NFL Week 3

Week 3 saw the last round of fixtures with all 32 teams playing. This coming week there are 6 teams (Bengals, Broncos, Browns, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks) with a week off. It happens to include 4 of the strongest teams in the entire league (sorry Rams & Browns, I didn't mean you) so the rest need to make the most of the chance to get wins on the board and add pressure to the big guns. 

Let's have a quick review of some of the big games from Week 3:

Russell Wilson destroyed Denver
with his feet in overtime

Seattle Seahawks 26-20 Denver Broncos (overtime)
Another dominant defensive display from Seattle looked to be leading them to a convincing win in the Superbowl rematch until a late rally from Denver took the game into overtime. A safety (when a team is tackled in their own endzone), followed by a first Russell Wilson interception in about 3 million attempts and suddenly momentum was with the Broncos. An incredible drive led by Peyton Manning resulted in a touchdown, two point conversion and overtime. The Seahawks then won the toss, drove all the way down the field and scored the "golden goal" touchdown to extinguish the Broncos' hopes of revenge. That might have to wait until 1st February 2015.

Carolina Panthers 19-37 Pittsburgh Steelers

A big away win for the impressive Pittsburgh Steelers. Carolina are widely accepted as having one of the best defenses in the league but the combined running of Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount trampled all over them. After a very disappointing loss against the Ravens in Week 2, suddenly you have to consider the Steelers as genuine AFC contenders. 

Bortles vs Luck could be a rivalry
for years to come

Jacksonville Jaguars 17-44 Indianapolis Colts

A thumping win for the Colts to get them off the mark this season, after defeats in their first two matches. London's adopted team Jacksonville are in all sorts of trouble this year. Already 0-3, it isn't going to get any better this Sunday away at the Chargers (who beat Seattle last week). The one bright spot is the introduction of Blake Bortles who will now be the starting quarterback, and a positive step towards the future of the franchise. 

Arizona Cardinals 23-14 San Francisco 49ers

The ultra-high quality NFC West took another interesting turn as the less fancied Cardinals moved to 3-0. The 49ers have been to the NFC Championship game for the last 3 seasons but face a real challenge to even reach the playoffs in such a competitive division. Going on the assumption that Seattle pull through to win the division, it's not going to be possible for both Arizona and SF to take a wildcard. 

High scoring clash in the NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles 37-34 Washington Redskins

The Eagles are definitely the team to watch for entertainment value if nothing else. Nick Foles certainly knows how to throw a pass and with McCoy and Sproles running the ball, they basically aim to simply outscore their opponents however many points that means. The Redskins put up a great show, with DeSean Jackson unable to get the win against his old team, but Philly just have too many weapons. Could be a very dangerous team come playoff time. 

The rest of the results from Week 3:

The Bengals may be a team to watch

Chicago Bears 27-17 New York Jets

Buffalo Bills 10-22 San Diego Chargers

Cincinnati Bengals 33-7 Tennessee Titans

Cleveland Browns 21-23 Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions 19-7 Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins 15-34 Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots 16-9 Oakland Raiders

New Orleans Saints 20-9 Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants 30-17 Houston Texans

St Louis Rams 31-34 Dallas Cowboys

Atlanta Falcons 56-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Looking at Week 4, there are obviously less matches but a few tasty clashes in store still. The Eagles have a chance to show they're genuine contenders when they travel to San Francisco; the Packers and the Bears came into the season with high hopes but have both been somewhat underwhelming - they clash in Chicago. The Bucs were slaughtered in Atlanta (trailing 56-0 at one point) and next travel to a reinvigorated Pittsburgh, that could get messy.

NFL Week 2 Review

Another week completed and another mixture of comebacks, upsets and massive performances in the NFL. However early it is, there are worrying signs for expected playoff contenders New Orleans, Indianapolis and San Francisco. The Patriots, Bears and Packers returned to form after disappointing performances in the opening weekend, and will hope to get some real form going in Week 3. And the likes of Jacksonville and Oakland are living up to the dismal pre-season expectations. 

Here are a few big match reviews, along with the rest of the scores (home team listed first):

San Diego Chargers 30-21 Seattle Seahawks
A big upset with the mighty Seahawks defense unable to shut down the Philip Rivers / Antonio Gates combination, which hooked up for 3 touchdowns. Marshawn Lynch was strangely underused and Russell Wilson couldn't quite get enough going to pull the Superbowl champions through. A glimmer of hope for the NFC West rivals Arizona (2-0) and San Francisco (1-1). 

Chicago Bears 28-20 San Francisco 49ers
Another surprising result, another hat-trick of touchdowns for the home team (this time Brandon Marshall) and another big comeback. The 49ers led 17-0 and 20-7 but fell apart in the 4th quarter, with Colin Kaepernick in particular putting in a dismal performance. Jay Cutler and the Bears have a strong offensive unit but any team hoping to make it to the latter stages of January will have to avoid such frailty.

