As September comes to a close the NFL has two undefeated teams: the Philadelphia Eagles and the Miami Dolphins. Both teams had monster offseasons with each of them adding a stud receiver to their rosters in A.J. Brown and Tyreek Hill, respectively. Brown and the Eagles made light work of the division rival Washington Commanders 24-8. He hauled in 5 balls for 85 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Jalen Hurts finished the game with 340 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is no doubt proving his doubters wrong in his third year for not believing that he could be an effective starter in the league. Hurts’ other favorite target Devonta Smith popped off for an 8-catch, 169-yard, one touchdown performance for the night. The Eagles defense toyed with old friend Carson Wentz, sacking him nine times.
The Dolphins also remained undefeated after outlasting their divisional foe and the team that many consider the best team in the league: the Buffalo Bills. In the relatively low-scoring game, Miami took it 21-19. A reason for this was that Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa got a clear concussion at the end of the first half when he was hit by Bills linebacker Matt Milano. Tua returned in the second half and was not his normal self, but was able to lead an early fourth-quarter touchdown drive. If you look at the stats, it seems Buffalo dominated the game, outgaining Miami 497-212 and possessing the ball more than double the time the Dolphins did. However, they left points on the board four times with a fumble, missed field goal, and not being able to stop the clock at the end of both halves despite being in field goal range. The Dolphins take on defending AFC champion Bengals on Thursday night.
The Patriots had a rough Sunday in more ways than one. Not only did they lose to the Baltimore Ravens 37-26, but they lost Mac Jones for multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain. The game was back and forth until the fourth quarter. New England had turnovers on four of its final five drives. Jones had three of them, with all of them being interceptions. Ravens QB and former MVP Lamar Jackson had five touchdowns with four passing and one on the ground. The Patriot defense got shredded for most of the day. Despite outgaining Baltimore, New England could not stop turning the ball over and shooting themselves in their collective foot. Jones is slated to be out for multiple weeks with Brian Hoyer taking over the QB role. The Pats travel to Green Bay to take on reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
The real surprise of the week came with the Jacksonville Jaguars pounding the LA Chargers 38-10. The Jags were a 7.5-point underdog to start the game, but they led the game wire to wire. Don’t look now but Jacksonville is atop of the AFC South at 2-1. QB Trevor Lawrence has had a real second–year jump and is showing why he was the most hyped–up prospect since Andrew Luck. He completed passes to seven different receivers and finished with 262 yards and three touchdowns. For the losing team, QB Justin Herbert had two turnovers and was not efficient in throwing the ball either. He was not the only ineffective player on offense as the Bolts only gained 26 yards rushing. Their prolific offense has gotten off to a slow start to their 2022 campaign.
All three prime-time games this week were sloppy. Thursday featured the Browns topping the Steelers 29-17. The score looks better than the game actually was.
The Sunday night game was even worse. The Broncos rode for a victory in the barn burner with a score of 11-10. The game featured 17 punts and made your eyes want to bleed. Not the performance we were looking for out of two former Super Bowl participants.
In the Monday night game, the Cowboys took down the rival Giants 23-16. Dallas is 2-0 with backup QB Cooper Rush filling in for the injured Dak Prescott. The season has already shown how unpredictable it can be, and next week you can bet will feature much of the same controlled chaos.
