Best & Worst NFL Week Three

Week three has come and gone in the National Football League and there's a lot of ups and downs around the league. The Bills, Steelers, Chiefs, Vikings and Seahawks all remain unbeaten. And at the other end the Titans, Jaguars and Bengals are all winless. Playing quarterback in the league has shifted value this week, as has the run game around the league. The Saints had a bit of a reality check, while the Niners are more of the walking wounded. Lets not waste anymore time and dive right into it. Here's some of the best and worst from week three.

Best: New York Giants (and Denver Broncos) Defense
Sacks were the word of the day on Sunday in a pair of upsets. First, there was Denver in a dominating 26-7 win over the Bucs in Tampa. Denver sacked Baker Mayfield seven times and held Tampa to 7 for 25 on third down. And the Giants, they did the exact same thing. They sacked DeSaun Watson six times in a Giants 21-15 upset win by Big Blue. They also held Houston to 7 of 25 on third downs. Yes the 1-2 records of both the Giants and Broncos are what we are after three weeks. What we saw on defense from both those teams last weekend shows signs of life that they may not lay down all season long.

Worst Houston Texans
There had been such high expectations for the Texans this year. Houston got off to a hot start, winning their first two games. Then it kind of came crashing down back to earth against Minnesota. The Vikings blasted the Texans to the tune of a 34-7 Minnesota victory. It was sloppy football for Houston. They took 11 penalties during the course of the game. The worse offenses came halfway through the second quarter. Houston was already down two scores and they had a 3rd and 4. Then they took four straight penalties that forced a punt. Every team makes mistakes during the course of a football game

Best: Green Bay Packers Pass Attack
Seems like no matter where Green Bay looks, they always find a good man under center. Farve, Rogers, Love, and now Malik Willis. Willis had a solid day in the Packers 30-14 win over Tennessee. He went 13 of 19 for 202 yards and a touchdown. Oh and lets not forget about the team leading 73 rush yards Willis had as well. He wasn't asked to do too much in the throwing game by Matt LaFleur, and when called upon to throw, he made what he needed to. Stepping in to replace Jordan Love is a bit of a task, but Willis did exactly what was expected and lead his team to victory.

Worst: San Francisco Injury Bug
Its early to be saying this, but things are not looking good in San Francisco right about now. After beating the Jets on opening night, the Niners have lost the two games since, including dropping one to the Rams 27-24 on Sunday. This marks the first time since Brock Purdy took over under center that the Niners are under .500. It also a big problem early for San Francisco that three of their biggest offensive weapons are out. No Christian McCaffery, George Kittle or Deebo Samuel. All three missed the rams game with injuries. That does a number on any team missing guys of that caliber. Having all three out on the same team isn't good for anybody.

Best: Justin Fields, Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
Look he hasn't put up the super explosive numbers under center, but over the first three weeks of the season, Justin Fields is earning his stripes. Yes, there had been projections for Russel Wilson to be QB1 in Pittsburgh, but the way Fields has been playing, that might not change. Look at the Steelers 20-10 win over the Chargers.  22 of 35 for 245 and a touchdown. Not numbers to set the world on fire, but more than enough to be able to get Pittsburgh a win. He hasn't set the world on fire, but Justin has done very well in protecting the football and really limiting his turnovers through three games.

Worst: Mike McDaniel, Head Coach Miami Dolphins
There had been a lot of promise and hope for the Dolphins being a playoff team, or at least a contending team this season. Miami now sits at 1-2 on the year following a blowout 24-3 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle. This week they went without Tua, who missed the game due to injury. Skyler Thompson and Tim Boyle didn't fair any better. Both got sacked six times and threw for a total of 140 yards. They went 1 for 11 on 3rd down, had 6 punts, three fumbles, took ten penalties. Very sloppy game. And who does a lot of this fall on? Head Coach Mike McDaniel. I know he isn't the one making the plays or taking the penalties,. But at the same time, with the players he had at his disposal, he wasn't able to get his team ready to go in Seattle. He better get things figured out fast before the wheels really start falling off.

Best: Ravens Run Game
Not that hard to figure this one out. Its already a well known fact that with Lamar Jackson under center, he's going to run a lot and run well. But they also have some guy named Derek Henry in their backfield. And on Sunday, in a 28--25 win over Dallas, that game was on full display. 25 carries for 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Henry. Lamar also had 14 carries for 87 yards and a score of his own. It helped get Baltimore off the slide and get them their first win of the season. And we've talked about this before how important the rushing attack is around the NFL. Baltimore is showing that with Henry and Jackson.

Worst: Dallas Cowboys Run Defense
As we talked about above, the Ravens dropped the Cowboys to 1-2 on the year. And as we talked about above, the Cowboys got run over. Dallas has given up 557 rush yards over the first three games. This was something that was supposed to be a strength of Jerry's ballclub, but now its biting them in the rear end early on. Sure, Dallas has a great pass rush and can get to the quarterback. But that's not going to matter if the opposition keeps running right over them.