Monday Download (Week 3)

This week we saw two first round QB's make their debut, some teams proved their 2-0 records might be flukes, while others, their 0-2 records are probably indicative of things to come. Oh yeah and the Super Bowl rematch proved to be a better game than the actual Super Bowl; same result (Seahawks win), but way more action on both sides.

Thursday we found out that the Falcons can truly score in bunches and the Bucs can't defend at all. Good news for Atlanta, they scored 56 without Roddy White; bad news for TB, where do we start?

Who says San Diego can't win when flying cross-country? Chargers are pretty good and the Bills might not be as good as their 2-1 record. Buffalo may have some trouble scoring in their division against pretty good Jets & Patriots defenses.

Can Sanu to Dalton be the new Dalton to Green connection for the Bengals? Sure, if Cincinnati doesn't end up trading Sanu to any number of teams that could really use a QB. After a strong week 1, the Titans look to be at the cellar of a very poor division.

Steve Smith has been rejuvenated in Baltimore. He helped the Ravens storm down the field before Justin Tucker kicked the game wining FG over the Browns. For Cleveland, they just need to get used to having a lead and keeping it.

The Packers are really disappointing, particularly on offense. Any team with Rodgers, Lacy, Cobb & Nelson should be able to put points on the board - 7 won't cut it. On defense, the Lions played well, they just need to learn celebrate after the game.

We finally got to see Blake Bortles for the Jags. Much to Chad Henne's dismay, we'll probably see a lot more of him. The Colts finally played the way we expect them to, with Andrew Luck having a career day. If they play like that, they should be able to take the division.

On Sunday, Stephen Gostkowski + Tom Brady just barely beat Sebastain Janikowski. Oh, Patriots actually played the Raiders? Well New England won in less than overwhelming fashion while Oakland lost again. I think both teams are likely to screw up someone's suicide pool in the coming weeks.


Is it bad that holding the Saints to 20 points feels like a win to me? The Vikings probably don't see it that way, but do have some cause for optimism as Teddy Bridgewater played pretty well in his debut, filling in for the injured Matt Cassel. Give him a full week of first team reps and I like their chances. New Orleans just needs to remain consistent on defense to win games.

The Giants finally looked good in a game and the Texans did not. Probably my favorite part was watching Tom Couglin look so animated after the Antrel Rolle interception. Houston looked a bit flat, particularly on offense, but it could have just been the New York defense finally stepping it up a notch.

DeSean Jackson's return to Philadelphia was filled with lots of scoring and punches thrown. It was ugly. The Eagles pulled out the win over Washington, but more and more, Kirk Cousins is looking like the QB of the future for them.

Dallas is 2-1 thanks to their offense and a fairly weak schedule thus far. St. Louis can't beat anyone, so they decided to beat each other up instead.

The 49ers answered my question. Their defense has been less than stellar all year and their usually well-balanced offense is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have quietly gone to 3-0, mostly without starter Carson Palmer. Things are looking good in Arizona.

The Dolphins couldn't muster much of an offense against a Chiefs team with significant injuries on Kansas City had some great contributions from RB's Knile Davis & Joe McKnight, serving more as a receiving back.
the defensive end.

The Broncos took the Seahawks to the limit, losing on a final TD by Marshawn Lynch in OT. Seattle learned that regardless of the crowd, giving Peyton Manning enough time to run the "2:00 Minute Drill" will almost always come back to haunt you. In this instance, Seattle's stamina outlasted Denver. I wouldn't be surprised to seem them playing again soon though.

The Steelers and Panthers both went old-school Sunday night; the former playing smash-mouth running football while the latter looked like an expansion team. The "Cheech & Chong" duo of Le'Veon Bell & LeGarrette Blount combined for nearly 300 hundred yards rushing for Pittsburgh, while Carolina's defense may need to think about making some changes, now that they will likely be without Greg Hardy for the foreseeable future.