Walkthrough: For Realsies or Fraudzilla?
Invasion of the backup quarterbacks! Fourth-quarter blocked kickoff touchdowns! Stunning comebacks! Unlikely 3-0 teams! Cowboys humiliation! You can find it all here.
In this thrilling Week 3 edition of NFL Walkthrough:
The Eagles are 3-0. Deal with it.
The 49ers are 3-0. But at what cost?
The Packers are 3-0.Wait … what happened?When Carson Wentz battles Jake Browning, Isaiah Rodgers is the only winner.
The Cowboys defense unlocks a new achievement: making Caleb Williams look unstoppable.
And much more.
Let’s kick things off with the question that’s on everyone’s mind today:
3-0 Teams: For Realsies or Fraudzilla?
Only a handful of teams remain 3-0, and it’s a ragtag bunch. Who are they? How good are they? Is what they are doing sustainable? HOW ARE THE COLTS ON THIS LIST??? Let’s find out.
Buffalo Bills
Who They’ve Beaten: Ravens (Woo!), Jets (Derp), Dolphins (Flurp).
Strengths: Josh Allen. A rugged offensive line. Josh Allen. A defense with enviable depth everywhere but cornerback. Josh Allen.
Weaknesses: The whole “everyone eats, so we don’t need a WR1” premise is a fun slogan for announcers to parrot until Allen struggles to put the Dolphins out of their misery because he’s throwing to Ty Johnson, Elijah Moore and Tyrell Shavers.
For Realsies or Fraudzilla? The Bills are trapped in a featureless existential wasteland in which nothing they can accomplish can bring them or their fans joy until roughly January 11th. Meanwhile every flaw is magnified in comparison to the hypothetical mega-dynasty they must defeat to reach the Super Bowl.
But, you know, they’re really good.
Indianapolis Colts
Who They’ve Beaten: Dolphins (Pop Warner team whose dads won’t let them quit), Broncos (fluky field-goal-fueled victory), Titans (basically Vanderbilt).
Strengths: Jonathan Taylor has stolen Saquon Barkley’s magic cleats. Daniel Jones is channeling the non-embarrassing 2022 version of himself. The offense is creative and YAC-happy. The defense is experienced and stingy.
Weaknesses: Almost the entire roster consists of players we have been watching for years and have never been all that impressed by.
Sunday Nutshell: Kenny Moore stepped in front of a Cam Ward rookie blunder in the flat early in the first quarter for the easiest pick-6 you will ever see, and the 41-20 rout was on.
For Realsies or Fraudzilla? I know you are looking for a snarky Mechafraudzilla joke here, dear reader. But a 3-0 team in the AFC South is automatically for real, by virtue of AFC South-ness.
Shane Steichen is making creative use of Taylor, Tyler Warren and various receivers. Jones is showing what veteran game management looks like when you are facing a scout team 67% of the time. The defense is full of dependable veterans.
The Colts visit the Rams next week, then host the Raiders and Cardinals. They are likely to start the season 5-1. They are zero threat to the AFC powerhouses. But they aren’t scheduled to face any of them until the playoffs.
Los Angeles Chargers
Who They’ve Beaten: Chiefs (dynastic powerhouse that has had their number for years), Raiders (trendy vaporware), Broncos (self-destructive palookas with a drying-paint offense).
Strengths: Justin Herbert is not quite living up to his billing — King Arthur couldn’t live up to Herbert’s billing — but he’s not living down to my snark, either. Quentin Johnston can now catch. Keenan Allen isn’t as washed as he looked in Chicago. The defense, now without Khalil Mack, is full of young thumpers like Daiyan Henley, Tarheeb Still and Tuli Tuipulotu.
Weaknesses: Without injured left tackle Rashawn Slater, the running game and pass protection are meh.
Sunday Nutshell: The Broncos led a 20-13 punt-and-flag fest midway through the fourth quarter. But for the second week in a row, they kept finding ways to not pull out of reach. Penalties, penalties everywhere. Troy Franklin dropped a potential touchdown pass. Bo Nix’s knee scraped the ground 11 yards downfield on third-and-12, turning what looked like a clock-milking first down into a punt.
It all left the Broncos vulnerable to one of Herbert’s patented Transplendant Highlights (limit: one per week), which came in the form of a scramble away from two defenders and a game-tying touchdown laser to Ladd McConkey.
Some Broncos offensive fit-’n’-finish errors later (Nix scrambling out of bounds, an overthrow to an open Courtland Sutton up the left sideline on third down), and Herbert got the ball back, distributed it to Omarion Hampton, Oronde Gadsden and Allen, and set up a game-winning Cameron Dicker field goal.
For Realsies or Fraudzilla? When you are 3-0 in your division, you’re for real. Give Jim Harbaugh and his staff credit for finding/developing pieces to put around Herbert, for bulwarking the defense with no-names, and for putting the Chargers in position to win the type of messy game they tended to lose two years ago.
Herbert Takes Manhattan when the Chargers visit the Giants next week. Get ready for the first 4-0 Chargers start since 2002, when Marty Schottenheimer was their head coach and Drew Brees was their quarterback.