Neil Reynolds' Wraps Week 3

The NFL often rolls out phrases that are applied to the league’s marketing efforts and a popular one a little while ago was ‘Only in the NFL.’ It pointed to the wild and unpredictable nature of what tends to become a total soap opera once the games kick off at 6pm each Sunday.

There were plenty of ‘Only in the NFL moments last night as we watched the games unfold in the Sky Sports NFL studio. The Miami Dolphins gained more than 700 yards of offense and scored 70 points against the Denver Broncos, the Arizona Cardinals upset the red-hot Dallas Cowboys, Taylor Swift cheered Travis Kelce’s every move as the Kansas City Chiefs and a New York Jets fan got so angry during his team’s 15-10 loss to the New England Patriots that his false teeth flew out of his mouth.

It’s not often you can put those words all together in the same sentence!

Let’s start with the Dolphins on what was a truly historic night in South Florida. Miami came sprinting out of the starting gates – quite literally – and it quickly became evident that Denver had no answer for the speed of the Dolphins.

The numbers were startling. Miami racked up 726 yards of total offense – second-most in NFL history and just nine yards shy of the all-time record set by the Los Angeles Rams in 1951. Miami’s 70 points was the second-most in NFL history and they could have added more but Mike McDaniel opted to take a knee at the end of the game rather than kick a field goal that would have given Miami the most points ever scored in an NFL contest.

That said, this was personal for McDaniel. The former Broncos fan was a ball-boy for Denver as a teenager but he never got an interview for their head coach position in 2022. Add in the fact that Miami reportedly pursued Sean Payton as their head coach before hiring McDaniel and the Dolphins sideline play-calling maestro had a message to deliver on Sunday night… ‘You wanted that guy over me? Good luck with that!’ 

Tua Tagovailoa was about as perfect as you can be, hitting on 23 of 26 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns. Rookie Devon Achane racked up 233 scrimmage yards (203 rushing) and scored four times. Raheem Mostert added 142 yards from scrimmage and also found the end zone four times. And a relatively quiet night for Tyreek Hill saw him rack up 157 yards and a touchdown on nine catches.

Mostert reached 21.62 miles per hour on a 43-yard touchdown run last night – the second-fastest speed achieved by a ball-carrier this season. The Dolphins are responsible for the top three speeds in that category in 2023 with the other two coming from Hill.

The Dolphins are not just run-away-from-you fast, they have the kind of speed that simply eliminates the angles that defenders believe they have to their advantage. One second it looks like the defender is in position to make the tackle and the next, the Dolphins are off and sprinting downfield.

Miami did all of that last night with star receiver Jaylen Waddle sidelined with a concussion. It was a stunning display of firepower and makes you wonder how far this team can go in 2023. I’ve said a few times recently that we haven’t seen this kind of offense in Miami in years, since the days of Dan Marino.

I would broaden that out quite a bit and suggest we have rarely seen this kind of offense in the entire history of the NFL. Now, it’s going to be about the Dolphins staying healthy and keeping this thing going, because they have the talent to do something extremely special this season.

Who’s Hot…

C.J. Stroud… The Houston Texans picked up their first win of the season in Jacksonville on Sunday night, sending Jacksonville to London with a 37-17 defeat ringing in their ears. The result alone was positive, but even more encouraging has been the early-season form of rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. He threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns and has more than silenced those who doubted him on the weekend of the NFL Draft. Stroud has thrown for 906 yards – the third-most for a rookie in his first three games, trailing just Cam Newton and Justin Herbert. And Stroud has thrown 121 straight passes without a pick – another record for a rookie quarterback in his first three outings at the game’s highest level. It’s all encouraging for a Texans team that has now won 10 of its last 11 against the Jaguars.

Jordan Love… Let’s be honest, it wasn’t great from Jordan Love in the first half as he took centre stage at Lambeau Field for his first home opener as ‘the guy.’ But Love and his young receivers rallied from 17-0 down to lead the Green Bay Packers to an 18-17 win over the New Orleans Saints. Like Lambeau legends Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, Love came alive with the game on the line. He ran for a touchdown, threw a remarkable two-pointer to Samouri Toure and then delivered the game-winner to Romeo Doubs. There is a youthful exuberance to these Packers and while it’s not perfect, it’s going to have them in the NFC playoff picture this season.

