NFL Week 4: Bears Pull Off MNF Win, and Grades For All 32 Performances In Week 3
Week 3 had everything from offensive shoot-outs to defensive struggles, from fourth quarter comebacks to devastating blowouts. Week 3 was full of division match-ups that ended in dramatic, nail-biting fashion.
This is where we really start to find out who teams are, what they do, what to expect from them for the rest of the season, and so forth. Of course, teams will spend the remainder of the season either enforcing or denying our claims, but there's no denying what's already taken place.
Here are my thoughts on team grades for Week 3 of the 2010 NFL season.
Arizona Cardinals
1 of 32
Let's get this straight: the Cardinals didn't win this game.
If anything, they did everything in their power to hand this game to the Raiders. Had Sebastian Janikowski made any one of three—yes, three uncharacteristic misses, the Raiders would have prevailed.
Derek Anderson still looks unsettled as the Cardinals starting quarterback, completing less than 50 percent of his passes despite throwing two touchdowns against Oakland. Even without Beanie Wells' 24-yard scamper, he gained 51 yards on 13 carries for almost four yards per carry.
An embarrassing statistic for the Cardinals: they nearly gained as much per rush play as they did per pass play. Want evidence of an ugly, lucky win? Look no further.
Overall grade: C
Atlanta Falcons
2 of 32
Call it luck, call it a fluke, call it whatever you want, but the Falcons are satisfied with simply calling it a win.
It wasn't pretty, but it was a gutsy win over the Saints, a preseason favorite to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.
417 yards of offense on the road against the New Orleans Saints is pretty hard to accomplish, especially to do so without an interception. The Falcons were able to stuff the rush attack, frustrating Pierre Thomas on 9 carries by only allowing him to travel 30 yards.
There was nothing flashy about it, but it's hard not to be impressed with the competitive fire of the Falcons.
Overall grade: A-
Baltimore Ravens
3 of 32
In Week 1, the Ravens defense eked out a win against the New York Jets. This week, it was the offense that compensated for a defense that was conspicuous by its absence against its perennial punching bag, the Cleveland Browns.
Running back Peyton Hillis, who has been the lone ray of hope in another dismal season for the Cleveland Browns, trampled the Ravens defense for 144 yards and a touchdown on just 22 carries for over six yards per carry. The no-offense, all-defense Ravens of old would have balked at such a stat line, and would have probably lost the game.
But Joe Flacco hooked up with his new toy, Anquan Boldin, eight times for 142 yards and three touchdowns, proving that while defense may win championships, offense wins games.
The trendy Super Bowl pick proved that they can do just that.
Overall grade: B+
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Buffalo Bills
4 of 32
The Buffalo Bills have been the perennial doormat for the New England Patriots for much of the past decade, and now sit at a devastating 1-16 vs. their division rival in the past 17 meetings.
Still, the Bills played with everything they had, and refused to go down without a fight. It's hard for any defense not to get lit up by Tom Brady and the Patriots, but the offense responded by generating yards and points at the right time to keep the Bills in the game to the very end.
Many people, myself included, were expecting a blowout at Gillette Stadium, but the Bills put on quite a show.
Overall grade: B-
Carolina Panthers
5 of 32
Luckily Jimmy Clausen's not the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles or the Oakland Raiders, because his bad performance over the six-quarter span that he's played would have him benched in those cities.
He wasn't getting much help from the rushing attack, either, which was held to just 77 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
The Panthers came up with a couple of key stops thanks to a pair of interceptions from Charles Godfrey and Captain Munnerlyn. Other than that, there's not much positive to draw from this loss. The Panthers better get back to work, quick.
How's this for a scary stat: The Carolina Panthers have three touchdowns and 12 turnovers in their first three games, all losses.
Overall grade: F
Chicago Bears
6 of 32
Jay Cutler had a nice day for himself with almost 260 total yards, and led the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter over the Green Bay Packers. He only had one touchdown and one interception, but his confidence and poise in the pocket come through more and more week after week.
The Bears didn't do a great job of containing the pass attack, but they stopped the Packers rush attack and forced them to go one-dimensional, with 45 throws from Aaron Rodgers.
Still, it was Devin Hester who stole the show with his first punt return for a touchdown in two years. He is still ridiculous.
The Bears showed that they're for real, and can contend with top teams in the league after taking down both the Cowboys and the Packers in consecutive weeks.
