We're through the first three weeks of the NFL season and things are taking shape quickly. New England, Cincinnati, Denver, Green Bay, Carolina, Atlanta and Arizona have all managed to maintain their perfect records. Meanwhile the Saints, Bears, Lions and Ravens can't buy a win at the moment. If you think its tough not having a win in the league right now, try being the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sure they beat the Rams, 12-6, but they finished the game without Ben Roethlisberger, who joins the already growing list of star players this year who got hurt and are going to miss playing time due to a knee injury. San Francisco can't catch a break, as they've looked pretty bad the last two weeks. Miami got blown out by the Bills. Green Bay dominated the Chiefs, and it was nowhere near as close as that score indicated. So lets take a look at some of the best and worst performances from week three of the NFL Season.
Best:
Aaron Rodgers, Quarterback Green Bay Packers
Its no surprise that this guy is a good Quarterback. He is after all the reigning MVP of the entire league. Monday Night against Kansas City, he showed why. In their 38-28 win over the Chiefs, Rodgers went 24 of 35 for 333 yards and five touchdowns. He did indeed toss five TD passes against a team that was considered to be one of the top defensive teams in all the league. Now Rodgers has thrown ten touchdowns this year without throwing a pick. To make this seem even more impressive, consider this. Since the start of the 2011 campaign, he has 144 touchdowns compared to 25 interceptions. Talk about insane numbers.
Worst:
Josh McCown Quarterback Cleveland Browns
Things haven't gone well for McCown under center in Cleveland this season. The Browns are 1-2 on the year, both of the losses have come with McCown under center, the latest one being a 27-20 loss to the Raiders. McCown, who was sacked five times, completed 28 of 49 passes for 341 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The pick turned out to be a killer for the Browns, as at the end of the game he had a chance to throw a game winning TD, but instead he missed Travis Benjamin and got picked off by veteran cornerback Charles Woodsen. Things really don't look good for McCown in Cleveland. You know things are bad when the fans started cheering for Johnny Manzel during the game.
Best:
Alfred Blue, Running Back Houston Texans
When Arian Foster went down with injury, the Texans were kind of left wondering what they were going to do at running back till Foster came back. In week three, they have found their answer. Over the first two games of the season, Blue had just 48 yards on 14 carries, both of which were Texans losses. Blue came back with a bang in the third game,s a 19-9 win over the Bucs. Blue gouged Tampa Bay for 139 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. He had the fans screaming his name by the end of the football game. Sure, Arian Foster is set to return within the next couple of weeks, but Blue cemented his spot as at least a solid backup for the Texans. He has the ball for now and, if he can keep the momentum going from game three, its his job to lose
Worst:
Brandon Marshall, Wide Receiver New York Jets
I know its weird reading this name on this list but let me explain. He had himself a good game, catching ten passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. It's the one mistake he made that would even remotely put him here on the list. With about 4:45 left in the first half of the Jets loss to the Eagles, Brandon Marshall caught a pass that would have given the Jets a first down. Instead, in trying to make a play to get the team back in the game (they were down 17-0 at the time) he tried to lateral the ball back to Jeff Cumberland, the ball hit off an Eagles players bounced free and was picked up by Philly. He made up for this mistake by still having a good game, but one play like this can be a little hard to overlook. He even said it was the worst play made in league history.
Best:
A.J Green, Wide Receiver Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati is the best team in the AFC North at the moment, and this guy is one of the big reasons why. Look no further than the week three performance in the 28-24 win over the Ravens. Green finished with 10 catches for 227 yards, the most of any receiver in the league this week, and a pair of touchdowns. Take this into consideration will you. Green seems to have found a renewed connection with an improved Andy Dalton in Cincinnati. And considering the Bengals' top-notch skill-position group, it's going to be extremely hard for opposing teams to completely zone in on Green moving forward this season.
Worst:
Chicago Bears
Lets face up, this team is going to be a bad one this year. The only thing that is a positive for the Bears this season is their punter Pat O'Donnell. He had to punt a total of ten times in the 26-0 loss to Seattle on Sunday. And he had 384 yards, which is a huge day. Nobody can say O’Donnell didn’t earn his money. It can be said nobody on the Bears’ offense earned their paychecks, considering they were shut out and had 146 yards. You know its a sad sad day when the punter has more yards than the entire offense. Oh did I mention that this was the first time the Bears were shut out since 2002.
Best:
Chuck Pigano, Head Coach Indianapolis Colts
It had been a rough start to the year for Indy, who were a playoff team a season ago. They started this year off 0-2 and were ever so close to going 0-3 Sunday against the Titans. Indy walked away with a 35-33 win, which may have saved the job of coach Chuck Pigano. A lot of the players do really like playing for the guy, never giving up against the Titans and coming away with the victory. You just have to feel for the guy, with all the stuff going on around him. Think about what's happened with the Colts, they were a playoff team a season ago, one step away from a Super Bowl. Then they start this year 0-2 and the coach take shots at the team for whats gone down since then. Now they got a win and all seems right.
Worst:
Joe Philbin, Head Coach Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins' boss is in big trouble. Miami is off to a 1-2 start with a loss to Jacksonville and a 27-point rout at the hands of Buffalo in the Dolphins' home opener. With the signing of Ndamukong Suh, this was supposed to be the year Miami made a push in the AFC East. Instead, the Dolphins are in last place and Philbin looks like his first stint as a head coach will be done shortly if things don't turn around in a hurry. He can't seem to get things figured out. There were high expectations for the Fins but Philbin may not last long if things don't turn around in Miami.
Best:
Arizona Cardinals
There is no team that has really dominated through the first three weeks of the season like the Arizona Cardinals. Look what happened in week three. They BLASTED the 49ers by a 47-7 score. They woulkd have had a shutout had it not been for a Colin Kaepernick rushing touchdown. As it stands, the Cardinals have scored a total of 126 points over the course of three games. Carson Palmer has passed for 803 yards, nine touchdowns and only has two interceptions.
Larry Fitzgerald looks like he’s in his twenties again, as he already has 333 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Additionally, the Cardinals’ ground game is solid, despite missing their lead rusher Andre Ellington. As for their defense, it is insanely effective in stopping opposing teams from scoring thus far tallying seven interceptions, six sacks, one safety, three pick sixes and one return touchdown.
Worst:
St. Louis Rams Turf
A little strange to be reading an inanimate object on this list but its worth putting here after what happened for the Rams. It was inside the Edward James Dome, as the Rams were getting set up for the home opener, that the turf caught fire. Yes you read that right. A pregame pyrotechnic show caught a spot near the end zone on fire and delayed Sunday's game 30 minutes. yeah its making things a lot easier for the team to possibly consider moving to LA, a move that has been rumored for quite a while now. The play on the field will determine that in the end, but a stunt like this makes it harder for wanting to keep the team around.
History Books:
Tom Brady: Threw his 400th career TD pass, finding Danny Amendola over the middle for the score. With the pass, Brady joins Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Dan Marino as the only guys to throw 400 or more in a career.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
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