Keenan Allen… I don’t know what the time will be in Los Angeles when you’re reading this column, but I would like to hazard a guess that Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen will be open. In today’s NFL, we get so excited about player speed – see the top of this column for a perfect example – but there are other ways to succeed in this league if you have veteran smarts and almost perfect route-running skills. I’m never going to label an NFL player slow, but Allen is not fast! Yet he caught 18 passes (third-most in NFL history) for 215 yards as the Chargers picked up their first win of the season in Minnesota on Sunday night. Through three games, Allen has caught 32 passes for 402 yards and two touchdowns. Some would be happy with that as an entire season’s work.

Who’s Not…

Sean Payton… Some call it ‘karma’, others might simply say that what goes around comes around. Whatever wording you use, Sean Payton had Sunday’s “embarrassment” at the hands of the Miami Dolphins coming. Payton went on the offensive in the summer, saying that his predecessor in Denver, Nathaniel Hackett, did one of the “worst coaching jobs ever” with the Broncos. Hmm… I don’t recall any games in which Hackett conceded 70 points and had his players so obviously quit on him. Payton not only broke a coaching code with those comments, he broke a code of common human decency. And it turns out that he’s not much better than Hackett, certainly when you assess the evidence presented thus far. In fact, he’s looking a lot worse and the Broncos are off to a disastrous 0-3 start. There are not too many outside of Colorado upset by that fact, myself included.

The Chicago Bears… The Chicago Bears look absolutely lost right now and they offered no resistance whatsoever against the Kansas City Chiefs as they fell to a 41-10 defeat at Arrowhead Stadium. First of all, let’s be clear… if Andy Reid had wanted to be mean, this could have been 82-10 and I would wager that the 10 in favour of the Bears would have been unlikely. Chicago were lifeless on offense and Justin Fields really is struggling to see the field and develop any kind of bond with his receivers. And the defense – which is supposed to be the speciality of head coach Matt Eberflus – has now conceded at least 25 points in each of the 13 straight losses that Chicago have suffered dating back to last season. They have the look of the worst team in the NFL right now and I would have to say their body language and effort was not great on Sunday. We’ve seen Week 4 or Week 5 head coach firings in the past, so I’m putting Eberflus firmly on the hot seat.

Sam Howell… It had been such a positive start to the season for Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, and that made Sunday’s meltdown against the Buffalo Bills all the more disappointing. We had already come to expect more from the young passer. Howell threw four interceptions, including a baffling pick six, as the Commanders fell to a 37-3 defeat at home. There were still moments where Howell showed that fighting, gunslinger mentality but, needless to say, much better care has to be taken with the football. There are going to be ups and downs with any young passer. This was definitely a bad day at the office. The key will now be that one bad game doesn’t become two, three, four and so on.

