By Max Ferguson, Staff Writer
The third week of NFL play has concluded, and the NFL landscape has completely flipped on its head from last year. Teams that seemed invincible last year have become unrecognizable. Likewise, an outstanding draft class this year has shaken up the league even further. This third week of NFL football has brought us new contenders, huge upsets and incredible performances from consistent titans of the game. Here’s a recap of what happened from week three of the NFL season.
Miami’s Quarterback Trouble
In week two versus the Buffalo Bills, Tua Tagovailoa suffered his third career concussion. The concussion landed him on the Dolphins’ Injured Reserve list. Skylar Thompson, the next quarterback on the depth chart stepped up to run the Dolphins offense in their week three duel against the Seattle Seahawks.
However, a lack of starting experience in tandem with an impeccable performance from Seattle’s defense ended leaving the Dolphins with only three points scored the entire game. Miami’s receiving corps, composed of some of the fastest men to ever play organized football, is useless if the quarterback cannot get the ball into their hands. This loss was not entirely Miami’s fault.
It appears as if new head coach Mike Macdonald is trying to recreate Pittsburgh’s steel curtain. In this outing, the Seahawks only allowed 186 passing yards from bench QBs Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle. Seattle was equally effective at containing the run game as De’Von Achane only recorded 30 yards on 11 carries the whole game.
Mike McDaniel is going to need to adapt accordingly to the circumstances he has been handed. Unless the Dolphins make a desperation trade for a new QB1, which they’ll certainly lose on, they’ll need to write a more comprehensive running playbook. Seattle is not the only defense they’ll need to worry about.
Teams like the Jets, 49ers, and Raiders will all be looking to replicate the same suffocation the Seahawks imposed. On the other hand, this has been the strongest defensive start from a team since the steel curtain. The Seahawks currently stand at 3-0 and have held their opposing quarterbacks to less than 150 passing yards in all three matchups. This feat has not been accomplished since 1979.
If the Seahawks can maintain defensive superiority, there should not be much to add to the L column of their record.
The Carolina Panthers Have Won A Football Game
After an 0-2 start led by former first round pick Bryce Young, Andy Dalton was called to start at quarterback in the Panthers week three matchup versus the Las Vegas Raiders. In doing so, he may have breathed new life into a downtrodden Panthers team. Even against an elite defense led by Maxx Crosby, Dalton had a field day. He threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns.
He completed 26 of his 37 attempts throughout his domination of the air with zero interceptions. Likewise, on the ground, Chuba Hubbard had the game of his life. On the ground, he rushed for 114 yards on 21 carries. From the air, he caught for 55 yards on five catches, including one touchdown.
If they can continue to play at this level, things could turn around for them. Their success will be tested as they face tough teams in both the Bengals, led by Super Bowl Champion Joe Burrow, and the Bears, led by 2024’s No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. The Raiders are not to be dismissed though. Even though they came short, the Raiders still showed promise as a team. Gardner Minshew was able to find targets in receivers Tre Tucker and Jakobi Meyers as well as tight end Brock Bowers. Even with his interception, Minshew is definitely an improvement over Jimmy Garrapolo and will grow into the role comfortably.
The Broncos Upset The Bucs
Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos went to Tampa to upset the Buccaneers at home. Baker Mayfield had an abysmal passing game, only throwing for 163 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Mayfield’s lone passing touchdown to Chris Godwin was Tampa Bay’s lone score of the game. Mayfield has been wildly inconsistent, if he is concerned about either his job security or the Buccaneers’ record, he’ll need to bounce back and play like he did in week one versus the Commanders, an arguably better team.
He has the depth chart to do so as well. Mike Evans and Rachaad White should be frequent targets for Mayfield, yet they didn’t connect much at all in this game. Now that Sean Payon has a quarterback who he doesn’t hate, expect the Broncos to look completely different compared to when Russell Wilson was QB1. Wilson’s departure from Denver looks like it has sparked a positive attitude adjustment across the team. The Broncos 1-2 record ought to improve now that they’ve hit a groove. They certainly haven’t been bad either. The two games they lost were both extremely close against two strong teams.
The 49ers Struggle With Missing Pieces
The San Francisco 49ers lost a close game against the Rams 24-27. With Deebo Samuel Sr. out, Brock Purdy was down two men to throw to. Nevertheless, he still had 292 passing yards and three touchdowns. Even so, a big scoring campaign by the rams led to them coming out on top. There were more pressing matters for the 49ers as on August 31, devastating news came out that rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest in an attempted robbery.
Thankfully, Ricky Pearsall survived the attempt on his life and is recovering. Needless to say, everybody on the 49ers and the football community as a whole is grateful that Pearsall survived in what is nothing short of a miracle.
Jayden Daniels Legacy Game
The underdog Washington Commanders traveled to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals at home. Led by the rookie out of LSU Jayden Daniels, the Commanders shocked the NFL by winning on the road. Jayden Daniels was nearly perfect on the night by completing 21 of the 23 passing attempts he took. Undoubtedly the most memorable moment of the game was Terry McLaurin’s touchdown reception to put the Commanders in the lead in the fourth quarter.
The 27 yard throw-and-catch was nothing short of amazing. This game has undoubtedly propelled Daniels into rookie of the year discussions, and he is familiar with accolades. In 2023, Daniels won the Heisman Trophy, college football’s highest honor. More is to be expected out of him as he leads the Commanders to what could be their best season in years. Daniels isn’t the only new face in Washington. New ownership in the form of Josh Harris is also sparking positive change in the front office. The pair will seek to improve culture both on the field and in administration as they try to get the Commanders out of the wildcard round for the first time in over 15 years.
This NFL season has been nothing short of entertaining. With the college NIL era’s first batch of rookies combined with more offseason shakeup compared to usual, expect even more madness from weeks to come in this NFL season. In week four, expect a barn burner as two midwest rivals, the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings compete at Lambeau.
The Jets will take on the Broncos in a week as well. Both of these teams have a chip on their shoulders, they’ll try to make the rest of the league take notice in a gritty matchup as both of these teams feel they’ve been doubted for too long. These two games are just a fraction of the action that is to come in a fresh slate of NFL games this coming week.
