Ty's NFL Quick Hits: Week 3

Week 3 will be in the books after tonight, and I'm back for some takes. Lets go.

First off, I do not know what roughing is anymore. I mean, Clay Matthews sacked Alex Smith, it was like any sack that has ever sacked before in the NFL, and he somehow, some way got called for roughing. Now, that was not the reason the Packers got beat, there are plenty others. But, that penalty was atrocious. I do not know what else Matthews could have done these past 2 weeks to make a cleaner tackle. The way he hit both Smith and Cousins is the way I was taught while playing youth through high school football. They were picture perfect tackles. The same thing happened in the Cowboys-Seahawks game. Hell, a Dolphin defender tore his ACL trying to adhere to the new tackling rules. The NFL has another big time problem on their hands, and it is this new roughing call. The game will be flag football before we know it.

Getting back to the Packers-Washington game, what a dud by my team. Rodgers looks much more hurt than he is letting on. The defense can't stop the run or the pass. And Washington jumped all over it. That game was a 2 TD lead before I could blink. The Packers need to figure some stuff out. Good for Washington taking advantage and getting the win.

The Titans-Jags game was an aberration to my eye balls. The final was 9-6. Marcus Mariota had to replace Blaine Gabbart. Blake Bortles looked like Blake Bortles. He is the only player on that team that has me worried about my Super Bowl pick. That was worse than a Thursday night game.

The Chiefs sure look great though. They are the opposite of the Jags. They can score and score and score. Patrick Mahomes just keeps doing great things. He added another 3 TD passes. Kareem Hunt ran in 2. This team can play offense. Their defense leaves something to be desired. They let the 49ers hang around until Jimmy Garropolo tore his knee apart. He is done for the year, and a team that some were high on, not me, are now officially toast with Jimmy G out. They aren't going to win many game with CJ Beathard at QB.

The Saints and Falcons game was exciting as hell. There was no defense played, but that is what I have come to expect when these 2 matchup. Drew Brees is still amazing. Alvin Kamara is phenomenal. Thomas is one hell of a receiver. On the other side, Matt Ryan balled the hell out. He looked like himself from 2 years ago. He was spreading the ball out and got everyone involved. They ran the ball well too. The only reason I think the Saints won was because they had the ball last.

Carolina looked pretty dominant over the suspect 2-0 Bengals. The Panthers ran wherever they wanted, and when Cam had to throw, he nailed his receivers. I feel like the Bengals we saw yesterday is closer to who they really are as a team. They looked rough, and Dalton seems to have already lost his "magic" from the first 2 games.

Another suspect 2-0 team was brought back down to Earth yesterday, the Broncos. The Ravens absolutely dominated that game. Joe Flacco looked solid, their run game was great and the defense was smothering. Case Keenum doesn't look like he will be bringing any of that magic from last season to Denver.

Speaking of Keenum's old team, what the hell was that showing from the Vikings? They gave up 27, 17 in the first quarter, to the Bills, at home. The Vikings defense, claimed by me, is the best in the league, and they made Josh Allen look like a top 10 QB. I was shocked most by the outcome of that game. Also, the 84 million dollar man, Kirk Cousins, didn't look great. This was a game that would scare me if I were a Vikings fan. They looked real bad. Some good needs to be said about Buffalo too. I mean, they looked to be the worst team after 2 weeks, but they went into Minnesota and won every single facet of that game. The sun shines on even bad teams sometimes, and the Bills had that luxury yesterday. That may be 1 of 2 or 3 wins they get this year.

The Bears won again, but it wasn't pretty. The Bears are starting to remind me a ton of the Jags. They have this great defense, led by Khalil Mack. That dude is amazing. I love watching him play. I don't like the Bears, but Mack is must watch TV. On offense, they have a great run game, but QB is the problem. Mitch Trubisky looks real bad. He looks nervous. When he has to go off script, he just seems uncomfortable. That is where the Jags comparison comes into play. Is Trubsiky the new Bortles? It looks that way right now. And man oh man are the Cardinals bad. They finally, mercifully, turned to Josh Rosen, but he had no shot yesterday. That team is in a bad way, and it looks like it will take awhile to get back to relevance.

Another team that might have to start panicking is the Texans. They have looked abysmal the first 3 weeks. They let the Giants control the game. The Giants were able to kind of do what they wanted. Barkley had his best game as a pro. Eli Manning looked fine. Their O line blocked enough. The Texans offense is in trouble, and I do not blame Watson. Sure, he made some poor throws yesterday, but he has no run game and his O line might be the worst in the league. The Texans need to do something quick to fix this team, or they might have a real long, long season.

Same goes for the Raiders. I'd be so disgusted with Jon Gruden after three games, and they signed him to a 10 year deal! I know it is only 3 games, but it looks like the game has clearly passed him by. Everyone can see it, except for him. The Raiders have so much talent, on paper, but they are a poorly coached football team, and they traded away Mack for peanuts. Their opponent, the Dolphins, are the surprise of the early season. They are 3-0, winning games with their defense, run game and letting Ryan Tannehill be a game manager. They are playing sound and smart football. I just wish they didn't lose their D lineman because of that stupid new "roughing" rule.

The Rams clearly proved they are the only team in LA anyone should care about. The Chargers have not looked good in the first 3 weeks, so I hope the talk of this team being a threat stops now. As far as the Rams, I mean, they haven't even been challenged yet. They look like they are barely breaking a sweat. Goff and Gurley are killing it. Their defense is playing great, considering all the new guys they signed this offseason. They are, far and away, the best team in the NFL right now.

I do not care at all about the Seahawks-Cowboys game. I despise both those teams.

To end the night, we had Detroit-New England. What is going on with the Patriots? I know it is never smart to count them out and they most likely will figure it out, and probably win their division still, but they looked horrid last night. Tom Brady might want to stop pointing fingers at others, and focus on his very poor play these first three weeks. He has looked bad, but he is blaming everyone else. That is a bad look. Detroit totally dominated them last night. Matt Stafford looked solid. He hit open receivers for the first time this year. But what helped him most, the Lions finally had a rusher go for over 100 yards in, I believe, 5 seasons. They may have finally found a solid running back. And their defense shut down the Patriots last night. Matt Patricia is a total scumbag, but I bet he was thrilled to beat 2 equal scumbags, Bill Belichek and Josh McDaniels. The Patriots look real bad right now though. Also, I will tell Lions fans to temper their excitement. This was one game, albeit against a good team, but this is what they do. They show flashes, and then crash back down to Earth.

The main thing I learned from week 3 overall, and it is the same as last week, the Rams are the class of the NFL. Until they get challenged, that will not change. That does it for week 3.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is trying to teach his son to tackle, but tackle with your words and not your body. Maybe that is the key for NFL defenses.

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