The Serenity of Sundays Part 2

Another exciting Sunday brought us fantastic finish, an unbelievable shocker, a potentially devastating injury, and so much else. The good stuff first: The Saints and Falcons seem to always deliver a great game, and this time, they sure didn’t disappoint. Drew Brees completed 39-49 passes for 396 yards, throwing for three touchdowns, and running for two more, including the walk-off QB sneak in overtime. Matt Ryan had 371 yards and 5 TDs himself, and the two teams combined for 941 yards of total offense! Additionally, the game featured a staggering 10 lead changes, before Brees led the game winning drive in OT. Brees go to receiver, Michael Thomas, set the all time record with 38 receptions in the first 3 games of a season, including 10 in this game for 129 yards. Add in Running Back Alvin Kamara’s 16 catches for 66 yards, and 15 catches for 124 yards, and it’s safe to say the Saints offense is firing on all cylinders. But perhaps what was most noteworthy in Week 3 was the game that no one saw coming. The Vikings, a universally thought of Super Bowl contender, were assumed to have an easy game against a Bills team that some thought was the worst team in all of football, and who had lost their first two games by a combined score of 78-23. Indeed, the Vikings were a 16.5 point favorite, the highest September point spread coming out of Vegas since 2013. But alas, that is why they play the game. The Bills were up 17-0 less than 10 minutes into the game, scoring on each of their first three drives. The Vikings didn’t even cross midfield until the second half. It wasn’t just a Bills win, it was a Bills demolition, from start to finish, so much so, that the Vikings got booed off the field by their home fans. But without a doubt, the most consequential thing that happened on Sunday, and what will have the most long term impact, is Jimmy Garrappolo’s knee injury. With him, the 49ers are at best a fringe playoff team. Without him, they’ll almost assuredly finish near the bottom of the league. The optimism that Garrappolo brought the Bay Area by his stunning 5-0 start last year, now suddenly may be gone in a flash. If it is indeed a torn ACL, as the 49ers fear, their franchise QB won’t see the field until the start of next season. In the Niners own division, the Rams continued to dominate, putting a double digit thumping on the Los Angeles Chargers, in the first LA vs. LA NFL game since 1994. The Rams, who started the year off as the 8th most likely team to win the Super Bowl, with 20-1 odds, now are the most likely team to win it all, and deservedly so, with 3-1 odds. Garrapolo’s former team, the Patriots, might be starting to press the panic button. They got dominated in all aspects of ten game against a Detroit Lions team who looked overhyped and overmatched against two somewhat average teams in the Jets and Niners the first two weeks of the season. Not only that, but Lions Running Back Kerryon Johnson became their first 100 yard rusher in 70 games! That’s over 4 years! Coming off their lackluster performance against the Jaguars offense last week, Bill Bellichick surely knows his defense has a lot of work to do to to get back on the right track. And he must get to work, because they risk falling 3 games behind the Dolphins should they lose when Miami visits Foxborough next Sunday. Though they’ve gotten off to slow starts before, the rash of injuries and the inability to protect Tom Brady are both problems that need to be corrected quick, fast, and in a hurry if New Englanders are to avoid ringing the alarm bells. Elsewhere around the league, the Bears, despite the late debut of Cardinals rookie Josh Rosen, came back from 14-0 to win 16-14 in Arizona, and now lead their division, with the Packers and Viking both losing to fall to 1-1-1 following their tie against each other last week. The Cowboys came out fat, losing to the Seahawks, the Raiders again squandered a good start to the 3-0 Dolphins, who just like the Bears, are a team that no one predicted to be in first place 3 weeks into the season. The only thing that’s predictable about the NFL is that is going to be unpredictable. And that’s what makes it so frickin’ awesome. Euphoria, heartbreak, and everything in between defined the third week of this remarkably exciting football season. On to the highly anticipated Steelers-Buccaneers game tomorrow night, before it’s on to Week 4. What plot twist will happen next in this thrilling drama we call the NFL?