Analysis: Arod, Fallen, Zstvr
Rankingologist: Zstvr
Graphics: CB
Enjoy!
1. Cleveland Browns (3-0) (LW:2): KMFO and the Cleveland Browns had a scare this week being down 0-24 at one point in the game. Daniel Jones was able to lead his team back from the depths of despair and defeating the reigning AFC Champion in the New England Patriots.
2. Los Angeles Rams (2-1) (LW:3): Rams get back on track after a FS loss week 3 to the 49ers in dominating fashion taking down the Buccaneers by 3 scores. Cooper Kupp, at 32 years of age, is playing out of his mind to start the year compiling 383 yards and 5 touchdowns on 24 receptions. Look for these numbers to continue trending upwards week 4 as the Rams host the winless Cardinals.
3. Green Bay Packers (3-0) (LW:4): Another week, another Packers 40+ point outing. They have now scored 52 points in consecutive weeks and the offense appears to be clicking on all cylinders. Jordan Love has been outstanding, completing 70% of his passes for 1,033 yards and 11 touchdowns (to only 3 interceptions). Rookie running back Jahwar Jordan has also been great with 7 total touchdowns through the first 3 weeks. The Packers will travel to Baltimore next week in what could be another great day for their offense against a tough Baltimore secondary.
4. Denver Broncos (3-0) (LW:7): DK and the Denver Broncos are clicking on all cylinders right now. They boast a top 4 scoring offense (41 ppg) and a top 3 rushing offense (a staggering 220.7 ypg) and sit at 3-0. Trey Lance has played well (although the 4 interceptions aren’t necessarily ideal, he has a 7 to 4 TD to int ratio) and Nick Chubb is on his way to a career year with 493 yards and 4 touchdowns, while also averaging 8.1 yards per carry. A test with the scrappy Miami Dolphins awaits them in week 4.
5. Minnesota Vikings (3-0) (LW:10): After a dominating win over the Bears, Coach Wimmy and the Vikings are tied for the NFC North lead at 3-0. The loss of offseason QB addition Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t slowed down the offense at all. In fact, it might’ve lit a fire under backup QB Joe Milton III, who has been outstanding the past two weeks with 675 passing yards, 6 passing touchdowns, and only 1 interception. Second year running back Bucky Irving has also had a good season, averaging 7.1 yards per carry, and totaling 336 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The Vikings travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys in what should be a good game next week.
6. New England Patriots (2-1) (LW:1): You have to wonder where it all went wrong for Dot and the New England Patriots this week. Getting out to a 24-0 lead was huge, but a second half meltdown ruined the upset. Sportsbook was giving New England 14 points, so they were within that range, but you have to figure that this was the toughest game of the season for the Patriots and they will be coming for revenge next week.
7. Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) (LW:5): We won’t learn much about Kansas City this week. A CPU game against the Chargers should lead them to 3-0. They’ll have a divisional matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on the docket in week 4.
8. Los Angeles Chargers (2-0) (LW:6): It’s unfortunate to say we won’t get to see the Chargers play the Chiefs this week in what should’ve been a battle. However, the Chargers will play the surging Jaguars next week in what should be a great test of where the Chargers are at this point in the season.
9. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) (LW:13): Jacksonville bounced back drastically after a tough loss last week with a huge win over a previously undefeated Carolina team. Trevor Lawrence completed 83% of his passes and Jacksonville looks like a complete team destined to compete for the division this season.
10. Atlanta Falcons (2-1) (LW:8): Who the h*** is Jaxson Dart? The 6th round rookie continues to play flawless football as the rookie gunslinger has nearly 800 yards and 7 touchdowns to 0 interceptions. I am not the biggest fan of starting an unproven 66 overall, as beside 95 throw power, none of his attributes really stand out. I think Ridder still gives them the best chance to win long-term this season- but hey, Nef has been proving people wrong all cycle.
11. New Orleans Saints (2-1) (LW:12): Saints pick up a rather ‘messy’ win this past week as the game was ‘recreated’ for the sake of salvaging some key stats. Needless to say, it caused a lot of controversy in gen chat over the past few days. But hey, developing Maalik Murphy is undoubtedly a priority so it’s difficult to knock the Saints coach. He now has an impressive 260 yards and 6 touchdowns through 3 games on the ground. At this rate, he may very well develop into the best quarterback out of the class.
12. Baltimore Ravens (2-1) (LW:9): 47-7. After a 2-0 start, no one predicted that Baltimore would get blown out this week, especially against a struggling Steelers team. Baltimore has one of the best defensive back groups in PML, so seeing Zach Wilson throw for four touchdowns is surprising. Lamar Jackson struggled through the air throwing four interceptions, but Baltimore has to shake this defeat off and stay in the driver’s seat if they want to surpass their victory totals for the entire cycle this season.
