NFL Week 3 Takeaways
NFL Week 3 Takeaways
By: Andrew Ferguson
Another week in the NFL has completed, and once again, how many of your “sure fire” bets lost or how many games were “locks” in your mind? The NFL is literally the greatest reality TV show in this history of television and every week, something happens that nobody saw coming. If you were watching Redzone on Sunday, even Scott Hanson had a moment where you thought he was about to explode and fall out of his chair. Also, ask 100 men (Family Feud style) and see what they think the best invention of all time is. Real ones will pass up on the internet and the airplane and say Redzone. Well I will at least. There is no better way to watch the NFL than this single entity. I literally had someone offer me club level seats to a Broncos game last year a few hours before the game. I actually turned them down because I wanted to just watch all the games through Redzone and veg out on the couch on a Sunday afternoon. Might be an unpopular opinion but the older I get, the more lame I am.
But week 3 brought us plenty of drama and moments on TV that are truly unforgettable. So let’s get into what’s going on around the league after this week:
1) Who’s on the Hotseat for the Chargers?
Seriously, what’s going on with this team? I understand that you’re on the road against probably the best team in the NFL, but you had a double digit lead at one point then the wheels completely fell off… even the spare tire was seen on the side of the road. I already mentioned the tough schedule they have coming up so it’s about to get really ugly for the Chargers. Is Mike McDaniel’s offense that complicated, or is Justin Herbert just too focused on Madison Beer’s perfect physique to retain any new information. I get it bro. But to answer the question, I do think it’s Mike McDaniel. I know it’s early but you have an entire offseason to prepare and to be 0-3 at this point where a lot of people considered them favorites to win this division is a massive disappointment. Harbaugh isn’t really to blame here since it’s the offense that can’t get going. It’s also concerning to see Hampton not as involved as Keaton Mitchell was getting goal line carries and splitting with Hampton. This team needs to pound the rock and let Herbert be efficient instead of trying to get cute.
2) The NFC South is Even More Confusing than a Week Ago
I seriously don’t get what’s going on here. The Falcons went from the laughing stock of the league and in the conversation of the number one overall pick to tied for the lead in the division. How one week can change your entire outlook on a team and a season is just comical. Having your starting QB makes that much of a difference though, what a comeback (pause). Atlanta went into Green Bay Thursday night and absolutely molly whopped them. Matt LeFleur was thought to lose his job last year but Green Bay gave him an extension. I really think he’s on the hotseat now and could possibly be fired if they don’t make the playoffs this year. Then beyond that, every team in the NFC South lost. So now we have a 3 way tie between the Panthers, Saints and Falcons for a 1-2 record for the lead (the Panthers do own the tiebreaker against the Falcons). And if you think what’s going on in LA with the Chargers is bad, the Tampa Bay Bucs are now 0-3 as well and they just lost Baker for the next 3 weeks. This time, I do think Bowles is on the hotseat. This is a week-to-week division and there’s no telling what’s coming next. What kind of Falcons team are we going to get and what do we get out of Penix over a full season? The Falcons will also get their best pass rusher back after week 8 so that’s going to be a huge upgrade for the team. What are the Saints? They’re beating the Ravens on the road but losing to the Raiders at home? Who knows what we’ll get from them and the injuries continue to pile up on offense for them. Same with the Panthers, they have a few injuries on offense as well and just lost to the Browns. It’s crazy to say, but the Falcons may have a chance to win this division.
3) Brock Purdy is an MVP Candidate
Brock is currently playing out of his mind and has his 49ers sitting at a 3-0 record. He has one less total touchdown than only Josh Allen. Honestly, this segment could also be about Kirk Cousins because he only has one less TD than Purdy and his Raiders are sitting at 3-0 as well. But let’s be real here. Purdy has the better chance of sustaining this run. It doesn’t seem to matter which of his offensive weapons are hurt or who’s on the field at the time, Kyle Shannahan’s system gives his QB plenty of reads and options to put up numbers. Denver and Seattle over the next two weeks should be more of a test but so far, I like what I’m seeing and if it weren’t for Josh Allen playing out of his mind to start the year, Purdy would be leading the way in the MVP vote early.
4) What are the Broncos?
The Broncos are like Batman. Bruce Wayne during the day. But they’re like the dumb kid version of Bruce Wayne when he jumps into a fountain with two super models in a hotel. But that’s exactly what he wants you to think he is. Because when they’re down double digits or multiple possessions, the mask comes on and they turn into a superhero team. The first half always seems to look ugly on both sides of the ball. The defense can’t stop anyone and their tackling is just atrocious, they can’t get the run game going with anybody and Bo Nix makes awful decisions. However the Batman version of this team (2nd half), they seem to be able to come up with big plays on defense and the offense does just enough to play catch up and come through. I have a hard time putting them in my top 5 power rankings until I see a little more consistency in the play calling on offense. I’m not a Bo-Leiver, Sean Payton isn’t calling the plays so I’m a little confused with this team right now. If they can figure out the offense and the defense gets back to form from last year, I think this team is a wild card team behind the Chiefs.
