Takeaways after Week #3 is nearly complete...

[belcherboy]

I know we still have a few games before week #3 of the NFL is officially over, but what is your takeaways from the first 3 weeks (almost) of the NFL:

* Green Bay - They aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Although I'm still not buying them. They can prove a lot of people wrong on Thursday against Detroit.

* Chicago/Carolina - Can we just pencil them in for the top 2 picks in the draft, of which Chicago owns both picks? Or are did the Broncos make the statement "we're #1" when it comes to the 2024 draft?

* Dallas - Can they be any more "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"? They look like world beaters one week, then become a team that may be a borderline playoff team the next. I guess the statement "Any Given Sunday" reigned true this week with Dallas.

* Miami - I swear Tua is a zombie! You think he's dead, his career is over, he just doesn't have the size to make it in the NFL, and then BAM he's a monster! Although, their opponents so far have a combined record of 2-7 on this season, so maybe I should pump the brakes a bit.

* Minnesota - What does Kirk Cousins got to do to win a game? I can't imagine too many QB's in the history of the NFL have had better numbers than Cousins has so far this season and had an 0-3 record.

* Cleveland - Could they finally turn a corner? The crazy part is their success comes from the defense and not Watson. Although their two wins does come from opponents with a 1-4 record this season.

* Detroit - Could the defense finally be turning it around? In what appears to be a pretty weak NFC North, Thursday's game will give a big indicator on who is likely to win the North and a home field playoff game.

* Tampa - They have come out with guns blazing, and who is holding the gun...Baker Mayfield? They play a legit team tonight, and have managed victories against opponents who are a combined 0-6 on the season. So this may be fools gold.

* Jax - This was suppose to be Trevor's year to shine brightly. So far they (and he) have looked pretty bad. The Texans are young, and seem to have a lot of talent, but you can't lose to them by 3 TD's. It's the beginning of a long season, so they have time to turn it around.

* SF - Are they the most dominant team so far this season? They have definitely impressed so far on their 3-0 start.

Anyone else that needs to be highlighted here? Which of these takes is a bad one?

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

You could probably throw Denver in with the Bears and Panthers. We will see next week when they play the Bears but Fields might not need to throw the ball. He could probably run for 300 and 4 TDs vs that defense.
Cardinals, Texans and Colts all showing they have some mettle and won't just mail it in.
The Browns defense looks legit and they might just be the kings of the north this year. Watson looked the best he has since he came back and it was a good bounce back after what happened with the Steelers. Gonna miss Chubb but his injury seems to be galvanizing that team and they will be trouble for anyone. Garret making a statement that he might be the best defender in the game. DPOY is going to be really interesting this year and fun to watch. A lot of great players out there.

 

[Tainthappening]

* Green Bay - They aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Although I'm still not buying them. They can prove a lot of people wrong on Thursday against Detroit.

* Chicago/Carolina - Can we just pencil them in for the top 2 picks in the draft, of which Chicago owns both picks? Or are did the Broncos make the statement "we're #1" when it comes to the 2024 draft?

* Detroit - Could the defense finally be turning it around? In what appears to be a pretty weak NFC North, Thursday's game will give a big indicator on who is likely to win the North and a home field playoff game.

Really surprised Packers came back to win in 4th quarter Sunday... very young team and figured they may lose a lot of close games due to inexperience and Love's first year as starter. Packers have easier schedule this year.. so probably a lot of close games this year. Expectation is still around 500 for this team IMO.

Bears play Broncos at home this weekend, #1 pick could be on the line. Bears play Carolina at home in November.

Still think Lions best team in NFCN, handled Falcons run game much better than the Packers.

Dallas was biggest head scratcher for me on Sunday, watched game and Arizona ran all over the defense.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

The loss of Diggs really hurts the Cowboys but holy shit, they need to fix that run defense fast because NE will be watching that tape and Dallas could be staring 2-2 in the face with a date with the Niners and CMC and company. Been seeing some questions about the offense and McCarthy's play calling. Maybe Cowboys fans can give more insight. They were pretty sluggish yesterday.

 

[Clayton]

AFC North has 3 teams at 2-1. If Burrow is out then Bengals probably not being a contender is the biggest takeaway so far.

AFC South being completely wide open is a bit of a shocker. I did think the Jags overachieved last year but they've stunk so far this year. Titans performance against the Browns is just as alarming as the Broncos against the Dolphins. Henry got held to 20 yards and Tannehill to 100. The Browns completely broke their offense.

Chiefs and Lions both seem to be maybe a little better on defense and not quite as good on offense as expected. They're both very interesting teams moving forward although with KC thats expected.

San Fran is in the driver's seat. Buffalo v Miami and Philly v Dallas are probably the two most interesting divisional races for me. Miami's coaching staff being a mix of San Fran influences with Sean Payton influences and Vic Fangio just seems like its a system that is going to attack the league. Miami gave both Super Bowl teams last year key pieces but I think this year they are ready to make some noise. Bills are probably the biggest benefactor of Rodgers and Burrow getting hurt. This is their year.

