NFL Week 3 Results

There were some crazy results from week 3 of the 2012 NFL season.  I really got thrown for a loop and was pretty dismal in my picks.  This week’s results were about as wacky as week 2 last year.  There were a number of upsets across the board but it is early in the year.  One team that looks to be in real trouble are the Saints who let the win over the Chiefs slip away.  Oh well, such is NFL football.  We will be back later in the week with the most current odds from America’s Bookie and a short preview of the games in week 4.

Thursday September 20, 2012

New York Giants 36      Carolina Panthers 7

The Giants look like they are starting to click after dropping their season opener to Dallas.  They totally dominated the Panthers in every aspect on Thursday night.  Perhaps the brightest spot in the win was RB Andre Brown who rushed for 113 yards on 20 carries and scored 2 TD’s.  If New York has a consistent running game they will be very dangerous this year.  Cam Newton was held in check and you have to wonder if defenses have his number a bit now. 

Sunday September 23, 2012

Buffalo Bills 24     Cleveland Browns 14

It’s always tough to predict how Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to perform.  He can look bad to mediocre one game and look decent in another.  He didn’t have huge numbers but he passed for 208 yards and 3 TD’s which was much needed without C.J. Spiller or Fred Jackson in the backfield.  The Bills snapped an 8 road game losing streak.  The Browns dropped their 9^th straight and despite looking ok in the first couple of games look to have a long season.

Tampa Bay Bucs 10      Dallas Cowboys 16

This one was pretty boring and painful to watch.  Believe me!  Actually this was the only thing I picked right yesterday by taking the Bucs +8.  Both teams made lots of mistakes but Dallas did enough to get the win.  I mean come on.  Romo had a QB rating of 75 and Josh Freeman had a rating of 45 for the Bucs.  Dallas defense was about the only bright spot of the afternoon as they were all over Tampa Bay.  The Bucs were hurried most of the afternoon.  I don’t see too bright of a future this year for either team.

NY Jets 23      Miami Dolphins 20

This was a tough one to watch get away from the Dolphins.  I never have liked that BS calling timeout at the last second to freeze the kicker and it came back to bite Miami in the butt.  Miami missed a field goal attempt in overtime and then it appeared that the Jets did the same.  But no, Miami had called a last second timeout and the Jets put it through the uprights on the second attempt.  The Jets’ Darrelle Revis and Miami’s Reggie Bush both left the game with knee injuries.  Miami led for all but 3 minutes of the game but this one just wasn’t meant to be.

Kansas City Chiefs 27      New Orleans Saints 24

While it is too early to consider New Orleans down for the count there has to be some real concern after losing to the lowly Chiefs and falling to 0-3 on the season.  They better be careful or Saints’ fans will start wearing bags over their heads again.  What really makes the situation bad is that 2 of these losses have come in the Superdome where New Orleans was unbeaten last season.  They just couldn’t close the game as they let an 18 point 3^rd quarter lead slip away.  Jamaal Charles was the story of the day for KC as he rushed the ball 33 times for 233 yards and a touchdown.  Somebody has to step up when you have Matt Cassel as your QB.  Dree Brees didn’t have a bad game but it wasn’t enough for the win.  The Saints’ QB passed for 245 yards and 3 TD’s.  Something better turn around very quickly or the Saints’ season is over.

Cincinnati Bengals 38      Washington Redskins 31

Andy Dalton won the battle of QB’s in this game against the Redskins young QB Robert Griffin III.  Dalton passed for 328 yards and 3 TD’s and only 1 pick.  RG3 definitely didn’t have a bad game.  He passed for 221 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 85 yards and another TD.  Griffin brought the Redskins back a couple of times.  They made up a 24-7 deficit and then came back from 38-24 and had a legit shot to tie things up.  Griffin took the Skins down the field from their own 2 to the Bengals 19 before a sack for a 15 yard loss and a penalty stalled things.  Good win for Cincinnati over the young upstarts.

Detroit Lions 41      Tennessee Titans 44

This was one of the wilder games of the day.  The Titans started off strong and had a 20-9 lead at halftime.  Then things got wild.  Detroit scored 18 straight points and then the Titans scored 21.  Tennessee also broke an NFL record 5 TD’s of 60 yards or longer.  Detroit messed up big time in overtime.  After Tennessee had kicked their field goal, Detroit went for a 4^th and 1 from the Titans’ 7.  They appeared to be trying to draw Tennessee offsides but what it did was lose them the game.

