WHAT WE LEARNED: NFL WEEK 3

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s time to wrap up Week 3 of the NFL season with a nice fall hike through the NFL orchard and hand pick a basketful of heirloom apples as we try, maybe in vain, to make sense of an NFL season that’s not making too much of it so far.

ARE THE RAMS THE BEST TEAM IN FOOTBALL?

It’s early, and as Sean McVay said in his postgame press conference Sunday after the Los Angeles Rams knocked off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 34-24 in a game that wasn’t really that close, there’s still 14 weeks to go.

But there’s little question about who won the month of September, even though, at present, there are four other 3-0 teams in the league. LA went hard into the paint in the offseason, sending former No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, two more first round picks and a 2021 third rounder to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford, himself a former No. 1 overall pick.

It’s certainly paid off so far. Stafford has completed 70.2 percent of his passes for 942 yards, nine touchdowns and just one pick. It’s the hottest start by a first year Rams QB since some guy named Kurt Warner in 1999. He’s on pace for a 5,338 yard, 51 touchdown season thanks to the 17^th game. There’s already NFL MVP talk.

Personally, I think that’s all a tad early, but there’s no question that the Rams are a better, more dangerous team with Stafford at QB in replacement of Goff.

But Stafford wasn’t the only significant new piece to the Los Angeles puzzle. McVay had to replace departed defensive coordinator Brand Staley who’s not doing too bad himself with the Los Angeles Chargers as their new head coach. He brought in Raheem Morris, former Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator, and while Morris has kept Staley’s scheme, he’s added a few wrinkles of his own. Will the Rams remain the No. 1 defense in the league? There’s still three months to go, but if they’re in the Top 5, with this offense clicking, they certainly have a real chance to be the second team in NFL history (and in a row) to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE CHIEFS?

Since taking over as the starting QB for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018, Patrick Mahomes had never lost a game in September until this year. After a 30-24 defeat at the hands of the aforementioned Chargers, he’s now lost two in a row.

Is the sky falling in Kansas City?

I don’t think so. If not for a Clyde Edwards-Helaire fumble in what would have likely been a gamewinning drive against the Baltimore Ravens and an awful interception by Mahomes against the Chargers, this team could easily be 3-0.

Or, you could also look at it like this; if not for a late, last minute interception thrown by Baker Mayfield in the season opener, this team could also be 0-3. The NFL is that close.

A single play in those three games has made all the difference.

While the Chiefs are in no way out of it after three games, there needs to be some major concerns. Edwards-Helaire has fumbled the ball in consecutive games and Mahomes has been a little sloppy with the ball, throwing three picks over the last two as well. You want Mahomes to be Mahomes. It’s what makes him the Michael Jordan of the sport, but before this season he’d never even thrown a pick in September. He’s not turnover prone. This isn’t him and it’s a fixable problem.

As for Edwards-Helaire in his second season, if he keeps coughing it up, it’ll be time to look for another ballcarrier. He’s very replaceable.

The real issue is the defense, which has been awful. Steve Spagnuolo has pretty much the same crew he fielded last year, so it’s got to be him. The scheme has been “figured out,” whatever that means, and it’s time for a major adjustment. KC’s opponents are averaging 31 points a game against them and 430 yards of offense per game.

Yes, they were playing 2020 playoff teams and a squad that will probably make the playoffs this year in the Chargers, but that’s a problem. They could play any and all of these teams again in the postseason. Hell, they play the Chargers again on Dec. 16, so they could have two more games against them.

This week, Kansas City is traveling to the Philadelphia Eagles and should have little trouble there. The real test, and one they can’t afford to fail, comes on Oct. 10 when they host the Buffalo Bills. If KC can’t fix this defense, Josh Allen will run them off the field. Mahomes is great. Maybe an all time great, but you can’t just hope he freakishly pulls out off a victory every week. Kansas City’s defense has to step up or this AFC title defense will be short lived come January.

ROOKIE QBS ALL TAKING THEIR LUMPS

Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and now Justin Fields have all started in the NFL. They are, as of this writing, 1-9 as a group, with the lone victory belonging to Jones who won his first head to head match up with Wilson.

Trey Lance has yet to start and if Jimmy Garoppolo continues to play like he has over the first three weeks for the San Francisco 49ers, he probably won’t. But the simple fact is, being a rookie QB is tough. Quarterback is the hardest position to play in all of professional sports. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it; there are 32 franchises in the NFL. There are not 32 NFL franchise quarterbacks on the planet.

When a guy comes out as a rookie and plays great like Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert last year, or Dak Prescott back in 2016, that’s a freak thing. It doesn’t happen. What your best hope is you get the guy that blows up in year three. Jared Goff, for all his criticism, had an outstanding third year and took the Rams to the Super Bowl. Last year was Josh Allen’s third year. Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson’s too. This season is Kyler Murray’s.

Mahomes won the Super Bowl in his third season.

It’s not going to happen overnight, but you can’t ignore the situations the explosive rookies, and even these third year guys have in common; their teams had/have other pieces of the puzzle. They fielded explosive wide receivers, some of the best in the game and running backs to keep the pressure off. They invested picks and free agent capital in offensive lines.

So Jets, Jags, Bears and Pats, you know what you have to do. And you should also see how far away you are (Chicago and New England are close. Jacksonville and New York have a ways to go). But there’s a blueprint. A checklist. Follow it. This year, though, it’s probably not happening for any of them.

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