What’s going on NFL fans? It has been an awesome three weeks
of football so far. We have seen a
lot through the first three weeks of the season a lot of touchdowns, a lot
of lop-sided wins, some big upsets, and a plethora of injuries that have taken
place. The NFL is now gearing up in
preparation for week four to kick off this upcoming Thursday night when we will
all watch the Dallas Cowboys take on the New York Giants in East Rutherford New
Jersey at 8:15 PM ET. Although there isn't a single team that has tremendously pulled away from the pack, three teams have
a zero in their win column. The AFC
South’s own Jacksonville Jaguars, their divisional rival Tennessee Titans, plus a
team with Super Bowl aspirations, the Cincinnati Bengals. However, this article is not about the winless teams, it
is about the teams who have made it through the first three weeks seemingly unscathed,
well at least from a record standpoint.
AFC UNDEFEATED TEAMS
BUFFALO BILLS 3-0
This Buffalo Bills team may not
surprise most having a 3-0 record after beating the likes of the struggling Jacksonville
Jaguars, The Miami Dolphins who lost Tua to his fourth concussion in the past five
years, and the lackluster Arizona Cardinals.
However, make no mistake about these Bills, they still have a Top-notch defense,
they still have one of the best Head Coaches in the league, and they still have
offensive weapons at their quarterback's disposal. The reasons why certain people thought that
they would take a step back this year, including myself, are preposterous. I mentioned that they still have a great
coach in Sean McDermott. Maybe we
doubters forgot that the Bills have a record of 76-41 ever since McDermott took
over as their HC or maybe we have lost faith in the great QB Josh Allen. It could also be because every time we look
at their offense, we don’t instantly recognize the players that Josh is
throwing the ball to. Whatever the case I
am here to put that nonsense to rest.
Buffalo came out swinging in week one and came back from a fourteen-point
deficit to beat the Cardinals 34-28.
Buffalo’s second game was a very different story as the Dolphins were
obliterated by the time the fourth quarter started and had to go to their
backup QB because of Tua’s injury.
Buffalo won 31-10. Then there was
last night's blowout victory against the Jaguars which ended in a 47-10
dismantling of Jacksonville. These Bills
are for real and if they have the MVP-like great Josh Allen at the helm they will
always have a chance. The young core of
players, especially their wideouts, will continue to gel with Allen and their
success will only grow. Having said
that, the Bills have no easy ride ahead as their next three weeks are as tough
as it gets for Buffalo. Next week the
Bills head to Baltimore to face Lamar Jackson and the Ravens on Sunday Night. Then they are off to Houston to face off against
the Texans. After those two difficult challenges,
they will meet up with the New York Jets in New Jersey to play Aaron Rodgers
and the Jets, which is never an easy task.
KANSAS
CITY CHIEFS 3-0
One could only assume this may not be surprising to most as well. Yes, this is the Chiefs, the current two-time consecutive Super Bowl Champs. They possess one of the best Head Coaches in NFL history, and they have a prodigy, who already is in the G.O.A.T discussions as one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, though he is not even thirty years old. This one does feel a little odd though if I’m being honest. The Chiefs are certainly one of the best-storied teams in recent history, but if you look at their undefeated start, you may scratch your head in pondering. They beat the Baltimore Ravens in week one, but if you watched the game there were certainly a few questionable calls and penalties by the referees. Even still the game came down to a heck of a play by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who found backup tight end Isaiah Likely in the back of the endzone. He was so far in the back of the endzone that it ultimately cost Baltimore the game as the front of Likely’s cleat (barely) went into the white line that outlines the out-of-bounds line that separates a touchdown from what could've been. Either way, Chiefs Kingdom enjoyed a second victory over the purple and black (27-20) for the second time in KC’s last three games (beat the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game).
Week two for KC was also controversial in
that they had some penalties go their way as they enjoyed another victory
at home over the Cincinnati Bengals 26-25.
The Chiefs' week three win came against the Atlanta Falcons 22-17 on the road in Atlanta. This game
was a very interesting one, it showed the Falcons growing their chemistry as a whole both offensively and defensively.