13. Carolina Panthers (2-1) (LW:11): Panthers get a dose of reality in a week 3 blowout at the hands of rookie coach Water of the Jaguars. Season 2 breakout back Braelon Allen continues to get workhorse duty continuing a hot start to the season. 12th overall selection Harry Parrish Jr. cannot be happy about this needless to say as he has a shade under 9 carries per game to begin his career. The Panthers have one of the more difficult schedules this season, so it will be interesting to see if they could keep hope alive after starting out 2-0.
14. Detroit Lions (2-1) (LW:14): The Lions get back in the win column with a victory over Coach HD and the Eagles. While he didn’t play a completely clean game (1 interception in 34 total pass attempts), he was able to amass 355 yards through the air and completed 82% of his passes. 3rd-year running back Jahmyr Gibbs also added 2 touchdowns and 84 yards on the ground. The downside to this game was the Lions rush defense. With standout defensive end Aiden Hutchinson no longer on the team, Chris Jones will have to do more than ever if the Lions want to reach the heights they are aiming for this season. They travel to Metlife to play the Coach Burn and the Giants next week.
15. New York Jets (2-1) (LW:17): The AFC East has some early division matchups this season and mostly have all been pretty competitive. Jonathan Allen has struggled early on this season with staying on the field for an entire game, but his presence was felt, especially when he got his very first sack as a New York Jet.
16. Houston Texans (2-1) (LW:18): It is encouraging to see that the Texans have pulled off consecutive wins, but I’d like to see them defeating struggling teams by larger margins than they have been. CJ Stroud is having a masterful start to the season, but Houston has struggled to find a balance in the run game. They rank 27th in the league, very unlike them.
17. Miami Dolphins (1-2) (LW:15): Miami has had three division matchups the first three weeks of the season and despite two losses, both losses have only been within one score. That’s very encouraging for a Miami Dolphins team that is trying to make the playoffs for the first time this cycle. De’von Achane is slicing through defenses as he added another 100 yard game for 3 consecutive weeks. He averaged 14.3 yards per carry this week but only rushed 12 times. Miami needs to feed him more than that especially when he has the hot hand.
18. Tennessee Titans (1-2) (LW:16): Disconnects and recreates always favor the team that is leading when the disconnect happens. For the Titans, they were playing catch up from the very beginning. After the recreate, they had trouble fielding healthy players, but despite the loss, Will Levis completed 86% of his passes and threw two touchdowns. If he can keep that kind of production up, this two loss hole that the Titans are in will dissipate quickly.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-2) (LW:19): Cammy has openly said that Milroe wasn’t as advertised from out the draft. After a 1-2 start, is there any speculation Milroe could red shirt his rookie year and get Baker or D.J under center for a better chance to win? Whoever is under center, Cammy has 5 winnable games on the schedule that could keep them afloat entering mid-season. Truly make or break time in Tampa. Best man for the job should certainly be under center.
20. Chicago Bears (1-2) (LW: 20): The Bears fell to the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 50-35. It felt like the team never really got into a rhythm, and that’s evident as Justin Fields only completed 15 of his 28 passes and had 5 interceptions on the day. While Breece Hall was able to score 2 touchdowns, he wasn’t able to get it going on the ground, only gaining 69 yards on 13 carries. The Bears defense allowed 527 total yards of offense and 10 redzone trips for the Vikings, not the formula we’re familiar with from a usually stout Bears defense. A trip to Cleveland awaits, so the Bears need to figure it out and fast.
21. Philadelphia Eagles (1-2) (LW: 21): After a win that saw their offense look every bit as explosive as we’ve seen an offense in the past, the Eagles came up short in an advance-night tilt against the Detroit Lions. Incumbent RB DeAndre Swift has to be upset with the team’s usage of him, but with the way rookie Jaydn Ott is playing, I don’t think he can blame the staff. In 2 games, Ott has amassed 258 yards and 6 TDs and is averaging a staggering 13.6 yards per carry. If the Eagles defense can catch up to their offense (the defense is ranked 25 or worse in every category but rushing yards allowed) they should be able to get some wins. They travel to Washington next week.
22. Seattle Seahawks (1-2) (LW:23): Z gets the ‘pick-me-up’ win the team desperately needed this past week giving the Falcons their first loss of the season behind a very well managed game by Bo Nix (13/15 2TD). Nothing truly stands out on the stat sheet, but that is the way Z has always won his games, so it’s good to see them possibly returning to form early enough in the season to make a run at the playoffs. The defense still has a little work to do, but if they could return to form, the Seahawks have a rather light schedule ahead of them this season.
23. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2) (LW:27): Curt has to understand how Arod wants to play because a 40 point beating against one of the best defenses in the league is outstanding. After throwing 8 interceptions versus 3 touchdowns in the first two games, Zach Wilson had a 4-1 touchdown to interception margin. The Steelers need their million dollar quarterback to produce this way week over week.
24. New York Giants (1-2) (LW:25): The Giants get back in the win column, after they beat the Cowboys for the first time this cycle. Although heavily criticized, Stefon Diggs was all it took to get the Giants over the Cowboys hump. Diggs finished the day with 5 catches for 185 yards and three touchdowns (although one touchdown was a freebee). Saquon Barkley had a great day, adding 122 yards on the ground and a “you have to see to believe” receiving touchdown as well. Lastly, Quinn Ewers had perhaps his best pro performance, throwing for 330 yards and four touchdowns. The Giants host the Lions next week in the Sibling Bowl.
25. Indianapolis Colts (1-2) (LW:28): CB picks up his first win of the season against a struggling Arizona team that has no identity this far into the season. Indy has the best rushing defense in the league and that is a testament to their front seven. Anthony Richardson is playing lights out and the Colts have almost three players that have rushed for 100 yards this season. That’s the kind of balance that will keep the Colts in games this season.
26. Cincinnati Bengals (1-2) (LW:31): Cincinnati had 622 yards of offense this week with Joe Burrow passing for 522 of those yards. Second round selection Quinshon Judkins averaged 7.4 yards per carry and the Bengals jump started an offense that previously ranked in the bottom half of the league, but with this week’s performance, Cincinnati has the second passing offense in the league.
27. San Francisco 49ers (1-2) (LW:32): Realistically, the 49ers are 0-3. They were blessed with a fair sim victory over the Rams this past week 2, and couldn’t capitalize the gift when they hosted the Texans the following week. It seems we could be looking at another top 5 selection in San Francisco, and with an already stacked roster, what more do they need to compete in a very competitive NFC West? This was a team that a few predicted could possibly make Super Bowl appearances this cycle, or at the very least, a deep playoff run.
28. Arizona Cardinals (0-3) (LW:22): In retrospect, was Xavier Worthy the play last season? The Cardinals were a very raw team that in hindsight, they may have been better off drafting a defensive game changer, rather than a speedy WR. At 0-3, Worthy hasn’t exactly shown his ‘worth’ that saw him take the podium with the 5th overall selection. Through three games, he has just 57 yards on 3 receptions and is yet to find the endzone. I think the Cards front office saw the difference Waddle was making in Atlanta, and tried to ride a similar wave to open up the offense. A little over a season later, I don’t think it was the right move to make for the organization.
29. Dallas Cowboys (0-3) (LW:24): The Cowboys fall to 0-3 after an ugly showing against Coach Burn and the Giants. This is the second season in a row in which the Cowboys have started off slow. Last season they had their division mates to thank for their ascension to the playoffs. This time around, the Giants and Eagles seem to want to play this year, with the Giants picking up their first win of the cycle over Dallas. There’s a lot of football left to be played, but a pedestrian Cowboys offense heads to Minnesota next week to play a ball-hawking Vikings team.
30. Buffalo Bills (0-3) (LW:26): Buffalo is cap strapped, so they sent Stefon Diggs to New York in exchange for some young talent, but Diggs presence, well lack of was felt this week because the Buffalo receivers couldn’t separate from the sticky coverage of the Bengals defensive backs. Josh Allen is struggling, missing open receivers, and with his salary, he should be the one making plays when the Bills need it the most.
31. Las Vegas Raiders (0-3) (LW:29): The Raiders fall to 0-3 with a divisional loss to the Broncos. The defense once again could not stop the run, conceding 285 yards and 4 rush TDs to the duo of Nick Chubb (14/180/2) and Trey Lance (2/59/2). The Raiders are at their best when they’re able to run the ball and play stout defense. 5 interceptions from 2nd year QB Jayden Daniels will significantly hinder their ability to do so. I expect more tackling drills and run fits, as well as QB film sessions from Raiders camp this week during practice. They host the Chiefs next week and are in danger of falling to 0-4.
32. Washington Commanders (0-3) (LW:30): Three weeks into the season and being a Commanders’ fan is still the hardest gig in the league. Following another loss in which they gave up 48 (52 to the Packers) or more points, the front office decided it was time to part with their best defensive player (for the second time) in Chase Young. On the season they have given up 51 ppg, and the player they received in the deal (A.J. Terrell Jr) won’t help them stop teams from scoring. They host the Eagles next week in what should be another Big 12 Style shootout.