Minnesota Vikings 7-30 New England Patriots
The Pats had suffered a surprise loss in Miami last week so a trip to Minnesota presented a genuine danger of falling 0-2 for the first time since 2001. The Vikings had thrashed the Rams away from home on the opening weekend but went into this fixture in turmoil with Adrian Peterson (the NFL's best running back) arrested for child abuse. The added pressure on quarterback Matt Cassell led to 4 interceptions and a thumping win for Tom Brady and his team.

Denver Broncos 24-17 Kansas City Chiefs
The new top-ranked team in the league (with the Seahawks slipping) would have expected to maul their AFC West rivals but in the end had to resist a late rally just to secure a one score win. Despite the absence of Jamaal Charles, Kansas City threatened the Broncos all the way to the death but just couldn't get it done.

Other notable matches included the Colts throwing away a golden position against a fearsome Eagles offense, the league's best defensive player, JJ Watt, scoring a touchdown on offense for Houston and a crushing win for the Redskins potentially signalling the beginning of the end for iconic but injured RG3. 

Here is a list of the remaining results:

Indianapolis Colts 27-30 Philadelphia Eagles

Buffalo Bills 29-10 Miami Dolphins

Carolina Panthers 24-7 Detroit Lions

Cincinnati Bengals 24-10 Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns 26-24 New Orleans Saints

Green Bay Packers 31-24 New York Jets

New York Giants 14-25 Arizona Cardinals

Oakland Raiders 14-30 Houston Texans

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-19 St Louis Rams

Tennessee Titans 10-26 Dallas Cowboys

Washington Redskins 41-10 Jacksonville Jaguars

Baltimore Ravens 26-6 Pittsburgh Steelers

Heading into week 3, the last week before bye weeks begin (6 teams don't play a match in week 4), the big match ups are Broncos-Seahawks in a Superbowl rematch in Seattle, the Patriots likely to decimate the utterly dreadful Raiders and 0-2 Colts going to divisional rivals (and also 0-2) Jaguars, who are surely only a loss or two away from starting Blake Bortles.

NFL Week 1 Summary

Could Megatron break his own
single season receiving yards record?

With Week 1 of the NFL 2014 season coming to an end, we can a have quick review of the opening round of fixtures. There were standout and expected performances from big names such as Calvin Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, AJ Green and Peyton Manning. The teams expected to challenge for the Superbowl generally looked strong, particularly the Seahawks and Broncos. And there were a lot of last year's troubles being seen again by the likes of the Tony Romo (Cowboys), Eli Manning (Giants) and Robert Griffin III (Redskins). A run down of some of the biggest games:

Rodgers didn't attempt a single pass
even remotely near Richard Sherman

Seattle Seahawks 36-16 Green Bay Packers
Last year's Superbowl champions made a massive statement, thumping a potential challenger for this year's title. Like Man City crushing Liverpool in the Premiership a couple of weeks ago it was very much a case of asserting who is boss. Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson as well as the defense looking even better than last year. Aaron Rodgers couldn't perform his magic on the toughest stage.

How Tom Brady spent most
of Sunday afternoon

Miami Dolphins 33-20 New England Patriots
Last year's AFC Championship finalists (like losing semi-finalists) New England hadn't lost an opening day fixture for 11 years until they were comprehensively beaten by divisional rivals Miami. Tom Brady looked a shadow of the superstar he has been and the Dolphins dominated in every aspect in the second half. 

Dallas Cowboys 17-28 San Francisco 49ers
There was a lot of optimism going into this season for Dallas, with a refocused Tony Romo at quarterback and wide receiver Dez Bryant ready for a truly great season. With the 49ers defense expected to struggle compared to the last few years the opening 15 minutes couldn't have been more of a surprise. Fumble returns, interceptions, incomplete passes, it all went wrong for the Cowboys and in reality the score could have been a lot worse. Bryant also had to go off for dehydration which scuppered any realistic chance of a comeback. 

Denver Broncos 31-24 Indianapolis Colts
Peyton Manning led the Broncos to a 24-0 lead with three touchdown passes to tight end Julius Thomas. With Andrew Luck throwing two interceptions before finding his groove in the second half, it was too little too late. The Colts were unable to take advantage of multiple chances to make a real game of it and showed the same frailties on the offensive line and rush defense as last year.

JJ Watt celebrating a sack on RG3

Other headlines included a couple of overtime wins for the Falcons (against the Saints led by Drew Brees) and the Bills (a surprise win at the Bears with Jay Cutler misfiring and Alshon Jeffrey going off injured). Last year the Kansas City Chiefs started with a 9-0 record but started this season with a tame loss at home to the pretty weak Titans. Robert Griffin III struggled again, although admittedly up against the mighty JJ Watt coming for him. It could have been worse as well if top draft pick Jadeveon Clowney hadn't gone off injured.

This coming week, look out for Broncos slaughtering the Chiefs, Rodgers finding his mojo at home to the Jets and the Colts Eagles game on Monday night racking up 70-80 points.