked that he is the perfect depiction of an average NFL QB. He's never going to blow you away, also never going to lose you games. It made sense that the Panthers would enter the season with him as a veteran backup opting to start former first overall pick and hopeful future of the franchise Bryce Young. It has so far resulted in absolute disaster. Bryce was abysmal in the first 2 weeks, so much so that the Panthers opted to start 37 year old Dalton in week 3. Even more unfortunate for Bryce is that Dalton seemed to show that an average QB is all the Panthers needed to be respectable again. Nobody is winning any awards for beating the Raiders this year, but it should be noted that it's a feat the Ravens couldn't manage which to me makes this all even more hilarious. 

Bryce has lost his starting job. You can't go back to him now. If you're the Panthers you can only hope that some reps in practice increase his confidence to a point where he can be playable again. QB busts seem to happen more often than busts in any other sport, it has to be up there as the hardest position to play in North America. Bryce has a pedigree and will definitely get another shot at some point, but if you can't be as good as 37 year old Andy Dalton, you have to be kicking yourself. 

What a week once again! I get almost as much pleasure seeing my Steelers' division rivals suffer as I do seeing the Steelers win and I almost got a glorious trifecta of suffering. Here's hoping QB1 Josh Allen turns up again on the Ravens so we can be elated again next week!