Another Sunday goes by and NFL fans are blessed with another great slew of games. There are six teams that are 3-0, with a seventh set to join them after Monday Night Football. There are still eight winless teams after a tie between the winless Eagles and Bengals. There was a split between the home and away teams, both winning six games on Sunday.
Another week goes by and another stellar performance by Russell Wilson. He set the NFL record for most touchdown passes in the first three games of the season with 14, breaking Patrick Mahomes’ record of 13 set in 2018. On the other side of the coin, another week meant another huge let down for the Atlanta Falcons. It has been hard to watch them flat out blow two games that they should have won.
You can check out more NFL stories on our Locker Room page. You will find heaps of betting advice on each game of each week. Visit our NFL sportsbook to place your bets on anything NFL. Below is a quick look at all the action on Sunday.
- The Bills defeated the Rams 35-32 after almost blowing a big first-half lead.
- New England rushed for more than 250 yards in a 36-20 victory over the Raiders
- The Browns have a winning record for the first time since 2014 after a 34-20 win over Washington
- In the Watt brother battle, the Steelers held on to a 28-21 lead to win over the Texans
- Down 10 possible starters, the 49ers still blew out the Giants 36-9 in New York
- The Eagles are still winless after the Bengals and Eagles ended in a 23-23 tie
- The Titans made 6 field goals on their way to a 31-30 victory over the Vikings
- The Falcons blew another big lead against the Bears losing 30-26 in Atlanta.
- The home team Colts spanked the Jets 36-7
- Carolina gets its first win of the season against the Chargers 21-16
- Tampa Bay defeated a beat up Broncos team 28-10
- The Lions came from behind in the fourth winning 26-23 over the Cardinals to snap a 11 game losing streak
- Seattle remains unbeaten after out-scoring the Cowboys 38-31
- The Saints lost their second straight as the Packers came out of New Orleans with a 37-30 victory.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
In this section, we will pay homage to one of my favorite Western movies of all time. I will focus on Week 3 and give you some good, bad, and ugly games that took place.
The Good: Buffalo Bills and Rams
Through 2½ quarters the Bills looked like they were going to blow out the 2-0 Rams. Buffalo had a 28-3 lead after Josh Allen’s third touchdown through the air and fourth total on the day. Instead of a blowout, the Bills needed to come from behind in the fourth to win their third straight game. The Rams scored four straight touchdowns to take a 32-28 lead late in the fourth quarter. Allen connected with Tyler Kroft for a three-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left.
Allen finally looks comfortable in his third NFL season. The Bills winning behind his big days has put him in the early MVP talks. Allen finished with five total touchdowns but he also had two turnovers that helped the Rams get back into this game. The most important thing this game showed is the Bills are good enough to blow a good team out if Allen is playing well. But also, not good enough to hold onto a lead if he starts to falter.
The Rams played well although they fell behind early and ended up losing this game. The Rams defense forced two turnovers and continually made stops through the third and fourth quarter. If it wasn’t for a questionable pass interference call on 4th-and-8, the Rams defense would have made a game-winning stop. Instead they gave up the go-ahead touchdown with 15 seconds left in the game. Rams’ QB Jarred Goff is playing well by getting all of his weapons involved. If he can keep up this level of play the Rams are a sure-fire wild card team.
Five total TDs and a clutch drive for a W.@JoshAllenQB's #LARvsBUF highlights! pic.twitter.com/7pRVjLm4gS
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2020
The Bad: Bears and Falcons
Both of these teams looked bad at moments. The Falcons continue to show promise through 3½ quarters to only let everyone down. The Falcons’ bad defense mixed with bad game management and inconsistent offensive play is going to keep haunting them until they change something. They have blown two leads larger than 15 points in the last two weeks. If you are a fan of the Falcons or you have bet on them, I am sorry. I think Falcons head coach Dan Quinn will be the first to lose his job this year.
The Bears benched their starting QB Mitchell Trubisky and replaced him with Nick Foles after falling behind. This will probably be the last time Trubisky is the starting QB for the Bears unless something happens to Foles. Foles is a Super Bowl MVP and seemed to provide a much-needed spark to the Bears’ offense.
Here is a look at the latest Super Bowl Odds
This one game does not make me believe much more in the Bears or think too much less of the Falcons. I think the Falcons are the best winless team and the Bears the worst undefeated team. I do think the Bears are a contender with Foles at the helm. Although I am still not high on them winning their division, they could easily be a Wild-Card team after a 3-0 start. With Green Bay next on the schedule the Falcons may need to fall to 0-4 before they figure out how to win a game.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn is now the odds-on favorite (-200) to be the first NFL head coach to be fired this year. https://t.co/Xzu6oHLdy9
— AJC (@ajc) September 28, 2020
The Ugly: Eagles and Bengals
The Eagles were 5½- point favorites in their home game against the Bengals. It took a late fourth-quarter drive by Carson Wentz and the Eagles to send this game into overtime. Neither team could get into field-goal range as the time expired in OT ending the game in a 23-23 tie. Both teams are now 0-2-1.
