NFL Week 3 Wrap-up

With Week 3 in the books, some teams are beginning to show some consistency:

Consistently Good:
New York Jets
Sure, they haven't played perfect football and their offense struggled a bit against Tennessee this week, but they've shown they can win games. The defense came up big when it mattered, they've capitalized on turnovers, and Mark Sanchez has played as well as you can expect a rookie starting QB to play.

New Orleans Saints
The Saints have put together probably the best offense in football. They rank first in points scored and yards per game, are second in rushing yards per game, and sixth in passing. This week may have been a step back statistically, with Drew Brees breaking his streak of games with a passing TD, but they still played well on the road in a hostile Buffalo environment, in every sense of the word. At 3-0, they look like an early favorite for the division, and possibly home-field in the playoffs.

Consistently Bad:
Cleveland Browns
The only good thing about the Browns right now is that they have a cartoon character with a new TV show named after them. They are the anti-Saints. They rank in the bottom four of every team statistical category except passing yards allowed. Their QB have a combined 1 TD to go with 6 picks. In fact, they haven't put up a TD since scoring two in Week 1. And now, they once again haven't announced who their starting QB will be this week. Oh, and they've been outscored 95-29, the worst point differential in the NFL.

Oakland Raiders
JaMarcus Russell was supposed to be the savior of this franchise. Al Davis supports him to the point that he reportedly had Jeff Garcia cut so Russell wouldn't feel threatened as the starter. Well, through three games hes completed only 40% of his passes, and the Raiders are last in passing yards per game, averaging only 16 more yards through the air than on the ground. The fact that their 1-2 record has been against all divison opponents only makes things worse.

Consistenly Inconsistent:
Arizona Cardinals

The Cards struggled to get things going in Week 1, and their were some questions about if Kurt Warner could still lead this team. On top of that, the games top rusher was 49er Frank Gore with 30 yards. Week 2 saw a comeback, as they beat up on the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars. Warner broke the record for completion percentage in that game, and everything seem right in the world. Week 3 they were a 2.5 point favorite at home against the Colts. Instead of building off a great Week 2, Warner went back to his Week 1 play, with 1 TD and 2 picks. The rushing attack that could run people over last year managed only 24 yards on 12 carries. On top of that, Peyton Manning torched the D for 379 yards and 4 TDs. And this is the defending NFC Champion?


New England Patriots
The Pats 2-1 record is already better than it should be. They haven't been inconsistent week-to-week, they've been inconsistent play-to-play. They played badly 3 quarters against Buffalo and pulled out a win in the fourth. The had some drives against the Jets, but could only manage field goals. They put up 26 points for the win against Atlanta, but passes were being dropped left and right, to the point that Tom Brady could be seen loudly cursing on TV as he went to the sideline after a Joey Galloway drop. Brady himself has been Mr Inconsistent this year, and has admitted to not being where he should be mentally and physically. Two years ago, the Pats were the models of consistency. Now, every play is an adventure.

Injuries:
Chad Pennington, QB, Dolphins: out for the season with a torn capsule in his throwing shoulder
Vincent Fuller, CB, Titans: out 4-6 weeks with a broken arm
Frank Gore, RB, 49ers: expected to miss 3 weeks with an ankle injury
Marc Bulger, QB, Rams: expected to play with a bruised shoulder
Dwight Freeney, DE, Colts: awaiting MRI results on a quad injury
Hunter Hillenmeyer, MLB, Bears: hoping to play with a rib injury(Hillenmeyer replaced Brian Urlacher, who is out for the season)

Fantasy Studs:

1. Peyton Manning. 379 yards and 4 TDs is what we've come to expect from the future HOF'er
2. Kevin Kolb. With 327 yards and 2 TDs this week, Klob became the first QB to throw for 300 yards in his first two starts.
3. Maurice Jones-Drew. With the pasing game sputtering at times, someone needs to pick up the slack in Jacksonville. Rushing for 119 yards and 3 TDs helps.

Fantasy Duds:

1. Terrell Owens. The streak of 185 games with a catch ends in Buffalo.
2. Chad Pennington. He only had 54 passing yards before leaving the game with what some think is a season ending shoulder injury.
3. Tim Hightower. Only 22 yards from the guy that was supposed to take over the Cardinal's running game.

Week 3 Picks:
Straight up: 11-5, 34-14 overall
ATS: 12-4, 32-16 overall
o/u: 8-8, 22-26 overall

Questions for Week 3:
Who wins: the unstoppable force or the immovable object?

In the only Week 4 game to feature undefeated teams, the Top-10 defense of the NY Jets will head to New Orleans to face the Top-10 ofeense of the Saints. Both teams saw what appears to be uncharacteristic wins in Week 3, as the Saints failed to score through the air, and the Jets gave up their first Td of the season. This will be the game to watch this week, as we try to find out if the Jets are for real and if anything can stop the Saints.


How will Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers play against each other?

This is the first time since "retiring" that Brett will face his old team, and the first time Aaron Rodgers will face his old teammate. Its a division battle between two teams that want to beat each other, for many reasons. How will Rodgers play against the man who mentored him in Green Bay? And Brett might have the home-field advantage, but how will the notriously emotional QB react to playing against so many familiar faces?


Is Chad Pennington done?

Pennington's injury still hasn't been officially dignosed, as far as I've heard. If it is as serious as believed to be, Chad would probably miss the rest of the season. It could also be the third surgery performed on his throwing shoulder in his career. Chad might be a fighter, but will it finally be time for him to hang it up? Does he still have enough to make one moer comeback?