NFL Week 3 overreactions: Were Steelers exposed?
Week 3 of the NFL season featured plenty of surprising results, but Monday offered a chance to evaluate what happened with a cooler head.
Here are five overreactions we're pushing back on this week:
The Philadelphia Eagles exposed the Pittsburgh Steelers
It was as bad an offensive performance as you’ll see out of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Co.: Three points, 251 total yards, 15 first downs, two turnovers, and a 31-point blowout loss.
While the Eagles put a lot of things on film other teams can use, not many other squads have a defensive line like Philly’s that can generate pressure by rushing four, and not many can craft a game plan around misdirection like they did offensively.
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Pittsburgh fell in a hole early and was forced to play from behind the rest of the afternoon. Philadelphia knew the Steelers would be in throwing situations and encouraged its defensive front to get pressure on Big Ben.
Four Pittsburgh starters left the game with injuries.
Oh, and all-pro running back Le’Veon Bell, who adds another dimension to Pittsburgh’s offense with his pass catching, is set to return from a three-game suspension next week.
This loss raises some concerns, but the Steelers should be fine.
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The New England Patriots' QB uncertainty leaves a crack in the AFC East
Third-string rookie passer Jacoby Brissett suffered a sprained throwing thumb in Thursday night’s 27-0 shutout victory against the Houston Texans, and his status for Week 4 against the Buffalo Bills — as well as the availability of backup Jimmy Garoppolo and his sprained shoulder — is uncertain.
So the rest of the division has a chance to make some ground, right? Not likely.
New England sits atop the division at 3-0, while the Bills, New York Jets, and Miami Dolphins are all mired at 1-2.
The Kansas City Chiefs just smoked New York 24-3 as quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw six interceptions.
Miami squeaked by the winless Cleveland Browns in overtime.
Buffalo bounced back with an impressive 33-18 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, but the team is still working through significant issues.
The Patriots may very well lose next week. But even if they do, Tom Brady is back Week 5.
And that doesn’t even factor in the emergence of New England’s defense.
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Time to panic for the Carolina Panthers?
Consider this, first, when weighing Carolina’s 1-2 start: The losses have come against the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos (on the road), and against an up-and-coming Minnesota Vikings team (at home) that boasts a hard-hitting, aggressive defense.
Both of those defenses match up very well against the Panthers since Carolina’s weakness is its offensive line, and each of those units carries a ferocious pass rush.
On Sunday, Minnesota sacked Cam Newton eight times. In Week 1, Denver sacked the reigning MVP three times and racked up eight QB hits.
Carolina still has an explosive offense and a formidable defense, but as long as the team can get more consistency out of its offensive line, the losses shouldn’t pile up.
The Panthers are now 0-6, including playoffs, in games where Newton was sacked six or more times. For the Panthers to turn it around, it has to start up front.
Carolina’s schedule is about to ease up. In the next two months, the Panthers face just two opponents with two victories so far: the Los Angeles Rams (Week 9) and Chiefs (Week 10).
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The Beckham-Norman feud is over
Round 2 was absent of the fireworks that made the Odell Beckham Jr.-Josh Norman battle so memorable in Week 15 last season, but that doesn’t mean this rivalry is dead.
And though Beckham got the better of Norman on an individual level Sunday (7 receptions for 121 yards, most of which came against Norman), the Redskins won.
But it was continued emotional outbursts that showed Norman can still get inside Beckham’s head and likely has many NFL fans thankful this NFC East matchup will be on display repeatedly after Norman joined the Redskins this offseason.
Frequency should only intensify the rivalry.
Just look at Beckham’s actions on the sideline. Obviously amped up, he gestured, shouted, and even smacked a field goal net with his helmet (only to have the net crash into his face). Later, cameras caught him tearing up.
Beckham didn’t quite become unhinged like he did last season, and a lot of credit should go to quarterback Eli Manning for appearing to settle the young wideout.
But come Week 17, with playoff spots potentially on the line, this battle should have even more juice than it did Sunday.
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Gus Bradley still has time in this Jacksonville Jaguars rebuild
Earlier this offseason, Jags owner Shad Khan told USA TODAY Sports’ Tom Pelissero that the team’s fan base had “suffered long enough.”
Well, the suffering hasn't stopped so far this year.
That the Jaguars were a trendy preseason pick to make a playoff push only elevated expectations, so the team’s 0-3 start certainly leaves the future of Bradley and even general manager David Caldwell in doubt.
Quarterback Blake Bortles (62.2% completion rate, 843 yards, five touchdowns to six interceptions) hasn’t lived up to his franchise player billing in his third season and is struggling. The defense, which was injected with youth and talent this offseason, now is tied for 26th in the NFL with 28 points per game allowed.
Khan also said it was a “reasonable expectation” to produce a winning season in 2016. So if that’s used as the benchmark, Jacksonville must go 9-4 the rest of the way to ensure its first winning season since 2007.
The Jaguars now travel to London, where there have been 12 International Series games, to face the Indianapolis Colts. The losing team from those 12 games in London has fired its head coach during or after that season six times.
And if Jacksonville loses, Bradley’s record will fall to 12-40 in his three-and-a-half seasons with the team. Not many coaches can survive numbers like that.
Jacksonville needs to turn it around — and quickly.
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Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.
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