Things I Noticed: Week 3

A record 20 teams entered Week 3 with a 1-1 record, including the entire AFC East and NFC North divisions.  Teams that end up improving to 2-1 after this week greatly increase their playoff odds over teams that drop to 1-2.  That makes this a big week for a lot of teams, as the league begins to form it's list of contenders.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• No Ahmad Bradshaw?  No Hakeem Nicks?  No problem for the Giants offense.  Andre Brown (113 rushing yards, 2 TDs) and Ramses Barden (9 catches, 138 yards) made names for themselves by stepping in to fill the void, ensuring Eli's offense didn't miss a beat without their injured starters.

• People wondered how Victor Cruz managed to go from being undrafted out of UMass to  one of the league's best receivers last season.  Maybe the Giants just happen to be very good at finding diamonds in the rough, enabling them to turn unknown commodities into stars overnight.  Or maybe Cruz's success should be more attributed to Eli and the offensive system then we realized.
• What's happened to the Panthers defense?  After Cam Newton revitalized the offense last season, the team's focus this past off-season was on revamping the defense.  They made some additions through the draft and free agency, but so far it hasn't paid off.  After getting torched by the Giants, they have now given up 383 yards and 26.3 points per game.
• Cam's three INTs certainly helped put the Panthers in a hole, but it was the two kick return fumbles that really buried them.  Joe Adams fumbled away the opening kick-off to start the second half, leading to a quick Giants FG.  Any chance at a comeback was erased when Adams muffed a punt that gave NY the ball back at the Carolina 19 yard line.  The Giants managed to chew up most of the remaining clock before adding another FG. 
• The Bears defense held the Rams to only a pair of FGs and added a TD on an INT from Major Wright (can you think of a better name than that?).  
• After mysteriously leaving early last week, Steven Jackson returned to the Rams backfield this week.  He was seen on the sidelines at one point in the game with an enormous ice pack wrapped around his leg, but he did return the game game, so presumably he's ok.
• Buffalo snapped an 8 game road losing streak with a win in Cleveland.  Yup, that's how bad it is in Cleveland these days.  They can't even win at home against a team that hasn't won on the road in over a year.
• The Bills lost starting RB Fred Jackson in the first half of week one, only to see CJ Spiller explode in his absence, leading the league in rushing through the first two weeks.  So, as their luck would be, of course Spiller leaves early with an injury of his own.  Former Dallas cast-off, Tashard Choice, came in to pile up 91 yards.  Looks like anyone can succeed as a RB in this system.
• Tony Romo turned the ball over 3 times (1 INT, 2 Fumbles), but still managed to take advantage of the field position granted by turnovers forced by their own defense.  Their lone TD of the game came following a Tampa turnover, which turned out to be the difference in the game.
• Kevin Ogletree was wide open in the endzone for what should have been an easy TD reception.  Except he slipped after stepping on the hat that an official had thrown into the field of play.  Oops!
• In case you were wondering; yes, the Bucs did rush the line on the game ending kneel down.  Once again, it was to no avail, but at least this time the opposing coach didn't throw a fit about it.
• After the injured Matthew Stafford was knocked out of the game, Shaun Hill led a wild comeback, scoring 2 TDs in the span of 18 seconds to force overtime.

• The Titans looked to have ended the game with an INT in the endzone, but a roughing the passer penalty negated the play.  Calvin Johnson caught a TD pass on the next play.  After recovering the onside kick, Hill did his best Doug Flutie impression by launching a bomb to the endzone.  Titus Young came up with the tipped pass for the tying TD as time in regulation expired.
• The Titans scored a FG on the first drive of OT, but per the new rules, the game can no longer end if the team possessing the ball first kicks a FG.  Unless they open the OT period with a TD, the opposing team will have a chance to possess the ball.
• Detroit did get the ball back with a chance to tie or win the game.  They faced 4th and inches deep in Titans territory.  Rather than take the chip shot FG to tie the game, the Lions made the bold choice to try a QB sneak.  The play was stuffed, turning the ball over on downs and ending the game.
• According to Lions coach Jim Schwartz after the game, the plan was to try to draw the defense off-sides and call time out if it didn't work.  Due to a miscommunication, the ball ended up being snapped.  Was he just trying to cover for himself by blaming his center for the mistake?
• Chris Johnson (24 yards) once again failed to rush for as many yards as his QB (35 yards).  If the NFL had an amnesty clause similar to the one the NBA provided it's team with after last year's lockout, CJ0K would be a prime candidate to get cut.  Given that the NFL doesn't have fully guaranteed contracts, he's becoming dangerously close to getting cut anyway, with the team having to eat whatever guaranteed money is left on his deal.
• Blaine Gabbert threw an 80 yard TD pass to Cecil Shorts with under a minute left to win the game against the Colts.  Prior to that pass, Gabbert had only thrown 75 yards for the entire game!
• Maurice Jones-Drew set a new franchise record with his 63rd career TD, to go along with his 177  rushing yards.  Maybe the Jags should have just paid the man to save themselves all the drama of his hold out this off-season.  He clearly deserves it.
• The Jets beat Miami on a FG in OT.  The initial attempt was blocked, but a late Miami time out negated the play.  Nick Folk didn't miss his second chance.  The Dolphins must be kicking themselves for their ill-advised decision to try to ice the kicker.
• Both teams lost key players to injury, as both Reggie Bush and Darrell Revis limped off the field with knee injuries.

