On a day when the Detroit Lions finally shed their label as the NFL’s Biggest Loser, a stampede of teams — led by the shocking Denver Broncos — edged closer to the quarter-pole with perfect records.
Seven teams still haven’t lost. Some are the usual suspects. Indianapolis. The Giants. Baltimore. Minnesota. All made the playoffs last season, all were pretty much expected to come out fairly hot in 2009.
But the three that are perfect so far after missing the playoffs last year — Denver, New Orleans and the Jets — have passed the point where we should reserve judgment. They are good, no questions asked.
The Broncos are the most surprising. After an 8-8 2008 in which they crawled across the finish line, Denver went through the NFL’s most tumultuous offseason. Now, after Sunday’s 23-3 dismantling of the Raiders, they are 3-0 and looking down at the San Diego Chargers (2-1) in the AFC West. They’ve still allowed just one touchdown, that coming in their miracle, 12-7 win over Cincinnati.
Then there’s the Jets, who might as well hang an “Under New Management” sign out given the way coach Rex Ryan and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez have transformed the vibe about them in New York. They jumped all over a desperate Titans team Sunday, going up 14-0. Then, after blowing the lead, they unleashed another defensive frenzy in the second half and dropped Tennessee — 13-3 in 2008 — to an 0-3 start.
Finally, consider the Saints. They were an offensive juggernaut through the first two weeks but on Sunday, they threw a blanket over Buffalo’s offense, allowing only one touchdown and that came on a gadget touchdown pass thrown by their punter.
It was a wild Week 3 with Brett Favre performing magic, the defending champion Steelers getting stunned at the gun and aforementioned Detroit winning for the first time since December 2007. But aside from the fantastic finishes, the big takeaway is that, the there could be some major changes at the top of a few divisions in 2009.
Favre's still got it
No use arguing that Brett Favre wasn’t worth the headache. Sunday showed why Brad Childress spent months waiting for His Waffleness to finally join the Minnesota Vikings:
So that Favre could orchestrate a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the final 87 seconds that ended with a roll-back-the-clock touchdown laser to Greg Lewis with two seconds left, breaking the hearts of the 49ers, 27-24.
Still, the tumblers had to fall into place for Favre.
Had San Francisco’s Dre Bly come up with the pick on Favre’s poorly thrown fourth-down toss with 1:55 remaining, he would have cruised in for the winning touchdown. If the 49ers had decided to give quarterback Shaun Hill a shot at completing a short pass on the 49ers’ penultimate possession, they may have stood a chance of picking up a first down instead of burning just 20 seconds. If 49ers punter Joe Nedney hadn’t placed a poor, short-field punt into the end zone from the Vikings’ 47, Favre might have had too much ground to cover.
But those things didn’t happen. And that paved the way for Favre to use his best asset at the age of 39 — his experience. In this one, that was as important to the Vikings as his vaunted right arm. Consider that the Vikings ran 16 plays in the final 3:30 of the game. And that they had three third-down conversions on that final drive including the touchdown pass to Lewis. And that they finished the game with a timeout remaining. That’s clock-management and quarterbacking you’re not going to get from Tarvaris Jackson and/or Sage Rosenfels.
So put this one in the “wouldn’t have won it without Brett” pile. History says that there may be some additions before the season’s out. With the Vikings at 3-0, there’s not even room to debate that.
For anyone long-since weary of Brett Favre mythology, this was the worst-case scenario result heading into Brett Bowl I against the Packers. But for the Vikings and Favre, it was perfect.
No more Detroit debacle
The Lions’ misery ended Sunday with a 19-14 win over the Washington Redskins. But it’s only just begun for Redskins coach Jim Zorn.
First, Detroit. The Lions totally dominated the first half, allowing Washington just three possessions, the first of which ended with a fourth-down goal-line stop on Clinton Portis.
Meanwhile, Matt Stafford continues to defy those who think it was a bad move for a team as bad as Detroit to take a quarterback with the No. 1 pick (like me). He has not been running for his life. He has not looked confused and overmatched. He is, right now, as competent as half the league. His best asset is an ability to take what’s given him which only comes if a young quarterback takes the time to study and understand what he’s being given. Stafford’s 22-yard scramble on third-and-13 in the first quarter and the ensuing touchdown pass he threw to Bryant Johnson was a benchmark play.
Now to Zorn. It couldn’t have gone any worse for him after spending a week under siege by the D.C.-area media. First, he went for it on fourth-and-1 at the end of the first drive (it failed). Then, as the Lions were moving downfield on what would be a 99-yard drive, Zorn accepted a third-down holding penalty after third-down throw from the Skins’ 33 fell incomplete. Zorn could have made Detroit try a 50-yard field goal. Instead, they moved the Lions back 10 yards and Stafford ran for 22.
Making matters worse, $100-million defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was carted from the field with a hip injury. Haynesworth should be OK. Zorn won’t be. The negative momentum has now tipped from “going downhill” to “freefall.” The only question is whether or not he makes it to Halloween.
Much ado about Vick (why?)
Anyone who watched Michael Vick in the preseason should have presumed that what happened Sunday was the likely result of his first game since 2006. He was on the field against Kansas City for 11 plays, he threw two incompletions and ran once for 7 yards. It was a football performance hardly worth the breath and bandwidth devoted to it the past six days.
Actually, the most interesting development in the Eagles’ walkover was the performance of the guy who’s actually the Eagles’ backup to Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb. Kolb went 24 for 34 for 324 with two touchdowns. It’s not likely that McNabb’s going to lose his job to Kolb — or Vick — this season. But going forward, the Eagles are creating options for themselves. And Kolb is emerging as one.
