Starting an NFL season with an 0-2 record is not ideal, but it is not enough to doom a good team that harbours playoff aspirations.
Falling to 0-3 is pretty much season over and done with though, which saw some incredibly desperate teams take to the field heading into this weekend’s games.
All up nine teams came into the weekend with an 0-2 record, with desperation serving as a massive motivatior for each side as a few were lucky enough to avoid the worst case scenario.
Those teams fighting to save their seasons, even at this early stage are our main focus for the 5 Lessons Learned recapping Week 3 of the NFL season.
1 – Philadelphia and Baltimore Do What Good Teams Do
Let’s start with the Philadelphia Eagles, who started as outsiders for their trip to New Orleans and they did it the hard way.
Injuries decimated their receiver group, and heading into the fourth quarter they were trailing 3-0 as the Saints offence was going through their own struggles.
However Saquon Barkley proved to be the difference here first breaking off a 65 yard run to give the Eagles the lead.
Before running in the game winning touchdown and two-point conversion to give the Eagles the win they so desperately needed.
Another team with Super Bowl aspirations went on the road, although Baltimore did start as ever so slight favourites against the out of sorts Dallas Cowboys.
If there is one thing you can count on with the Ravens and their coaching staff, it’s that they will be prepared to respond in a desperate situation and they got off to a fast start against Dallas thanks to Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry running through the Cowboys undersized defence.
Although the late scare from Dallas might have made it a bit closer than they would have been hoping for, finally getting in the win column is all that would have mattered for Baltimore here.
While these victories are far not a sign that all is well on both of these teams, they did just enough to arrest these early season struggles and give them something to work with heading into Week 4.
2 – Carolina’s Quarterback Change Paid Dividends
Carolina picking up just their third win in the last 20 regular season game comes with a massive asterisk, but when you’ve struggled as much as this team has you’ll take what you can get.
Bryce Young might not have been the only problem on this team, but his reputation took another blow with Andy Dalton coming in and shredding the Raiders defence.
Admittedly the Raiders put in one of the more dysfunctional performances of the season with coach Antonio Pierce calling out the effort of his players.
However when you are in such a bad situation as the Panthers, you have to take what you can get, even if it means the guy you traded the farm for took another blow to his already battling career.
3 – Daboll and Payton Needed Wins to Sell Their Program
Heading into the season the expectations for Denver and the Giants were a bit lower than what Philadelphia and Baltimore were facing, but both of those teams were just as eager to avoid having their playoff hopes extinguished in September.
For the Broncos, it was a case of “any win will do” as they stifled Baker Mayfield and the Bucs, kicking four field goals to pick up the first win of the Bo Nix era.
It was the Giants defence leading the way in Cleveland, sacking Deshaun Watson eight times and enjoying a largely mistake free performance from Daniel Jones to get their win.
For two embattled coaches looking to sell their programs to their respective rosters, these are big moments to stop them from falling into the abyss.
However it will mean absolutely nothing if they can’t find a way to back it up in the coming weeks and get these teams competing every time they take the field.
4 – Sean McVay Still has his guys playing hard
Things are not good at Rams HQ at the moment with a major injury crisis on offence, a defence dealing with a talent deficiency and a coach who has contemplated a sabbatical if not outright retirement.
However Sean McVay got the best endorsement he could from his team on Monday morning, with his team falling behind to the (also injury ravaged) San Francisco 49ers twice.
They could have easily packed it in and let the 49ers run roughshod over them, after all, a high draft pick could be just what this team needs to compete in 2025 and going forward, but they are not ready to give up on the season just yet.
Getting that level of effort a week after getting destroyed by Arizona would have been the most encouraging part of that game
And wasn’t McVay happy with that response.
5 – The Seats in Jacksonville and Cincinnati Are Red Hot
The week wrapped up with a Monday Night Football double header with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals both trying to avoid that dreaded 0-3 hole.
Neither of them were able to muster the win and the way in which they both lost means the job statuses of both Doug Pedersen and Zac Taylor have to be in jeopardy.
Let’s start with the Jaguars heading to upstate New York, where losing to the Bills is not the end of the world for most teams.
Getting absolutely destroyed by the Bills though should raise all sorts of red flags about this team that is supposed to be pretty good.
It was not that long ago the Jaguars were an in vogue Super Bowl pick but ownership has to be contemplating a change to try and salvage the long term future of the team, especially Trevor Lawrence, who does not look anywhere close to the quarterback he showed flashes of in 2022.
Meanwhile in Cincinnati, the Bengals were all set for a Super Bowl run with a supposedly healthy Joe Burrow at the helm.
Their offence actually looked quite good putting up 33 points, but some horrifically bad mistakes in all three phases meant they could not match the Washington Commanders who enjoyed a breakout game for Jayden Daniels.
The rookie sealed the game with this beautiful throw down the sideline and from there it was all just stat padding for the Bengals.
With the amount of talent this Bengals team has, especially on offence they should be a lot better than they are, but with execution the real issue, the first party to get blamed for that is the coach.
Considering the guy got hired essentially because he had a cup of coffee with Sean McVay, benefitted from Burrow going off in 2021 and is now struggling to keep this team focused, it’s easy to see why the pressure is building.