Overall grade: A-
Cincinnati Bengals
7 of 32
Carson Palmer continues not to cost the Bengals the game for the second week in a row, despite throwing two interceptions. The offense came out as flat as day-old soda, but managed to eke out a win. The only big contributor was Cedric Benson, who had two touchdowns including his first receiving touchdown of his career.
The Bengals defense held the Panthers to just seven points, but it's a wonder whether the Bengals stopped them or the Panthers stopped themselves.
The game didn't have any eye-popping stat lines, but the Panthers won the same way they did last week, the same way they did most of last season, by grinding it out in an ugly slugfest.
Overall grade: C+
Cleveland Browns
8 of 32
Peyton Hillis has a ton of promise, but his work alone hasn't been enough to lift the Browns to victory yet this season.
The Ravens usually laugh at anyone who even suggests that an opposing running back can cross the century mark against them, yet Hillis gashed the Ravens for an unprecedented 144 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
The Browns defense got taken out to the woodshed by the Ravens newly-equipped pass attack, streamlined by the addition of Anquan Boldin who tore the Browns apart for three touchdowns.
Eric Mangini's seat is getting warmer and warmer with each passing loss. How long before Holmgren steps in and addresses things?
Overall grade: C-
Dallas Cowboys
9 of 32
Everything finally clicked for the Dallas Cowboys, who shook the demons of their 0-2 start and impressed in their road win over the Houston Texans.
The Cowboys defense held the high-powered Houston offense to just 13 points despite giving up a good chunk of yardage (340). The effort was helped by two second-half interceptions off Matt Schaub, including the one to seal the game on Houston's final offensive play of the game.
The game was never really as close as the score suggests. The defense stifled the Texans, who didn't score a touchdown until 1:15 remained in the game, and at that point, it was far too little, far too late.
Tony Romo has probably never been so happy to get into the victory formation.
Overall grade: A-
Denver Broncos
10 of 32
The Broncos dreadful defense was easy pickings for Peyton Manning and crew. Did anyone really think firing Mike Nolan was a wonderful idea?
Kyle Orton may have piled on the yardage, but with only one touchdown, it just looks like he's the latest quarterback in Josh McDaniels' pass-first, pass-second, pass-third offense. And I know the rush attack wasn't getting much, but 57 throws?
Jabar Gaffney was the team's best offensive weapon on Sunday, pulling in 12 receptions for 140 yards. The Colts were perfectly content letting Gaffney go up and down the field on them, as he didn't record a touchdown.
The Broncos are a mystery, and even with this performance from Orton, it may not be long before the Broncos start calling for Tim Tebow.
Overall grade: D-
Detroit Lions
11 of 32
There was so much reason for optimism after the Detroit Lions' first two losses came by just a combined eight points. Although the Lions still have time to turn their 0-3 start around into a respectable season, people can forget about them being a "surprise team" as they were considered all offseason.
The Detroit Lions were able to force two interceptions off Brett Favre, but the Vikings equalled that defensive output against Shawn Hill.
Jahvid Best, who had been everything for the Detroit offense in their first two games, was completely shut down against the vaunted Vikings defense, rushing for only 26 yards on seven attempts, and adding 13 yards on two receptions.
Getting trampled by Adrian Peterson is nothing new for the Lions, though it sure can't feel good to give up seven yards per carry to Minnesota's feature back.
Overall grade: D-
Green Bay Packers
12 of 32
Blame it on play-calling. Blame it on a late dropped interception.
But before you blame it on either, think about the 17 penalties Green Bay incurred during the game for a whopping 152 yards.
A team that many were picking for a run at the Super Bowl can't be victimized by such a lack of discipline.
The Packers have all the components, both a high-powered offense and an in-your-face defense. They just need to stop the dumb mistakes and put everything together to keep themselves in contention.
Overall grade: C-
Houston Texans
13 of 32
The Houston Texans went up by a field goal to start the game, but that was the last positive that they remember. The defense was torched by Roy Williams and Tony Romo, as was expected of the league's worst pass defense (368 yards per game).
The Texans potent pass attack couldn't get off the ground on Sunday against the Cowboys, as they were held without a touchdown until the final 1:15 of the game, when Matt Schaub finally connected with Ken Walter on a seven-yard strike. Other than that, two big interceptions nullified nearly all the positives of Arian Foster's big day on the ground.