San Francisco 49ers 13      Minnesota Vikings 24

This one came out of nowhere.  The Niners came out very flat for this game and Christian Ponder had a good outing for Minnesota to lead the Vikings to the win.  Ponder finished 21 of 35 for 198 yards and 2 TD’s.  He also rushed for 33 yards and an additional TD.  On the other side it was a tough afternoon for Niners’ QB Alex Smith who was sacked 3 times, had an interception and had a QB rating of 81.  With only 3 unbeaten teams left in the league this looks to be an interesting year.

Jacksonville Jaguars 22      Indianapolis Colts 17

Much maligned Blaine Gabbert stunned the Indianapolis Colts yesterday afternoon with a brilliant 80 yard TD strike to Cecil Shorts II with 45 seconds left in the game.  Maurice Jones-Drew was the workhorse of the day for the Jaguars as he rushed for 177 yards on 28 carries and a TD.  Good first win for Jacksonville.  Good effort at a comeback for #1 draft choice Andrew Luck.  He had a tough afternoon, but brought them back late to almost get the win.

St. Louis Rams 6      Chicago Bears 23

St. Louis looked pretty bad against Chicago.  They really couldn’t get anything going in the game and I am starting to rethink my position on the Rams.  It is looking more and more like they are going to have another tough year.  Bears defense looked good on the day, especially when they picked Sam Bradford for a 45 yard TD.  They held the Rams to 160 yards of total offense and sacked Bradford 6 times.  It was a good time for the D stepped up as Jay Cutler contributed little to the win.

Atlanta Falcons 27      San Diego Chargers 3

Atlanta really surprised me in this one.  They overcame the odds of a short week and a cross country trip to the West Coast to completely dominate the Chargers on their own turf.  Now this is the San Diego that we are used to.  Matt Ryan continued his solid play for the Falcons by passing for 275 yards and 3 TD’s.  Who would have imagined Atlanta and Arizona to be the only undefeated teams in the NFC after 3 weeks?

Philadelphia Eagles 6      Arizona Cardinals 27

QB Kevin Kolb got a measure of revenge on his former team by leading the Cardinals to the win.  He was 17 of 24 on the afternoon for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The “Dream Team” did basically nothing in this game.  Michael Vick completed only 45% of his passes and finished with a 65 passer rating for the game.  I’m not ready to predict the Cardinals in the Super Bowl but you have to give credit to them now as they are 3-0 and have looked solid so far.

Pittsburgh Steelers 31      Oakland Raiders 34

Here is yet another one that shocked me.  I didn’t see the Raiders beating anybody, much less the Steelers.  Really hard to believe when you consider Ben Roethlisberger’s 384 yard, 4 touchdown performance.  Not a bad day for Carson Palmer either, although not quite so big numbers.  He was 24 of 34 passing for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Darren McFadden played much better this week for the Raiders rushing for 113 yards and a TD.  If this Sunday taught us anything it’s about that saying about any given Sunday.

Houston Texans 31      Denver Broncos 25

Matt Schaub outdid Peyton Manning in this game and the Texans hung on for the win.  Schaub lost a chunk of his ear and still went on to finish the game with 290 yards and 4 TD’s.  Manning completed 50% of his passes for 330 yards and 2 TD’s but it was too little, too late as the Broncos let them get out to a big lead.  The Texans were leading 31-11 heading into the 4^th quarter.  Denver has got to stop giving up the early lead if they want to win these games.

New England Patriots 30      Baltimore Ravens 31

This was a little bit of payback for Baltimore after missing a chip shot of a field goal in last year’s AFC Championship game.  Rookie Justin Tucker kicked a 27 yard FG as time ran out.  Good night for Torrey Smith under the toughest of circumstances.  He caught 6 passes for 127 yards and 2 TD’s less than 24 hours after learning his brother was killed in a motorcycle accident.  This was a big win for the Ravens and an unusual place for the Patriots to be at 1-2.

Keep up with the action at NFL Scores and Odds.