This year our writers are teaming up to bring you weekly football coverage! Each week, a few of our writers will be sharing their thoughts and highlights from games they’ve watched. Who were the winners this week? Who remains undefeated? Which team will come out victorious at the end of the 2013-2014 season?
Three weeks in and seven teams have already shown an impressive start to the NFL season. The Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are currently undefeated, with 3-0 wins. Can they keep it up? Could it be though that one of the undefeated teams or more could face a loss in the fourth week? The 3-0 champs Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints both face off in a Monday night showdown. How could that possibly turn out?
As the AFC opened the season with 11-3 against the NFC, the AFC is looking great with their Eastern division rising to the top, with the West close behind. The NFC East sits promptly at the bottom of their division and remain a bit of a mess in their percentile, as there are still four winless teams in the NFL conference. So how do you think this week played out? Our writers, Tania Hussain and Andrew Rogers team up and share some highlights from their favorite games of the week, what they thought of the plays and what to look ahead for. Do you agree with them?
Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints
Image Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Saints, 31-7
Andrew:
It was great to see my Saints back on top again with an easy win, after two narrow victories over their divisional rivals. Even better is that they’re already 2 games ahead from everyone in their division. Take that NFL.com experts who said the Falcons would be dominating this division!
But they’ve got a few tough games ahead of them in the weeks to come: the undefeated Miami, Chicago and New England squads but they just have to take it one game at a time and do what they do best to try and keep their streak alive and end the streaks of these three other teams.
New York Giants at Carolina Panthers
Image Credit: Chris Keane/Reuters
Panthers, 38-0
Andrew:
What the heck happened in this game? I can’t imagine NY Coach Coughlan is happy after this blowout. That’s three in a row for the little Manning brother. They’re going to need some major regrouping before this week’s game again Alex Smith & Andy Reid, otherwise they could be down and out in their division with Dallas (who woulda thunk?) separating themselves from the pack.
Tania:
What in the world happened to Eli Manning and The Giants?! They were Super Bowl champs, right? I really don’t have any words. This whole game was a mess and I’m not even going to comment. It really just bugged me that they haven’t even been able to prove themselves in these last three games but only through close calls. I wish they played like how they did the first week against the Dallas Cowboys. I’m hoping this was an off-day and they will be better against the Kansas City Chiefs, though they are one of the undefeated teams in the AFC.
Indianapolis Colts at San Francisco 49ers
Image Credit: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle
Colts, 27-7
Andrew:
I am so glad I took Kaepernick out of my fantasy lineup this week because, once again, it was struggle for him to get a touchdown and Week 1 star Anquin Bouldin (who’s also on my team) was nowhere to be found. Maybe he’s suffering from the same thing Cam Newton did in his Sophomore year: everyone has figured him out by now. Well, that plus the 49ers lost a few key players like Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis. Still, this is one of the worst starts for this team in the Harbaugh Era and I can’t imagine 49ers fans are too happy about it. On the other hand, Luck is making a name for himself and slowing creeping out from the shadow of his predecessor: Peyton Manning.
Tania:
What a game. Both teams are really good so this was surprising to see. I expected a lot more heat on the field. The 49ers had just as many punts as points, and way more turnovers than touchdowns. The offense is again missing this week and that’s not good for the 49ers, especially a really temperamental Harbaugh. The Kap got sacked three times and did I hear booing from the Candlestick Stadium’s predominant 49ers fans in the remaining four minutes of the game? Ouch. I’m sure they would play find against the St. Louis Rams later tonight but then again, it can be anyone’s game if San Fran keep this up.
Andrew Luck is really becoming his own player and like Andrew mentioned, creeping out from the shadow of the Peyton Manning era. Trent Richardson, who was actually just drafted from the Cleveland Browns last Wednesday, made a successful debut with the Colts and scored a 1-yard TD on his first carry as a player for Indy. This was a great game (especially for this one Colts fan!) and I enjoyed seeing my team come prepared. The final few minutes of the game found Ahmad Bradshaw adding a 1-yard TD run and well, how awesome was that? Arguably one of the best wins this week.
