While not all teams are created equal, the standings through the third week of the season show parity throughout the league, as only two teams (Philadelphia and Miami) are undefeated at 3-0, while only two teams (Houston and Las Vegas) are winless. Interesting to note out of those four teams, Houston is the only team that is not a surprise to have started the season this way. This week, we’ll take a look at these four teams and look how they got here and what to expect as the season goes on.
First, the undefeated teams:
Philadelphia (3-0)
First three weeks: W at Detroit (38-35), W vs Minnesota (24-7), W at Washington (24-8)
Next three games: vs Jacksonville (2-1), at Arizona (1-2), vs Dallas (2-1)
Points for: 86 (5th)
Points against: 50 (7th)
Philadelphia has most potent offense in the league through three weeks, totaling 1341 yards, including 8.5 yards per pass attempt, which easily outpaces the league. Duel threat QB Jalen Hurts has received extensive praise for his passing (916 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) and rushing (167 yards, 3 TDs) and has seen his odds for MVP improve dramatically (DraftKings has him at +600). A.J. Brown (20 rec, 309 yards, 1 TD) has added an elite receiving threat the Eagles haven’t had since T.O., while DeVonta Smith might be the next – he didn’t catch a pass in Week 1 but still has 15 catches for 249 yards, including an 8/169/1 line against the Commanders in Week 3. Add underrated TE Dallas Goedert (11/168/1), and a solid 1-2 rushing attack with Hurts and Miles Sanders (45/222/1) and the Eagles offense looks for real. It should be noted that the Lions and Commanders defenses range from mediocre to awful but hard to deny the results so far.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles have allowed only 890 total yards. The cornerback combo of Darius Slay and James Bradberry have been dominant (just ask Justin Jefferson in Week 2) and the defensive front have been getting to the quarterback, with the team’s 12 sacks ranking them second in the league behind the Cowboys. After a down 201 by his standards, DT Fletcher Cox appears to be terrorizing defenses from the interior, racking up 3 sacks in 3 games (including 1.5 sacks of Carson Wentz in Week 3).
Future prognosis: The Eagles schedule looks tougher now than it did at the beginning of the season, but still looks to be in their favour. It’s conceivable that they go into their bye at 6-0, but all of the next three teams are in the “tougher than they look” category. Even with the NFC East being better this season, the Eagles have the inside track on the division and could easily win 12 games in 2022.
Miami (3-0)
First three weeks: W vs New England (20-7), W at Baltimore (42-38), W vs Buffalo (21-19)
Next three games: at Cincinnati (1-2), at NY Jets (1-2), vs Minnesota (2-1)
Points for: 83 (8th)
Points against: 64 (16th)
Under rookie head coach Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins find themselves at the top of the AFC after three weeks with a 3-0 record, one that has been driven by a dynamic passing attack and a lot of good fortune. First, the good: Miami is fourth in the league in total passing yards (874) with a revitalized Tua Tagovailoa (925 pass yards, 8 TD, 2 INT) and a two-headed monster in second-year WR Jaylen Waddle (19/342/3) and new acquisition Tyreek Hill (21/317/2). After a tumultuous first two seasons, Tua has found a coach who will work to his strengths (accuracy, short-to-intermediate passes) and personnel suited to those strengths. The deep passing game is also there when needed (Tua is second in the league in completion percentage over 20 yards) but the team’s strength is getting the ball to its playmakers (Waddle and Hill) in space, wherever they may be.
Defense is a different story, the Dolphins have allowed the second-most yards in the league, and while they were able to create pressure on Bills QB Josh Allen in Week 3, the team surrendered nearly 500 yards to the Ravens and Bills in consecutive weeks. The Dolphins blitz 25% of the time (around league average) but they send 6 or more on many of those blitzes and can leave the secondary vulnerable if they do not pressure the quarterback.
The run game is also a big issue in Miami – Raheem Mostert (24/78/0) and Chase Edmonds (23/79/2) have not been utilized much, nor especially effective when asked to carry the ball. The team does generally use the short passing game as a sort of replacement for the run game, but at 192 yards per game, the Dolphins have the second-worst rushing attack. This sort of one-dimensional offense may hurt them as the season wears on (and especially in the playoffs).
Future prognosis: The Dolphins are indeed 3-0, but could easily be 1-2 if not for a miracle comeback in Baltimore and some uncharacteristically sloppy play by a Bills team affected by the south Florida heat. The team needs to patch holes in its defense and will be tested by the Bengals and Vikings in the upcoming weeks, not to mention the rest of their schedule. That said, they’ve faced two of the league’s best passing attacks and have come out undefeated. This team should compete for a playoff spot on the strength of their offense, but really needs to improve defensively to look at winning the division or being a true contender for a Super Bowl.
