NFL - Week Three Review

Without a doubt, the top performances of the day in Week Three of the NFL had to be Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback Michael Vick [pictured left] who passed for 291 yards with three TD and 30 yards rushing (including a 17-yard scoring run) and Seattle's Leon Washington, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns to single-handedly beat the San Diego Chargers, 27-20.

The pair are Heftyinfo NFL Player of the Week for Week Three as the Eagles toppled Jacksonville, 28-3 and Seattle improved to a surprising 2-1 in the young season with their win against the Chargers, who once again are off to a slow and disappointing 1-2 start.

Chargers' quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 455 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat, but he also threw two interceptions and the Chargers lost three fumbles as well. Hard to win football games when a team does that. Still, it took a goal line stand of sorts by the Seahawks' defense as they twice held the 'Bolts out of the end zone in the final three minutes to win the game.

How about the Pittsburgh Steelers and fourth string quarterback Charlie Batch routing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-13 on the road?
Pittsburgh's defense was dominating and Batch threw a pair of touchdown passes to Mike Wallace and running back Rashard Mendenhall had 143 yards rushing and a touchdown.

The Dallas Cowboys finally got into the win column as they pasted the Houston Texans, 27-13 behind solid defense and Tony Romo passing for 284 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Atlanta handed the New Orleans Saints their first loss of 2010 with a 27-24 overtime win on a 46-yard field goal by Matt Bryant. Saints kicker Garrett Hartley missed a 29-yard potential game-winner just moments earlier to give the Falcons new life. Both teams are tied with Tampa Bay for first place at 2-1 in the NFC South.

The Baltimore Ravens looked lackluster but managed to beat the winless Cleveland Browns, 24-17 in the home opener in Baltimore. Joe Flacco found Anquan Boldin for two touchdown passes as the Ravens improved to 2-1.

The Cincinnati Bengals kept pace with Pittsburgh and Baltimore by topping the listless Carolina Panthers, 20-7. Cedric Benson ran for 81 yards and scored two TDs to lead the way.

The Minnesota Vikings rode Adrian Peterson (160 yards rushing, two TD) as he broke free on an 80-yard scoring run to seal the game in the 24-10 win over the Detroit Lions.

Tennessee embarrassed the host New York Giants, 29-10 behind Chris Johnson (125 yards rushing and two TD runs) to improve to 2-1. The Giants slipped to 1-2 with the loss.

The Colts knocked out the Denver Broncos, 27-13 as Peyton Manning threw for 325 yards and three TD passes, including two scoring strikes to Austin Collie. Denver quarterback Kyle Orton passed for 476 yards in the loss.

The Kansas City Chiefs stayed unbeaten and seem to be this season's version of the 2009 Denver Broncos with their surprising start. The Chiefs throttled the visiting 49ers, 31-10 behind a solid running attack and a defense that completely shut down the San Francisco offense.
San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith was sacked five times and KC quarterback Matt Cassel threw three TD passes to go with 207 rushing yards by the Chiefs.

Arizona survived Oakland, 24-23 as Raiders' kicker Sebastian Janikowski missed his third field goal try of the game (from 32 yards out) as time expired.
Cardinals' quarterback Derek Anderson had two touchdown passes in the win.

St. Louis won their first game of the season, 30-16 over the Washington Redskins as kicker Josh Brown kicked three field goals in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Rams' QB Sam Bradford had a TD pass and running back Steven Jackson ran 42 yards for a score to pace the offense.

New England knocked off stubborn Buffalo, 38-30 as Tom Brady hooked up with Randy Moss twice for scoring passes to offset Bills' rookie C.J. Spiller's 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Bills started Ryan Fitzpatrick in the game in place of Trent Edwards, who was released by the Bills following the game.

In the Sunday Night Game, the New York Jets improved to 2-1 with a 31-23 victory at Miami.
The Dolphins, Jets and Patriots are all tied for first place in the AFC East.
Jets' quarterback Mark Sanchez has three TD passes and threw for 256 yards in the win while running back LaDainian Tomlinson scored a touchdown and ran for 70 yards. Braylon Edwards hauled in a scoring pass and Tight End Dustin Keller (six catches for 98 yards) had two touchdown catches to pace the Jets.
Miami QB Chad Henne passed for 363 yards and two touchdowns. Dolphins' wide receiver Brandon Marshall had 10 grabs for 166 yards and a touchdown.

The Monday Night Game saw the Chicago Bears beat Green Bay, 20-17 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Devin Hester ran a punt back 62 yards for a touchdown and Robbie Gould nailed a 19-yard field goal in the closing seconds for the Bears, who improved to 3-0.


On a sad note, Hall-of-Fame player George Blanda, who played for 26 seasons between the NFL and AFL from 1949-1975, died Monday at the age of 83. Blanda scored 2002 points in his career as a quarterback and place kicker with the Houston Oilers, Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders.