Week 3 of the NFL season is now in the books, and various rookie quarterbacks are already beginning to take the reins as starters for their respective teams.
Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr already has some company. Fellow rookie quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles made their regular season debuts Sunday. Bridgewater came in because of an injury and Bortles entered the game due to Chad Henne’s skill set and ineptitude.
Of the five quarterbacks taken in the first two rounds of the draft, four have already taken snaps under center. Johnny Manziel played in Sunday’s game for two plays, one as a quarterback and one as a wide receiver. Unlike Manziel, Bortles and Bridgewater are more than just a sideshow. They’re expected to start for awhile and will probably do so for the duration of this season (assuming they stay healthy).
Carr is still searching for his first win after three starts, although the Raiders gave the Patriots a scare on Sunday. The Raiders remain winless, but they played hard and earned a better grade than the Jaguars and Buccaneers, the NFL’s other two winless teams.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals are the league’s three remaining unbeatens after Week 3.
Report card grades are in.
Atlanta Falcons (W, TB, 56-14)
The Falcons dominated in every area in their game against the Bucs, and Devin Hester broke Prime Time’s record on primetime television. He returned a punt 62 yards to give the Falcons a 35-0 lead in the second quarter. It was the 20th return touchdown of Hester’s career, breaking Deion Sanders’ record. Hester also scored on a 20-yard run and stripped the ball from Buccaneers safety Mark Barron after Barron recovered a Levine Toilolo fumble. The Falcons only led 7-0 at the time, so that was an important hustle play while the game was still competitive.
Grade: A+ (2-1)
Cincinnati Bengals (W, TEN, 33-7)
It’s only September. It’s way too early to remind Andy Dalton that he still hasn’t won a playoff game. Even if he never wins one, he’ll always be the first Bengals quarterback ever to catch a touchdown pass. When he actually threw the ball, Dalton’s passer rating was only 68.1 after completing 15 of 23 passes with an interception. He was helped by a defense that intercepted Jake Locker twice, sacked him twice and got off the field 10 out of 12 times on third down.
Grade: A (3-0)
Pittsburgh Steelers (W, at CAR, 37-19)
This is a resume-building win for the Steelers. They handed the Panthers their first loss of the season. Le’Veon Bell (147 yards) and LeGarrette Blount (118 yards, touchdown) became the first Steelers duo to run for 100 yards in the same game since 1986. It wasn’t just Steelers running backs who reached milestones, however. Antonio Brown caught 10 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns for the 19th straight game, tying Laveranues Coles for the NFL record.
Grade: A (2-1)
Arizona Cardinals (W, SF, 23-14)
If you haven’t heard of John Brown before, you have now. The third-round draft pick from Pittsburg St. caught two touchdown passes in the third quarter to turn a 14-6 halftime deficit into a 20-14 lead. Drew Stanton was the one firing those passes. Stanton completed 18 of 33 passes and continues to help the Cardinals weather Carson Palmer’s injury. This was the Cardinals’ first win over the 49ers since 2011. These birds are changing the pecking order in the NFC West.
Grade: A- (3-0)
Seattle Seahawks (W, DEN, 26-20, OT)
Peyton Manning whined about the overtime rules after the game, according to the Denver Post, because he never got to touch the ball. He knows the current structure is an improvement, right? Before 2012, the Seahawks could have just kicked a field goal, but a touchdown is required to win on the first possession of overtime. The Seahawks earned the victory by putting together a 13-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Marshawn Lynch’s 6-yard touchdown run.
Grade: A- (2-1)
Chicago Bears (W, at NYJ, 27-19)
The Bears won on “Mundy Night Football.” Ryan Mundy’s 45-yard pick-six gave them a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game. Rookie Kyle Fuller had his third interception in two games. This one came in the end zone with the Bears leading 24-13 in the third quarter. Tight end Martellus Bennett caught two touchdown passes on a night when the Bears had just one catch for six yards from Brandon Marshall and 60 rushing yards as a team on 21 attempts.
Grade: B+
Detroit Lions (W, GB, 19-7)
How did the Lions possess the ball for 38:13 despite turning it over three times and forcing just one turnover? They did it by holding Aaron Rodgers to 162 passing yards and holding Eddie Lacy to 36 rushing yards. Detroit cobbled together 19 points on Don Carey’s 40-yard fumble return for a touchdown, a safety, a Nate Freese field goal and Reggie Bush’s 26-yard run that made it a 12-point game in the fourth quarter.