Mahomes threw what looked to be a game-changing pick early in the contest
to All-Pro safety Justin Simmons, (6th INT on Mahomes and 4th
straight game with an INT vs Mahomes) but it was still very early. Later in the game, there were a few missed
calls by the referees yet again, like when Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts was held
in the endzone on what should have been a pass interference call. This changed the whole trajectory of the game
as the outcome more than likely could’ve favored the Falcons. I’m not saying that Mahomes couldn't have led
his Chiefs back downfield for another score, as he has done numerous times in his
career, I’m just saying that the Falcons likely would’ve had seven
more points on that drive had the refs not missed the call. This was however a game-ender for KC’s
defense as it was a third-and-five from about six yards out with 4:12 left in
the game. The Falcons would then try on
fourth down but to no avail as Kirk Cousins's pass fell incomplete. Kansas City has gotten off to a fiery hot
start against three difficult opponents and next on the docket is a division
game against the Los Angeles Chargers who may or may not have their Pro Bowl
quarterback Justin Herbert. These Chiefs
have sustained a few injuries but when you have a QB like Mahomes nothing is
ever out of reach.
PITTSBURGH
STEELERS 3-0
Now this is certainly more of a surprising feat when you think of all the teams that could’ve been in this undefeated scenario to start the first three weeks of the season. Keep in mind that we have a long way to go before we can crown anyone a playoff team or a division winner. The Steelers may come as a surprise because coming into the season, just a few weeks ago, there was a lot of chatter that no one knew who would end up being the team’s starting quarterback. All that anyone had was speculation. The known was that Russell Wilson rarely turns the ball over which would obviously favor a hard-nosed defensive team such as Pittsburgh. The other known factor was that Russell’s play-it-safe approach could also have the Steeler’s offense looking the way they’ve been the last several seasons since Ben Roethlisberger retired.
When Denver decided to move on from Super Bowl Winning QB Russell Wilson it seemed to be because he limited the upside of the team's offense by playing it safe, instead of taking big shots downfield to his playmakers. The only real knock on their other newly signed quarterback, Justin Fields, was that he has turned the ball over a lot in the past and that could potentially put a lot of strain on the Steelers' defense. On the contrary, Justin Fields has looked pretty good through these first three weeks for Pittsburgh. He has fumbled the ball twice, but luckily for him, his teammates recovered both. Fields has also thrown an interception but as the Steelers are rolling on undefeated that doesn’t hold much weight currently.
In week one the Steelers took the show on the
road to Atlanta where they beat the Falcons 18-10. Then in week two Head Coach Mike Tomlin
elected to start Fields again because Russell Wilson wasn’t yet healthy enough
to play against his old team, the Denver Broncos. Again, for the second straight week, it wasn’t
a big difference on offense for the Steelers as they only scored 13 points, however,
that was more than enough to defeat the Broncos in Denver 13-6. With week three approaching critics were
still talking about a possible quarterback switch to the Pro Bowler Russell
Wilson because of Pittsburgh’s unimpressive offense that had only put up thirty-one total points after two games.
Russell still didn’t play as his injury was still bothering him, but no
fear here for Head Coach Mike Tomlin as he had his men ready for battle against
the 2-0 Los Angeles Chargers at home.
The Steelers put up their most points yet in week three and took down the
Chargers in the Steel City 20-10 as Justin Fields threw for 245 yards, 1 TD
& completed 25/32 passes, plus also rushed for another 6 yards and
another touchdown. The Steelers' defense is a game-recking unit, and
we still don’t know what to expect from the quarterback position for
this team, but Fields is seemingly getting better and better with each coming
week.
NFC UNDEFEATED TEAMS
MINNESOTA
VIKINGS 3-0
Minnesota, much like the Steelers could be surprising to some depending on your individual views of their starting quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnold was drafted by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft when he was selected third overall. Many thought that maybe he could change the fate of that franchise and give their fans something exciting to root for again after decades of poor play and a championship drought that now ranges over 55 long years. Instead, Darnold was not the answer and after being shipped off to the Carolina Panthers, where he spent two seasons, and then again finding a new team in San Fran for a season, he seems to have finally found a place he can call home. Though often scrutinized, quarterback Sam Darnold is a good player. Darnold’s career numbers don’t look great and when you are a young QB playing for a team that gets the publicity such as a place like New York it's hard to try and keep the outside noise from the NY media affecting you both on and off the field. That mixed with the fact that the Jets didn’t have great offensive line play and the best skilled positional players around him. Sam Darnold didn’t give up though, even after losing his starting role in Carolina to Baker Mayfield.
