3-0, How Did This Happen? A Look at The Three Undefeated Teams Left In The NFL

So by the week 3 the Steelers,Chiefs,and Bears are undefeated and the Cowboys,Vikings,and Chargers are 1-2, just like we all had it. Well not really, I'm not sure even the best physic saw this coming. Despite neither of the three teams making the playoffs last season, the Bears,Chiefs,and Steelers are still unblemished heading into week 4. What makes sports so great is knowing that any team can win, and It maybe cliché but "that's why they play the game". As we saw last year in the case of the New Orleans Saints it doesn't matter if you didn't make the playoffs the year before, you can still be champions. So lets take a look at how these teams have manged to surprised even the likes of Mrs. Cleo. 

Lets start with the Pittsburgh Steelers who possibly had the best roster of the surprise teams, but also the most problems. The Steelers were coming of a 2009 season in which they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs, but the worse news came in the off-season when superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got a six game suspension for violating the personal conduct policy when Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault in July.  Also that year wide receiver,and Super Bowl XL III MVP, Santonio Holmes violated the NFL's substance abuse policy and was then giving a four game suspension, Holmes was later traded.

With out starting QB,and face of the franchise, Ben Roethlisberger for six games and starting WR Santonio Holmes in New York there was no way the Steelers could stay in contention, right? As luck would have it Roethlisberger's suspension would be reduced to just four games, giving the Steelers a ray of hope in maybe salvaging their season. With young back up Dennis Dixon at the helm many expected the Steelers to struggle their first few games. Though it wasn't pretty and despite the Steelers only scoring fifteen points Rashard Mendenhall lifted the Steelers in OT with a 50 yard sprint to the end zone. Now with a win under their belt the Steelers were beginning to become optimistic about the future when an injury to QB Dixon put the team in a bad position. After the injury to Dixon it was up to Charlie Batch keep the ship afloat, and keep it afloat he did by leading the team to the victory vs the Titans. The next week was even better for Batch as he lit up the Bucs for three touchdowns pushing the Steelers to 3-0. With the Pittsburgh D playing at the level their are giving up only 11.0 PPG(1st in NFL) and Mendenhall carrying the load averaging 110.6 yards a game, the Steelers only look to get better with the return of two time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger in week 5. 

Next up are the Chicago Bears, who were almost an after thought in the NFC North division due to the success of Bret Favre's Vikings and Aaron Rodger's Packers. Jay Cutler and the Bears had something to prove this season and boy did they prove it. The main gripe of the Chicago Bears coming into the season was could Jay Cutler take care of the football, Cutler who threw a league high 26 interceptions last year. Cutler started the year answering that question with a resounding yes, by throwing six touchdown passes and only getting picked off twice this season. With Cutler and the offense making major improvement it was up to Brian Urlacher and the Bears defense to follow suit. The Bear's D has been down right stingy against the run only allowing 39.7 rushing yards a game. With the Vikings only 1-2 and a head to head win against the Packers on MNF, the Bears look to maul any opponent in their way this season. 

Last but not least, the most surprising team of the 2010 season, the Kansas City Chiefs. The last four years have been dominated by the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West winning it in each year. So it was pretty cut and dry, the Chargers would win it again int 2010, nope, the Kansas City Chiefs or as I like to call them "New New England" in reference to the abundance of New England Patriots the Chiefs have brought in. QB Matt Cassel is just one of many former Patriots along with Offensive coordinator and former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis and former Pats Defensive coordinator and Browns coach Romeo Crennel also former Patriot front office executive Scott Pioli round out the new look Patrio- I mean Chiefs. 

The Chiefs started the season off the best way they could, by beating the aforementioned Chargers 21-14 and taking control of the AFC West due to the play of rookie Dexter McCluster(who ran a 94 yard put return for a TD) and Jamal Charles(who ran for 92 yards and a TD). The Chiefs Defense also played great, holding Philip Rivers and the explosive Charger offense to just 14 points. The Chiefs followed that win with another against the woeful Browns. The Chiefs went on to have an impressive 31-10 performance vs the 49ers racking up 457 yards against the San Fran defense, making them the front runners in the AFC West. 

So what does this mean? Nothing, the Chiefs,Bears,and Steelers could all lose 13 in a row or they could all make the playoffs and one could win the Super Bowl, we don't know. The one thing we do know is the neither of these teams was expected to be 3-0, but here they are.