What to Take Away from Week 3

It was a rough week for NFC teams.  The predicted tougher conference has looked terrible in the beginning of the season.  However, the past three NFC Championship winners combine for TWO wins total.  The Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins,  New England Patriots, and Denver Broncos all have more wins than those three teams combined.  Six teams still remain winless as we head into week four.

• The most shocking of those winless teams has to be the New York Giants.  The Giants is a team who has been known to work best when they are facing a must-win situation.  This game was definitely that.  Their next three games are against the Chiefs, Eagles, and Bears all within twelve days.  They looked absolutely pathetic allowing their franchise quarterback Eli Manning to be sacked seven times; six in the first quarter. In the first half they had amounted all of thirteen yards of offense.  It was one of the worst performances by a professional football team and it may show that this team has some bigger problems.  On the opposite side of the ball, the Carolina Panthers looked like a dominant team and probably saved head coach Ron Rivera’s job.  The Panthers’ defensive front got an enormous amount of pressure on Manning when they lined up in a four man front.

• The other New York team, the Jets, have been surprisingly good thus far.  The defensive front with Mo Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson has bodied offensive lines and gotten to the quarterback a lot.  Geno Smith is still learning, but has made some explosive plays.  For a team that was a complete joke just a year ago, they have made a lot of adjustments and have taken steps in the right direction.  They still need some more offensive weapons before they can compete in the playoffs, but they are not far off.

• The defending NFC Champions were embarrassed by the young Indianapolis team at home.  The Colts who acquired running back Trent Richardson last week, but Richardson was not the running back who had an explosive game.  While he did score his first touchdown as a member of the Colts, it was Ahmad Bradshaw who had a breakout game.  The once feared 49ers defense was overshadowed by the Colts defense who got to Colin Kaepernick three times.  He put up a QBR of 11.8, his lowest in any career start.  The 49ers have now had two offensively challenged games in a row after having a monster game Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.  The 49ers also appear to have lost All-Pro linebacker Aldon Smith as he is rumored to be entering rehab to deal with personal issues.  He was arrested last week on suspicion of DUI, but still played in yesterday’s game.

• The Steelers find themselves winless as well.  This team has gotten older and is not the same team it once was.  The offensive line has completely betrayed Big Ben letting him take multiple sacks every week thus far.  Their defense has not helped an offense that can no longer run the ball and no longer has explosive receivers.  Big Ben has been left to figure it out while getting hit on nearly every play that he keeps the ball.  Roethlisberger threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.   One of those interceptions by Major Wright was returned for a touchdown.  The Bears’ defense is still tough as ever despite losing middle linebacker Brian Urlacher.

• The Cincinnati Bengals are looking more and more like a contender as they beat the Green Bay Packers.  The team has so many weapons on offensive including AJ Green and BenJarvus Green-Ellis that it overshadows the mediocrity of quarterback Andy Dalton.  The Bengals’ defense has also been keeping them in games getting big stops when needed.  The defense picked off Aaron Rodgers twice and held him to 244 yards and one touchdown.  Corner back Terrence Newman recovered a fumble and took it 58 yards for a touchdown.  Rodgers was coming off a week where he threw for 480 yards against the Washington Redskins.  Both quarterbacks were sacked four times in the game.