It’s time to look back see what kind of lessons we can take from a chaotic Week Three of NFL contests. God help you if you had any real money on the line last week. I hope your kids enjoy community college.
It was a game-picking bloodbath
I wasn’t the only “so-called” expert that took one in the bikini area over the week. I went 7-9 straight up and 9-7 against the spread and if you check out everybody’s results at NFL Pick Watch, you’ll see that those marks were just par for the course. Only a handful of people on Planet Earth did better than 9-7. That’s a rough day of football.
Where did we screw up? It all started with the Texans on Thursday. Then the Panthers, Bengals and Cardinals should have all been sure things, with the Cards and Panthers both getting 94 percent of the picks. Instead, none of those games were even that close. And they all went the other way. Same for the Steelers (91 percent) and Saints (70 percent). We never had a chance.
But, really, isn’t that why the NFL is so great? You really never know what’s going to happen on “Any Given Sunday.”
The Giants might still have a closing problem
The New York Giants got the job done in the final minutes of Week One and Week Two, but its Week Three 29-27 loss to the Washington Redskins looked awfully familiar.
The Giants had a 27-26 lead with 7:53 to go in the fourth quarter and surrendered it with little trouble. The Redskins faced just one third down on that drive, a third-and-one at their own 45, before the unsuccessful third-and-three that forced them into a 37-yard field goal from Dustin Hopkins that turned out to be the game-winner.
"You can't have the turnovers or the penalties." – Eli Manning
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 25, 2016
So it’s the defense that gave it up, right? Nope. Because Eli Manning and the Giants offense still had 1:50 to go which might as well be a lifetime. They ran all of four plays until Manning threw a game-ending pick. So, yes, the defense gave up the lead, but the offense gave up the ball. This was a team loss and hopefully one the Giants won’t repeat. No wonder Odell Beckham Jr. was crying.
The Saints still don’t have a defense
After a solid effort against the Giants in Week Two, the old Saints defense decided to show up in honor of their return to the Super Dome Monday night. If you look at Atlanta’s total offensive stats, the yardage numbers don’t jump out at you. That’s because the Saints never stopped them when it counted. The Falcons just methodically took the lead and kept it and got a couple of turnovers to boot.
When you tell Saints fans they're one of four 0-3 teams in the NFL… pic.twitter.com/Gr4ca8bQ16
— First Take (@FirstTake) September 27, 2016
While you can blame the Drew Brees picks, and it’s easy to do when you look at the box score, it negates the situation the Saints were in. Their defense couldn’t have stopped a three-wheeled shopping cart Monday night, so Brees had to press with every throw. That’s always a recipe for turnovers.
They face another high-powered offense in San Diego Sunday. This is going to be a long year in New Orleans. But, hey, they can always look forward to being on HBO’s Hard Knocks next season.
Sam Bradford continues to shine for the Vikings
The numbers weren’t spectacular Sunday, but they didn’t have to be. Facing a serous Carolina defense, Sam Bradford helped Minnesota come back from a 10-2 deficit to take a legit 22-10 win over the defending NFC Champions on the road.
Last 16 games:
Aaron Rodgers: 3,709 yards, 57.3%, 6.2 yards per pass
Sam Bradford: 4,266 yards, 65.6%, 7.2 yards per pass— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) September 22, 2016
The Vikes did get an “icing on the cake” punt return TD, but they didn’t need it. Bradford protected the ball, made smart decisions and led three scoring drives, which were more than enough. It’s easy to see now why Mike Zimmer and the Vikings made the trade for Bradford. This is a potential Super Bowl team. Luckily for them there was an extra starting quarterback stashed on another team’s roster that was available.
And I know I wrote about it before, but it’s so nice to see what Bradford is really capable of with an actual NFL caliber head coach and offensive coordinator. He’s never had one before.