5) The Bills Should be Everyone’s #1 Team in the Power Rankings
Josh Allen is on the verge of getting good coaches fired and breaking people’s hearts early in the season. Before the season started, looking at the Bills schedule, they had the Texans on the road, then 2 games at home against the Lions and Chargers. All 3 playoff teams to a lot of people going into this season. Well the Bills answered with a 3-0 record and a lot of questions for the other teams with maybe a few tears sitting at 0-3. The Bills schedule doesn’t get any easier moving forward, but it seems to not matter. Josh Allen is determined to get that Super Bowl and I just don’t see him not getting one in his career. This is the year. Calling it now.
6) Is the AFC North the Most Fun Division this Year?
Over the last few years, we’ve dealt with a lot of injuries to star players in this division. Mainly the QBs with Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and even DeShaun Watson. It allowed old man Rodgers win the division and host a playoff game. Now we have everyone healthy and every team (including the Browns) is 2-1. The Bengals and Steelers just beat up on each other so we’re in for a treat this year with this division. The Browns have beaten the Panthers and Bucs so they seem to be bullying the NFC South which is the worst division in football so we’ll see what happens when they start to play higher caliber teams. Can the Steelers surprise everyone again and does Rodgers have one more season in him to get his team to the playoffs? This offense is so bland but here we are. Anything can happen. I still like the Ravens to win this division. I still don’t have confidence in the Bengals defense and Burrow hasn’t been lighting it up quite yet. If he gets rolling, maybe we’ll have another conversation but the Ravens look like the more complete team right now with better QB play. This is going to be fun all season with these 4 teams.
7) What’s Wrong with Drake Maye?
Seriously? What’s wrong with him? My 8 year old nephew’s starting QB in pee wee football has more touchdowns. Drake has one on the year to 7 turnovers. The Patriots don’t have to fully panic quite yet since they have a win under their belt and they have a little bit of an easier schedule ahead of them over the next few weeks. But you definitely want to see Drake heat up during that time. It’s obvious they’re missing a star player like AJ Brown and from the reports, he may not return until week 8 or so. Josh McDaniels is a veteran and needs to start helping out his young QB some more with a better gameplan. Everyone knows how easy the schedule was for the Patriots last year, and we’re seeing them face much tougher teams this year. I don’t know if this amount of regression was in anyone’s mind but it’s worse than we anticipated. Maye last year was the MVP runner up and in 2026, he’s already been benched.
8) Can Anyone Catch the Jaguars in the AFC South?
Trevor Lawrence doesn’t seem to think so. He’s taking knees on the 1 yard line with 9 minutes left in the game with a huge lead. Sorry to anyone that lost their fantasy matchup that way. He needs to be investigated for those types of shenanigans. The Jaguars are sitting pretty with a 2-1 record. The Colts and Texans just had an 0-2 matchup this past weekend that guaranteed one of them was going to be 0-3. And it turned out to be the team that I thought would be the bigger threat to the Jags. But with the Texans schedule ahead of them, it’s going to be hard to get out of an 0-3 hole. The Colts at 1-2 are proving to be a challenging team as it took overtime for the Chiefs to beat them. However, I see the Jaguars running away with this division and I don’t even need to mention the Titans being any sort of relevancy in this conversation.
9) The Lions Don’t Have a Defense
Going into this season, I thought the Lions had every opportunity to bounce back, get in the playoffs and even make a Super Bowl run. I think it’s still possible, but not with the way this defense is currently playing. They’ve allowed 95 points through 3 games. Now, one of those games was the Bills, but still, the other two opponents were the Jets and Saints. Teams are running all over this team and the offense is bailing them out. They’re sitting at a 2-1 record and this division looks to be tougher than people anticipated. The Vikings seem to be the real deal and the Bears 3rd string QB allowed them to not skip a beat under Ben Johnson’s big offensive brain. Must be nice to have a 3rd string QB do that (coming from a Falcons fan). But the Lions won’t have the privilege of missing out on Caleb being hurt so they better tighten up. The Lions schedule is extremely forgiving moving forward. They need to prove they can shut some opponents out if they want to be taken seriously.
10) Is it Time to Hit the Panic Meter with the Rams?
I still don’t think so entirely, but it’s on a level 4 out of 10. I am going to take them out of my top 5 in the Power Rankings. I already mentioned the Australia game was an anomaly in my opinion. But going into Denver is not an easy road game as well. Even though they did blow it. But they’re still missing Myles Garrett and Puka Nacua. Arguably their two best players. I’m not going to write them off yet because they do have a nice stretch of games coming up to get a string of wins going. They need to get through Philly and Buffalo over the next 2 weeks with at least one win in those games before I hit the panic button for them. However, even with one win between those games, they’ll be sitting at 2-3. Getting through the middle portion of their schedule is crucial because they end the year with some doozies as well.