Chargers seem like they're 50/50 with everyone. A team you dont really want to face but also can't really expect much out of them. Wouldn't be shocked if they fire their coach and all of a sudden a big contender.

 

[redskinsfan1963]

thought washington was gonna be decent this year,boy was i fooled.same team with an awful coach he refuses to remove his head from his ass.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Everyone pretty much highlighted the main points around the league. Let me highlight the main success for the Browns.

They went from


To

 

[redskinsfan1963]

Everyone pretty much highlighted the main points around the league. Let me highlight the main success for the Browns.

They went from
View attachment 341412

To

View attachment 341415

he was pretty good in philly too.

 

[duke1861]

thought washington was gonna be decent this year,boy was i fooled.same team with an awful coach he refuses to remove his head from his ass.

It is still early and adjustments can be made scheme wise that could help. Yesterday's loss is a culmination of poor draft strategy and free agency choices. Rivera is no GM and it shows. Drafting Forbes and martin back to back was absurd given that a rookie qb, for the most part, was starting.

Washington should beat the average to bad teams but will struggle against good to great teams. They are a .500 team pretty much and will remain so until Rivera is gone.

 

[jarntt]

I know we still have a few games before week #3 of the NFL is officially over, but what is your takeaways from the first 3 weeks (almost) of the NFL:

* Green Bay - They aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Although I'm still not buying them. They can prove a lot of people wrong on Thursday against Detroit.

* Chicago/Carolina - Can we just pencil them in for the top 2 picks in the draft, of which Chicago owns both picks? Or are did the Broncos make the statement "we're #1" when it comes to the 2024 draft?

* Dallas - Can they be any more "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"? They look like world beaters one week, then become a team that may be a borderline playoff team the next. I guess the statement "Any Given Sunday" reigned true this week with Dallas.

* Miami - I swear Tua is a zombie! You think he's dead, his career is over, he just doesn't have the size to make it in the NFL, and then BAM he's a monster! Although, their opponents so far have a combined record of 2-7 on this season, so maybe I should pump the brakes a bit.

* Minnesota - What does Kirk Cousins got to do to win a game? I can't imagine too many QB's in the history of the NFL have had better numbers than Cousins has so far this season and had an 0-3 record.

* Cleveland - Could they finally turn a corner? The crazy part is their success comes from the defense and not Watson. Although their two wins does come from opponents with a 1-4 record this season.

* Detroit - Could the defense finally be turning it around? In what appears to be a pretty weak NFC North, Thursday's game will give a big indicator on who is likely to win the North and a home field playoff game.

* Tampa - They have come out with guns blazing, and who is holding the gun...Baker Mayfield? They play a legit team tonight, and have managed victories against opponents who are a combined 0-6 on the season. So this may be fools gold.

* Jax - This was suppose to be Trevor's year to shine brightly. So far they (and he) have looked pretty bad. The Texans are young, and seem to have a lot of talent, but you can't lose to them by 3 TD's. It's the beginning of a long season, so they have time to turn it around.

* SF - Are they the most dominant team so far this season? They have definitely impressed so far on their 3-0 start.

Anyone else that needs to be highlighted here? Which of these takes is a bad one?

I like to think Dallas looked like a "borderline playoff team" this week but they were just horrible against a team that is likely one of the worst in the league. I can make excuses for the Offense because of the OL injuries, but just have no explanation for how bad the defense looked. This is exactly the blueprint to give the Dallas D trouble and I've been saying it for years - even Houston last year did the same thing and was beating them late. Misdirection combined with power football up the middle. Then your QB runs when lanes develop. Also stay out of 2nd and 3rd and long. They crash too hard and don't hold the edge. They stunt too much which creates lanes and their LBs can't get off blocks and aren't great tacklers. They also get caught off guard by PAP or just when their safeties are moving up to the LOS expecting run and while Kearse and Wilson can blow plays up, they struggle in coverage. They need to be better on 1st down and then they can be dominant. Luckily this game only counts as one loss on the schedule and I suspect they bounce back well next week.

 

[Iggloo]

I like to think Dallas looked like a "borderline playoff team" this week but they were just horrible against a team that is likely one of the worst in the league. I can make excuses for the Offense because of the OL injuries, but just have no explanation for how bad the defense looked. This is exactly the blueprint to give the Dallas D trouble and I've been saying it for years - even Houston last year did the same thing and was beating them late. Misdirection combined with power football up the middle. Then your QB runs when lanes develop. Also stay out of 2nd and 3rd and long. They crash too hard and don't hold the edge. They stunt too much which creates lanes and their LBs can't get off blocks and aren't great tacklers. They also get caught off guard by PAP or just when their safeties are moving up to the LOS expecting run and while Kearse and Wilson can blow plays up, they struggle in coverage. They need to be better on 1st down and then they can be dominant. Luckily this game only counts as one loss on the schedule and I suspect they bounce back well next week.

