NFL Week 3 Report: Bills 3-0, SF Wins, Ravens Stay Undefeated

Kansas City Chiefs @ Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons used a nicely balanced offense and a pick-six to cruise past the hapless Chiefs. 

RB Michael Turner earned his second 100-yard rushing game of the season.  Backup Jerious Norwood also chipped in with 75 yards on 11 carries.

However, they were facing the Chiefs' run defense, which obviously is absolutely terrible. 

Quarterback Matt Ryan completed two-thirds of his passes for 192 yards and earned a 120.6 QB rating.

Atlanta 38, Kansas City 14 

Oakland Raiders @ Buffalo Bills

The Bills notched a field goal as they pulled out a nail-biter in Buffalo improve to 3-0.  

Quarterback Trend Edwards went 24-of-39 for 279 yards in addition to a touchdown and interception. 

Receiver Jeff Reed led the team with six catches for 72 yards. 

Buffalo’s defense held the Raiders to just 247 total yards.  But it's not like that's very hard to do.

Buffalo 24, Oakland 23 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Chicago Bears

Bucs quarterback Brian Griese owned as he went 38-of-67 for 407 yards and two touchdowns to go with three interceptions. 

Receiver Antonio Bryant led the Bucs in receiving with ten catches for 138 yards. 

The Bucs won it on the first possession of overtime when kicker Matt Bryant knocked through a 21-yard field goal at the 4:24 mark to cap off a long drive and make the score 27-24.

Bears running back Matt Forte rushed for 3.3 yards per carry, as he racked up 89 yards on 27 carries.

QB Kyle Orton completed 22-of-34 pass attempts for 268 yards and two touchdowns, but he also tossed two interceptions.

Tampa Bay 27, Chicago 24

Carolina Panthers @ Minnesota Vikings

Last year’s insane Vikings defense roared back to life as it allowed just 204 total yards of offense and limited the Carolina running game to 47 collective yards.

The Panthers running backs collectively averaged just 2.35 yards per carry.

Minnesota running backs Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor balanced each other out nicely, wearing down the Panthers defense and averaging 4.32 yards per carry.

Quarterback Gus Frerotte completed 16-of-28 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.  His only real miscue was an interception that bounced off of a receiver’s hands right to Panthers CB Chris Gamble.

Panthers receiver Steve Smith caught four passes for 70 yards in an underwhelming 2008 debut.

Minnesota 20, Panthers 10

Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots

Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown stole the show with 113 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries. 

Miami’s other score was a passing touchdown for which Brown and tight end Anthony Fasano connected.

Dolphins QB Chad Pennington was as accurate as it gets, as he completed 17-of-20 passes for 226 yards. 

Miami’s offense gained 461 yards in all.

Their defense held a now less-than-potent Patriots attack to just 216 total yards.

Miami 38, New England 13

Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants

Eli Manning completed at least three passes to six different receivers as he passed for 289 yards and a touchdown and completed 26-of-43 throws.

New York backs Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs combined for 115 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries for an average of five yards per carry.

Carson Palmer kept the Bengals in the game with 27-of-39 completions for 286 yards and a touchdown.  His favorite target was receiver TJ Houshmanzadeh, who reeled in 12 receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown.

John Carney kicked the winning field goal in overtime to lift the Giants.

New York 26, Cincinnati 23 

Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans

Lendale White scored two touchdowns on his way to 49 yards off of 16 carries for the Titans.

Rookie running back Steve Slaton dominated as he led Houston’s offense with 116 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Houston middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans led all defensive players with 13 tackles, ten being solo.

Tennessee 31, Houston 12

Arizona Cardinals @ Washington Redskins

Jason Campbell led Washington’s offense with 22-of-30 completions for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Receiver Antwan Randle El also threw a touchdown pass, as crazy as that sounds.  

Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown to lead Arizona’s attack.

Washington 24, Arizona 17

New Orleans Saints @ Denver Broncos

Drew Brees had a field day, going 39-of-48 for 421 yards and a touchdown.  Wait—how did he not throw for another touchdown or two?  

Could that lack of scoring be indicative of a lack of a red zone threat despite the presence of tight end Jeremy Shockey?  

Reggie Bush averaged over five yards per carry and scored a rushing touchdown.  He also reeled off 11 receptions for 75 yards and another touchdown. 

Selvin Young ran for 65 yards on 11 carries for the Broncos.

Jay Cutler went 21-of-34 for 264 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.

Brandon Marshall led all receivers with six catches for 155 yards and a touchdown.

