Week 3 is upon us, and in this last week before the bye weeks start we’re starting to see which teams are establishing themselves. There was quite a large amount of upset today as almost no undefeated teams remain after today’s action. There were 14 games today, so without further adieu let’s see what happened in this weeks NFL games.
Buffalo Bills 27 @ Minnesota Vikings 6
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Holy crap who saw that coming. The first final of the day sees one of the 9 remaining undefeated teams fall to a team labelled the worst team in the league. The upset was so unexpected that it’s already making national headlines. Though it would be a stretch to call it a rebound game for Josh Allen he did a good job at not making costly mistakes. Allen went 15/22 for 196 yards and 1 touchdown, he also ripped off 2 rushing touchdowns on the day. With LeSean McCoy out with an injury the running duties went to Chris Ivory who had 20 carries for 56 yards. Ivory would also take leading receiver duties having 3 catches for 70 yards. Though the Vikings lost Kirk Cousins still had a decent game going 40/55 for 296 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. There was no running game to speak of whatsoever as the leading back was Mike Boone with just 2 carries for 11 yards. Adam Thielen had a nice game hauling in 14 catches for 105 yards.
New York Giants 27 @ Houston Texans 22
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Holy smokes what a game for Eli Manning. Although the yards and touchdown count wasn’t outrageous he had almost no incompletions and tossed no interceptions. In fact both teams managed a very nice amount of yards in this oddly exciting game. Now how good was Manning exactly? Well he went a staggering 25/29 for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rookie sensation Saquon Barkley continued his great start getting 17 carries for 82 yards and 1 touchdown. Although he didn’t score a touchdown, Odel Beckham Jr had a solid outing catching 9 passes for 109 yards. The Texans offence was almost solely run by DeShaun Watson. He lead in both passing and rushing throwing for 24/40 and 385 yards, with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. His rushing totals were 5 carries for 36 yards. Watson’s favourite target was Will Fuller who caught 5 passes for 101 yards and 1 touchdown
Green Bay Packers 17 @ Washington Redskins 31
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Our second undefeated team to fall today was the Green Bay Packers who suffered their first loss at the hands of an Adrian Petersen lead Redskins offence. Everything just seemed to be clicking for Washington today as they very comfortably beat the Packers at home. There was no comeback today for Aaron Rodgers but he still had a good game going 27/44 for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns. Another Aaron lead in the running game for the Packers today as Aaron Jones had 6 carries for 42 yards. It’s a Packer rarity to see their leading receiver have only 2 catches, but Geronimo Allison made the most of his few touches getting 76 yards and 1 touchdown. On the other side of the ball was Alex Smith who put up decent numbers going 12/20 for 220 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. The real star of the show however was Adrian Petersen who had 19 carries for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. Funny enough the Redskins leading receiver also had only 2 catches but Vernon Davis managed to rack up 70 yards on his few touches.
San Francisco 49ers 27 @ Kansas City Chiefs 38
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Is there a better offence in the NFL than the Kansas City Chiefs right now? After 3 weeks it’s not looking that way as all the Chief seem to do is rack up points, and their rookie phenom means they’re not missing Alex Smith at all. That being said the 49ers had a solid game as well, Jimmy Garoppalo being the forefront of that offence. He went 20/30 for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns. The bad news for Garoppolo however was he suffered a knee injury late in the 4th and was carted off. Matt Breida continued his great start to the year racking up 90 yards on just 10 carries. George Kittle was the leading receiver getting 5 catches for 79 yards. Now on to rookie sensation Patrick Mahomes who went 24/38 for 314 yards and 3 touchdowns. Although Kareem Hunt didn’t get many yards with only 44 on 18 carries he did manage to find pay dirt 2 times. No surprise for the top weapon for Mahomes on the day was Travis Kelce who had 8 catches for 114 yards.
