Week 3 of the 2018 season got off to a flying start with the Cleveland Browns’ 21-17 victory and ended with a fascinating clash in Tampa Bay on Monday night. The wild week in football included multiple upsets (who had the Buffalo Bills going into Minnesota and beating the Vikings?) and forced fans across the country to reevaluate where their teams stand.
Here is a look at the highs and lows of a dramatic Week 3:
Highs
3. Parity Across the League
Parity provides plenty of negatives in sports. For example, true dynasties are a thing of the past, and teams’ championship windows close quickly for the most part. Yet the advantage to parity is that the cliched “Any Given Sunday” saying is accurate. The NFL is much more competitive now than it was during the 1970s and 80s due to talent being more spread out across the league.
Look at last Sunday. The vaunted New England Patriots suffered a massive 26-10 upset loss at the Detroit Lions. Earlier in the day, the team regarded by many experts as possibly the worst in the league, the Buffalo Bills, crushed the preseason Super Bowl contender Minnesota Vikings, 27-6. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins currently own a two-game lead in the AFC East. This is fun to watch, even if it makes fools out of writers like me that usually can pick a winner every week.
2. The Browns have their quarterback
I hosted the Rockpile Report Buffalo Bills podcast during the offseason, and one of the points they made about the Browns was that Tyrod Taylor was not the solution. I disagreed. Taylor showed me enough in Buffalo to help me believe that he could eventually earn his place as a long-term starter for the Browns. I was wrong. The flaws pointed out by the guys over at the Rockpile Report have been evident since Day 1, and it came down to rookie Baker Mayfield seizing his opportunity to show that he is the team’s future.
Mayfield took over for the injured Taylor and completed 17-of-23 passes for 201 yards in his debut. However, what really stood out was Mayfield’s leadership and decisiveness. The Browns hadn’t won a game in almost two years, but they rallied behind him and believed the streak could end – and it did. The Browns haven’t had that kind of charismatic leadership in years. Mayfield is their guy. Now they need to keep surrounding him with better talent.
1. Detroit’s big upset
The Detroit Lions entered Week 3 with few people believing they could upset the defending AFC Champion New England Patriots. Just two weeks ago, the Lions suffered a 48-17 trouncing to the rebuilding Jets. No one expected the Lions to give them a game, let alone earning a win.
Yet the Lions feasted on the Patriots’ weaknesses and dominated New England in the first and possibly only matchup between Bill Belichick and his protege Matt Patricia. It’s been a long time since a team made the Patriots offense look so inept. The Lions may be 1-2 at the moment, but they have enough playmakers to compete in the NFC North if they continue playing like they did on Sunday night.
Lows
3. Vikings problems?
What on earth is going on with the Minnesota Vikings? This is a team that handed quarterback Kirk Cousins a massive deal in the offseason, brought back the core of its NFC North-winning team from last season, and got running back Dalvin Cook back from injury. Unfortunately, Cousins hasn’t got hot yet and Cook has already suffered an injury. But, I’m not sure that’s the problem.
The Vikings looked lost in their 27-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Actually, they looked more than lost. They broke. Minnesota took a bad penalty early and just broke. Championship teams don’t do that. They don’t fall apart that easily. The Vikings might figure it out, but I’m starting to doubt whether or not this team will be a real contender this year. We’ll get a better idea on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
2. What is the NFL doing with these roughing penalties?
The Green Bay Packers lost 31-17 at the Washington Redskins last Sunday, but perhaps the bigger story is Clay Matthews earning another roughing the passer penalty. The problem is that Matthews’s sack of Redskins quarterback Alex Smith looked completely legitimate. Matthews turned his head to avoid the helmet-to-helmet hit and took Smith to the ground. Yes, the hit was hard and it ended up with Matthews landing on top of him. However, he didn’t purposely drive Smith into the ground.
So what is really the problem here? Are we to the point where we never know what is a penalty? The NFL needs to re-address this as soon as possible. It’s hurting the game.
1. The inconsistent Blake Bortles
The Jacksonville Jaguars possess a Super Bowl defense. This is a team that can make a deep run into the playoffs with consistent, average quarterback play. Instead, Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles continues to be a feast or famine quarterback. Bortles completed 21-of-34 passes for 155 yards and suffered three sacks in the Jaguars’ 9-6 home loss against the Tennessee Titans. The Jaguars will continue to underachieve as long as Bortles does.
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