Week 3 NFL Quick Hits

San Francisco @ Cincinnati - It's odd to see a team end the game with eight points but the Bengals managed to do just that. Andy Dalton went from the toast of the league to being, well, the Andy Dalton we all saw in the preseason. While the Bengals looked like a team that could win some games and play spoiler towards the end of the year last week they just proved to be exactly who we thought they were. It doesn't help that Cedric Benson and Jerome Simpson are both facing potential suspensions. As far as the 49ers, well all I can say is welcome to the lead in the NFC West. Alex Smith threw his type of game (20 completions, 201 yards) but seemed to realize that Vernon Davis is his best target and he should throw to him whenever possible (especially at the expense of Michael Crabtree). Frank Gore sprained his right ankle in this game and if he missed any amount of time it would be a devastating loss for the Niners.

Jacksonville @ Carolina - Cam Newton's marvelous streak of 400 games was snapped at two. Jacksonville held him to only 158 yards through the air but the only touchdown he threw was the one that ended up being the game winner. For the Panthers, the most interesting news to come out following this game was their devotion to DeAngelo Williams. Even though Jonathan Stewart is clearly the better back it seems that the Panthers aren't quite ready to give up on their big money man. Eventually it gets to the point that the better football player gets an increased role so we'll see how Ron Rivera handles this in the coming weeks (or if DeAngelo can turn it around). The Jags trotted Blaine Gabbert out for his first start and it went sort of alright. He completed 57% of his passes and threw for a touchdown but also was picked off and only amassed 139 yards. He wasn't asked to do a whole lot, though, because Maurice Jones-Drew was gashing the Panthers on the ground.

Detroit @ Minnesota - Alright Lions, now you're just making me look like an idiot for ever doubting you. Even though Detroit's defense didn't have its best day the Lions were able to come back and win this game behind Matt Stafford and his arm, along with a few assists from Jason Hanson. Calvin Johnson had his first 100-yard game of the year and the Lions needed every inch to win. The running game never got going and Detroit had to come back from a 20-0 defecit. Then again, they were playing the Vikings, who had blown halftime leads in their previous two games so it wasn't exactly surprising. Minnesota will eventually win one of these games but they're in a lot of trouble. They have gone from "mediocre" to "Suck for Luck" status after the first three weeks and we may be seeing the end of Donovan McNabb's career.

Denver @ Tennessee - Even though the Titans won the game, they lost the war. WR Kenny Britt, who was having one of the best starts to the year in the league, was lost for the season with ACL and MCL tears in his knee. I can't even begin to quantify just how huge this loss is for the Titans, who really have a shot at the playoffs in the AFC South. Britt made people talk about Matt Hasselbeck in a positive light once again and it's going to make things even tougher for Chris Johnson and Javon Ringer to get the rushing attack going. For Denver's side of things this one was ugly. Kyle Orton threw for only 173 yards and even though he had two touchdowns he also had a pair of picks. Knowshon Moreno was out for the game and Willis McGahee gave them about what they should of expected (22 rushes, 52 yards and a few catches). With another road game against Green Bay next week it should be interesting to see the crowd reactions when the team returns home in Week 5.

Miami @ Cleveland - Coming into this game there were only two things I wanted to see: Colt McCoy for the Browns and Daniel Thomas for the Dolphins. Neither disappointed in a game that was without Peyton Hillis, arguably the best player between the two teams. McCoy orchestrated a game winning drive at the end of the fourth quarter and though his numbers in this game aren't exactly sterling. Thomas, on the other hand, showed why he should be the feature back in Miami and Reggie Bush is probably already unhappy about it. Chad Henne didn't have a bad game for the Fins but they needed more if they were going to win this one and now that they're sitting at 0-3 it's likely they are going to get Tony Sporano fired.

