NFL Week Three: Winners and Losers

In what was an interesting week in the NFL to say the least, we saw some great action on the field. Here are my winners and losers:

Winners:

1. Minnesota Vikings: Quarterback Case Keenum threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those were to wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who had 173 receiving yards. The defense caught three interceptions as the Vikings defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34-17.
2. New York Jets: Quarterback Josh McCown threw for 239 yards and a touchdown. The defense caught two interceptions as the Jets surprised the Miami Dolphins 20-6, no that’s not a typo.
3. Buffalo Bills: Quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw for two touchdowns. The defense had two interceptions and four sacks as the Bills shocked the Denver Broncos 26-16.
4. Atlanta Falcons: Quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Devonta Freeman rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown. Ryan overcame three interceptions as the Falcons held off the Detroit Lions 30-26.
5. Indianapolis Colts: Quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw for 259 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for two touchdowns as the Colts defeated the Cleveland Browns 31-28.
6. Philadelphia Eagles: After an early miss, kicker Jake Elliott drilled a 61-yard field goal as time expired helping the Eagles seal a win over NFC East rival New York Giants 27-24.
7. Tennessee Titans: Quarterback Marcus Mariota threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Running back DeMarco Murray rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown. Kicker Ryan Succop had four field goals as the Titans defeated the Seattle Seahawks 33-27.
8. Washington Redskins: Quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns. The defense had four sacks in their surprising win over the Oakland Raiders 27-10.

Losers:

1. Seattle Seahawks: Despite quarterback Russell Wilson’s four touchdown passes, the Seahawks only had 69 rushing yards and were 4 for 14 on third downs in their loss to Tennessee.
2. Houston Texans: Though they weren’t initially intimidated by the Patriots, not going for it on fourth and one that would’ve sealed the game, came back to haunt them. As a late Patriots touchdown led to the Texans eventually loss to New England 36-33.
3. Denver Broncos: The Broncos had the advantage on first downs and total yards but quarterback Trevor Siemian’s two interceptions stalled drives in their loss to Buffalo.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Quarterback Jameis Winston’s three interceptions were the Bucs’ undoing in their loss to Minnesota.
5. New York Giants: Despite scoring 24 points late including three touchdowns by quarterback Eli Manning, two of them to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the Giants couldn’t overcome early mistakes in their loss to Philadelphia.
6. Carolina Panthers: They just couldn’t get their offense going, thanks in large part to Cam Newton’s interceptions in their loss to the New Orleans Saints 34-13.
7. AFC North: It wasn’t a good week for the AFC North. First, the Browns couldn’t slow down Jacoby Brissett in their loss to Indianapolis. Turnovers and having only 52 passing yards doomed the Baltimore Ravens as they were dominated by the Jacksonville Jaguars 44-7 in London. The Pittsburgh Steelers gave up 220 rushing yards and had missed opportunities in their overtime loss to the Chicago Bears 23-17. As for the Cincinnati Bengals, failed execution late led to them to blow a late fourth quarter lead and subsequent overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers 27-24.
8. Oakland Raiders: Thanks to quarterback Derek Carr’s three interceptions, being sacked four times and the offense as a whole having 128 total yards. They just couldn’t get things going in their loss Washington.

Storylines Going Into Week Four:

New Orleans and Miami battle in London. Buffalo travels to Atlanta. LA Rams visit Dallas. In the NFC North, Detroit battles Minnesota. Can Carolina rebound against New England?

Both caught looking ahead, Baltimore meet Pittsburgh in the AFC North. In the AFC South, Houston hosts Tennessee. Will the New York Giants get their first win at Tampa Bay? Oakland and Denver meet in the AFC West. And an intriguing intra-conference match-up, Washington goes to Kansas City.