In a tale of two halves, the Bills led the LA Rams 28-3 before Jared Goff and crew came roaring back. After surrendering 29 unanswered points and trailing by four, Josh Allen threw a three-yard fade in the endzone to tight end Tyler Kroft with just 16 seconds left to grab the win. This one had big plays and a couple controversial calls by the officials, culminating with Allen’s fourth touchdown pass of the game and 10th of the season. Buffalo holds its position of being number one in the division heading into the last game of the first quarter of the schedule.
1. Buffalo Bills: 3-0
(Division 2-0) (Conference 2-0)
-Last Game: Won at home against the LA Rams 35-32.
-Stand Outs: It’s not a bad thing when the best player on the field week after week is your quarterback. Josh Allen continued his white-hot start totaling four touchdown passes and throwing for 311 yards with a 72 percent completion rate. He also added another score by plowing 1 yard to paydirt. Rookie wideout Gabriel Davis saw more targets due to John Brown leaving the game early with a calf injury. Davis made the most of the added opportunity, catching four passes for 81 yards.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: The defensive collapse in the second half is concerning. After getting the ball on a questionable interception, it seemed to light a fire in the Rams who took just three plays to go 59 yards for the score. With new found momentum, the Rams did pretty much as they pleased on offense. The Buffalo “D” just one season removed from third in the NFL is giving up over 25 points per game so far. It’s the second week in a row they have squandered a double-digit lead, having to come from behind to win. Halftime adjustments are particularly not working for Buffalo’s defense. Of the 77 points against them, 61 have come in the second half.
-Up Next: The Bills fly cross country to duel with the Las Vegas Raiders in their new house. The Raiders are coming off of their first loss, falling to the New England Patriots 36-20. Quarterback Derek Carr has been impressive completing 74 percent of his throws for six touchdowns, almost 800 yards and no interceptions. Second year running back Josh Jacobs has over 250 yards rushing with three touchdowns. This is lining up to be a battle in the desert. The Bills need the offense to keep rolling while tightening up the defense to remain undefeated.
2. New England Patriots: 2-1
(Division 1-0) (Conference 2-0)
-Last Game: Won at home against the Las Vegas Raiders 36-20.
-Stand Outs: Sony Michel topped 100 yards in the running game on just nine carries and also contributed 23 yards on two catches. On a team with no players putting up big numbers so far, Michel is averaging a crazy 6.7 yards per carry. Because of a team running by committee plan by the Patriots and Cam Newton using his legs consistently, Michel isn’t getting a lot of rushes. Even so, he is definitely making the most of the touches he does get.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: The passing game is the weapon of choice in today’s NFL. Not only throwing the ball but throwing deep more than we have seen in recent memory. Cam Newton has been limited, being held to well under 200 yards twice already this season. He’s only accumulated two touchdowns through the air and has just as many interceptions. This may soon prove problematic as the opposition starts game planning to take away the Pats ground game and see if Cam and his receiving corps can beat them.
-Up Next: The Patriots have the unfavorable task of heading to Kansas City on Sunday and face off against the buzz saw which is the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes continues to pick apart defenses and has nine touchdowns and almost 900 yards on the young season. Rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire looks to be a great pick averaging just shy of 4.5 yards per carry and has over 100 yards receiving. His breakout game was last week, gaining 138 yards and a touchdown. As he gets more comfortable and learns more being a first-year player, the Chiefs only become more dangerous.
3. Miami Dolphins: 1-2
(Division 0-2) (Conference 1-2)
-Last Game: Won away against the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-13
-Stand Outs: In a team effort win, their first of the season, the defense has to get most of the accolades. Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew threw 42 times but was held to just 275 yards, no touchdowns and picked off once. In holding Jacksonville to just 13 points, the Dolphins defense had four sacks, a fumble recovery, 5.5 tackles for loss and 10 hits on Minshew. This may be a sign that Miami’s offseason defensive additions are starting to gel.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: The Fins put up 31 points but didn’t do it in a very dominant way. Ryan Fitzpatrick and the rest of the offense had below average numbers. Fitzpatrick had just 160 yards passing but was efficient hitting 18 of his 20 attempts for two scores. Their lead running back amassed just 66 yards rushing and top receiver Devonte Parker just 69 yards on 5 catches. The Jaguars even outdid the Dolphins in total yards 318 to 294.
-Up Next: Miami gets the early leading MVP candidate Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks at home this week. Miami’s defense will have their hands full as Wilson and his offense come in leading the NFL in total touchdowns with 15, 14 of those passes from Wilson.
4. New York Jets: 0-3
(Division 0-2) (Conference 0-3)
-Last Game: Lost away against the Indianapolis Colts.
-Stand Outs: After being dismantled by the Colts, it proves difficult to name someone on the Jets who looked better than mediocre. I’ll put a dim spotlight on the former 6th round pick wide receiver Braxton Berrios. Berrios caught all four targets his way for 64 yards and a touchdown, his second of the year. Three of his four grabs were good for a first down.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: There are many questions and holes in this team. Just three games in there is already talk of blowing it up and starting over. The only thing that may prevent this is wasting a year of Sam Darnold with a regime change. The Jets signal caller is not looking good so far and had his worst outing last week. Darnold completed less than 60 percent of his throws and had a three-interception day, two of which were just flat out bad decisions. The Jets have had their share of injuries on the offense so far but that can’t be used as an excuse for the cringe worthy passes by the number three pick overall just two years ago. The face of the franchise has one more interception than touchdown passes with four and a QB rating of just 70. As a result, the merciless fans and media of New York are already discussing his replacement if they are bad enough to be able to select Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence in next year’s draft.
Up Next: The winless Jets play host to the winless Denver Broncos on Thursday night. This game is crucial not only for the team’s chances of having a salvageable season but also to their psyche. Getting his first career NFL start for the Broncos is Brett Rypien, nephew to Super Bowl XXVI MVP Mark Rypien. Brett came out of Boise State in 2019 undrafted and was third on Denver’s depth chart. If the Jets coaching staff can’t put together a plan to win over a Rypien led team and/or Sam Darnold gets outplayed, it may fracture the team and cause irreversible damage.
