Week 3 Recap

Some teams got their reality checks this week. Some teams resurrected their seasons. Some teams just proved how much better their division is than everyone else in the league.

The NFC East is the best in the league, hands down. Dallas rocked Green Bay, the Giants scraped by an overtime victory against Cincy, Philly dominated Pittsburgh, and Washington pulled it out against Arizona. I’ve been a big fan of Jason Campbell since his days at Auburn, and it’s great to see him finally coming into his own. The Giants got a scare when their defense couldn’t stop the Bungles, but did enough to win, which is the mark of a champion.

You may be wondering why I didn’t include New England or Miami on this list. Well, Miami had the gameplan of a lifetime against New England’s defense. Ronnie Brown had a game that will be remembered for a long, long time. After losing Brady, New England was off my list of projected playoff teams, which means their loss to Miami is not so much a reality check, but a better indicator of their real level.

This week was filled with great games. Both the Giants and Tampa Bay won in overtime, while Buffalo and Jacksonville won on last-second field goals. Additionally, Denver edged out New Orleans as Martin Grammatica missed a 43-yard field goal in the last 2 minutes. Baltimore’s defense won the game for them as it set up 2 scores and Cleveland’s offense looked terrible. Minnesota won a defensive battle against Carolina. Washington was able to convert 2 Arizona turnovers into points, including the game-winning touchdown.

Best Game of the Week: Jacksonville at Indy. Hey, I called this one. Flashback to my Week 3 Preview — “Upset of the Week: Jacksonville over Indianapolis. If the Jaguars want to resurrect their playoff hopes, they need a win this week. Otherwise, they are 0-2 in the division and 0-3 overall with Tennesse and Indy at least 2 games ahead of them. Even though the Jags have had some injuries along the offensive line, Indy’s run defense has been disgustingly weak this year, which sets up MJD and Fred Taylor to have big games on the ground. Indy will put up points, but if Jacksonville can control the clock, look for them to have a shot to win at the end of the game.” Well…this game not only made me look smarter than I actually am, but it was a darn good game. Taylor and MJD both had over 100 yards on the ground, Manning brought his team down the field at the end to score the go-ahead touchdown, only to be outdone by a 51-yard field goal by Josh Scobee with 4 seconds left.