Oakland Raiders 20 @ Miami Dolphins 28
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If you were to predict which of these two teams were undefeated and which was winless you’d have likely switched the teams around. This was not one of the undefeated teams to lose today as the Dolphins were rolling at home. The story of the Raiders this season seems to be Derek Carr throwing more interceptions than touchdowns. This held true today as well as Carr went 27/39 for 345 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. “Beast Mode” Marshawn Lynch had a fairly good performance getting 61 yards and 1 touchdown on 19 carries. The Newcomer Jordy Nelson had a monster game racking up 173 yards and 1 touchdown on only 6 catches. It was all for nought though as Ryan Tannehill carried the Dolphins to victory leading in both passing and rushing. His passing numbers were 17/23 for 289 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the ground Tannehill carried the ball 3 times for 26 yards. Top receiver was a strange one as Albert Wilson had 2 catches for 74 yards and 1 touchdown. The strange bit comes in where Wilson also had a passing touchdown on the day.
Indianapolis Colts 16 @ Philadelphia Eagles 20
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Welcome back Carson Wentz. The Eagles finally got their primary quarterback back after he suffered an injury late last regular season against the Rams. What a way to return to the team as well as Wentz was able to string together a win against the Colts who always have the potential to be dangerous. The Colts were indeed close as Andrew Luck almost lead them to a comeback. Luck went 25/40 for 164 yards and 1 touchdown. He also managed to grab the lead on the ground game mustering a single carry for a nice 33 yard gain. The Colts leading receiver was T.Y. Hilton who caught 5 passes for 50 yards. Wentz had a decent return to action going 25/37 for 255 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Corey Clement had the majority of the running duties getting 56 yards on 16 carries. The biggest recipient on Wentz return was Dallas Goedert who had 7 catches for 76 yards and 1 touchdown.
Tennessee Titans 9 @ Jacksonville Jaguars 6
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Well there’s no other way to describe this game other than boring. I mean it’s almost not even worth talking about except for the fact that the Jaguars are no longer undefeated. I mean both teams had under 200 yards passing and no touchdowns were scored throughout the game. This wasn’t exactly a storybook return for Marcus Mariota who went 12/18 for only 100 yards. Derrick Henry didn’t have the greatest running game either managing just 57 yards on 18 carries. Corey Davis lead the Titans receivers with 34 yards on just 2 catches. Blake Bortles game wasn’t much better going 21/34 for 155 yards. T.J. Yelton actually had a good game picking up 44 yards on just 7 carries. Yelton was also the leading receiver with 6 catches for 46 yards.
Cincinnati Bengals 21 @ Carolina Panthers 31
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Yet another undefeated falls as this time it was the Bengals who were killed by interceptions and Christian McCaffery. A rare game where the winning team had more rushing yards than passing, which seemed to bode well for them as the Panthers had a 2 score lead in the victory. This was a game that Andy Dalton would like to forget as despite going 29/46 for 352 yards and 2 touchdowns, he also had a whopping 4 interceptions. There was a Bengals score on the ground as Giovani Bernard had 61 yards on 12 carries and 1 touchdown. Receiver Tyler Boyd had himself a game catching 6 for 132 yards and 1 touchdown. Cam Newton had a good enough game to win going 15/24 for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns. Now the Legend Christian McCaffery who had 28 carries for a staggering 184 yards! Devin Funchess took the lead in the receiver core getting 4 catches for 61 yards and 1 touchdown.
Denver Broncos 14 @ Baltimore Ravens 27
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If you thought we were done with undefeated teams losing then brace yourself as we had another in this match-up. This was a game dominated by the running backs as there was a combined 4 rushing touchdowns between the 2 teams. This wasn’t a good performance from Case Keenum as he went 22/34 for 192 yards and 1 interception. Royce Freeman took the lead in the ground game today getting 53 yards and 1 touchdown on 13 carries. Demaryius Thomas was the top Broncos receiver with 5 catches for 63 yards. Joe Flacco didn’t have to be lights out today but he didn’t make costly errors going 25/40 for 277 yards and 1 touchdown. Alex Collins was the most productive running back on the day getting 68 yards and 1 touchdown on 18 carries. Then John Brown took the reigns for the receivers with 5 catches for 86 yards.