The Houston Texans remain a mystery after their first hot start in a long time sputtered out at the hands of the Cowboys. One thing is for certain: they hope their offense gets back on track, quick.
Overall grade: D-
Indianapolis Colts
14 of 32
Kyle Orton was a little more like Peyton Manning than usual, but Peyton Manning is more like himself than anyone else. 300 yards and three touchdowns is par for the course from the four-time NFL MVP.
The Colts had an anemic rush offense, but it didn't matter with Manning hooking up with his new favorite target, BYU boy Austin Collie 12 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
The defense contained Laurence Maroney and the rush attack, although they gave up significant yardage to Orton, who had a career-best 476 passing yards but only one touchdown to show for it against a Colts defense that is vicious when they have the lead.
Overall grade: A
Jacksonville Jaguars
15 of 32
Talk about a team in shambles, the Jacksonville Jaguars set the bar.
Their secondary has now been ripped to shreds in all three games, even in their win over the Denver Broncos in Week 1.
David Garrard, benched last week after throwing four picks against the Chargers, looked even worse against the Eagles despite only throwing one interception to Asante Samuel. He went 13-of-30 for 105 yards, the pick, and a devastating six sacks against an Eagles defense that had only five sacks in its previous two games.
What's worse (wait, it gets worse?), Maurice Jones-Drew, the lone offensive threat for the Jaguars, has yet to break 100 yards rushing and has yet to break the plane for a touchdown. Heads may roll in Jacksonville this offseason if things don't turn around in a hurry.
Overall grade: F
Kansas City Chiefs
16 of 32
Nobody thought we'd be looking at the 3-0 Kansas City Chiefs leading the division after three weeks, but that's exactly what we have after an impressive win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Unlike their previous two wins, the Chiefs flat-out dominated their opponent in all three phases of the game. Matt Cassel looked like the franchise quarterback the Chiefs signed him to be back in 2009, throwing for 250 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
In classic balanced offense style, the two-headed rush attack of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles absolutely shredded what many considered to be the top defense going into this year, slapping the 49ers upside the head for 192 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries for a ridiculous six yards per carry.
The defense, meanwhile, looked like they should have been wearing New England Patriots uniforms from back in the early 2000's. They held Frank Gore under three yards per carry and forced Alex Smith to throw 42 times.
It would still be nice for the Chiefs to win in convincing fashion over a team that has done some...convincing this season, but this being their first 3-0 start since 2003, I think the Chiefs will take it any way they can get it.
Overall grade: A-
Miami Dolphins
17 of 32
The Dolphins took the gloves off of their young signal-caller, cutting Chad Henne loose for 26-of-44 passes going for 363 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
Interestingly enough, it was the defense that couldn't deliver after previously holding both of its prior opponents to 10 points apiece.
The Dolphins pass rush wasn't getting very close at all to Mark Sanchez, failing to generate a single sack or interception on the game.
Their offense proved some of its potency, but they'll have to be on point on defense against the New England Patriots on Monday night.
Overall grade: C
Minnesota Vikings
18 of 32
Vikings fans can take their finger off the panic alarm, unless they're not convinced by a two-touchdown victory over the Detroit Lions.
Adrian Peterson had a monster performance with two touchdowns, including an 80-yard scamper in which he ran through nearly the entire defense on his way to the end zone. Let's just say there's a reason they call him "All Day".
Brett Favre, however, had another questionable outing, going 23-of-34 for 103 yards, a touchdown, and two picks. His touchdown throw to Percy Harvin was beautiful, but the old gunslinger proved to be just that.
The Vikings defense had another stifling performance, but this time, the offense gave the appropriate "run support".
Overall grade: B+
New England Patriots
19 of 32
Tom Brady is a future Hall of Famer, and is playing like this season is his last chance to prove it. Already, he has completed 66 of 98 attempts for 758 yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions, for a 109.1 passer rating.
The defense, however, continues to play as if its their job to allow the opposing team to march all the way up the field. They did a good job of holding the Bills to field goals, but that gets lost in the two touchdowns from Ryan Fitzpatrick and the kick return by CJ Spiller.
2-1 has never been such cause for concern as it currently is for the New England Patriots right now.
Overall grade: B
New Orleans Saints
20 of 32
Were it not for the worst performance of Garrett Hartley's young career, the Saints would have had a chance to win Sunday's game vs. the Falcons.
