With the third week of the NFL season now done and dusted, let’s take a look at which teams continued their winning ways and which ones fell further behind in their divisions.
Best performance
Once again there is plenty to choose from this week. From Blake Bortles four touchdowns in the Jags’ dismantling of the Ravens 44-7 at Wembley, the Bear’s first win of the season over Big Ben. The Steelers sealing victory in overtime with Jordan Howard rushing for 138 yards and two touchdowns, and Tom Brady and his five touchdowns in his side’s narrow victory over the Texans. Then there was Kirk Cousins who went 25-30 for 365 yards and three touchdowns in the Redskins’ win over the Raiders and Case Keenum and his day out against Tampa Bay.
But the best performance of the weekend was Tom Brady and the Patriots. Despite needing another fourth-quarter game-winning drive from the champion quarterback, the Pats got the job done against a very good Houston Texan outfit. Deshaun Watson was solid enough again but, as has been the case in his few games this year, he doesn’t take care of the football as he threw two INTs to go with his two touchdowns.
Brady, however, had to show the rookie how it was done and when his team needed him to stand up, the five-time Super Bowl champ delivered yet again. With under a minute to go Brady threw a pass deep left to Brandin Cooks for a 25-yard touchdown to give New England the lead and eventually the win.
In all, Brady went 25-35 for 378 yards and five touchdowns and no picks, while wide receiver Brandin Cooks had a day out also with 131 yards and two touchdowns to help complement his hall of fame quarterback.
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Worst performance
There are a few bad games that caught the eye over Week 3. The one that really stands out, though, was Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens, while Cam Newton and the Panthers had a day to forget. Newton went 17-26 for 167 yards and three INTs in his side’s loss to the Saints.
Getting back to the Ravens, they came into this week 2-0 and looking really solid, but it all went downhill against Jacksonville. Flacco went 8-18 for only 28 yards and threw two INTs before he was eventually withdrawn from the game at half-time with Ryan Mallett coming in.
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Mallett didn’t fare much better but his numbers were slightly higher than Flacco’s, going 6-9 for 36 yards and a touchdown, which still isn’t anything to get excited about. Flacco’s horror show in the first half could possibly suggest he hasn’t quite got over the surgery he had during the off-season. But that is just making an excuse for the star Baltimore man.
If he hasn’t completely recovered from his surgery then why did he play? Why was he rushed in? Only those close to the team can answer that. For me this was without a doubt the worst performance of the week end and not one we normally see from the Super Bowl winning quarterback.
Bring on Week 4 of the NFL season and many more highlights to come, oh and how about them Cowboys!