Five talking points from Week Three

Months (if not years) of planning goes into a mere 60 minutes in an attempt to win a game of football. But then, on very rare occasions, absolutely nothing can prepare either coaches or fans, for one guy kicking the ball as hard as he can into the arse of his teammate. Ah football, isn’t it beautiful.

All joking aside, as we entered week three we allowed ourselves as fans to think that we’ve figured a few things out by now. We think that teams will begin to find consistency in their play and that there will begin to be a noticeable difference between the contenders and the wannabes.

So far however, the only consistencies are that the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles will find a way, as they both sit pretty at 3-0, whereas the Las Vegas Raiders will not, as they languish as the only winless team at 0-3.

On Sunday, I saw a series of points that highlighted just why the parity of the NFL makes it so unpredictable from week to week. It went something like this from weeks one through to three:

• Vikings beat the Lions
• Lions beat the Commanders
• Commanders beat the Jaguars
• Jaguars beat and shut out the Colts
• Colts beat the Chiefs

What does all of this mean? I suppose the only thing that we can glean is that on any given Sunday, anyone can beat anyone and be prepared to expect the unexpected.

Here are our week three talking points:

Josh McDaniels on thin ice in the desert

Upon his arrival in Las Vegas, new Raiders coach, Josh McDaniels, stated that the team needed to learn how to win. It seems as though McDaniels forgot to take notes from Bill Belichick during his time in New England simply on how not to lose.

Between his time in Denver and his current posting with the Raiders, McDaniels’ record as a head coach is currently a losing 11-20. His teams lack balance and complementary play and for a man that is thought of as being one of the better offensive minds in the game, he doesn’t appear to be able to get his teams into the end zone enough. Quite simply, he looks out of his depth – much like he did in Denver.

The Raiders were considered by many to be a team trending in the right direction after making the playoffs last year. The addition of Devante Adams gave the team a true number one receiver, yet he’s on pace for his lowest ever yards total (1,071) since 2016.

Chandler Jones and Maxx Crosby were to form a fearsome pass rush duo and yet Jones has zero sacks thus far. Add to that a running game lacks punch and the backfield by committee approach only hinders any one player from establishing themselves as the chief threat. Two lines with more holes in them than a pack of polos, it’s no wonder this team looks like one thrown together the day before the game.

Team owner Mark Davis hired McDaniels to take his Las Vegas franchise to the next level. His next big decision is going to be, how much more of the season does he give Josh before he regrets his decision. What are the odds on McDaniels returning to New England as offensive coordinator by next spring I wonder?

Jaguars roaring atop the AFC South

Jaguars roaring atop AFC South

Last year’s ugly mess in Jacksonville under first, and most likely last time NFL head coach, Urban Meyer, feels like a distant memory. With six years of league experience as a play caller and another four as HC of the Eagles – during which time he won a Super Bowl – Doug Pederson’s arrival has righted the formerly sinking ship and given second year quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, the stability necessary to succeed.

Last week I mentioned how injuries might be the downfall of the L.A. Chargers after looking so impressive in week one, that was certainly the case today and, unfortunately for Justin Herbert and company, they continue to pile up.

Let’s not take anything away from the Jaguars here though. Lawrence has been on the road nine times so far in his short NFL career, and it would have been easy to see how that pressure could have hampered him on Sunday. In his last three games though, Lawrence has thrown just a single interception and has multiple scoring passes for the first time since entering the league.

Jacksonville’s tackle combo of Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor are also much improved and have certainly contributed to Lawrence’s upturn in play. Next Gen Stats recorded the quarterback as having the lowest time-to-throw of his career at 2.39 seconds (last year’s average was 2.87) and was efficient with passes under 2.5 seconds, completing 19 of 23 for 162 yards and a touchdown.

This is still a team halfway through the process of rebuilding, but some of the most important pieces appear to be in place and playing within a less than stellar AFC South gives the Jaguars a good chance at winning the division and heading into the playoffs. One last note – in beginning a career with nine road losses and finally winning at the tenth attempt, Lawrence is now in the same esteemed company as Payton Manning, who also got his first road win against the Chargers. Weird.

Fields poor play hampering Bears

I’ll keep this fairly short because I honestly think Justin Fields has been put into an awful situation with Chicago for the last two years, however he’s now not helping himself.

The Bears are a thin team at several positions – the offensive line invites too much pressure, the wide receiver room is the worst in the league and first year head coach, Matt Eberflus, is yet to make any kind of impression on this team. The strategy is definitely to run the ball and hope for defensive stops. That’s not going to fly for long.

The teams appears to be giving Fields very little chance to improve but, having had his worst game statistically against the Houston Texans – 8 for 17, 106 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs and 5 sacks – the 23 year old has to begin looking at his own play and hoping for the cavalry to arrive next offseason.

Eagles flying high over Washington

It’s difficult to know where to start because the Philadelphia Eagles looked so good across all phases against Washington, that the 24 – 8 scoreline does not do justice to the team’s dominant performance.

Playing against the former quarterback Caston Wantz, the Eagles defence were out to prove a point on Sunday and they did exactly that. With four sacks in the first quarter, this was never going to be a particularly warm homecoming for Wentz and his day continued to get worse.

The quarterback was sacked a total of nine times throughout the game, sustained 17 QB hits and was limited to only 153 passing yards. Ouch.

Conversely, his opposite number, Jalen Hurts, had something of a feast and threw his three touchdown passes from 22 of 35 completions, totaling 340 passing yards with zero interceptions. Had the team got off to a better start (they were scoreless in the first quarter) this game would have been an even bigger blowout and Hurts might have had close to a 500 passing yard day.

Chicago take note, this is what giving a quarterback legitimate talent at the wide receiver position can do for you. DeVonta Smith had a career high day 169 receiving yards from eight catches and a TD; A.J. Brown recorded five catches for 89 yards and a TD; and tight end Dallas Goedert was three for 26 and a TD.

Who needs a defined number one target man when you can have two?

Bills Mafia get burnt in Miami heat

Most teams will hate heading to Miami in September. The heat and humidity is trapped within the Hard Rock Stadium and it’s also uniquely designed so that the home team’s sideline is draped in shade, whilst the visitors spend all game in the direct sunshine. In the game of inches, you take any advantage you can get.

Praise should go mostly to the Dolphins defence, who limited Buffalo’s big plays and made key stops in the red zone that prevented the Bills from racking up a big lead as they have done in their opening two games.

Miami brought the blitz and had the Bills offensive line seeing stars and as such, they managed to register 20 QB pressures, 10 QB hits and four sacks on Josh Allen, who played 90 plays and over 40 minutes of possession. No wonder he looked exhausted.

Tua Tagovailoa and his Miami offence didn’t need to have a big day thanks to the work of their defensive unit. They only registered 212 yards against Buffalo’s 497, but the QB took advantage when it mattered, exploiting the Bills’ injury issues within their secondary and converting three from three in the red zone, whereas the Bills were two from four. 

This wasn’t the shootout many were expecting, but Miami won’t care as they move to the top of the AFC East and to 3-0 for the season. With the Bengals up next on a short week, providing Tua’s back injury is not as bad as feared, Miami then face off against the Jets, Vikings, Steelers, Lions, Bears, Browns and Texans.

There is a very real chance that the Dolphins could have nine wins before things begin to get more difficult in December.