It was a back-and-forth game from the start, with the two teams alternating scores for much of the game. The Saints defense, however, just looked silly by giving up 417 yards at home.
On top of that, the Saints haven't rushed the ball with any sense of urgency or consistency. In fact, they ran less than half as many rush plays as passes, and remain the league's worst rush offense.
This is just a small bump in the road for New Orleans, who somehow manages to still look like a championship team even in a loss.
Overall grade: C
New York Giants
21 of 32
The Giants looked like the dominant team of 2008 in their home opener against the Carolina Panthers, but such hasn't been the case since then. They out-gained the Titans by 200 yards in Sunday's game, but several blown plays and bad decisions cost the Giants on a few big opportunities.
Eli Manning had 386 yards through the air against the Titans, but none of those yards mean a thing when you fail to get it in the end zone and turn the ball over on one of the stupidest throws into the end zone I've ever seen any quarterback make, what appeared to be a left-handed falling shovel pass toward Kevin Boss and four Titans defenders.
Ahmad Bradshaw had 88 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown, but his performance was also overshadowed by a fumble at the five-yard line.
Overall grade: D+
New York Jets
22 of 32
Mark Sanchez looks more and more like the "Sanchize" that he's been so lovingly called in his time in New York, despite his inability to prove that moniker true in his rookie season.
With two straight three-touchdown performances, the Jets are learning quickly that they don't have to rely on the prowess of their top-ranked defense (though having it as back-up certainly doesn't hurt). Despite giving up 23 points and 436 yards, stats that would have doomed the 2009 version of the team, the Jets were able to pile up enough points and yards to win the game.
The Jets running backs added 106 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries to prove that even though their defense is a juggernaut, their offense is no joke.
Overall grade: B+
Oakland Raiders
23 of 32
The name of the game for the Raiders on Sunday was penalties. Well, that and missed field goals. Sebastian Janikowski was uncharacteristically inaccurate, going 3-for-6 on the day.
Another respectable outing for Darren McFadden was quieted by those misses, despite taking 25 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown.
But it wasn't all Janikowski. Several key incompletions by another "kowski", Bruce Gradkowski, held the Raiders to just 4-of-15 on third down. Losing rhythm like that doesn't usually spell a win. Losing to the Cardinals, who somehow get by despite a broken wing, doesn't help the matter.
Overall grade: C-
Pittsburgh Steelers
24 of 32
So much for no offensive firepower. The Steelers laid the wood to the Buccaneers, whose defense had done well against the Matt Moore-led Carolina Panthers and Seneca Wallace-led Cleveland Browns. So you thought the Charlie Batch-led Steelers would be more of the same, right?
Wrong.
In Batch's first start since 2007, the 35-year-old quarterback made a huge impact with three touchdown passes, two of them to Mike Wallace. Rashard Mendenhall continued his bid for the NFL's rushing leader with 143 yards and a 7.5 yard-per-carry average.
Oh yeah, the second-ranked defense held the Bucs without a touchdown until less than two minutes remained in the game. At that point, it looked as though the Steelers escorted LeGarrette Blount into the end zone out of pity.
If the Steelers continue to get this level of play out of the team without Ben Roethlisberger, who knows, maybe they won't have to start their troubled quarterback when he returns after all?
Grade: A
Philadelphia Eagles
25 of 32
Still think Michael Vick was a bad choice at quarterback?
Okay, maybe feasting on the Jacksonville Jaguars lowly 29th ranked defense isn't much of a feat, but Ron Mexico himself accounted for all four of Philadelphia's touchdowns against the Jags, including 17-of-31 completions and 291 yards through the air, and four rush attempts for 30 yards.
With that, next weeks showdown with Donovan McNabb and the Redskins just got a lot more interesting.
The Eagles held Jacksonville's offense to just 184 total yards and a field goal.
This was a great performance for the Eagles, even though it came against a team they had no business doing anything less against.
Overall grade: A-
San Diego Chargers
26 of 32
We've seen this face before. This is the face Philip Rivers makes every year when the Chargers get off to a slow start. That's been their MO under head coach Norv Turner.
Rivers had two interceptions in the fourth quarter, including one on the Chargers' last offensive drive of the game.
So far, teams that throw the ball more than 50 times in a game are 0-2. It may have helped if Norv Turner hadn't completely ignored the run, especially with Mike Tolbert gaining upwards of four yards per carry. At the end of the second quarter, three straight incompletions gave the Seahawks the ball back, which they promptly took down the field for a touchdown.