Wentz threw two more interceptions to put his season total to six. Before this season he received praise for how well he has taken care of the ball throughout his short career. He hasn’t thrown more than seven interceptions since his rookie season in 2016. Like I said, he already has six this year. The Eagles’ defense is yet to record a takeaway, which has not helped make up for any of their QB’s turnovers. Many people picked the Eagles to win the NFC East. Even with no wins, they are only one win behind the first-place Cowboys and Football Team.
36 QBs in the NFL have thrown at least 5 passes.
Carson Wentz's passer rating ranks 36th (63.9). pic.twitter.com/3MnUxrwz76
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) September 28, 2020
The Bengals’ offensive line is not protecting their No. 1 overall draft pick at all. They gave up eight sacks against the Eagles which added to their league-leading 14 total sacks given-up through three games. With a 4.7 sacks per game average they are on pace for more than 75 sacks, which is near the 76 sack record that David Carr holds. When their Heisman Trophy-winning QB Joe Burrow has time he is showing the ability to make plays. But how long can he stay healthy if he is taking a beating every game?
Buy and Sell
This week I am going to look at the Week 4 schedule and pick my buys and sells on the spread. I have been giving more long-term buys and sells and I am not quite ready to change any of them yet. Check out my article next week for the first quarter coaching adjustments.
Buy: Jaguars +3 at Bengals
I thought the Jaguars would be able to handle Miami in a close game this past Thursday. Well, I was wrong. Miami’s QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has beaten the Jaguars with six different teams. The Jaguars made plenty of mistakes in a 31-13 loss.
The Jags did not look good but I like their chances of beating the Bengals on Sunday. Jacksonville only has three sacks through the first three games but will find more success against the league’s worst offensive line. I think QB Gardner Minshew and the Jags can get back to .500 with a win over the Bengals. I especially like the three points the Jags are receiving in this one. Take the over of 48 points as these teams have struggled to stop anyone thus far.
Buy: Colts -2½ at Bears
Can the Bears really go 4-0? I am not buying it. The Colts are finding their rhythm defensively. They held the Jets’ terrible offense to 260 total yards and seven points. In Week 2, the Colts held the Vikings to 11 points and 175 total yards. The Bears will have Foles under center but I suspect they will struggle against this Colts’ defense. I think I may have overreacted after their Week 1 loss to the Jaguars when I put them as a sell. I am buying them back as -2½-point road underdogs. I will let you know if I want to fully buy them back next week. Although these teams have good defenses, I like the over of 45 points.
Rhodes Closed 🚧 End Zone Open pic.twitter.com/jezmOtYEFG
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 28, 2020
Buy: Cardinals -3½ at Panthers
I was buying the Cardinals last week before their letdown game against the Lions. Now that they are no longer the hottest team in the NFL they seem like a better buy. They are traveling to Carolina to take on the Panthers, who are coming off their first win. The Panthers’ defense showed some signs of growth in their 21-16 victory over the Chargers. I think they will need to be better on both sides of the ball to only spot the Cardinals 3½ points. You will see that this in the stats below that this is a bit of a mismatch on paper. Kyler Murray needs to take care of the ball and they should cover the 3½ points. I like the over of 52 points in this game.
Sell: Detroit +4 vs Saints
Good teams find ways to not lose consecutive games. The Saints are a good team and they have lost two consecutive games for the first time since the start of the 2017 season. The Saints will turn it around against the Lions in Week 4. I expect this game to be a shootout. The Lions snapped a 11-game losing streak with an upset win over the Cardinals in Week 3. Although they got their first win of the season they still have many issues on both sides of the ball. Take the Saints -4 and the over of 54.
Sell: Texans -3½ vs Vikings
The Vikings’ QB Kirk Cousins has struggled. It is mainly because he has been pressured on almost half (47%) of his dropbacks. The Vikings finally found a spark with their rookie WR Justin Jefferson in a 31-30 loss to the Titans. Jefferson had 175 receiving yards and a TD in the loss. The Vikings also ran the ball successfully. RB Dalvin Cook ran for 181 yards and one score. The Vikings became the first team in NFL history to have one player record 175 yards receiving and another 175 rushing in the same game.
Houston is one-dimensional. The Texans are struggling to run the ball and they no longer have one of the best receivers in the game (DeAndre Hopkins) to bail them out. I like the Vikings in this one because they should be able to keep Houston’s defense guessing and attack them on all levels. The Texans will be relying on Deshaun Watson to carry their team to a victory. Take the Vikings +3½ and the over because neither team can stop anyone.