Denver 34, New Orleans 32

Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco offense looked good as JT O’Sullivan completed a respectable 16-of-23 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

Frank Gore cranked out 130 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

Jon Kitna had a terrible day—Rudi Johnson was all the offense the Lions had in this game—he averaged 5.93 yards per carry, as he racked up 83 yards on 14 carries for the Lions.

San Francisco 31, Detroit 13

St. Louis Rams @ Seattle Seahawks

Seattle’s Julius Jones rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries to lead the Seahawks offense.

Olindo Mare knocked through three field goals for Seattle.

Steven Jackson produced most of the Rams’ offense.  He rushed for 66 yards on 23 carries and caught five passes for 62 yards.  

His inability to score must be a large part of the reason why the Rams have had such incredible difficulty getting into the end zone this year.

Seattle 37, Rams 13

Cleveland Browns @ Baltimore Ravens

The tenacious Ravens defense shut the Browns down for only 169 total yards.

Running backs Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee collectively picked up 130 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries.

The only positive for the Browns offensively was that Jamal Lewis averaged about 4.67 yards per carry as he gained 56 yards on 12 attempts.

On defense, inside linebacker Andra Davis notched ten tackles (two assisted) and cornerback Eric Davis brought down the ball carrier eight times.

Baltimore 28, Cleveland 10

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts

The Jaguars rode stellar performances by their running tandem of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor balanced by light passing from QB David Garrard to victory.

Garrard completed 16-of-22 tosses for 167 yards.  He also threw an interception.

Jones-Drew and Taylor collectively ran for 228 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries.  Jones-Drew also made four catches for 59 yards. 

Peyton Manning underwhelmed again, going 15-of-29 for 216 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.

Wow...when was the last time Peyton Manning threw more interceptions in a game than touchdown passes?!  Now we know for sure that this NFL season is like no other.

Running back Joseph Addai turned in his first respectable performance on the season, rushing for 78 yards and two touchdowns on a minimal 16 carries.

Jacksonville 23, Indianapolis 21

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles pulled out a true defensive battle—the teams combined for just 440 offensive yards.

Donovan McNabb had the best showing of any offensive player, with 24-of-35 passing for 196 yards and a touchdown to go with an interception.  

There isn’t much to say about this game.  Defense reigned.  The Eagles won.  End of story.

Philadelphia 15, Pittsburgh 6

Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers

The Dallas running game led the way on offense.  

Marion Barber ran for 142 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries and Felix Jones picked up 76 yards and a touchdown on six carries. 

Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay attack with 22-of-39 passes for 290 yards.

Mason Crosby added nine points for the Packers on three field goals.

Rodgers scored Green Bay's touchdown on a QB Sneak from the 1 yard-line.

Dallas 27, Green Bay 16

New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers

Philip Rivers led the San Diego offense as he completed 19-of-25 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns along with a pick.

LaDainian Tomlinson gained 67 yards and scored two touchdowns on 26 carries.

Brett Favre completed 71 percent of his 42 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns.  He also threw two interceptions, one of which turned into an Antonio Cromartie pick-six.

San Diego 48, New York 29

Closing remarks

As we close the book on Week 3 of the 2008 NFL Season, we can see that the NFC East—home to the Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, and Redskins—is still the best division in the league.  This division is simply scary.  None of the teams are even to close being pushovers.

The NFC South, perhaps prematurely already thought to be won by the Panthers, is now wide open following the Panthers’ loss to the Vikings and wins for the Bucs and Falcons. Even the Saints are still in the mix—until their defense screws them over—at 1-2.

The Cardinals and 49ers have emerged atop the NFC West for the first time in an eternity, even though that doesn’t mean much.  Still, Arizona and San Fran are enjoying the most success they've had in a loooooong time.

The Broncos have asserted themselves as the early top dog in the AFC West.  Who could have seen that coming before the season?  Not me, I'll tell you that.

The Jaguars and Colts continue to recede, even though the Jags defeated the Colts in a close one.  The AFC South now belongs to the Titans.

The Bills, in maybe the most shocking development of the year, are the king of the hill in the AFC East right now.  They’re also still undefeated for the first time in years.

And finally, in the AFC North we have the—gasp, gasp—undefeated Ravens in first place ahead of the—gulp—Steelers.  Granted, they've only played two games so far (their game against the Texans last week was postponed due to Hurricane Ike), but their defense is ferocious.

Am I the only one who sees the NFL undergoing a lot of changes?