Sam came into this season competing with the rookie,
last year's National Championship-winning QB, J.J. McCarthy. Many believed that J.J. probably would’ve
been the starter come week one of the regular season. That was unfortunately not the case for
McCarthy after a freak injury that left him on IR for the entire season. For Darnold, it seems like maybe the right
time, the right place and he is undoubtedly taking advantage of this
opportunity to showcase his talents as a starter, even if this ends up being
his only season as a Viking. Through the
first three weeks of this season, Darnold has looked magnificent. His completion percentage is 67.9%, the best
of his career though it has only been three games. He has thrown for 657 yards and has a TD: INT
ratio of 8:2, with a passer rating of 117.3, also by far the best of his NFL
career. In week one the Vikings beat up a
bad New York Giants team at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey with a final score of
28-6. Then Darnold with their Head Coach
Kevin O’Connell had the Vikings prevail at home over last year’s NFC Champs,
the San Francisco 49ers, winning 23-17. Beating
the 49ers on any Sunday is very inspiring but for the Vikings’ fans watching their
QB Sam Darnold sling a 97-yard TD to superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson
out of their own endzone. Then the unthinkable happened in a week three
matchup between the Vikings and the Texans.
True NFL fans watched last year as the number two pick of the 2023 NFL
Draft had the best rookie season of all time from a QB in C.J. Stroud. Beating this Stroud-led Houston Texans team
is one thing, but the Minnesota Vikings did something that no other team has
done since Stroud became their starter. Minnesota
completely dismantled the DeMeco Ryan’s coached Houston Texans team in a win considering
no one outside of Minneapolis could’ve seen coming, 34-7 keeping the Vikings unbeaten.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
3-0
The Seattle Seahawks had a massive change in the offseason that left people wondering how this team would look for the future after parting ways with their previous Head Coach of the past 14 seasons. It is never easy to move on from a Head Coach of that caliber or length of time, especially one that brought the city a Lombardi trophy and had the team in two Super Bowl appearances. The known was that Seattle should certainly have a good-to-great defense with a masterful Defensive-minded Head Coach Mike Macdonald. The Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald to become their franchise's ninth Head Coach after how his defense performed last season. Macdonald was the Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator in 2023 and was named the Assistant Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America and I’ll tell you why. Baltimore’s defense was incredible with Mike as their DC, allowing just 16.5 points per game, (1st) they had 60 sacks, along with 31 takeaways (both 1st in the NFL). The Ravens also allowed the fewest touchdowns in the league (26) while finishing first in overall defense & first in pass defense. The only major category that Baltimore’s defense didn’t rank first in was their run defense, which finished 7th in the league.
So far through three
games Head Coach Macdonald has Seattle’s defense off to an awesome start, although
they’ve played three bottom-10 offenses to start. The Seahawks and their 13th
man currently rank third in pressure rate while only blitzing 19.2% of
the time, the seventh-lowest rate in the NFL. This defensive-minded genius has Seattle currently ranked as a top-five unit in sacks (11), and top-ten defense in sack rate (9.8%). The Seahawks have only allowed 248.7 yards
per game so far this season, which is the second-best in the league, while also
only allowing a total of 473 passing yards, which ranks third in the league. Seattle kicked the season off with a home
game playing host to the Denver Broncos and their rookie quarterback Bo Nix who
failed to throw a touchdown, and the Seahawks won 26-20. The following week Seattle took to the road
to play the New England Patriots and again came out victorious after a game-sealing
field goal in overtime that had them win 23-20.
This past weekend wasn’t as tough of a game as it could have been due to
the Miami Dolphins not having their franchise QB Tua Tagovailoa. Seattle steamrolled the Dolphins at home with
a final score of 24-3 to stay perfect. Even though these Seahawks are currently undefeated they will have their toughest
challenge this upcoming Monday Night when they go on the road to play the
gritty Detroit Lions and their dual running back attack in Detroit.
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