NY Giants @ Philadelphia - This one probably surprised some people. Eli Manning didn't throw an interception and when his team needed him the most he made all of the throws. Michael Vick, on the other hand, had an ugly game and was injured once again. Originally it was said to be a broken right now but as of now it's just a deep bone bruise but it may keep him out of the Eagles' next game. Mike Kafka didn't keep the magic going and threw two interceptions in seven passes, so it's likely we'll see Vince Young soon. This is one that the Giants had to have, though, if for no other reason than to exorcise some demons in Philly. Keep an eye on the DeSean Jackson situation, we all know he's boom or bust but lately it seems the Eagles are phasing him out of the offense a bit. This may be a sign of the coming times for the Eagles as Jackson seeks a long term contract. It also doesn't help that the second best player on the field, LeSean McCoy, is also seeking a new deal and is far more deserving at the moment.

Houston @ New Orleans - Last week I said this one was going to be fun and neither team disappointed. Matt Schaub and Drew Brees went toe-to-toe and neither team really decided to play defense. While everyone expected a big day from Andre Johnson, I don't think anyone could have called James Casey's 100-yard game. For New Orleans, really you can never tell who Brees will go to on a given week. Devery Henderson had only three catches and took a back seat to Jimmy Graham and Lance Moore. Darren Sproles had another big game from a receptions standpoint and the Saints rushing attack never got going. With Arian Foster out once again it was Ben Tate having another good game for the Texans, and I can already hear the dismay of many fantasy owners who are watching their number one overall pick's value tank as he will almost definitely be in a platoon.

New England @ Buffalo - On Sunday I heard many sportscasters say that if Buffalo was ever going to beat Tom Brady and the Patriots that it would be this week. With the Pats missing a ton of key players they would have really been in a bad situation if either Rob Gronkowski or an offensive lineman went down (as there was literally no one behind any of them). To be honest, I have to say that this one wasn't a major surprise. I knew all about Fred Jackson last year and figured he would shred the Pats. Simply put, New England can't stop anyone on defense and when they faced the league's best offense it was a recipe for disaster. Ryan Fitzpatrick had another great game and you have to think that the Bills will pony up and make him the franchise quarterback. I wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't point out Wes Welker's 16 catch, 217 yard effort and Rob Gronkowski's explosion now that Aaron Hernandez is out. Oh, and that Brady matched his season total in interceptions with this one performance. I'm worried about Chad Ochocinco, though, because I just don't know if he's going to be able to get in sync with Brady.

Baltimore @ St. Louis - The Rams are beat up and the Ravens were coming off of a bad loss to Tennessee. When I looked at the games this week I pointed to this one getting ugly, early, and it did just that. Joe Flacco had a great rebound game and and the Baltimore defense made Sam Bradford look as bad as he has since coming into the league. Even without a win the Rams are only two games out of the NFC West lead but I am really starting to regret my preseason pick because this team has too many injuries. Steven Jackson looked great but after the game got out of hand he was pulled in favor of Cadillac Williams. Torrey Smith looked fantastic for Baltimore but I don't know if I'd rush out and add him on my fantasy team like thousands of Yahoo! players have, but hey, you never know.

NY Jets @ Oakland - This was pegged as an upset by experts and they were right. Darren McFadden may be the best runningback in football right now and you could even make a case for him being the best player. The only question mark left is health, and if he has a full season like this he may even have a case for the MVP. Denarius Moore showed off his "SEC Speed" on a 23 yard rushing touchdowns and the Raiders are looking even better than they were last year. If they hadn't whiffed on Darrius Heyward-Bey and drafted an actual football player this offense could be scary right now. Don't forget they also took a certain big boned quarterback over Calvin Johnson, but I'll stop throwing mud at the Raiders' draft tactics now. For the Jets it seemed like the only person who wanted to win this game was LaDainian Tomlinson. Mark Sanchez broke his nose and Antonio Cromartie has a bruised lung in the losing effort but don't expect Santonio Holmes to be held to one catch for 19 yards again.

Kansas City @ San Diego - The Chiefs are only playing for pride this point and they actually pushed the Chargers. Philip Rivers had an uncharacteristic zero touchdown-two interception performance against the lowly Chiefs, which has to raise some flags in San Diego. It didn't matter though, because Ryan Mathews was all the Chargers needed. Vincent Jackson's encore performance only yielded five catches for 63 yards, but hey, that's 11 points in PPR leagues! For the Chiefs in the post-Jamaal Charles era it was about what you could expect: Thomas Jones had the majority of the carries and Dexter McCluster had an increase in touches. I still will peg Kansas City as the favorite to land Andrew Luck, though, especially if the injury to Brandon Flowers causes him to miss any games.

