Heading into Week 3 of the NFL season, I was excited for some of the matchups I saw on the slate.
Starting off at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the Eagles faced off with the Detroit Lions in a game that should have felt like an easy win.
It was quite the opposite as the Lions led at half 20-10. The Eagles were unable to get a stable run game going between Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard and were struggling in the air for most of the game.
Dealing with multiple drops, including a wide open touchdown drop by Tight End Dallas Goedert that would have put the Eagles up in the game.
Carson Wentz still threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns, but once again the Eagles failed to get timely stops and convert in the 4th quarter as the birds lose another heartbreaker at home to the Lions 27-24.
Another highlight of NFL Sunday was the marquee matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Both teams were 2-0 entering this game, and the quarterbacks for both of these teams currently have the two best odds to win the MVP.
Patrick Mahomes won the award last year by throwing for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns, and is on an even better pace to break those numbers as of right now, totaling seven touchdowns through only two games. Lamar Jackson, the quarterback for the Ravens, also had seven touchdowns through 2 games.
The Chiefs went out to an early lead in this game and didn’t look back for the most part.
Jackson played a mediocre first half and only scored six points in the first half.
The Ravens almost brought it back by scoring 15 points in the 4th quarter alone, but Mahomes ended up prevailing over Jackson once again and threw for 374 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Chiefs won a close game in Arrowhead, 33-28.
Another game I was watching very closely was Giants vs. Buccaneers.
On paper that game sounds like a pretty big waste of time, except for the fact that this week rookie quarterback Daniel Jones out of Duke University was making his first NFL start.
Jones has had a fair amount of controversy surrounding him since he was selected 6th overall by the New York Giants. Many Giants fans were extremely skeptical about selecting him with their first round draft choice.
It’s safe to say Jones silenced a lot of the talk and definitely impressed a lot of people on Sunday.
After being down 18 points in this game, Jones led a comeback Giants fans were not used to seeing with Eli Manning.
He also made this comeback without his star running back Saquon Barkley, who was injured in the second quarter.
Late in the 4th quarter, with the Giants down a possession and facing 4th down in the red zone, Jones took it himself and ran it in for the game winning touchdown. He ended with 364 all purpose yards and four touchdowns total (two on the ground and two throwing) as the Giants came back from 18 points and won an absolute nail-biter, thanks to a last second missed Tampa Bay field goal.
Fun Fact: Coming into this game, Eli Manning was 0-44 when trailing by 18 points in a game. Daniel Jones’ record in games down 18 points is now 1-0.
In other news, the Steelers and backup quarterback Mason Rudolph did not bode well in San Francisco, creating 5 turnovers on defense and somehow still finding a way to lose to the 49ers. The Steelers lost this game 24-20 and fall to 0-3 for the first time since 2013.
The Cowboys and Packers both won fairly easy games and stayed perfect at 3-0. After three weeks of NFL action, the only undefeated teams that remain are the Patriots, Cowboys, Packers, Lions, Bills, Rams, 49ers, and Chiefs.
Some notable games to look out for next week include the Eagles at Packers Thursday night, Browns at Ravens Sunday at 1 p.m., Viking at Bears Sunday at 4:25 p.m., and Cowboys at Saints Sunday night.
Week 3 of the NFL season did not disappoint (except for the fact I lost in both of my fantasy football leagues). Hopefully Week 4 provides even more chaos and good football.
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