Week Three Headlines

Titans and Colts get crucial victories, Bears get second win of the season, Mark Sanchez and Dan Orlovsky memes get laid to rest, Cooper Rush remains undefeated as starter for the Cowboys

Titans and Colts remain in AFC South contention

For a second, the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts looked like they were going to hand the division to the Jaguars. They were both favored to lose their games, which would drop both squads to being winless through the first three weeks. Teams who start 0-3 have a 2.5 percent of making the postseason. Indianapolis and Tennessee avoided this fate with wins week three.

Derrick Henry and Matt Ryan finally came alive in their matchups after each looking dreadful for the first two weeks. Ryan finished the day going 27-37 for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Jonathan Taylor added 71 yards on the ground as well. While Taylor isn’t having the MVP-caliber season like he had last year, his production against Kansas City is the type of run game Indianapolis needs to sustain. Similar to Taylor, Henry has not been as dominant as he has been the last three years. However, games like the one vs. the Raiders will return him to form.

Bears move to 2-1 after ugly victory vs. Texans

Well, Justin Fields still doesn’t look great, but thankfully Chicago was playing the Houston Texans this week. I know there can be some blame on the shoulders of the offensive line or lack of weapons, but Fields has not done great in assessing himself either. He went 8-17 for 106 yards and two interceptions. He has just 23 completions for the entire season, less than most quarterbacks have logged in a single game. The Texans on the other hand are just digging themselves into a deeper hole with these losses. Davis Mills threw the game-losing interception to Roquan Smith. Mills, who showed promise last season, has not had a great start to his second year either.

Thomas Morstead and Jimmy Garoppolo replace old jokes about Mark Sanchez and Dan Orlovsky
Mark Sanchez and Dan Orlovsky are infamous for two of the worst plays in NFL history. Sanchez ran into his own teammate, fumbling the ball which was returned for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Orlovsky got a safety after running out of the back of the end zone. Both of these two were redeemed after Sunday.

Dolphins punter Thomas Morstead had a punt blocked by his own offensive lineman in a play deemed the “Butt Punt.” This granted the Bills two points, nearly giving them the win. However, Miami was able to hold up and move to 3-0 on the season.

Jimmy Garoppolo had his own questionable play, stepping out of bounds on what would have been a pick-6 for the Broncos. It is very rare that a quarterback is relieved to get a safety. This was the most memorable play of the Sunday Night game, as both offenses were shut down all night long. Denver notched another uninspired victory, as Russell Wilson improves his record against San Francisco to 17-4.

Quarterback controversy in Dallas?

Many are joking about Dak Prescott possibly being replaced by Cooper Rush. While I’m sure Dallas wouldn’t replace their multi-million dollar quarterback, they can at least have some re-assurance if Prescott does not perform up to expectations. Rush is now 3-0 as a starter for the Cowboys. His latest matchup saw him go 21-31 for 215 yards and one touchdown. Rush got the ball out of hands quickly to avoid pressure and was able to sustain the offense while Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence held it down defensively. This was a good win for the Cowboys to keep their playoff hopes alive, after being left to rot when Prescott went down.