Week three in the NFL is over except for the MNF game, and we now have a feel for who is really good and who will be drafting early next year.
Three games is a significant sample size when the season is just 16 games long.
The Eagles are for real. You don’t dominate a Steelers’ team 34-3 in some sort of fluke.
The Niners are the worst team in the NFL, and any offense that faces them will find a perfect rhythm, just as Seattle did on Sunday.
The Broncos look like they can and will defend their Super Bowl Belt with an unknown at QB who seems to be the real deal.
Now for the individual winners and losers of week three.
NFL Grown Man of the Week: Trevor Siemian was anything but a game manager against the Bengals. His wideouts asked for the damn ball, and they got it. Siemian threw four touchdowns and zero picks as he took Denver to 3-0.
Loser: Cam Newton needs to fire his wardrobe consultant. Dude looked bad versus Minnesota, getting sacked eight times and throwing three interceptions. But looked even worse in the presser afterwards doing his impression of the Mad Hatter.
Winner: Aaron Rodgers looked like the best in the game for the first time in 2016. He and the Pack jumped on Detroit early with his four touchdown passes in the first half.
Loser: Russell Wilson and his offense looked awesome versus San Fran (every team should), but he got banged up in the process. His leg got rolled up and wasn’t 100 percent going into the game anyway.
Winner: Minnesota’s defense and special teams were needed to help Sam Bradford and company topple Carolina. The D made life hell for Cam Newton, while the Vikings special teams provided a score to help put the Panthers down.
Loser: Cleveland cannot get a break. They stayed with Miami for the entire game, but still found a way to end up in the losing column. Three missed field goals will do that.
Winner: Terrelle Pryor had a whale of a game in a losing effort. This kid is a fantasy weapon, even if his team is incapable of actually winning games. He racked eight catches for 144 yards and a rushing TD.
Loser: Eli Manning helped the Redskins get a big win by casually tossing two INTs in the second half.
Loser: I wanted to put Eli’s go-to guy, Odell Beckham in the winner’s circle simply because he is the most exciting player in the game. But he wrecked that notion when his frustration caused him to knock himself in the head with the kicker’s net. Not a good look ODB.
Winner: Bill Belichick is the greatest football coach in history. He took a third-string quarterback into TNF and destroyed the Texans. Nuff said.
Loser: Carson Palmer threw four picks on his last four drives. Dude has not recovered from the debacle in Carolina last year. His Cards got waxed by Buffalo 33-18 and fell to 1-2.
Winner: Shady McCoy made it look easy against one of the best defenses in the League. He gashed the Cards for 110 yards on just 17 carries, and found the endzone twice.
Loser: Rarely does a lineman find his way onto the loser list, or the winner list for that matter. But Titans offensive lineman, Taylor Lewan made a boneheaded play near the end of their matchup with Oakland that moved his team from the shadow of the goal line to the 18-yard line. The Titans were unable to score and ended up with another loss on the year to drop to 1-2.
Winner: Carson Wentz is gaining new fans to his bandwagon each week. Beating Pittsburgh badly certainly loaded that wagon down this week. The rookie has led Philly to a 3-0 start, and the Eagles are averaging around 30 points a contest.
Loser: Antonio Brown was near the top of fantasy receivers again, but those numbers didn’t help the Steelers in real action. His 12 catches for 140 yards didn’t convert into on-the-field points, and his team suffered their first loss of the year, to a surprising Eagles club.