The KC Chiefs visit to the Baltimore Ravens closed out Week 3 of the 2020 NFL season. How are the teams looking so far? What’s the overall landscape shaping up to be?
AFC EAST STANDINGS
- Buffalo Bills 3-0
- New England Patriots 2-1
- Miami Dolphins 1-2
- New York Jets 0-3
The New York Jets can’t seem to catch a break. With another bad start under their belt, they have lost all three of their early-season games. Heck, the only team they didn’t get smashed by was their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills. However, it was still a double-digit loss. Meanwhile, the Bills have won three straight.
We can’t read too much into this though, because their first two games were the Jets and the Dolphins. However, they did manage to take down a tough Rams squad in Los Angeles on Sunday. That said, the Bills defense is not what it was last year. The Dolphins managed to put up 28 points, and the Rams managed 32. So, I expect some losses for this team down the road.
AFC WEST STANDINGS
- Kansas City Cheifs 3-0
- Los Vegas Raider 2-1
- Los Angeles Chargers 1-2
- Denver Broncos 0-3
The Chiefs proved that they are still the No.1 contender to win the Super Bowl after they put up 34 points on that amazing Ravens defense in Baltimore on MNF. The addition of their star rookie running back is proving to be one too many weapons for even great defenses to handle. Who can beat this team? They have a relatively easy schedule, so we could see them go undefeated. Bovada still has the Chiefs at +350 to win the Super Bowl but we could see those odds get shorter as the season wears on. Especially after beating the Ravens.
Gruden and the Raiders are a nice surprise. I expected them to squeak out a win in Carolina, but I didn’t expect them to follow up with a home win over the NOLA Saints. The one concern with the New Look Raiders is will they perform like last season and open really strong during the first 8 games and then fade hard during the second half of the season.
Despite the 1-2 record, Justin Herbert is showing that he’s NFL ready. He took the Chiefs right to the wire, then put up 330 yards and a TD against the Panthers in Carolina during what ended up being a close loss. Fangio and the Broncos … Man, the folks up in Denver ate up the hype last year with Fangio coming on board to right the ship. Well, that ship is sinking faster than ever.
AFC NORTH STANDINGS
- Pittsburgh Steelers 3-0
- Baltimore Ravens 2-1
- Cleveland Browns 2-1
- Cincinnati Bengals 0-2
With Big Ben back and healthy, the Steelers are looking great. They shoved their way through the crowds against the Giants and Broncos to find themselves against a worthy opponent in the Houston Texans during Week 3.
Our leader.@_BigBen7 | #BensDay pic.twitter.com/NugfeRWVxZ
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) June 17, 2020
They walked away victorious, winning the bout 28-21. The Ravens—who I thought would win by a field goal at home against the Cheifs— We simply outplayed on the defensive side of things. Spagnuolo deserves a lot of credit for holding a powerful Ravens offense back, and of course Andy Reid for keeping perhaps the best defense in the league completely off balance. The moment Mahomes dumped the ball off for a two-yard TD to LT, Eric Fisher, I knew the Ravens would have trouble catching up. Reid was in the zone with his play design.
The bottom half holds the Bengals and Browns. The Browns are playing well and are in a position to compete if either the Steelers are Ravens stumble. However, the Bengals are still the Bengals.
AFC SOUTH STANDINGS
- Tennessee Titans 3-0
- Indianapolis Colts 2-1
- Jacksonville Jaguars 1-2
- Houston Texans 0-3
The big surprise here isn’t that the Titans are 3-0 but that the Texans are 0-3. Now, I wouldn’t write them off just yet, but in this league, it is hard to recover from an 0-3 start. That said, the Texans are still a good team that can be dangerous to any team on any given Sunday. The Titans are 3-0, but they have just barely don enough to get the job done. I thought the Vikes would bounce back and get home win on Sunday. However, the Titans squeaked out a 31-30 victory. They only beat the Jaguars by a field-goal 33-30, and the Broncs by 2. So, it will be interesting to see how long this win-streak holds up.