Packers still re-fining things
Heading into Sunday, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had been sacked 10 times. Before the first quarter of their game against the Rams was over, that total had risen to 12 as St. Louis defensive end Leonard Little got him twice. But after that, the Rams didn’t get him again as Green Bay closed it out, 36-17. That doesn’t mean everything’s fixed for the Packers, who were playing with Darryn Colledge in place of left tackle Chad Clifton.
Next week, they have Favre Bowl I in Minnesota where Jared Allen and the rest of the Minny defensive line will be sharpening their claws.
Miracle in Cincy
That’s three amazing weeks for the Cincinnati Bengals. First, they get beat by Denver on Brandon Stokley’s Immaculate Deflection. Then they show some stones by coming back the next week and getting a win over the Packers at Lambeau.
Now they come back to take out the defending champion Steelers in front of their home fans, snapping an eight-game home losing streak to the Steelers. The Bengals needed a pair of fourth-down conversions to escape and they got them, the final one a fourth-and-10 from the Steelers 15 on which Carson Palmer found running back Brian Leonard in the flat with about 20 seconds left. Who had the Steelers looking up at the Bengals in the standings after three weeks? Not many.
Raiders staring at 1-15
Good thing the Raiders got that win over the Chiefs last week. If not, they’d be making a run joining the 2008 Lions. Between now and their Week 9 bye they are at Houston, at the Giants, host Philly and the Jets and visit San Diego.
Meanwhile, it will be very interesting to see how much longer the Raiders can tolerate the great backsliding quarterback that is JaMarcus Russell. Against Denver, Russell went 12 for 21 for 61 yards. The 57 percent completion ratio was light years ahead of his 35 completion rate entering the game. But he's throwing interceptions and looks uncomfortable in the pocket.
Uh oh, T.O.
Terrell Owens had a nice little streak going — receptions in 185 straight games. Not anymore. The Saints held him without a catch in a 27-7 beatdown of the Bills. The only touchdown pass completed on Sunday by Buffalo came off the hand of punter Brian Moorman. Not a good day for the Bills.
And not a great day for red-hot Saints quarterback Drew Brees either as he was held without a TD pass after whipping nine in the first two weeks. He went 16 for 29 for a very human 172 yards while Pierre Thomas went off for 126 yards on 14 carries for the 3-0 Saints.
Broncos' defense doing yeoman's work
Know how many touchdowns the Broncos defense has allowed this season? One. Last year, they usually allowed their first touchdown sometime on Saturday night t hey were so bad. But whatever former Niners coach Mike Nolan lacks as a head man, he’s got as a coordinator. He’s running the Denver defense and they’re running teams over.
Titans being cut down to size
If it weren’t for the start and the finish, the Tennessee Titans would be feeling pretty good right now.
Instead they are 0-3 and taking on water in a hurry after their 24-17 loss to the Jets. They fell down 14-0 before the Titans offense even ran a play, thanks to a game-opening touchdown drive by the Jets and a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to another touchdown. That’s a bad way for an 0-2 team to avoid 0-3.
The Titans did rally, going ahead 17-14 after the first drive of the second half. But a parade of three-and-outs and Kerry Collins ending the game with an 0-for-13 passing streak doomed them.
The Titans now play at Jacksonville next week which — until the Jags took care of Houston — looked like a layup. Tough times in Nashville.
Sanchez is Mangini's biggest fan
Every once in a while, Mark Sanchez might want to drop a card in the mail to Eric Mangini and thank him for making that trade with the Jets so that Sanchez could walk into a situation with a positive vibe and competent players. And Sanchez might want to drop that card in pretty soon because, after the Browns’ 34-3 loss to the Ravens on Sunday, the odds of Mangini being at that address indefinitely are small.
Black out any Bucs games
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday were an absolute joke. They got shut out, 24-0 but they could have played until Thursday and Tampa wasn’t going to score. Check it out: 86 net yards. 0 for 9 on third down. Five first downs. This game should've been blacked out.
Brady gets some blocking
That was a big character win for the Patriots on Sunday against a very good Atlanta team. The Patriots offensive line kept Tom Brady sack-free and Brady was much more nimble in the pocket this week than he was against New York (he didn’t face the same level of pressure, either).
Fred Taylor had a terrific game with 21 carries for 105 yards and New England really needed that because they were looking practically incapable of mounting a sustained rushing attack after the first two weeks. Brady still threw it a ton (25 for 42 for 277 yards and a score) and his accuracy isn’t yet back where he needs it to be but the doom predicted after the loss to the Jets has been tempered.
What was Atlanta thinking?
It’s amazing to me that the Falcons couldn’t do a better job of getting Tony Gonzalez involved on Sunday in their 26-10 loss to the Patriots. He finished with one second-half catch for 16 yards as a fleet of Patriots in the New England back-seven did a great job shadowing him.
Still, Gonzalez has shown he’s a physical mismatch with just about anybody even at his advanced age. With Patriots middle linebacker Jerod Mayo out, I figured Gonzalez would feast on Mayo’s backup, Gary Guyton. Didn’t happen.
No sense daydreaming about the Rams
The Rams lost quarterback Marc Bulger to a shoulder injury in the first half and he was fairly capably replaced by Kyle Boller, the former Ravens first-rounder. Boller went 16 for 31 for 164 yards with a touchdown and a pick while in comeback mode most of the day. With the 32-year-old Bulger seemingly at the end of the line and Boller pretty well established as an average player, you wonder if the Rams would like to have their selection of offensive tackle Jason Smith back.
It’s easy in hindsight to look at what Mark Sanchez is doing in New York and wonder if he would have looked good with a gold swirly on his helmet but ... the Rams wouldn’t be able to take care of him like the Jets have and, there is no comparison between the two teams' defenses.
