We are now one-sixth of the way through the 2024 NFL regular season, and we have learned plenty over these last three weeks. For example, Sam Darnold and Andy Dalton have established themselves as the best quarterbacks in the NFL, while the Pittsburgh Steelers may be Super Bowl contenders. All quips aside, this year has been full of surprises, and it’s difficult to decipher between what are just slow starts, and who in reality are bad teams.
There are plenty of questions to ponder following the first 48 games of the season, which is exactly what we will do below.
Which 3-0 team has the most question marks?
A round of applause for our five 3-0 teams: The Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings and Steelers. All five of these teams can’t be legitimate contenders, so which one has the most question marks?
Surely many would label the Steelers as potential frauds since Justin Fields has plenty of doubters. But what about the Seahawks?
Credit needs to be given to Mike Macdonald for being the first Seahawks coach to ever start 3-0 in his first season with the team. He’s clearly turned the defense around, as Seattle ranks second in total defense (248.7 yards per game), first in pass defense (132.3 passing yards per game) and fourth in scoring defense (14.3 points per game). But I still have some questions when it comes to Seattle.
Who have the Seahawks played? They opened up the season with a six-point win over rookie Bo Nix and his Denver Broncos. Nix set an NFL record for the fewest passing yards in a game with 25+ completions, because Denver couldn’t push the ball down the field. In Week 2, the Seahawks needed overtime to defeat the New England Patriots, although DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba had remarkable outings with 246 combined receiving yards. Then in Week 3, Seattle predictably blew out Skylar Thompson’s Miami Dolphins.
The same criticism is applicable to the Steelers, as their schedule hasn’t been too tough either. But they did defeat Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons on the road in their season opener. It’s also worth mentioning both the Seahawks and Steelers are losing the war of attrition — dealing with multiple injuries to starters on both sides of the ball. But Mike Tomlin has a reputation for getting the most out of his team, making it to at least .500 and into the postseason.
How good is Seattle actually? We’ll uncover some clues this Monday night, when they travel to Detroit to play the Lions.
The 1-2 team to watch
There are several notable teams that are 1-2, including the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys. But the 1-2 team you should keep an eye on are the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams are coming off of a dramatic comeback victory over the rival 49ers, scoring 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win, 27-24. They actually trailed 21-7 in the third quarter. Previously, the 49ers were 50-0 under Kyle Shanahan with a 14-point lead in the second half. The Rams also had 101 straight losses when trailing by 14 points in the second half. The takeaway from this game will be “Brock Purdy can’t win without his full cast of characters,” but why can’t it be, “Wow, the Rams are incredibly resilient?” After all, the 49ers led for all but two seconds on Sunday.
The Rams have been ravaged by injuries, and pulled off this wild comeback without several starters such as Steve Avila, Jonah Jackson and Joe Noteboom on the offensive line, and Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua at wide receiver. Tutu Atwell stepped up for Matthew Stafford with 93 yards receiving on four catches, Kyren Williams accounted for 116 total yards and three touchdowns, while the defense won the turnover battle 1-0. With all of the injuries, Los Angeles was been forced to adjust its game plan. Sean McVay even went to 12 personnel — which was probably visually jarring for fans.
Defensively, the Rams did allow 425 yards of total offense while Jauan Jennings morphed into Jerry Rice, but there are reasons to be optimistic about Chris Shula’s unit. For one, you hope the eventual returns of John Johnson III and Darious Williams will help the Rams shore up the secondary, but this young defensive front has been impressive.
Kobie Turner, Byron Young, Jared Verse, Bobby Brown III and Braden Fiske all contributed on Sunday. Turner led this group of five with five tackles, Young recorded the Rams’ lone sack to go along with two tackles for loss and a forced fumble, Verse and Brown had four tackles apiece while Fiske recovered the fumble forced by Young, and had a clutch tackle on third down late in the fourth quarter to force a 49ers punt, setting up the Rams’ game-winning drive.
If this young defense can continue to improve, especially when it comes to defending the pass, and the Rams return several starters on both sides of the ball, could they be a sleeper team? Maybe a squad that makes a huge push after the halfway point of the year? They have a chance to get to .500 vs. the Chicago Bears this week.
Another “win” the Rams registered Sunday was that they somehow escaped Week 3 without suffering another significant injury. If you’re a Rams follower, you know that’s notable.
Could another young QB to be benched?
We saw our first quarterback benched just two games into the regular season, as the Carolina Panthers shelved the signal-caller they mortgaged the future for just two years ago. What’s incredible is that the lowly Panthers immediately benefitted from the quarterback change, defeating the Las Vegas Raiders 36-22 while Dalton became the first quarterback this season to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a single game.
The decision to bench Bryce Young was the right one, and if you watched any Panthers football over the first couple weeks, you understood that. There comes a point where you just have to sit a young player because there is a clear-cut disconnect, and the offense would be better run by a veteran. I’m not closing the book on Young’s NFL career, but with where the Panthers were entering Week 3, it was 100% evident something had to be done.
We don’t have another clear “Bryce Young” situation in the NFL, but is there another young quarterback who could be benched before season’s end? Let’s take a quick trip down to the AFC South for a second and take a look at two second-year signal-callers.
