By John Clayton, Special To The Washington Post
The third week of the NFL season didn’t just defy the odds — it was flat-out weird. Despite being 16-and-a-half-point underdogs, the blew out the , 27-6, after being the worst team in football the first two weeks. The , one of the worst three teams in football the first week, dominated the , 23-10. In total, six of the 14 games Sunday were won by underdogs.
It was crazy. And it also revealed an important lesson: There are no great NFL teams this season — at least not yet.
The most likely exceptions to this rule are the and Los Angeles Rams, both of which improved to 3-0 with impressive wins Sunday. But don’t lull yourself into thinking both teams are automatically heading to 13- or 14-win seasons. Just look at their schedules. The Rams faced the Vikings on Thursday and they might be without their two best cornerbacks, Marcus Peters and , as both suffered ankle injuries in Sunday’s win over the Chargers. After that, they draw the dreaded three-week road schedule — at Seattle, at Denver and at San Francisco. That’s followed by a home game against Green Bay and a road trip to New Orleans.
The Chiefs face similar problems. They play at Denver Monday night, host Jacksonville, play at New England and then play Cincinnati and Denver.
“It’s tough in the National Football League to win games,” Chiefs Coach Andy Reid said after his 38-27 win over San Francisco.
It’s particularly tough in the first month of the season. A week ago, the Packers-Vikings tie defined the current league. It had roughing-the-passer controversies, high-powered offenses, missed field goals, overtime problems and more. On Sunday, they played like two teams with empty gas tanks. They were down, 24-0, 18 minutes into the game.
“It was probably as poor of a first half as I’ve seen in quite a while,” Vikings Coach Mike Zimmer said. “We didn’t get anything done offensively. Special teams, we made a lot of mistakes. Defensively, we allowed the quarterback to get out and scramble and we turned a couple guys loose in coverage again today.”
As bad as it was for the Vikings, things might have been worse for the Packers in their 31-17 loss to the Redskins. complicated his knee injury by now having a hamstring injury to go with it. This quote from Packers Coach Mike McCarthy is scary.
“I mean, he’s going to be done with this for a while,” McCarthy said about Rodgers. “He gutted it out and moved out of the pocket, more than I like, but I mean he’s . . . I really don’t know the extent probably until Monday.”
Rodgers will gut things out and find a way to stay on the field, but he’s going to struggle if he doesn’t get support from the running game, and the offensive line is now banged up, too, with right tackle Bryan Bulaga suffering a back injury and right guard Justin McCray hurting his shoulder. Meanwhile, both Minnesota and Green Bay trail the 2-1 , current leaders of the NFC North.
Another NFC contender with reason for worry? The Atlanta Falcons, who previously lost defensive starters Keanu Neal and Deion Jones for the season with injuries, and saw throw for 396 yards in the Saints’ overtime victory. They are 1-2 and in last place in the NFC South, which looks to have two strong teams in the Saints and Panthers, and maybe even a third in the surprising Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The AFC contenders have their fair share of issues, as well, starting with the Patriots. They were hopeless in their 26-10 loss to the Detroit Lions. Trade pickup was inactive because of his hamstring injury. has one more game to serve on his suspension. completed 14 of 26 for 133 yards and had only five completions for 43 yards to wide receivers.
Even worse, the Patriots looked like a team that lacked playmakers on defense. threw for 262 yards and a Lions offense that struggled to run the football had 159 yards on the ground.
“We didn’t do a good-enough job in any area,” said.
If the Patriots lose to the Dolphins next week, they could be three games behind them in the AFC East. That’s remarkable, given that Miami was projected during the preseason to be a six- or seven-win team.
The Jaguars put themselves atop the AFC with last week’s home win over the Patriots, then turned around and lost a home game, 9-6, to a Titans team that started and went to a banged-up after Gabbert was knocked out of the game. The loss pointed to and the offense.
“I think especially the way our defense is and the way they play, we have to score one touchdown and win the game,” said Bortles, who threw for just 155 yards and was sacked three times. “To score six points in four quarters. That’s bad as an offense.”
Leaguewide, the NFL stands for No Firm Leader.
Quick hits from around the NFL:
— The NFL’s effort to add safety protection for quarterbacks continues to draw criticism. There were nine personal foul calls for roughing the quarterback, bringing the season total to 30. And once again, Clay Matthews of the Packers was the headliner. Last week, his penalty for a hit on wiped out an interception that would have clinched a victory over the Vikings.
In the loss to the Redskins, Matthews was flagged for another questionable hit. Before this season, Matthews had only four roughing the passing penalties during his career. He has three in the past two weeks.
“Unfortunately, this league is going in a direction I think a lot of people don’t like,” Matthews said. “I think they’re getting soft. The only thing hard about this league is the fines that they levy down on guys like me that play the game hard.”
— The Earl Thomas story keeps getting weirder. Thomas executed what is being called a “hold in” by skipping two practices last week for the Seahawks. He wants a contract extension or a trade to a team like the . On Sunday, Thomas had two interceptions and played an exceptional game in a 24-13 victory over the Cowboys.
After the second interception, he turned to the Cowboys sidelines and gave a bow, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty for taunting. The interception all but sealed the Seahawks first win of the season.
According to people with knowledge of the trade discussions, at one point the Cowboys might have been willing to give the Seahawks a second-round choice for Thomas. The Seahawks want more.
Thomas’ play on the field has been sensational. But he is clearly going to do things his way if he doesn’t get a contract extension from the Seahawks.
“I need to make sure my body is 100 percent,” Thomas said about his willingness to miss practices. “I’m investing in myself, if they are investing in me. I would be out there practicing. But I feel like if anything, I don’t give a damn if it’s small. I got a headache. I’m not practicing.”
Before the game, security guards in CenturyLink Field were told to let Thomas’s wife to come to the Cowboys’ sidelines. Now that the Cowboys game is behind them, the Seahawks will have to determine if the Thomas distraction is too much.
— The Jimmy Garoppolo injury is a game-changer for the 49ers. If they felt like they were a playoff team, they might have considered a trade for Le’Veon Bell to help regain the running attack following ‘s season-ending injury. Instead, this is likely another rebuilding year for the team, which will start C.J. Beathard if Garoppolo is in fact done for the year.
“Anytime you lose your starting quarterback, that is a big deal,” 49ers coach said. “It was when we lost our starting running back [McKinnon]. So obviously I feel for him personally. I know how disappointed he is. I feel for him.”
— Week 3 was a good one for the league’s young quarterbacks. of the Bills beat the Vikings. came off the bench Thursday night to beat the Jets and will be named the ‘ starter Monday. , who was put in during the final minutes of Arizona’s loss to Chicago, is closer to a starting job after the Cardinals’ 0-3 start and poor offensive production under .
