Winners and Losers Week 3 of the NFL season

Apologies for the extremely late write up for this week. A combination of a rather severe disruption in schedule combined with wanting to do a couple other things led to this column being written far later than intended. As a result, the Bills-Dolphins game won’t be discussed here given what we’ve subsequently seen with Tua. Everything else is on the table however and like last week, we have 3 winners and 3 losers.

Winners: Cowboys, Jaguars, Ravens

Cowboys

A couple weeks in the NFL can be a lifetime and that’s outstandingly clear with the Cowboys. After week one, most (including myself) had this team dead and buried. They were incredibly inept on offence against Tampa even before the Prescott injury and while the defence looked solid, that too appeared to be more of an indictment on the Bucs injuries on offence than anything else. Two weeks later though and things have changed a little for America’s team. In week two, Dallas offensive co-ordinator Kellen Moore wrote up a gameplan that allowed backup QB Cooper Rush to play within himself. This resulted in few mistakes on offence and to Rush’s credit, he also made a couple of fine throws himself. That allowed this vaunted pass rush to do what it does best as it battered Joe Burrow to the tune of 6 sacks as Dallas walked away with a 3-point win in the dying seconds.

Speaking of last second victories, their opponents (NY Giants), had made a living off of close fought victories, winning their first two games by a combined 4 points. With Philly seemingly set to run away with the division, this game was critical in getting an early leg up for a wild card berth. Most pundits weren’t predicting a pretty game and rightly so as Dallas’s offence continued their trend of having solid drives stalled out by dumb penalties. On the first drive, it was a penalty by backup LG that forced a punt. On the second, it was a false start as well as a holding call that held resulted in 3 points despite 8 minutes of possession time in the first quarter. Fortunately for Dallas, the pass rush showed up once again despite Micah Parsons battling an illness as Daniel Jones was under fire in what seemed like every pass attempt. This would stay true for most of the game as Dallas would continue to make self-inflicted mistakes while Daniel Jones did everything in his power to carry the Giants offence and mitigate their disastrous offensive line. Ultimately, an impressive throw and catch from Rush to Lamb in the 4th quarter would put the game out of reach for the Giants and Rush would maintain his perfect 3-0 record as a starter. This was a critical win for the Cowboys who couldn’t have asked for a better start after Dak went down and if they are able to win this week, they may have Dak back just in time for the tough part of their schedule as they play the Rams, Eagles and Lions after playing the Commanders.

*Special mention has to go to Daniel Jones here just before we move on. It’s been noted already but he played quite a remarkable game despite the totally forgettable box score. He may have been sacked 5 times and never threw a TD but any QB less mobile than he would’ve been sacked 10 times under that horrendous Giants line. He also picked up so many positive plays with legs while escaping the pocket. Box scores aren’t everything and that’s no truer here as it appears to be getting clearer that the Giants front office is a far bigger problem than Jones himself who continues to improve year after year despite having little in the way of help.

Jaguars

How bout them Jaguars. Entering the season, their estimated win total was 6.5. Through 3 weeks, they’re 2-1 and have completely dominated their past two games. Before giving the Jaguars a heaping of praise, let’s first cover the sceptical route. It’s hard to ignore the week one loss to the commanders given what we’ve seen from them as of late. But it’s easy to forgive week one losses given that we only have 3 preseason games now as well as a week off between the third preseason game and the first regular season game. Likewise in week two, they dominated a Colts team that’s far from a proven contender (especially with Darius/Shaq Leonard out to injury). Sure it was a shutout but there was an argument to be made this was a result of Indy’s incompetency rather than the Jaguars superiority. That’s why the game against the Chargers was so reaffirming to making the case that Jacksonville is real up and coming contender on the rise. Of course, it’s easy to point out the injuries to the Chargers entering that game (as well as those sustained during it) are the reason the Jags won that game so convincingly. Losing Joey Bosa and Rashawn Slater are major blows to a team that was already struggling with Herbert’s busted ribs (as well as missing Keenan Allen and JC Jackson). Contributing the entire victory due to opposing injuries however is disingenuous and quite simply, wrong. Once again, it was a balanced attack that paved the way for the Jags to carve up the Chargers defence as James Robinson continues his bid for comeback player of the year while everyone’s favourite offseason overpay, Christian Kirk, seems to be worth every cent. Likewise, Trevor Lawrence is thriving without Urban Meyer as he plays mistake free football, notching up a season stat line of 6 TD’s to 1 INT at a 69.4% clip. Rookies Devin Lloyd and Trevon Walker continue to make an impact with the former earning defensive rookie of the month honours this past week.

