Welcome to week three. Let’s start with the game on Thursday night, as the Cleveland Browns took on the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was an unusual matchup of quarterbacks with Mitchell Trubisky of the Steelers against Jacoby Brissett of the Browns. It was weird without Ben Roethlisberger at the helm for the Steelers. With the unbelievable debacle against the Jets fresh in their minds, the Browns tried mightily to avoid another one. Brissett did his part by throwing two touchdowns, taking the Browns to beat the Steelers 29-17.
In the Bears vs. Texans game, an interception thrown by Davis Mills to Roquon Smith set up a thirty-yard field goal by Cairo Santos as time expired. Khalil Herbert ran for a career-high 157 yards as Bears leading rusher and top back, David Montgomery, left the game early. The Bears won 23-20.
The Titans never trailed in their game against the Raiders, and kept their opponent winless with a 24-22 win. The Raiders had a chance to tie it in the final few minutes but a failed two-point try and ultimately lost the game. Derrick Henry had eighty-five yards rushing and a touchdown in the win.
Matt Ryan drove the Colts to their first win versus the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs 20-17. Jelani Woods caught two touchdowns for the Colts and Matt Ryan was 27/37 for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Mahomes was 20/35 for 262 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Juju Smith-Schuster led the Chiefs in receiving with five catches and 89 yards.
Next was a very exciting game between the Ravens and the Patriots. It was fun to watch Lamar Jackson rip the Patriot defense to shreds. He accounted for five touchdowns on the day, rushing for one and passing for four. It was surprising to see Bill Belichick allow Lamar Jackson to go off as he did, but I guess he’s just that talented. Ravens won 37-26.
The game of the weekend was the Miami Dolphins versus the seemingly unbeatable Buffalo Bills. The dreaded “butt punt” was an absolute miscue by the Dolphins, but they overcame it to get the win against Buffalo 21-19. Chase Edmonds had just 21 yards on eight carries but two touchdowns. Jaylen Waddle led the Dolphins in receiving with 102 yards on four catches. Dolphins 21 Bills 19.
There was also a great interdivisional matchup between the Eagles and Commanders. This was a game the Eagles dominated, ultimately winning 24-8. By the numbers they had nine sacks, eight tackles for a loss and one fumble recovered. But the numbers don’t really tell the whole story. Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz took on his former team, but was not comfortable, as he was under pressure all day. Jalen Hurts threw for 340 yards with three touchdowns. Devonta Smith caught eight balls for 169 yards and a touchdown. AJ Brown also went for five catches and 85 yards and a touchdown.
The Lions and Vikings matchup is typically a great NFC north grind it out, close game. This game was no different as the Vikings beat out the Lions 28-24 on K.J. Osborn’s last-minute TD. The Lions did a great job of taking away Justin Jefferson by blanketing him all day, sometimes double-teaming him. However, the Vikings were able to utilize other guys like Alexander Mattison and Adam Theilen.
The Rams owned the Cardinals with a 20-12 win. Cooper Kupp had a 20-yard rushing touchdown, the first of his career. Cam Akers also rushed for a touchdown to go along with 61 yards. The Rams really won this game on the defensive side of the ball, not surrendering a touchdown in receiving or rushing.
The Marcus Mariota-led Falcons beat the Seattle Seahawks 27-23. The falcons did a good job on defense, only giving up receiving touchdowns to D.K. Metcalf and tight end Will Dissly. There were no rushing touchdowns for Seattle, but two for Atlanta.
The Jaguars took down the ailing Chargers 38-10. The Chargers came into the game with hurting quarterback Justin Herbert and just couldn’t get it going. The Jags, meanwhile, had a 50-yard run from James Robinson to go along with touchdown catches from Zay Jones, Cristian Kirk and Marvin Jones junior.
The Monday night game had all the makings to be an NFC East classic, but the Giants didn’t put up much of a fight, and the Cowboys won 23-16.
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