The Fast Five…

• The Minnesota Vikings went 11-0 in one-score games in 2022. After Sunday’s 28-24 loss to the Chargers, they are now 0-3 in such games. Minnesota are shooting themselves in the foot with poor fundamentals such as ball security, making simple catches and managing the clock. The last on that list might be the most frustrating. They allowed too much time to tick away with the game on the line (36 seconds agonizingly became 12 by the time the next ball was snapped) and I think panic set in, resulting in Kirk Cousins’ end zone interception. The Vikings are close, but finding ways to lose games that they were winning a year ago.
• Not for the first time in a game featuring the Baltimore Ravens, there was an historic kicking performance. But take a back seat just this once, Justin Tucker… and step into the spotlight, Matt Gay. The Indianapolis Colts kicker became the first player in NFL history to convert four field goals of 50 yards or more in the same game. Gay connected from 54, 53, 53 and 53 yards, with the final effort coming in overtime to give the Colts a well-fought 22-19 win. The records came in all different shapes and sizes on Sunday night.
• The Cleveland Browns are now 2-1 after Sunday’s 27-3 dusting of the Tennessee Titans and they showed that they might just be okay without leading running back Nick Chubb, who is gone for the year with torn knee ligaments. His replacement, Jerome Ford, scored twice; Amari Cooper went for more than 100 receiving yards and a touchdown; and Myles Garrett led what is a very good Cleveland defense with three and a half sacks. The Browns held the Titans to 94 yards of total offense. Ouch!
• Let’s just go back to Thursday Night Football for a moment as the San Francisco 49ers rolled to 3-0 with a 30-12 win over the New York Giants. What is so impressive about these Niners is that you know Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey are going to be there every week. But their breadth of talent is stunning. Brandon Aiyuk led the Niners receiving efforts in Week 1, it was Deebo Samuel in Week 2 and tight end George Kittle in Week 3. Who do you stop? Apparently no one as the Niners continuously stick 30 on the board.
• The Arizona Cardinals have been feisty at times in the early stages of this season, but did anyone give them a chance of beating the Dallas Cowboys? But they did just that, wiping Dallas from the realms of the undefeated with a 28-16 win. There were some big plays in the passing game as Josh Dobbs continues to impress, but don’t be fooled into thinking this was all about Trevon Diggs being out of that Dallas secondary with torn knee ligaments. Arizona bullied the Cowboys with 30 runs for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Like I said, who saw that coming?

Fact of the Week

Christian McCaffrey has now scored a touchdown in 12 straight regular season games for the San Francisco 49ers, tying a club record set by Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice. CMC will now try to chase down the NFL record of 15 games in a row with a touchdown, set by Hall of Fame running backs O.J. Simpson and John Riggins.

Finish That Sentence

Each week in this spot I ask readers – via Twitter – to randomly send me the start of a sentence and, as we so often did on our NFL Live stage show tours, I will finish the sentence with the first thought that comes into my head. Here we go…

From John McLellan (@JohnMcLellan82) The team that has surprised me so far is the… Miami Dolphins. I expected them to be good on offense, but I didn’t think they would be close to unstoppable. And while they grab a lot of our attention through Tyreek Hill receptions from Tua Tagovailoa, they are balanced. They won on the ground in New England in Week 2 and they rushed 43 times for 350 yards and five touchdowns on Sunday. So many seasons end up being dictated by injuries. I really hope the Dolphins can steer clear of that kind of adversity because talent and performance-wise, they have the look of a Super Bowl team. I know it’s early, but I could watch that Dolphins attack against San Francisco’s defense in Las Vegas in February.

From Jamie (@jw24jw) The Jets’ preseason goals shouldn’t change yet because…_ they were about two centimetres away from beating the New England Patriots on Sunday and that victory would have sent them to 2-1. Instead, they are 1-2 and there are of course going to be worries about an offense that produced just 171 yards of total offense and found the end zone just once. Zach Wilson is going to have his doubters until he can show more than his 157 passing yards on Sunday, but the running game is also an issue; gaining 38 yards against the Pats. But the reason New York must stick to the plan is because the defense is elite and keeps them in almost every game. That said, I’d be tempted to ask Minnesota what they want for Kirk Cousins, especially if the Vikings keep losing as the trade deadline approaches.

From Ricky Rix (@rickyrix15) The Chicago Bears season so far is… reminiscent of that time Apollo Creed felt it would be a good idea to have an exhibition bout with Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. Rocky Balboa never threw the towel in that night, but the Bears certainly look like they have. Heads could be rolling in the Windy City and soon!

Final Thought…

The NFL comes to town next weekend as the Jacksonville Jaguars kick off the first of three regular season games in London against the Atlanta Falcons. It’s still incredible to think we will have five such contests in Europe this year and I cannot wait for that Chiefs-Dolphins showdown in Frankfurt. But I’m getting ahead of myself and first up is the Jags and Falcons. This has a lot riding on it already. The Jags have to get back on track after consecutive losses to Kansas City and Houston. As for Atlanta? A win would take them to a very nice 3-1 start. It’s always such a great time of the year. If you’re going to any of the games in London or Frankfurt, enjoy!