Well, that was kind of a disaster. Not only did we have a ton of upsets this week, but any upset I actually called didn’t happen. In one case, it was after a review that not only kept the Detroit Lions out of the end zone, but caused a 10 second runoff that ended the game. Yeah, Week Three of the NFL season was kind of a shitstorm.
There were three games that were especially egregious. First off, I don’t know what the United Kingdom did to piss off the Baltimore Ravens, but they sure as hell showed their asses in a 44-7 blowout at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. This was a team that had given up a total of 10 points over the first two weeks and they let Blake Bortles throw four touchdowns on them?
Then, we had the egg laid by the Denver Broncos at Buffalo. Tyrod Taylor was near perfect against what was supposed to be one of the best defenses of this generation, completing 20 of 26 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, on the other side, Trevor Siemian fell back to Earth with a mighty thud, barely completing a little over 50 percent of his passes and throwing two picks.
But there’s no question the biggest shocker from Sunday was Case Keenum secretly being replaced by a time traveling Joe Montana in his prime. Keenum/1989 Montana was 25 of 33 for 369 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. He must have thought he was playing Akron back with the Houston Cougars. This game showed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a lot further away from being something than we all thought.
So, with those thrown onto the dumpster fire, I had a terrible week.
Last week
Straight up: 7-9
Against the spread: 6-10
Season
Straight up: 28-19
Against the spread: 22-25
On the bright side, there’s still plenty of season left and 16 games on the schedule this week. Let’s take a look at the early lines.
WEEK FOUR EARLY LINES
Thursday Night
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (-7)
Sunday Morning
New Orleans Saints at Miami Dolphins (+2.5)
Sunday Afternoon
Buffalo Bills at Atlanta Falcons (-8)
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (+3)
Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (+3)
Los Angeles Rams at Dallas Cowboys (-7.5)
Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans (+1.5)
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (N/A)
Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots (-9)
Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets (+3.5)
Sunday Late
San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (-7)
Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Chargers (-1)
New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3)
Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos (-2.5)
Sunday Night
Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks (-13)
Monday Night
Washington Redskins at Kansas City Chiefs (-7)
Once again, the books are holding off on the Vikings game until Sam Bradford’s status is updated. The rest of these games… man. It’s going to be a tough week. I don’t even like that Packers (-7) line on Thursday night. This does not look like an easy week to make up some ground.
WEEK THREE KEY INJURIES
First off, let’s start with some good news. There’s a good chance Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will return to practice this week. Does that mean he’ll play Sunday night against the Seattle Seahawks? NBC sure as hell hopes so. Luck hasn’t thrown a pass even in practice since January, so I don’t see that happening. Even if he does practice this week, I don’t think he dresses for the game. This is Jacoby Brissett’s show for at least one more week.
The Titans reaction when they saw Andrew Luck is targeting a return against them pic.twitter.com/6EisA9PDT6
— Charon Von Berg (@CharonVonberg) September 24, 2017
The Philadelphia Eagles have lost running back Darren Sproles for the season after he suffered a two-for injury, breaking his wrist and tearing his ACL in the team’s win over the Giants Sunday. Sproles will be placed on injured reserve and I think this will wrap up his time with the Eagles. Philadelphia is in good shape without Sproles. LeGarrette Blount is still the primary back and Wendell Smallwood has a lot of Sproles’ skillset and will be used in the same fashion.
While the Panthers took an ass whipping at the hands of the New Orleans Saints Sunday, they at least didn’t lose wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin for the season. Benjamin left Sunday’s game with a knee injury and an MRI on Monday showed he didn’t tear anything. That doesn’t mean he’ll play Sunday against the Patriots. If Benjamin can’t go, that’ll mean a lot more opportunities for Russell Shepard and Damiere Byrd, so keep that in mind when you’re filling out your Daily Fantasy rosters this week.
https://twitter.com/rbennett716/status/909466128182804480
It wasn’t the worst news the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could have gotten on outside linebacker Lavonte David, but it was pretty close. After suffering an ankle injury against the Minnesota Vikings, David will miss four to six weeks after being diagnosed with a medial ankle sprain. David wasn’t the only Buc to suffer an injury. Defensive end Noah Spence dislocated his shoulder and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy injured his ankle as well. There’s no word yet on how much time Spence will miss. McCoy was walking in a boot and I expect him to play next Sunday.
Melvin Gordon only had two carries for the Los Angeles Chargers in the second half of their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs due to knee soreness, but he didn’t suffer a new injury. Gordon was limited in practice most of last week and probably will be again. It apparently is mostly a soreness and swelling issue.
Melvin Gordon owners pic.twitter.com/1R6xDXZPXG
— Qubanlynks1018 (@Qubanlynks1018) September 24, 2017
Soreness might cost Oakland Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree an appearance in their Week Four game against the Denver Broncos. Crabtree missed most of the second half of Sunday night’s game with the Washington Redskins after taking a hard hit to the chest. According to the Sporting News, X-Rays were negative on any damage, but this is pretty much the same injury that kept Washington tight end Jordan Reed from suiting up Sunday.
Doug Baldwin’s status for Seattle’s Sunday night game with the Colts is up in the air. Baldwin suffered a groin injury in the second half of the team’s loss to the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon. Pete Carroll told reporters that he has no idea yet if Baldwin will play.
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