• Revis tore his ACL and will have season ending surgery - a devastating blow to the Jets defense.  At least fantasy football owners won't have to consider benching their stud receivers when they play the Jets.
• The Jets continue to try to find creative ways to use Tim Tebow.  Split out wide as a receiver, Tebow found himself targeted on one play, but the pass ended up hitting him in the back of the head.  Clearly they've yet to work out the kinks in that route.  The Jets also gave Tebow a designed run near the goal line, which ended up being stuffed for a loss of 5 yards.
• Just when the football world began to praise the 49ers as the new best team in the league, they let us down with a shocking loss to the lowly Vikings.
• For the second week in a row, the most popular pick in ESPN survivor pools lost in a huge upset.  If there is anyone still left alive in one of these leagues, here's a hint - don't pick the popular option.  Clearly it's a jinx!
• Alex Smith's franchise record of passes without an INT was snapped at 249.  Anytime you have a streak going that puts you ahead of Joe Montana and Steve Young, it becomes noteworthy.  Unfortunately, he picked a poor time to have that streak come to an end.  If that didn't kill their last chance at a comeback, than Smith's fumble on the next drive (which followed a Vikings fumble that nearly gave the 49ers new life) certainly did.
• Adventures in officiating: the 49ers were allowed to challenge two plays in the 4th quarter... despite not having any time outs left.
• Christian Ponder didn't rack up a ton of yardage against the tough 49ers defense, but he did throw for 2 TDs and ran for another to lead the Vikings to the win.  He's had better statistical games in his young career, but this was his biggest win.
• In this new era of dominant Tight Ends, Kyle Rudolph put the league on notice that he's ready to join the party.  His two TD catches were key to the Vikings upset victory.
• Jamaal Charles gave the Chiefs a scare with an early exit last week due to soreness in his surgically repaired knee. He claimed he was fine and even wanted to go back in the game last week.  Clearly, he wasn't kidding.  He showed his knee is feeling just fine in racking up 288 total yards and a TD.
• The game turned in KC's favor when they sacked Brees for a safety.  They followed that with a FG in the final seconds to force OT.  Including the game winning FG, the Chiefs scored the final 21 points of the game.
• The Saints just can't catch a break, as they fell to 0-3 on the season.  Maybe they are cursed from the whole Bounty-Gate incident.  They certainly don't have a lot of luck with instant replay reviews.

