Daric Clemens is a senior journalism news major and is a columnist for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Daric at diclemens@bsu.edu.
Danny Dimes has the keys to New York, undrafted Kyle Allen showed he’s got the talent to have a chance at being a starting NFL quarterback, Baker Mayfield may not be the one for Cleveland and much more in a jam packed NFL week.
Here’s a look at key takeaways of the winners and losers of Week 3.
WINNER: Undefeated seasons are still alive
Bills, Chiefs, Cowboys. Lions, Packers, Patriots, Rams and 49ers. These eight teams all have one thing in common, they’re still sitting perfect after three weeks showing promise for a post-season appearance. According to ESPN, 78.3% of teams that have started 3-0 since 1990 have made the playoffs.
Patrick Mahomes and his offensive core have a certain type of chemistry that appears to be almost impossible to slow down even with major injuries to the wide receiving core. The Chiefs look to be one of the best teams in the league.
The Cowboys cashed out this offseason and are looking to be worth every penny as their talented roster all-around is performing at the high-level that they should be. However, their first three games were against weaker opponents and they’ll be put to the test next week against the Drew Brees-less Saints.
The Patriots are just flat out embarrassing their opponents so far and haven’t shown a weakness. They have still yet to give up a passing or rushing touchdown and have outscored their first three contest 106-17.
Matt Lafleur’s early tenure as the head coach of the Packers is going well and it seems Green Bay finally has a solid defense to help support Aaron Rodgers and their offense.
The two shockers on this list has to be the Bills and Lions. They both had a successful offseason signing guys that they felt would take them to the next step and it’s showing work well so far but will their early success continue throughout?
WINNER: The Indianapolis Colts QB situation
Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement is a thing of the past and Jacoby Brissett has made an easy transition into the Colts franchise.
Brissett was on fire Sunday as they faced on the Atlanta Falcons and you can tell he is starting to get comfortable in that starting role. He finished the game with 310 passing yards on 28-37 and two touchdowns, leading the Colts to their first home opener win since 2013 and a 2-1 start.
The Colts have a bright future ahead of them with Brissett at the helm of a roster that’s full of young talent. Maybe the Andrew Luck departure wasn’t so bad after all, only time will tell.
WINNER: The face of New York football
Daniel Jones is the newest hot sensation for the New York Giants and people might have to eat the words that were said when the Giants selected him sixth overall in the 2019 draft.
Jones was able to put on a show in his first regular season start and also found a way to secure the Giants first win of the season. He finished the game throwing for 336 yards and scoring four touchdowns. It might be too early to pronounced him as the franchise quarterback of the future, but for at least a week Giants fans can be content with the new quarterback as the Eli Manning era being over.
LOSER: Matt Gay
Jameis Winston lead his team down the field with just a minute remaining in the fourth quarter down by a single point, but it was all ruined by a 34-yard field goal attempt by Buccaneer kicker Matt Gay that drifted to the right, missing the up rights completely.
The worst part is that wasn’t the only mistakes he made. Gay had already missed two extra point attempts in the 32-31 loss to the Giants. Gay is now 7-of-9 on the season on field goals attempts this season. The loss drops the Buccaneers to 1-2. Teams ask one thing of you, kickers, do your job.
LOSER: Getting fired on your day off
For the second time in September, Antonio Brown has been cut, this time by the defending champions. With a bunch of unwanted attention still floating around the media, not even Bill Belichick, the one that has a solution for everything, could handle the hassle that Brown has brought recently.
After being released according to Brown’s twitter page he is official done with the NFL and he also announced on Monday that he will be returning to school at Central Michigan to take a few courses according to ESPN. Hopefully Brown is able to find a stable place mentally and maybe furthering his degree is the first step to that path.
Contact Daric Clemens with any comments a diclemens@bsu.edu or on Twitter @DaricClemens.
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