The NFL Roundup 2017: Week 3 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

(Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press)

You have to love it when a weekend of NFL football truly surprises you in every way imaginable and that's precisely what happened in Week 3. Because so many games did not go as we expected them to and teams that should have been embarrassed, ended up turning the tables on their opponents and regardless of how your favorite team finished this weekend, their performance taught us something, so let's not waste any more time and discuss what we learned from Week 3 in the NFL. 


​Thursday Night Football has the potential to be something truly special. 
We've all watched TNF at some point or another, and I think we can all agree that for the most part, the games that usually populate this time slot are...less than stellar. But this week's TNF turned out to be something special and a game that should have been a snoozer, ended up being an incredible shootout between the Rams and the Niners and it just goes to show that TNF could be something incredibly special, if the league took a little more care in its scheduling. If they can get two teams hungry to show something to both themselves and their fans, we'll get more games such as this. That of course will be no easy task, but at long last, it seems the formula to a successful Thursday Night has finally been uncovered.

The Denver Broncos are their own worst enemy. 
A week ago, the Broncos were the toast of the NFL. They were dominant, they were powerful and they shut down the Cowboys in impressive fashion and well, what a difference a week can make because on Sunday...they were a team that took a step backwards. It was a team effort when it comes to the loss they suffered in Buffalo, since the defense was confused and lethargic on the field, the coaches called some terrible plays and the offense simply couldn't get going. It should also be noted that Trevor Siemian exposed a disturbing trait on the field this week, in that he crumbles under pressure or when the game is on his shoulders and while he can't win it on his own, that's not behavior you want to see from your franchise quarterback. Either way, it's clear the Broncos this year have a tendency to believe their own hype and only play well when they're viewed as the underdog and that's something that has to change if they want to make it back to the Super Bowl. 

Cincinnati and Houston stepped up in impressive fashion. 
Yes I fully understand that there are no moral victories in the NFL, a loss is a loss. But when your season isn't going the way you want it to, teams start to look for progress of any kind to assess whether or not their season might turn around or end on a high note and the Bengals and the Texans, a pair of teams in crisis mode, injected a little hope into their seasons with some stellar performances on Sunday. Deshaun Watson played an solid game against the Patriots, continuing to show growth in his rookie year by helping the offense put 33 points on the board and the Bengals, well they hung with the Packers long enough to force overtime where they eventually lost. But what matters here is that these teams finally showed some grit when people were challenging their toughness and the end result of such a push means that these squads are close to putting it all together and we may see something special out of both teams in the coming weeks.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were downright impressive this Sunday. 
Normally when one sits down to discuss the Jaguars in any capacity, nothing good can be said about them, but this week...well the tables have turned. Jacksonville and their win against the Ravens in the International Series Game this week, was the biggest surprise to come out of Week 3 because the Jags, were completely dominant in their game. The defense shut down the Ravens offense until garbage time late in the game and the offense was simply electric. Blake Bortles finally lived up to his potential, tossing four touchdowns in the game, and while it's too early to start the 'Jaguars have finally arrived' talk, it's nice to see them take a step forward and hopefully the team uses this building block to put together more incredible wins as the season rolls on. 

The Colts finally have a temporary solution to their quarterbacking issues.
The franchise quarterback of a team is truly the lynchpin to their success and for proof, look no further than the Indianapolis Colts, a squad that tends to win more often than not when #12 is at the helm, which is why Sunday's win over the Browns was quite the big deal. Because this team rarely has anyone worthwhile behind Luck, so to see Jacoby Brissett take command of this offense and will some points onto the board is quite the magical thing. Because now they have a QB under center who can inspire his teammates and that's a big deal and hopefully Brissett can build upon this and put together a win streak, because in a league desperate for good quarterbacks, all he can do now is build the case as to why he should be another team's franchise quarterback since this is Andrew Luck's team as soon as he returns from injury.

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