NFL Week Three Summary | Josh Golden

NFL Week Three Summary

by Josh Golden

This week of the NFL season was by far the most exciting one so far, between the overseas action, political conflicts, crazy upsets, overtime thrillers, and more.

To start off, Sunday, the Ravens faced off with the Jaguars in London, a game in which the Jaguars destroyed Baltimore 44-7. However, the headline from this game wasn’t the actual game—it was the national anthem. In response to President Trump’s comments about Kaepernick’s boycott of the national anthem, many people from both organizations kneeled and locked arms during the anthem, including Jaguars owner Shad Khan.

In Sunday’s early slate of games, upsets were common, with the Bears defeating the Steelers in overtime 23-17, BIlls beating the Broncos 26-16, Saints beating the Panthers 34-13, and Jets beating the Dolphins 20-6. Along with these upsets, the Patriots survived a close call at home against the Texans via a spectacular drive with two minutes left, engineered by Tom Brady, and poor clock management by the Texans and rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson. Additionally, the Falcons survived a scare in Detroit due to a last second touchdown that was overturned, making Atlanta the only remaining undefeated team in the NFC.

In the late games, the Chargers lost 24-10 to the Chiefs, thanks to a big day from Kansas City’s rookie sensation Kareem Hunt. This loss dropped the Chargers to 0-3, making them one of five winless teams in the league and three games back in the division to the Chiefs, the only remaining undefeated team in the NFC. Also, the Packers survived an overtime scare to the Bengals at home thanks to Aaron Rodgers finding Geronimo Allison for 73 yards in overtime on a play where the Packers forced an offsides penalty on Cincinnati. In the third and final late game, the Titans defeated the Seahawks 33-27 despite Russell Wilson breaking his career record for passing yards. However, the story of this game was once again the National Anthem. Along with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee and Seattle decided to avoid the controversy of the anthem and remain in the locker room as one unified team. In an interview with CBS Sports, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin justified his decision by saying “we’re not going to be divided by anything said by anyone” and “people shouldn’t have to choose” if they should participate in the anthem.

In the night game, the Redskins defeated the Raiders 27-10 to cap off a spectacular day in the National Football League. Next week will consist of classic rivalries, winless battles, discussions of protests of the anthem, and more.