NFL Week 3 Recap: Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, What is Going On Here?!

Ever have one of those moments where you don't know which way is up? A lot of NFL fans have that feeling right now. Week 3 of this season has seen too many monkey wrenches thrown in, and the biggest one, IMO, was Sunday Night Football. A battle between conference runners-up, the Los Angeles Rams and the Denver Broncos went at it, and it was the Rams dominating at first. A 16-0 lead for the Rams, who were again playing without Puka Nacua. But still, the Rams looked good, until they didn't.

The Broncos bounced back with two eight-point TDs, the Rams got the lead back with a field goal, but Matthew Stafford threw a Pick Six that gave Denver the lead. Rams regained the lead with a TD, but Bo Nix led a clutch drive that put Denver ahead, 30-26, with under a minute left. Stafford's attempt at a game winning drive ended with an interception, and the Broncos won their second straight game since their season opening disaster in KC.

More on the Rams after this:

I was excited for the Packers home opener for weeks. Even better, it was on Thursday Night Football. What I saw was an absolute disaster. Yeah, we scored first, but it was followed by the Falcons... the Falcons!... raw-dogging us. Atlanta hadn't had a single play in the red zone all season entering this game. They lived in the red zone on Thursday. They ran all over us. 500+ total yards. A 35-14 win for the Falcons. I spent days very unhappy about this. Two things cheered me up. One, a graphic from DraftKings that said that out of the last eight times we started 1-2, we made the playoffs six of those times. We'll be fine.

The other: what happened to the Rams. The Rams and Packers are now in the same boat. Think about it. Both teams lost to QBs they should have easily blown out. Both teams only beat dead-weight NY teams. Both teams blew double digit leads. The main difference is that the Rams had heavy expectations, yet here they are, off to a shaky start. What bothers me is that talking heads are already sticking a fork in the Packers, but not the Rams. Like I said, these teams are in the same exact boat.

The Chargers are in a peck of trouble right now. They played very well against the Buffalo Bills, taking the ball away from Buffalo five times. Three of those turnovers were committed by Josh Allen. But despite this, the Bills still won that game, 24-16, and that is very troubling. When you take the ball away five times, you should win. The Chargers didn't, and now, they're 0-3, a very insurmountable start. It didn't help that the Chiefs won, because that's what you do when you play Miami. Even the Colts won. Yeah. The Colts, who lost nine straight dating back to last year, got a key divisional win over the Houston Texans, who are also 0-3. However, history says that the Texans and Chargers are right where they want to be; they are excellent at getting away with starting late.

DeShaun Watson is winning games. This is not good. The guy should not be in the league, but he is. He shouldn't be starting, but he is. Even worse, he's won back-to-back games after beating the Panthers, 21-18. Good grief. Elsewhere in the AFC North, the Steelers and Bengals battled it out, and the Steelers defense managed to make a key sack and takeaway to seal a 30-27 victory. Regarding the rest of the early window, the Lions survived the Jets, but the Giants defeated the very hapless Titans. Speaking of hapless, the Seahawks lost to a Commanders team who didn't have their QB1, and New England's QB1 continued to make Bart Simpson look like Bart Starr. The Jags blasted the Patriots, 35-6, solely due to Drake Maye continuing to show how overrated he is.

We were treated to NFL's first-ever game in Rio, and it was between the Baltimore Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys, and it was every bit the classic that we expected. It was a back and forth battle, but as usual, Lamar Jackson showed why he's the #1 QB in the league. Game tied at 31, seven seconds left, and all Lamar needed was one pass to get to field goal range. Tyler Loop did the rest; a booming 56 yard field goal to win it, redemption after the bad miss that ended Baltimore's season last year. And get this, as a result, everyone in the AFC North is 2-1. WOW!

Elsewhere in the late window, there was another shootout between the Niners and Cards, with the Niners winning 36-30. The Raiders defeated the Saints, 35-27, improving to 3-0 and already matching their win total from last year, and the Vikings won, 23-16, over the Bucs, who are now the only NFC team at 0-3.

Last, but not least, there's this final insult from Monday Night Football. This was supposed to be a cakewalk for the Eagles. It was the Bears, without Caleb Williams. Ancient QB Case Keenum was starting. This was the Eagles' game to lose. Boy, did those idiots lose it. Mind you, when I say "idiots," I definitely don't mean Jalen Hurts. He did everything right. I mainly mean that damn defense, but here's the true Lord of the Idiots:

I warned you, didn't I, Sirianni? I said that if there were any glaring problems or signs of regression, you'd be gone. I'd call losing 27-7 to a bad Bears team with their only means of offense out is a glaring problem. And this comes a week after Jalen Hurts had to save Sirianni's ass (again) against the hapless Titans. How is this guy not fired? Do not... do not say, "He has a ring." You never respected Mike Tomlin's ring. Don't respect Sirianni's. He's a Jalen Hurts merchant and we all know it.

Three weeks have passed, and four teams are 3-0: Chiefs, Raiders(!), Vikings, Bills. On the flipside, five teams are 0-3: Dolphins, Texans, Titans, Chargers, and Bucs. 0-3 is supposed to be the kiss of death, but Houston's the only team to rebound from that start twice. The Chargers are the only team to start 0-4 and make it, and they almost did it again. Bucs are in the NFC South, they could start 0-5 and somehow win the division at 8-9 or 7-9-1 or, God forbid, 7-10. Dolphins and Titans are playing for the draft again. Should be interesting.

Week 4 starts with an AFC North battle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. And set your alarm clocks, because we have our first early morning international game of the season; the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Commanders battling in London. Sunday Night Football will see the Carolina Panthers host the Detroit Lions, and on Monday Night Football, it's an NFC South battle between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.

Oh, and one more thing. The title does fit the wackiness of Week 3, but also, that's for Dennis Haskins. Thank you, Mr. Belding.

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