All these additions have led to the Jags being a formidable team as although they don’t feature much in the way of star power offensively or defensively, they’ve been a consistent squad which in the early going, is critical in grinding out early wins. The AFC South lacks any true contenders which leaves the Jags poised to win the division and attain their first playoff appearance since the Blake Bortles era. Somewhere in the Good Place, Jason Mendoza is smiling down upon this squad.

Ravens

This was initially meant to be the Dolphins in their win against the Bills but given the time of this piece and everything that’s occurred since with Tua, it seems appropriate to move away from that and instead look towards the Ravens. Consequently, there isn’t a lot to discuss with this Ravens squad. They took care of business against their on again off again rivals in that of the Patriots and did so convincingly despite having just an absurd number of injuries for yet another season. Through 3 weeks, things have gone quite nicely for the Ravens. Week one saw a comfortable, albeit boring win against the Jets before the absurd win then loss against the Dolphins last week and the comfortable win against the Pats. In a contract year, Lamar is doing everything possible to get a Mahomes esque deal along with some extra guaranteed cash. Combining his rushing and passing stats, he’s accumulated 12 TD’s, 2 INT’s and 1000 total yards while completing a respectable 63.6%. He’s achieved this whilst not having much in the way of help. You could argue the offensive line is solid though NE had him under duress in the only good defence he’s come up against. Likewise, you could point to Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman, Devin Duvernay and the return of Dobbins as signs he has some good weapons. But only Andrews is a reliable target whereas the rest of them possess big play potential but are far cry’s from the weapons others possess.

The real cause for celebration for Baltimore is their AFC contemporaries. Trubisky and the Steelers appear haunted by the ghost of Big Ben past as that anaemic offence from last year has carried over with Mitch at the helm. Likewise for the Bengals, that “improved” offensive line still appears to be a dumpster fire as they are incapable of performing any kind of blocking at all, be that in the run or pass game. Instead, the Ravens biggest rivals appear to be the Jacoby Brissett led Browns who’ve continued to grind out some ugly, ugly wins while they wait for Watson’s return. Discussing said disgraced QB isn’t something that’ll be touched on here though it’s hard to deny the upside of that team once he returns. That may be the only dangerous division opponent Baltimore faces however and they’re schedule gets noticeably easier after playing the Bills. Going 2-1 through the first 3 weeks and looking dominant throughout most of the 3 games is a sign that the Ravens could be well on their way to being AFC title contenders in a loaded AFC.

Losers: Losers: Saints, Niners, KC

Saints

Well, when your wrong, your wrong. Heading into the season, the Saints seemed poised to make a leap from last year as the Saints went all in on improving their team immediately via the draft. First round picks Chris Olave, and Trevor Penning seemed set to fix the offensive woes of a year ago while Michael Thomas would finally make his long-awaited return. But as much as things change, some things always stay the same. Penning was seen as a reach for the price they paid to acquire him and unfortunately, we haven’t even seem him play yet as he suffered a turf toe injury that has him sidelined until at least week 6. Michael Thomas meanwhile appeared to be back and fully healthy, catching 3 TD’s in his first two games but has since gotten injured again and will miss week 4’s game. Olave has been the lone bright spot for this team through 3 weeks as he appears to be every bit as good as his contemporaries in a loaded WR class. All of this is for nought however if you aren’t winning games.

Week one probably should have set off some alarm bells for Saints fans as it took a miraculous 4th quarter comeback to overcome their division rival Falcons. It wouldn’t improve in week 2 as although the defence showed dramatic improvement, the offence put up 10 points and the defence finally gassed out in the 4th quarter leading to a loss against Tampa. That brings us to week 3 where the Saints faced a Carolina squad on a 9 game skid dating back to last year. Through 3 quarters, Jaemis (battling a back injury) led the Saints offence to a tremendous and productive 0 points. They’d attempt a 4th quarter rally but two INT’s by Winston would snuff out any hopes of a comeback as the Saints fall to 1-2. While the Saints not being appearing to be SB contenders shouldn’t come as a total surprise, it’s the way in which they’ve lost their two games that places them firmly in the losers column for this week. The offence is averaging just 17 points per game, good for 22nd in the league and looks completely inept apart from some late 4th quarter salvage jobs. It's hard to picture it getting any better either. While Thomas and Penning will return from injury at some point, Winston’s back problem will likely linger the entire season and vaunted rushing attack of years past appears to be gone. Playing hero ball will get this Saints team killed but it’s hard to picture another effective form of attack as of right now. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for them either as their November- December stretch appears to be especially tough. If they aren’t able to eek out a winning record by the end of October, it may spell doom for a Saints team lacking in draft picks next year. It also may mean the end of Winston’s tenure in New Orleans though it’s hard to picture exactly who would take over given the aforementioned lack of draft picks. The season is far from over but for the Saints, last weeks loss to Carolina may be the beginning of the end for this squad.