• Lance Moore appeared to have caught a TD pass, which would end up being overturned on replay.  The ball did bounce off his hands, then hit him in the face, but it looked like he hauled it in before going to the ground.  He wasn't touched, so he was able to hop back up and scurry to the endzone.  I looked at it several times and didn't see anywhere near enough evidence to overturn the call.  The explanation from the official failed to specify why he decided to overturn the call.  The Saints would end up missing a FG to end the drive.  Any score on that drive may have prevented the game from ending on OT.
• Moore would have another TD taken away by replay, when the officials ruled he had stepped out of bounds before the ball crossed the goal line.  Except his foot hit the pylon before it went out of bounds.  The Saints would eventually score a TD on the drive anyway, but they had to work harder for it than necessary.
• The Saints briefly celebrated victory when a fumble in OT was returned for a TD, but replays again overturned the call, giving the ball back to the Chiefs.  
• After Darren Sproles went without a carry in the first two games, he led off the game this week with a 47 yard run.  The Chiefs clearly assumed that Sproles wasn't in there to receive a hand-off. Oddly enough, he ended up leading the team in carries (7, for 62 yards), but was held without a catch.
• The Bengals opened the game with a trick play.  Mohamed Sanu received the snap in the wild cat formation and launched a 73 yard bomb to AJ Green for a score on the game's opening play.
• Green would finish with 9 catches for 183 yards to go with that TD.
• BenJarvis Green-Ellis lost the first fumble of his career, snapping a streak of over 500 carries.
• RGIII came up short in his comeback attempt.  He did manage to run in a TD to pull within one score, but his final drive ended when time ran out following an incompletion on 3rd and 50.  A sack, false start and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed Washington from the Bengals 19 yard line all the way back to their own side of the field.  That turned RGIII's chance at a game tying score into a prayer that fell well short.
• The unsportsmanlike penalty was the big blow there and can partially be blamed on the refs.  Apparently one official told Mike Shanahan that the game was over after the false start penalty.  They eventually got the call right - since the clock was stopped at the time of the penalty there was no 10 second run off on the play.  Yet Shanahan was flagged for trying to argue this point when he was clearly right.
• The Falcons dominated the Chargers behind 3 TDs from Matt Ryan.  They didn't all come in the first quarter like last week, but the Atlanta defense did force 4 turnovers in the game, which helped keep the Chargers to only 3 points.
• Ryan Mathews made his season debut, having recovered from a fractured collar bone suffered in the pre-season, but the blow out score limited his carries.  His 44 yards on 10 carries was an encouraging sign that he's healthy at least.
• Arizona continues to surprise by beating teams they weren't expected to be able to compete with.   The only question is, what happens when John Skelton comes back?  Kevin Kolb is hardly the main reason the Cardinals are winning, but can they bench a QB that has led them to three straight victories?
• If the Cardinals do decide to go back to Skelton, is it too late for Philadelphia to get Kolb back? Vick continues to be a turnover machine and this time it finally came back to bite them.  Just when the Eagles seemed poised to get back in the game, one of Vick's two fumbles was returned 93 yards for a TD, burying their chances.
• Matt Schuab took a couple of hard hits, each of which resulted in roughing the passer penalties.  One of them knocked his helmet off and nearly knocked him out of the game, but he recovered to lead the Texans to the win with 4 TDs.
• Peyton Manning led two 4th quarter scoring drives, but it proved to be too little too late.  He ran out of time on his last chance drive, which brought up concerns over Manning's loss of arm strength.  At one point the Broncos even had his backup warming up on the sidelines.  Apparently if it came down to a long distance Hail Mary to end the game, they don't believe Manning's arm is strong enough to heave the ball that far and he would need to be replaced.  
• Sebastion Janikowski's last second FG gave Oakland the win over the favored Steelers.  Oakland scored 13 points in the 4th quarter to seal the comeback.
• Darren McFadden hasn't found much room to run this season, but a 64 yard TD run may have been the spark that gets his season going.  He finished with 113 yards on the ground.
• Darrious Heyward-Bey was knocked out of the game and hospitalized after a scary hit resulting in a neck injury.  The blatant helmet to helmet hit wasn't penalized, which may have led to some frustrations that boiled over into a near brawl shortly after.  Is it just me, or do these own field skirmishes seem to be happening more often with the over matched replacement officials around?
• The Patriots lost their second consecutive frustrating defeat on a last second FG, only this time instead of their own kicker missing the game deciding kick, it was the opponents kicker coming through in the clutch. 
• The 27 yard kick from rookie Justin Tucker nearly soared right, which must have briefly caused disturbing memories of last year's AFC Championship loss for the Ravens.  The kick went over the right goal post, which according to the rules, meant the kick was good.  If it had been any lower, it would have clanged off the post.
• New England (1-2) now has a losing record for the first time since an opening week loss to Buffalo in 2003 (a 31-0 route - AKA, the Lawyer Malloy game).  Panic has surely ensued for a fan base that isn't used to losing, but let's keep things in perspective.  The Patriots have lost two games by a total of 3 points.  They certainly have their flaws, as all teams do, but some of their misfortune can be chalked up to bad luck.  Besides, following that poor start in 2003, they went on to win the Super Bowl.
• Remember all the talk about Wes Welker being phased out of the offense?  Last week his performance improved, but he didn't get the start.  This week he did (the Pats started in a 3 receiver set, so Edelman was out there as well).  His 10 targets were second most on the team, as were his 8 catches, and he led the team with 142 yards. 