Grade: B+ (2-1)
Dallas Cowboys (W, at STL, 34-31)
It’s like clockwork. Every 15 years the Dallas Cowboys come back from a 21-point deficit to win a game. The Cowboys trailed the Rams 21-0 in the second quarter Sunday before rallying. The comeback tied the biggest in franchise history. They did it against the Saints in 1984 and the Redskins in 1999. The Cowboys’ defensive woes that everyone anticipated surfaced in this game, but they had the offense to overcome it.
Grade: B+ (2-1)
Indianapolis Colts (W, 44-17, at JAX)
There’s nothing like a trip to Jacksonville for a team searching for its first win. Andrew Luck posted a career-best 140.4 passer rating and the Colts had a 20-0 lead before the winless Jaguars could manage a first down. It was a nice reprieve for the Colts after starting the season at Denver and then hosting the Eagles, but no matter how much they dominated, they need to beat a team better than Jacksonville to get into the “A” range.
Grade: B+ (1-2)
Kansas City Chiefs (W, at MIA, 34-15)
It’s not entirely surprising to see Knile Davis run for 132 yards and a touchdown in place of injured Jamaal Charles, but the Chiefs wouldn’t have their first win of the season without Joe McKnight and Travis Kelce getting into the end zone from scrimmage for the first time in their careers. Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes to McKnight–the second gave Kansas City a 27-15 lead with 4:35 to go–and one to Kelce. Smith completed 19 of 25 passes with no interceptions despite five sacks.
Grade: B+ (1-2)
New Orleans Saints (W, MIN, 20-9)
After starting the season 0-2 with two last-second losses, the Saints didn’t want to leave anything to chance Sunday. Drew Brees completed his first nine passes and New Orleans jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. The Saints converted nine of their 13 third downs. Two of those came on their final drive. Down 11, the Vikings still had a shot to come back, but the Saints took possession with 6:58 left and didn’t give it back.
Grade: B+ (1-2)
New York Giants (W, HOU, 30-17)
The boos rained down after the Giants were tricked by a fake punt, and then fumbled the ball away in the red zone and fumbled the snap on a field-goal attempt in the first 16 minutes of the game. The Giants’ grade gets a boost because they overcame that slapstick start and broke into the win column. Rashad Jennings ran for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown and Eli Manning completed 21 of 28 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns.
Grade: B+ (1-2)
San Diego Chargers (W, at BUF, 22-10)
Starting running back Ryan Mathews already was out, and Danny Woodhead left the game with an ankle injury on his first carry. So Donald Brown carried the ball 31 times for 62 yards. He only averaged two yards a carry, but had a 14-yard gain immediately after Woodhead was carted off, and the Chargers took a 7-0 lead on that drive. Eddie Royal caught two touchdown passes.
Grade: B+ (2-1)
Baltimore Ravens (W, at CLE, 23-21)
This was a resourceful win for the Ravens on a day when Bernard Pierce missed the game with a thigh injury and tight end Dennis Pitta was injured during the game. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk scored his first career touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Joe Flacco. Rookie running back Lorenzo Taliaferro also scored his first career touchdown, and led the Ravens with 91 rushing yards. Justin Tucker’s 32-yard field goal as time ran out was the sixth and final lead change.
Grade: B (2-1)
Denver Broncos (L, at SEA, 26-20, OT)
The Broncos entertained America a lot more than they did the last time they played the Seahawks. The overcame a 17-3, fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime after the Seahawks smothered their offense all day. Peyton Manning completed 13 of 20 passes for 162 yards with two touchdowns and an interception late in the fourth quarter. But the Broncos could only manage 36 rushing yards and couldn’t stop the Seahawks in overtime.
Grade: B (2-1)
Philadelphia Eagles (W, WAS, 37-34)
The Eagles actually led at halftime this week. But just like they did in their first two games, they fell behind by double digits. They trailed the Redskins 17-7 before coming back and taking a 21-20 lead at the break. The Eagles are getting closer to putting together 60 solid minutes of football, which should scare the rest of the league. Rookie Jordan Matthews emerged with eight receptions and two touchdowns after catching just three passes in the first two games.
Grade: B- (3-0)