Niners

It’s easy to point out and argue the Niners belonged on this list last week given the loss of Trey Lance who was poised to be their future at QB. But you can’t forget that they won that game handily after the injury with Jimmy G stepping in on-route to a 27-7 blowout of Seattle. Likewise for the Bears game, it’s worth throwing out game entirely given the monsoon type weather it was played in. The real test of what the future held for this Niners team with Jimmy G under centre was this past week against the Broncos as they were also a team struggling and underperforming per offseason expectations. Had the Niners blown out Denver, it wouldn’t be inconceivable to think that they’d return to the form they had last year with Jimmy at QB. Most of the roster returned from last season and while the Niners have been bitten by the injury bug yet again, this is something they’ve faced every year post SB run. Instead of a blow out however, it was an ugly, ugly scrap between two offences incapable of producing any meaningful yards through the air. Sloppy play ruled the day as Jimmy had a tipped pass for an INT whilst committing a fumble on a strip sack. Jeff Wilson would add another fumble that sealed the game and brought the turnover tally to 3 before the clock hit 0. It was an astoundingly awful game of football that the Niners seemed capable of winning entering the game. Instead, we’re left with only questions regarding the future of this Niners team. Jimmy was never set to be their long term option at QB after drafting Lance and that future was sealed after he was announced starter for the season. Jimmy only stayed on the team because no one was willing to trade for him at his current price and he wound up taking a pay cut just to play backup. Where the Niners go from here is anyone’s guess but they currently sit at a 1-2 record and haven’t even begun the difficult part of their schedule yet.

*One little note before we move on, in last week’s column, Russell Wilson’s poor performances was pointed out for all to see. That did not improve this week either and while Denver won the game, it wasn’t off the back of his play. Wilson submitted a paltry 20-33 for 184 yards, no TD’s or INT’s while getting sacked 4 times.

Chiefs

Saving the biggest loser of the week for last, it’s the Kansas City Chiefs who seemed incapable of scoring on a Colts team who was shutout by the Jags the week prior and drew to the winless Texans in the season opener. This was a bizarre game to witness as Mahomes continued his streak of throwing balls that should be intercepted and are somehow dropped, time after time after time. Right from the jump, everything went to hell for KC as they fumbled a punt that led to an Indy TD. It didn’t get much better from there either as their subsequent two drives went 3 and out before finally scoring a TD after a Matt Ryan fumble. Points off turnovers would be the theme for the entire game as KC’s second TD would come off another Ryan fumble giving the Chiefs a 14-7 lead at half. Far from ideal but we’ve seen the Chiefs struggle in first halves before, before going nuclear in the third to blow games wide open. That wasn’t the case here though as a baffling delay of game penalty forced KC to kick a FG on what should’ve been a 4th and two play. Instead, it was 4th and 7 and they walked away with just 3 points off an 8-minute drive. The 4th quarter wasn’t any better as KC would miss a FG (due to Butker being injured) before Mahomes finally had to pay the bill for throwing some ill-advised balls.

It's a head scratching loss for KC as they really appeared to dominate most of the game despite being incapable of rushing the ball at all. Mahomes had success through the air but critical mistakes by either Mahomes or Kelce killed drives and left them wanting for points. To Indy’s credit, they performed rather well, especially the defence. But given what we saw from them the first two weeks, it’s hard to say that Indy won this game as much as KC blew it. Their next couple games aren’t that much easier either as they play Tampa this week and have the Bills in week 6. Given the state of their division however, this is far from a back breaking loss as the offseason AFC West hype is evaporating by the minute. We also can’t forget that this team is 2-1 and beat the Chargers before they suffered their multitude of injuries. But we also haven’t seen an impressive performance from them these past two weeks. KC still need a Tyreek Hill replacement, that much is clear. The defence however does look significantly better, especially with Juan Thornhill at safety who’s been a monster and has helped picked up the slack from losing the Honey Badger.

Over the course of the season, the Chiefs will likely be fine. But games like these will make you wonder just how high this teams ceiling is. No team is perfect of course. Most quality teams seem incapable of closing out games at the moment and dominant offences will vanish for quarters at a time. If KC stumble over the next month though, the mistakes made to Indy will be the signs that we should’ve seen and taken notice of.

Once again, that’ll do it. Apologies again for this coming out so late. Work changed drastically this week which altered my ability to get this done earlier. I also had to shift the format a little from how it was last week regarding the quotes before the breakdown. While I do love that format, it’s not something that will likely be done every week simply because it’s not always easy finding the perfect quotes. Lastly, this piece was a little shorter than last week as a result of not being able to watch as many games as I normally would. That should change for future weeks but life always finds a way of interrupting things. For now, that’s it done from me, cheers.

Kurtis Wenban