• The loss of Aaron Hernandez has helped increase Welker's role.  Edelman was dinged up in the game and Rob Gronkowski was forced to stay in and help block for a struggling offensive line.
• You have to feel good for Torrey Smith for his performance (127 yards, 2 TDs) in the wake of the tragedy of his brother's death that morning.  Unless of course you're a Patriots fan, in which case you'll point out that Smith pushed off on both of his TD receptions (it was called offensive pass interference the first time, but the flag was picked up.  You know, because anytime an official that's further away can over rule the one that was right in front of the play, you have to do it).
• One of the main themes of this game was the poor officiating, which continues to get worse each week.  This was hardly the only poorly called game, but the National TV audience on Sunday night gives it more attention.  Did the awful officiating cost the Patriots the game?  Maybe.  Although it was clear the bad calls went both ways and there were so many of them that it's impossible to determine what the outcome would have been if the game had been called even remotely correctly. 
• A whopping 24 accepted penalties were called in the game, but the worst part is that the calls weren't even consistent.  On some plays the refs threw a flag for the most minimal of contact, while on others they failed to make a call when a receiver was practically tackled before getting the ball.  These replacement officials continue to miss calls, make the wrong calls and make calls that never should have been made.  Their inconsistency has left both teams frustrated and confused.  Brandon Spikes' candid comments on Twitter (about sending the "zebras" back to foot locker) may not have been the most eloquent, but his comments did deliver one important message - the players have reached their #BreakingPoint.
• The officials certainly didn't help their cause, but the fact is that the Patriots failed to execute down the stretch. They had a chance to run out the clock late in the 4th quarter when they possessed the ball with 4 minutes left, but they were only able to chew up half of that time, giving the Ravens the ball back with nearly 2 minutes left. Similar to their Super Bowl defeat, the defense was unable to hold.
• Joe Flacco will receive praise for leading the late comeback drive, but the truth is he was bailed out by a costly pass interference penalty on Devin McCourty.  He was also lucky that Kyle Arrington fell down on a play where he otherwise would have sealed the victory with an easy INT on a badly overthrown pass.  He played a good game, but that final drive is more a discredit to the defense than it is an example of his performance in the clutch. 
• For the past three weeks we have been waiting for an officiating meltdown that would directly lead to a team losing a game.  It finally happened Monday night.  Seattle stunned Green Bay on a controversial last second TD, where the blame falls squarely on the officials rather than the defense.

• Facing 4th down at the 24 yard line with only seconds to go, Russell Wilson launched the ball into a crowd in the endzone.  First of all, Golden Tate committed one of the most blatant offensive pass interference penalties of all time.  Granted that penalty is rarely called in this situation, but shoving a defender to the ground straddles the line of what can reasonably be allowed.  When the ball came down, it appeared that Packers safety M.D. Jennings had intercepted the pass.  He had both arms around the ball and had pulled it into his body for the catch.  As he fell to the ground, Tate got one arm on the ball as well.  Once they landed, the two officials in the endzone signaled conflicting calls - one signaled for a touchback with the other signaling touchdown.  The play was reviewed and the officials determined that it was simultaneous possession, which is awarded to the offense.  Touchdown Seahawks, game over.  By now we've all seen this replay several times.  There is nothing that would suggest from any of the replays that Tate came anywhere near controlling the ball for an acceptable catch.  Plain and simple, the refs got this one wrong. 
• We knew all along that the replacement officials would make mistakes.  We rolled our eyes when they messed up a coin toss, spotted the ball the incorrect amount of yardage after a penalty or stumbled their way through the explanation of a pivotal call.  Now it's gotten worse.  Now the outcome of a game has clearly been determined based on an incorrect call.  The league should consider itself lucky that the Packers are the league's only publicly owned team.  Who is going to complain?  If something like this happened to Dallas, you can bet that there would be hell to pay from Jerry Jones.  

• This has gone beyond being a disaster.  These replacement officials have become an embarrassment for the league.  The integrity of the game is at stake and results like what we saw Monday night are a black mark on the NFL.  Roger Goodell should be ashamed for allowing this to happen.  Sadly, he's not.  He doesn't care, as long as ratings remain high and the money keeps pouring in.  While a game like this should seemingly give more leverage to the officials union, the league is under no pressure to cave to their demands as long as they continue to make money.  The only way for this to end anytime soon would be for some of the league's more prominent owners (Jones, Kraft, Mara) to take a stand.  Even threaten lawsuits if necessary.  Or better yet, the players could take a stand by refusing to play another game involving these replacement officials.  They can say it's a matter of player safety or that they simply refuse to participate in the fraud that this league has become.  The league is content to go on without properly trained referees, but not without it's players.  If this nightmare is to end, this is the type of drastic action that may be necessary.  
• It's a shame that the incompetency of the replacement officials has once again become the headline for the week.  We should be talking about the underrated Seahawks defense sacking the reigning MVP 8 times.  Or Russell Wilson leading his first career last minute game winning drive.  Instead, we're left with a sour taste in our mouths and a pit in our stomachs.  We know this isn't how the game should have ended.  We're baffled, frustrated and confused.  Such is life in today's NFL.  Are you watching, Mr. Goodell?