Dominant debuts, catchphrase theft, role reversals and historic upsets make up the NFL Week 3 Recap.
Bucs 27 Tony Dungy’s addition to the Ring of Honor in Tampa was bracketed by sloppy play by a pair of his former teams and the most roughing the passer penalties called in a game since 2001 — his last season as Bucs coach. Considering Ryan Fitzpatrick reverted back to his journeyman backup form, that was about the only thing magical about the night. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken) (AP/Jason Behnken)
Lions 26 Thanks to Matt Patricia’s knowledge of his old team and Kerryon Johnson tallying Detroit’s first 100-yard rushing performance since Thanksgiving 2013, New England has back-to-back double-digit losses for the first time in 16 years. With the Pats and Lions both at 1-2, AFC East and the NFC North just got really interesting. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski) (AP/Rick Osentoski)
Seahawks 24 Dak Prescott is putting up numbers reminiscent of Quincy Carter and apparently thought the long-rumored trade for Earl Thomas went through. It’s going to be a long season in Big D. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Otto Greule Jr)
Cardinals 14 In a comeback somewhat similar to the one that prompted one of the all-time great coaching rants 12 years ago, Josh Rosen had a lousy debut and Khalil Mack solidified his case for Defensive Player of the Year by notching his third straight game with at least one sack and forced fumble. There could be a lot of dancing in Chicago this year. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
Rams 35 The first “Battle for L.A.”in 24 years was no contest, as the Rams rolled up 521 yards of offense, blocked a punt for a TD and have now won their first three games by double digit margins for the first time since the 1999 “Greatest Show on Turf” Super Bowl squad. It’s starting to look like this season will end the same way for an offensive show even greater. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Redskins 31 Look, I’ll give the ‘Skins credit for taking advantage of the breaks they got (Aaron Rodgers’ knee looks like it’ll be a yearlong struggle and Green Bay committed 11 penalties for 115 yards, including another controversial roughing the passer penalty on Clay Matthews) — but their offense is going to need to find more consistency after halftime if they’re going to keep pace with the Eagles in the division. Scoring 15 points and zero touchdowns in the second half won’t fly. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ravens 27 Denver’s altered travel schedule and Joe Flacco’s empathy did little to reverse the Broncos’ horrible fortunes on the road — and with their next two home games coming against the Chiefs and Rams, it’s hard to see Denver’s 2-0 start as anything other than a Mile High mirage. (AP Photo/Gail Burton) (AP/Gail Burton)
Texans 22 I know it’s still early … but Houston has a problem. The 0-3 Texans have taken the baton of losing from the Browns and Deshaun Watson is still struggling to regain the form that made him the most exciting player of 2017. Bill O’Brien better figure out a way win the next three winnable games (at Indy, vs Dallas, vs Buffalo) or else this season will get as ugly for him as did Mike Shanahan in 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke) (AP/Michael Wyke)
Eagles 20 Lost in the long-awaited return of Carson Wentz, 45-year-old Adam Vinatieri tied Morten Andersen’s record of 565 career field goals with his 3-for-3 afternoon. This is the greatest kicker of all-time — and I’m not sure there’s a close second. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Jaguars 6 I don’t know which was uglier: The game or the uniforms. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack) (AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Chiefs 38 Ok, I’m ready to eat crow on my Kansas City prediction. Patrick Mahomes is a legit star, throwing 13 touchdowns to nine different players, both of which are NFL records through the season’s first three games. If that defense can get its act together, this is a Super Bowl contender. And what a tough break for Jimmy Garappolo and San Francisco. We saw how bad the 49ers were without him last season — they won’t be much better this year if his knee injury is as bad as feared. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) (AP/Charlie Riedel)
Falcons 37 (OT) In the highest scoring game in the history of this rivalry, Drew Brees set the record for career completions as part of a herculean effort, Matt Ryan had his first 5 TD game and Calvin Ridley set a host of rookie receiving records. The Saints defense better regain its 2017 form if New Orleans is going to live up to their lofty expectations. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Scott Cunningham)
Panthers 31 Four Andy Dalton picks on offense. The defense allows a whopping 230 rushing yards. Now that’s the Cincinnati Bengals I know. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn)
Dolphins 28 If Oakland thinks Jon Gruden’s whining about the need for a good pass rusher is annoying, how about losing a game in which you lead time of possession by 17 minutes to blow a second half lead for the third straight week (the Raiders have been outscored 37-3 in the 4th quarter this year). What a disaster. Meanwhile, Miami is quietly 3-0 with a shot at building a 3-game lead over the hated Patriots with a win in New England next week. Perhaps the real “Fitzmagic” is in Miami after all. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) (AP/Brynn Anderson)
Vikings 6 In the NFL’s biggest upset in 23 years, Buffalo did in about 18 minutes what they couldn’t do in their first two games combined: Score 24 points. Josh Allen had a terrific debut against one of the league’s best defenses and outplayed Kirk Cousins to the point that the latter got his catchphrase thrown back at him in his own building — a horrible look for Minnesota four days before taking on the mighty Rams out west. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Browns 21 It took them 635 days, but … BROWNS WIN! BROWNS WIN! BROWNS WIN! Aside from the free beer flowing in Cleveland that would drive Jackie Moon crazy and a banner day for Carlos Hyde, it was fitting that Sam Darnold’s hype train was completely derailed by Baker Mayfield’s near-flawless debut, a 14-point comeback for the Browns’ first prime-time win since 2014 to justify Cleveland’s choice with the first overall pick (at least temporarily). The choice to start Mayfield for the rest of the season is so easy, even Hue Jackson can’t mess it up. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Jason Miller)
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