The defense played well enough to win, it was poor play-calling on offense and the lack of execution on special teams that hurt the Chargers in the end.
Overall grade: D+
San Francisco 49ers
27 of 32
San Francisco 49ers and NFL Featured Columnist Mihir Bhagat says:
"After taking it to the wire against the defending Super Bowl champions on Monday Night Football last week, I thought the San Francisco 49ers were on the rise.
Unfortunately, they went right back to their dysfunctional ways in a 31-10 beating by the Kansas City Chiefs.
On offense, I blame their inefficiency on third downs, poor play-calling, and terrible pass protection. On the other side of the ball, the surrender of big plays and inability to generate a pass rush contributed to their dismal performance.
Honestly, the only reason I didn't give this team an F is because Nate Clements, Patrick Willis, and Frank Gore had solid yet unspectacular outings.
This team is in serious trouble, and change is needed unless they're looking to fail the 2010 season.
Overall grade: D-"
My take: The 49ers came into the season with huge expectations to win the division over the Kurt Warner-less Cardinals, but who thought they'd lose to the Kansas City Chiefs? They need to make change somewhere before it's too late.
Seattle Seahawks
28 of 32
The Seattle Seahawks made more adjustments to their starting roster than any other team this offseason. Their most important acquisition Sunday wasn't a starter at all, but it was kick return specialist Leon Washington.
Let's just say I'm glad he's not running kicks back against the Patriots anymore.
The defense did well against Philip Rivers and the high-powered San Diego Chargers offense, forcing two interceptions and a 55 percent completion rate from the Pro Bowl quarterback.
It wasn't an impressive day for the offense, which accounted for just 13 of Seattle's 27 points. The Seahawks are a surprise at 2-1, but they'll take a win however they can get it, especially against a preseason contender.
Overall grade: B+
St. Louis Rams
29 of 32
No Steven Jackson in the fourth quarter was no problem for the St. Louis Rams, who rode Sam "The Ram" Bradford for 235 yards and a touchdown. He wasn't deadly like at Oklahoma, but he was efficient, completing 23-of-37 attempts.
In the absence of Jackson, Kenneth Darby carved the Redskins defense for 49 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries.
The Rams defense did what they had to when they had to do it, holding the Redskins to three field goals within the red zone.
Don't convince yourselves that the Rams are a contender this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if they turn things around sooner than later.
Overall grade: C+
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30 of 32
This is just about the only good-looking sight Buccaneers fans witnessed on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium against the Steelers. And suddenly, 2-0 seems so far back in time. That tends to happen after a 38-13 drubbing at home.
It hurts a bit more when Charlie Batch is the one who leads the offensive charge. No disrespect to Batch, but he's not exactly the type of quarterback that is expected to break open a game like that. That much appeared to be the case when his first pass was picked off by Aqib Talib to set up the first score of the game, a 40-yard field goal by the Bucs.
That was the peak of the excitement for Bucs fans for the remainder of the game. The Bucs defense had been what kept them in games their first two outings, but it didn't look like they had any answers for the Steelers.
Overall grade: F
Tennessee Titans
31 of 32
After Chris Johnson's streak of 12 consecutive 100-yard games was snapped by the Steelers last week, many began to wonder how long it would take him to get back on track.
Well, that didn't take long. He went for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns on 35 carries. His incredible performance guided the team to victory, while Vince Young does what he was meant to do: not lose the game.
The Titans defense gave up big yards to the Giants, but capitalized on opportunities when they came along (see "left-handed falling shovel pass", "fumble at the five-yard line" in New York Giants slide).
Overall grade: A-
Washington Redskins
32 of 32
Washington's woes began last week against the Texans when they allowed 20 unanswered points as the Texans came back to win 30-27. I bet they never imagined it would get this bad, though.
How did the Redskins let the Rams get past them? Could it have something to do with forfeiting 365 yards to St. Louis' offense? Letting Sam Bradford stand back in the pocket and pick them apart didn't do much good either, as the rookie quarterback went 23-for-37 and piled up 235 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while only being sacked once.
In reality, it was the Redskins inability to step up in key situations (1/10 on third down) that cost them the game. They'll have to get back to opportunistic football by not only keeping it in their possession, but also preventing the opponent from scoring when they turn it over.
Overall grade: F
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