Green Bay Packers at Cincinnati Bengals
Image Credit: Packers/AP Photo
Bengals, 30-34
Andrew:
This was a great game to watch. Two middle of the pack teams both hoping to break away and actually make something out of these season. That hunger was evident in the back-and-forth play in this game and when Cinci scored that last minuter, I could help but cheer for them as the underdogs. Sure, there were a lot of turnovers on their part, but the defence held their own when they had to and, like I said in the previous two Saints games, that’s what counts in the end.
Tania:
Is it me or do the Packers come off a little hot and cold this season? I can’t exactly read them and how their plays are going to “play” out. This last game was a little weird for me even though it was so tight! There were a lot of invalid plays and the ball often met with butterfingers throughout the game from both teams. On the upside, Rodgers was 26 of 43 on 244 yards with a TD; and the Bengals put a ton of pressure on him, sacking the QB four times as he also threw two interceptions. I wonder if it’s the absence of Clay Matthews that speaks for the discrepancies of this game? The Packers will be on a bye this coming week but return the following week playing the Detroit Lions. I’m expecting that game to be as tight as this one but without the miscues.
Atlanta Falcons at Miami Dolphins
Image Credit: AP Photo/Getty Images
Dolphins, 27-23
Andrew:
I hope this game is not how it goes down for the Saints on Monday night because this was ugly. Sure, Miami’s definitely looking better than they have for a few seasons but the Falcons have completely fallen off the map. It seems like the first game loss against the Saints has shook this team and they can’t find their momentum again. They just seem to lose it in the second half of these games. Some credit has to be doled out to Miami, Tannehill seems to be making slow progress and is using all the weapons on his O-Line to get that ball in the endzone and that’s key, especially when competing with fast-and-furious offences like Atlanta, the Saints and their biggest threat: The Pats.
Chicago Bears at Pittsburgh Steelers
Image Credit: Don Wright/AP Photo
Bears, 40-23
Tania:
The Chicago Bears are really killing it this season and making quite the impressive lead in their AFC division. The Bears’ DE Julius Peppers should be called “The Flash” because he was able to pick up the ball and just Forrest Gump it and turning toward the open field, just taking off. The Bears forced five turnovers in all and reached 3-0 for the second time in four years. They sealed the win with two TDs in the final six minutes of the game against Pittsburgh and that was a shocker. The Bears defense had two interceptions, three fumble recoveries and two return TDs. Pittsburgh on the other hand is suffering quite a bit this season. Though QB “Big Ben” threw for 406 yards and two TDs, the Steelers are 0-3 for first time since 1986 and that ain’t right! The Steelers play the Minnesota Vikings next so it can be anyone’s game as both teams are at the bottom of their respective divisions.
Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos
Image Credit: Getty Images/AP Photo
Broncos, 37-21
Tania:
I love watching Peyton Manning play. Manning is the first NFL QB to ever throw 12 TDs in the first three weeks of the season! Eh? Not too shabby for a player who was thought to not make a solid comeback after his neck surgeries, and ultimately let go for such reasons from the Indianapolis Colts last March. Manning is the epitome of the “work hard” idiom and has been proving it since he started with the Broncos last season. In Monday’s game against the Raiders, he threw 32 of 37 on 374 yards and scored three TDs. Five incomplete passes seems fair considering the Broncos are now the only team in the NFL to have scored 127 points in three weeks; the most than any team since 1968. With it being a shorter week for them, I do wonder how they’ll play against the Philadelphia Eagles, though they are a team with one win and two losses.
The Oakland Raiders are overmatched in every position against a team like the Broncos. They are last in their division and play the Washington Redskins next week, a team that has not won a single game yet.
Which undefeated team will face their first loss? What games did you watch? Let us know what you thought of the third week of NFL by sounding off in the comments below.
About the Authors
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Andrew Rogers is Editor and staff writer here at The Hudsucker. He is a 24 year old law student who lives in Halifax during the school year and Toronto the rest of the year. Besides Law, his brain capacity is taken up by reality show trivia, video game walk-throughs and food factoids. Andrew is also happily in a relationship with an American boy named Elliott. Follow him on Twitter as @sublymonal.
Tania Hussain is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief here at The Hudsucker. She has her own column over at NBC News’ Newsvine and has completed a manuscript awaiting to be published. She is a member of The Canadian Authors Association, a national organization dedicated to promoting a flourishing community of writers across Canada. Tania is an avid Colts, Elvis and baseball fan as well as a lover of pancakes and fine cheeses. Follow her on Twitter as @westlifebunny.
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