New Orleans Saints 43 @ Atlanta Falcons 37
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Yet another offensive shootout between the Saints and another division rival. This time however the Saints came out the victor and both quarterbacks had 5 touchdowns each in this aerial assault. Drew Brees also managed to break the all-time NFL record in completed passes passing former Packer, Jet, and Viking quarterback Brett Favre. Brees in the game went 39/49 for 396 for 3 touchdowns, and 2 rushing touchdowns. Alvin Kamara carried the ball for 66 yards on 16 carries. Kamara did also have 15 catches for 124 yards on the day. The leading receiver for the Saints was Michael Thomas who had 10 catches for 129 yards. On the Falcons side Matt Ryan despite losing had a great game going 26/35 for 374 yards and 5 touchdowns! Tevin Coleman had a sub-par game just managing 33 yards on 15 carries. Calvin Ridley tore it up on the receiving game getting 7 catches for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns!
Los Angeles Chargers 23 @ Los Angeles Rams 35
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The Battle of Los Angeles finally re-occurs after the last one was the Rams vs the Raiders in 1995. The Rams lost that game, but they came out the victor in this contest remaining undefeated. Both offences racked up the yards however as the Chargers were showing the Rams defence was far from impregnable. The wily veteran Philip Rivers had a solid game going 18/30 for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns. Melvin Gordan had a very good game picking up 80 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Mike Williams was the recipient of both passing touchdowns from Rivers on the day. He also picked up 81 yards on his 4 catches. As good as the Chargers offence was the Rams were better, starting with the quarterback. Jared Goff had a very good game with a 29/36 for 354 yard performance racking up 3 touchdowns and 1 interception along the way. All-star running back Todd Gurley had a great game getting 23 carries for 105 yards and 1 touchdown. The Rams top receiver was Robert Woods who had 10 catches for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Chicago Bears 16 @ Arizona Cardinals 14
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Well that was a bit of a scare for the Bears. After both the Packers and Vikings lost today a Bears win would put them first in the division. It wasn’t as easy as it should have been against a Cardinals team that have up to this point only managed 6 points in 2 games. This wasn’t a big game for Mitch Trubisky who went 24/35 for 220 yards and 1 interception. The Bears touchdown came from Jordan Howard who along with the major also put up 61 yards on 24 carries. Trey Burton was the top receiver for the Bears getting 55 yards on 4 catches. This was not a great game for Sam Bradford despite the better numbers at 13/19 for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns, he also had 2 interceptions and 1 fumble. David Johnson didn’t remedy anything either managing just 31 yards on 12 carries. Christian Kirk was called upon with the injury to Larry Fitzgerald. Kirk had 7 catches for 90 yards, and amazingly enough had no touchdowns.
Dallas Cowboys 13 @ Seattle Seahawks 24
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Looks like there won’t be 2 winless teams in the NFC west after week 3 as the Seahawks are finally in the win column. This is a bit disastrous for the Cowboys who are the only team in their division to lose this week which puts them behind on an opportunity missed. This was a poor showing for Dak Preskott who went a poorly 19/34 for 168 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. It was however a good game for running back Ezekiel Elliott who racked up 127 yards on 16 carries. Geoff Swaim had the best night amongst Cowboy receivers getting 5 catches for 47 yards. This was a decent rebound game for Russel Wilson after the week 2 loss as he went 16/26 for 192 yards and 2 touchdowns. The man carrying the load for the Seahawks was Chris Carson who had a whopping 32carries, but also picked up 102 yards and 1 touchdown along the way. Tyler Locket was the top Seahawk receiver again getting 4 catches for 77 yards and 1 touchdown.
New England Patriots 10 @ Detroit Lions 26
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Is this the end? Have the Patriots finally been taken off the top of their podium? After tonight’s game against the Detroit Lions it would seem that’s the case. The Patriots are now stuck in a gridlock 3-way tie for last in their division with the Jets and Bills. In fact the Patriots offence was nothing short of inert starting with Tom Brady. Brady went a measly 14/26 for 133 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. There was no relief in the running game either as Sony Michel only managed 50 yards on 14 carries. Rob Grankowski was only able to haul in 4 catches for 51 yards in the loss. On the other side what a great time for the Lions to get a win. Matthew Stafford was the only quarterback in his division to get a victory today. His numbers were good going 27/36 for 262 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Running back Kerryon Johnson also had a great game getting 101 yards on 16 carries. Marvin Jones took the cake for the Lions Receivers with 69 yards and 1 touchdown on 4 catches.
So what do you guys think of this week 3 result in the NFL? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for the Monday Night recap between the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
