Joe's NFL Week 3 in Review

Sorry to all of you who read this for being so tardy on my week 3 NFL post, but wait no longer.

This week we're starting off with the locals, because two of the three NY teams pulled off two of the biggest upsets of the week. Going in order of the their record...we'll start with the 3-0 Buffalo Bills! The Bills went into this game vs the New England Patriots with very few people actually believing they can win, except for members of the Buffalo Bills. Never the less they picked off Tom Brady 4 times, and took a win against New England 34-31. Ryan Fitzpatrick did it again, leading a game winning drive, all the while using to his advantage guys like Stevie Johnson in his 4th year, and Donald Jones a 2nd year receiver from Youngstown St. Also, never to be overlooked is Fred Jackson who may have only had 74 yards, but then you realize it was on only 12 carries (6.2 YPC). Bills fans, Im sure you remember when this man was sitting behind Marshawn Lynch! With all that being said, I can't say I believe the Bills are playoff team yet, however they are making some big steps, and look out New York Jets.

On to my boys in blue the New York Giants. A 29-16 win in Philly against the Eagles make ALL Giants fans think, "Hey, maybe this division is winnable". It was 2 weeks ago I was watching the G-Men slowly lose a sloppy game to the Redskins. This game was a complete turn around from that. The often chastised (by me) Eli Manning played an incredible game going 16/23 and throwing 4 TDs. The play calling by Gilbride was absolutely where it needed to be, and Victor Cruz had the game that Giants fans were waiting for since last years great preseason. On a side note that Great catch Cruz made at the goal line, is not a pass I commend Eli for making, its a pass I commend Cruz for snatching away.

Let us now look at those J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. Im sure a 34-24 loss to the Oakland Raiders is not what the Jets had planned for this past Sunday. This game showed me that this team is NOT at all what it used to be. Looking at the offense, the run game is Not the go to strategy for this team anymore, and for good reason. As Ive been saying since preseason, Shonn Greene is not a feature back which means the Jets do not have one. Hence the reason Sanchez threw 44 passes. Now looking at the defense, very few people were running at all on this defense the last few years...this year, and in this game McFadden ran for 19 carries for 171 yards which equals 9 yards per carry. McFadden is a top running back in the NFL right now, but he would Not have been able to do this the last two seasons. This could be more of a problem season than expected for Jets fans.

Some other key games Id like to mention are the Tampa Bay Bucs finally beating the Atlanta Falcons 16-13, and the Carolina Panthers getting their first win this season, beating the Jaguars 16-10. Its strange to note that Matt Ryan threw for 330 yards, while Josh Freeman threw for 180. LeGarette Blount had an unimpressive 24 carries for 81 yeards, but even more unimpressive than that, and a big reason why the Bucs won this game is due to Michael Turner having a meager 11 carries for 20 yards. Adds a real wrinkle to the so far unimpressive (except for the Saints) NFC South. The other game I target is Cam Newton's first win of his career beating the Blaine Gabbert lead Jags 16-10. Newton had his least effective game so far, throwing only 18/34 for 158 yards and only the 1 touchdown to Greg Olsen. I am still impressed with Newton, and a Big Fan none the less. Which leads me to my last point.

The rookie QB portion of the blog begins now. I mentioned Newton, and I see only big things ahead for him and Im glad to see his humble press conference after the win. Blaine Gabbert gets his first start for the Jags this past week and wasn't the main reason the Jags lost. Gabbert went 12/21 for 139 yards and a score. Not that impressive, but for a first start, and his lack of receivers, you cant complain about much. Andy Dalton went against a very stout 49ers defense this week and went 17/32 and had 157 yards. I still have faith in "The Red Rifle" (one of the few nicknames I like). Again though, the man has limited options, AJ Green helps but if these two can spend some years together I like where it Could go.

Thats it for now, let me know what you think about this weeks views,and any games you would want me to cover next week. Without feedback, this is how it will stay, for better or for worse. See you all next time. Joe (Twitter - @CorporalJoe)