Jonathan Gannon did a good job of making Parsons run a lot all game long with the misdirection stuff and other blocking schemes.

But what I noticed is that without Diggs, the Cowboys secondary seemed to have a hard time matching up with Hollywood Brown's and Rondale Moore's speed. That's something to watch going forward. Gilmore is a very good corner but not a very quick one and Hollywood Brown beat him rather easily for a TD running across the end zone. Tackling in the open field also seemed like a problem.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

The Kansas City Chiefs have only given up 3 offensive touchdowns in 3 games so far this year. They are allowing 13.3 points a game as a team. Given where the defense has been in the past, pretty bad mostly, that feels significant.

 

[Clayton]

Jonathan Gannon did a good job of making Parsons run a lot all game long with the misdirection stuff and other blocking schemes.

But what I noticed is that without Diggs, the Cowboys secondary seemed to have a hard time matching up with Hollywood Brown's and Rondale Moore's speed. That's something to watch going forward. Gilmore is a very good corner but not a very quick one and Hollywood Brown beat him rather easily for a TD running across the end zone. Tackling in the open field also seemed like a problem.

One of the criticisms of Kliff Kingsbury was that he used his receivers in predictable ways. Rondale Moore is a freak. Hollywood Brown is close to it with better receiver skills. Get them in space and almost no one is covering them.

 

[Niner Outlaw]

The LA Rams are better than expected. That reworked Oline and the young defense have really shown improvement. And Stafford is still very good. Be interesting to see how tonight turns out for them if Burrow plays.

 

[PDay8810]

week to week league

 

[Clayton]

The Kansas City Chiefs have only given up 3 offensive touchdowns in 3 games so far this year. They are allowing 13.3 points a game as a team. Given where the defense has been in the past, pretty bad mostly, that feels significant.

Its significant because Chris Jones also missed a game and Nick Bolton a game, as well.

That said, I'm also not sure any of the offenses KC has played are clicking on all cylinders. Chiefs having somewhere around the 6th-10th best defense in the league is something that potentially could be devastating to the NFL if the Chiefs OT and WR positions click into place.

 

[Clayton]

The LA Rams are better than expected. That reworked Oline and the young defense have really shown improvement. And Stafford is still very good. Be interesting to see how tonight turns out for them if Burrow plays.

A real contrast with the Titans to a certain degree. I thought both teams had good coaching and a couple of great players with a ton of young nobodies but boy do the Rams look better with their young nobodies.

 

[PnkPanther]

Detroit looks like best of nfcn, but early.

GB is looking about what I expected. Good defense, good o line. Love looks decent.

Minnesota suddenly can't win close games

I thought bears would be better than this. Not as good as optimistic bear fans but hard to see 5-7 wins I thought they'd get.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Ok, Karlaftis, we see you.

 

[dtgold88]

I know we still have a few games before week #3 of the NFL is officially over, but what is your takeaways from the first 3 weeks (almost) of the NFL:

* Green Bay - They aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Although I'm still not buying them. They can prove a lot of people wrong on Thursday against Detroit.

* Chicago/Carolina - Can we just pencil them in for the top 2 picks in the draft, of which Chicago owns both picks? Or are did the Broncos make the statement "we're #1" when it comes to the 2024 draft?

* Dallas - Can they be any more "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"? They look like world beaters one week, then become a team that may be a borderline playoff team the next. I guess the statement "Any Given Sunday" reigned true this week with Dallas.

* Miami - I swear Tua is a zombie! You think he's dead, his career is over, he just doesn't have the size to make it in the NFL, and then BAM he's a monster! Although, their opponents so far have a combined record of 2-7 on this season, so maybe I should pump the brakes a bit.

* Minnesota - What does Kirk Cousins got to do to win a game? I can't imagine too many QB's in the history of the NFL have had better numbers than Cousins has so far this season and had an 0-3 record.

* Cleveland - Could they finally turn a corner? The crazy part is their success comes from the defense and not Watson. Although their two wins does come from opponents with a 1-4 record this season.

* Detroit - Could the defense finally be turning it around? In what appears to be a pretty weak NFC North, Thursday's game will give a big indicator on who is likely to win the North and a home field playoff game.

* Tampa - They have come out with guns blazing, and who is holding the gun...Baker Mayfield? They play a legit team tonight, and have managed victories against opponents who are a combined 0-6 on the season. So this may be fools gold.

* Jax - This was suppose to be Trevor's year to shine brightly. So far they (and he) have looked pretty bad. The Texans are young, and seem to have a lot of talent, but you can't lose to them by 3 TD's. It's the beginning of a long season, so they have time to turn it around.

* SF - Are they the most dominant team so far this season? They have definitely impressed so far on their 3-0 start.

Anyone else that needs to be highlighted here? Which of these takes is a bad one?

I don't think any of the takes are bad as could make a case for all of them. Not sure I could refute any of them. Denver is looking pretty bad, too, and maybe can get the top pick (though not sure it doesn't go to Seattle for Wilson).