Green Bay @ Chicago - Good news, Jay Cutler, you were only sacked three times this week. The Bears actually had a shot to get back into the game towards the end, but it went by the wayside thanks to one of the worst calls I have ever seen by a referee. Who on Earth is #21 for the Bears and where was he on that holding call that negated Johnny Knox's touchdown return on an amazing fake by Devin Hester?  Matt Forte was the focal point for the Packers defense and they held him to his worst rushing game as a pro (9 carries, 2 yards), though he did his damage out of the backfield (7 catches, 80 yards). It was business as usual for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers and I guess they dezombified Ryan Grant for a game. Greg Jennings had a great game but it was Jermichael Finley who hit pay dirt three times and looked like the matchup nightmare we all knew he would be.

Arizona @ Seattle - I really don't know what to say about this game. I've been ragging on the Seahawks for weeks now and yet they somehow won a football game against a team of NFL players. Tarvaris Jackson had yet another "T-Jax Day in the Office" with 58% of his passes getting completed, 171 yards, and an interception. He also ran for 20 yards and a touchdown but the most amusing part to me is that 109 of his passing yards went to Sidney Rice. Yet somehow, the Seahawks were out-Seahawks'd by the Cardinals who were without Beanie Wells. Kevin Kolb struggled but I won't say he stinks or anything, if they were still putting out Derek Anderson and John Skelton they would been shutout.

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay - This may have been the biggest game of Week 3. Bryan and I were split between the Falcons and Bucs coming into the year and this was obviously a much bigger game for Tampa Bay. If Tampa Bay had lost then it was quite likely that their season would have gone down the drain, while many still expect Atlanta to rebound. LeGarrette Blount was held in check but came in and got the yards necessary to sustain the drives at the end of the game. Let's be honest, though, if Atlanta hadn't jumped offsides on that 4th and 1 it's likely this game's outcome would have been different. Aqib Talib was torched by Julio Jones for 6 catches and 115 yards but it was the lack of a rushing attack that doomed the Falcons. Josh Freeman didn't have a great game but the game may have been won with his legs.

Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis - You have to give the Colts credit, because this game had all of the makings of a blowout. Early on Mike Wallace reached 100 yards (again) and yet the Colts fought back to take the lead heading into halftime. Kerry Collins suffered a concussion and that may mean more of the Curtis Painter experience, but I don't know if that's the upgrade that Colts fans were looking for. Painter did make a lot of throws to Pierre Garcon and he may actually end up with more targets and receptions than Reggie Wayne in a Curtis Painter-led offense. For the Steelers, Rashard Mendenhall is struggling. One of Pittsburgh's beat writers came out and said that he is "stutter-stepping, spinning and changing direction before he hits the line of scrimmage, often away from where the hole is."I don't know about you but that sounds more like Laurence Maroney than Mendenhall but keep an eye on this going forward. It may have more to do with the offensive line but this could be an ongoing problem.

Washington @ Dallas - I sure hope you like field goals and players slipping all over the place. Washington managed to somehow lose a game where they held their opponent out of the endzone. I guess we also learned just how valuable Miles Austin is to the Dallas offense, because even with Dez Bryant they had trouble moving the ball through the air. Part of that may be Tony Romo but he did do just enough to win the game. Felix Jones looked nearly unstoppable and we may see a lot of him going forward, if the aggravation to his already injured shoulder isn't a big deal, as Dallas tries to keep defenders from taking shots on their quarterback. If they want to get to the playoffs, though, they need their center to stop snapping the ball over Romo's head. As far as the Redskins go, well this is the Rex Grossman we all know. He made a lot of great throws but the turnovers were killer. I don't understand why the Redskins were trying to force the run, though, because Tim Hightower never got it going. I do think that the Redskins will pass the Cowboys in the standings after this weekend, though. Why you may ask? Because Washington gets St. Louis and the Cowboys have to face Detroit. Romo may want to skip that one.