After an explosive season opener in which he accounted for 212 passing yards and two touchdowns on just nine completions, Anthony Richardson has struggled for the Indianapolis Colts. Last week against the Bears, the former No. 4 overall pick completed 10 of 20 passes for 167 yards and two interceptions. He threw some passes that high school coaches would chew their quarterbacks out over.
Richardson became the third quarterback since 2000 to complete under 50% of his passes and throw six interceptions in a team’s first three games of a season. The last was Ryan Leaf in 2000. But, Richardson also has two more 40-yard completions than any other NFL quarterback with five.
There may be some football fans out there wondering if Shane Steichen is considering benching Richardson. I don’t think that’s going to happen. In fact, I think benching Richardson flies in the face of logic.
This is an incredibly young quarterback who is also incredibly inexperienced. Richardson made six starts in high school, 13 in college and then just four in his first professional season. What he needs is reps, and he is finally getting those. Despite the slow start, Richardson still has a very high ceiling. This isn’t a case like Carolina, where Dave Canales had to make a move to keep the locker room intact.
The optimism surrounding the Tennessee Titans entering 2024 was palpable. Fans declared this offseason as the most exciting in franchise history, while others tabbed Will Levis as a Fantasy football sleeper. Well, Tennessee’s season has been an absolute disaster thus far.
The Titans pissed away a 17-point lead to the Bears in Week 1, fell to the New York Jets in Week 2 after leading at halftime and then were blown out by the quarterback they threw away for a seventh-round pick less than a month ago on their home field in Week 3. On Monday, Titans coach Brian Callahan was asked about the No. 1 thing he has to fix to start winning football games. “Not turning the ball over. That’s clear as can be,” he responded.
The Titans rank dead last in turnover differential at -7. Levis has turned the ball over eight times this season (most in the NFL) and has registered multiple turnovers in all three games. He threw away the Bears game with one of the worst pick sixes you’ll ever see, had a weird, diving backward pass fumble in the red zone on third-and-goal vs. the Jets and then threw a pick six vs. the Green Bay Packers to go down double digits in the first quarter on Sunday.
Levis entered this season as the prospective future face of the franchise, but if things keep going the way they are, Tennessee could go to Mason Rudolph. However, if a quarterback change were to happen, I’m not expecting it soon. The Titans have the Tua-less Dolphins this week, then the early bye week to reset. The Titans have their first divisional game in Week 6 vs. the Colts, then the Bills a week later followed by the Lions to wrap up October. That’s a pretty tough stretch.
Levis is a quarterback who could rebound as he grows in Callahan’s scheme. But if he continues to make game-defining mistakes that turn him into a weekly meme, coaches usually don’t stand for that.
Who is the real favorite in the NFC South?
Week 3 was disastrous for the NFC South — unless you’re the Panthers. The New Orleans Saints offense fell apart after a historical start, scoring just 12 points at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, while Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were absolutely embarrassed by the previously winless Broncos. As for the Falcons, they put up a fight against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in prime time before a couple of offensive line injuries turned the tide.
So, who is the real favorite in the NFC South? The Buccaneers have won the division three straight years, while the Saints won it four straight years before the Bucs started their streak. I’m going to take a different team to win this division for the first time in eight years: The Falcons.
Current odds to win NFC South (Caesars Sportsbook)
|
Saints |
+145 |
|
Falcons |
+185 |
|
Buccaneers |
+255 |
|
Panthers |
+2000 |
The Kirk Cousins era got off to a slow start against the Steelers in Week 1, but Atlanta bounced back under the Philadelphia lights with an incredible game-winning drive in Week 2. It looked like we were in for an upset this past Sunday night when the Falcons hosted the Chiefs, but Kaleb McGary and Drew Dalman going down with injures in the first half opened the door for Chris Jones and Co. to wreak havoc on Cousins. The Chiefs walked away with a 22-17 victory after a 9-3 second-half run.
There’s still reason to be optimistic about the Falcons. Their first three games have all been decided by one score, and this is a new coaching staff working with a new quarterback and plenty of other new players. Ray-Ray McCloud III and Darnell Mooney have already flashed as speedy pass catchers, and we know what Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts and Drake London are capable of. Then, defensively, Jessie Bates III and Justin Simmons are a dynamic duo at safety with Raheem Morris at the helm. Health is going to be paramount — especially on the offensive line.
Who should the Dolphins start at QB?
The Dolphins will be without Tua Tagovailoa for at least the next three games, which of course drastically affects Miami’s offense. Mike McDaniel started Skylar Thompson against the Seahawks, but is he really the best option?
Miami is 1-5 without Tagovailoa, and Tyreek Hill hasn’t scored a touchdown in those six games. He’s also reached 100 receiving yards just once. Thompson is 1-2 as a starter, has thrown zero touchdowns and is averaging 116 passing yards per game.
Whether Thompson is healthy or not, Miami should start Tyler Huntley. The Dolphins signed the former Pro Bowl quarterback a week ago off the Ravens practice squad, and his dual-threat ability would add another element to an offense that already boasts speed. The only problem is that Huntley just got to South Beach, so it’s not like he’s had ample time to master the offense. But I believe he could potentially spark this team, and keep it in contention.