Now for the winless teams
Houston (0-2-1)
First three games: T vs Indianapolis (20-20), L at Denver (16-9), L at Chicago (23-20)
Next three games: vs LA Chargers (1-2), at Jacksonville (2-1), BYE, at Las Vegas (0-3)
Points for: 49 (26th)
Points against: 59 (12th)
If you looked at Houston’s roster heading into this season – or the underlying statistics from the first three games – you’d likely not be surprised by Houston’s record so far this season (perhaps except for the tie). If you look at the scores, you see a team that is in games each week and for a team like Houston, being a tough team to play is a positive attribute. Four rookies – CB Derek Stingley Jr, G Kenyon Green, S Jalen Pitre, and RB Dameon Pierce – have all started and played extensively in the first three weeks: Pitre looks like a star at safety for the Texans, and has shown the ability to play centre field in Lovie Smith’s cover 2, and Pierce (46/182/1) has been workmanlike in his first three weeks, but had nearly all of the Texans’ carries in Weeks 2 and 3 and did not embarrass himself. The first rounders, Stingley and Green, are works in progress at this point.
QB Davis Mills (662 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT) has been poor to this point in the season and, aside from Pierce, WR Brandin Cooks is the only player to have really impressed in the first three weeks. The defense is a mess, the Texans have allowed an abysmal 607 yards rushing (including 281 against the Bears in Week 3), making them by far the worst defense in the league (the Bears and Seahawks are tied for second-worst at 471). The Bills and Jaguars have each allowed fewer total yards than the Texans’ average. That said, the Texans have been good (fortunate?) in the defensive red zone, allowing just 40% of the opposition’s red zone visits to result in touchdowns, fifth-best in the league.
Future prognosis: The Texans are still in the early stages of a long and painful rebuild – this team will legitimately challenge for the first overall pick – but as is the case with young teams, there is hope that some of the issues we see early in the season will be considered learning moments and improved upon as the season progresses. However, anything more than four wins would be a minor miracle in Houston.
Las Vegas (0-3)
First three games: L at Chargers (24-19), L vs Arizona (29-23, OT), L at Tennessee (24-22)
Next three games: vs Denver (2-1), at Kansas City (2-1), BYE, vs Houston (0-2-1)
Points for: 64 (10th)
Points against: 77 (26th)
The Raiders have lost their first three games by a combined 13 points, all to teams that were expected to be, at worst, in the playoff hunt heading into the 2022 season. Interestingly, none of those three teams have really lived up to offseason hype (much like the Raiders) but all of whom scored victories over the Silver and Black. The Raiders have not done anything particularly well to start the season: QB Derek Carr has thrown for 850 yards, but has also turned the ball over five times; Maxx Crosby has 2 sacks for Las Vegas, but the rest of the team has ZERO; Josh Jacobs has been adequate running the ball, but the Raiders have not hit the 100 yard rushing mark in any of its first three games; and following his 141 yard debut, Davante Adams has totaled 7 catches for 48 yards in the past two weeks. This is a team that looks very top heavy, and at an average age of 27 years, 3 months, is also one of the league’s oldest.
Future prognosis: The Raiders were able to sneak into the playoffs in the last game of the season, after some questionable moves by Chargers HC Brandon Staley helped gift the Raiders the final game of the regular season. Making the playoffs and their subsequent close loss to the AFC champion Bengals may have given the Raiders a misguided sense of being close to Super Bowl contention, especially when making the big trade with the Packers for Davante Adams, which cost them their first and second round picks. The AFC West is weaker than it was to start the season, but still formidable, and the schedule still does Las Vegas no favours this season. The team was able to fight all sorts of adversity in 2021, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll be able to overcome the more mundane version offered in 2022.
APY NFL FOOTBALL POOL RECAP AND STANDINGS
Another week, another round of upsets in the NFL, as the Indianapolis Colts got their first win of the season at the expense of Kansas City (and their special teams implosion), and in what might be the shocker of the season so far, the now 2-1 Jacksonville Jaguars annihilated the Chargers 38-10 in Inglewood. The Chargers were banged up heading into the game, with Justin Herbert nursing a painful rib cartilage injury and the team missing several key players, but this game also said a lot about the state of the Jacksonville Jaguars who are now coming off two very convincing victories over what are, on paper, two playoff-calibre teams (of course neither team has looked that way this year). QB Trevor Lawrence has improved even over the course of three weeks in this season and the defense looks strong (LB Devin Lloyd is an absolute stud). Ignore the talk about them being “the team to beat in the AFC”, they need to do more to prove that, but this team is absolutely not a team to blindly throw confidence picks against anymore.
After three weeks in the pool, our leader is rookie Anthony Saccucci, with 32 points. Anthony leads by two points over Marcus, Gary, Michelle, and Anthony’s father, Joe. Kevin, the Predictor, Donna, Keville, and Fred all round out the top 10 with 29 points apiece. Our top scorer this week was Jason Gogna with 13 points! Jason was able to avoid the landmines (KC and Chargers) and won all of his confidence picks. His big week put him into a tie for 11th place.
Here are the standings after 3 weeks:
