AFC East week three recap: What is going on with the AFC East?
After three weeks of NFL action do we really know anything about the AFC East? The Miami Dolphins won of course but what about the other three teams?
Week 3 is in the books, and it’s one where the AFC East found themselves in some of the major headlines. Buffalo shocked the entire league. The Jets became the team no one wanted to be. New England lost their second in a row, and Miami has now already won the amount of games many had predicted them to win all season. Let’s recap how all teams fared this past weekend.
It wasn’t pretty by any means, but the Dolphins found a way to come from behind against the Raiders, and remain unbeaten through three weeks. First, the Raiders held the ball for nearly twice as long as Miami with Oakland holding possession for 38:31 compared to the Dolphins 21:29. Miami struggled to stop the run with Oakland finishing with over 100 yards rushing between Marshawn Lynch and Doug Martin.
The Dolphins also hurt themselves a ton with penalties. After a combined seven penalties for 58 yards in the first two games, Miami ended this game with nine penalties for 74 yards. At least a couple of those were after third down stops, which included an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Akeem Spence that resulted in his ejection.
To pull out the victory, the Dolphins used some trickery and their speed to get the job done. Jakeem Grant had a big game with two touchdown receptions, including a 52-yarder thrown by fellow receiver Albert Wilson that initially gave Miami a 21-17 lead in the 4th quarter. Wilson was also the recipient of Ryan Tannehill‘s third touchdown pass of the day, a 74-yard shovel pass that would seal the game for Miami. To give you an idea on how the Dolphins and their fans are feeling right now, Wilson and Grant high-fived each other as Wilson was running into the end zone. Miami will have their big showdown next week against the Patriots in Foxboro.
New York Jets
On Thursday night, the New York Jets became the team that all teams were trying to avoid – the one that ended the Cleveland Browns winless streak. The Browns came very close to winning in the first two weeks by tying the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, and losing a heartbreaker to the New Orleans Saints because of poor kicking.
The Browns decided to sign former Dolphins kicker Greg Joseph as a result. The Jets jumped out to a 14-3 lead in this one, but after Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor was forced to exit due to concussion-like symptoms, rookie #1 overall pick Baker Mayfield was brought into the spotlight. Mayfield proved all his doubters wrong, at least for one game, and brought Cleveland from behind to earn their first victory in 635 days.
Cleveland had gone winless in their previous 19 games, and had only won one game in the last two seasons. There’s no doubt that the Browns are much improved, and they’ll likely win at least a few more games this season, but no team wanted to be the first to lose to them. Fatigue could have been a factor for the Jets, who were playing their third game in 10 days. They now get 10 days in between their next game, but it will be in a very tough matchup on the road against the Jaguars.
Buffalo Bills
Buffalo completed easily the biggest shock of Week 3. Going on the road to Minnesota, this was unanimously supposed to be a blowout in favor of the Vikings. The Bills, led by rookie quarterback Josh Allen, had other plans however. Buffalo came out firing on offense with three total touchdowns from Allen (2 rush). The Bills were just as strong on defense, forcing three Kirk Cousins turnovers, and holding the Vikings to just 14 total yards rushing on the day. They went into halftime with a 27-0 lead, and never looked back.
Buffalo had been embarrassed by Baltimore and the L.A. Chargers, respectively, in the first two weeks, and they were determined to not make it three in a row. Not to mention the embarrassment of having their former cornerback Vontae Davis quit and retire last week at halftime. Prior to today, many had projected Minnesota as a legit Super Bowl contender, and Buffalo possibly ending the season with the worst record in the NFL. It’s only one game, but both of those theories are now in serious question. It’s a huge win for the Bills, but it will be a tough task for lightning to strike twice for them as they travel to Lambeau next weekend to take on the Packers.
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New England Patriots
In another stunning upset, the Patriots lost to the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football. Coming off of a loss at Jacksonville, it was widely believed that New England would be focused heading into this game, and convincingly take care of the 0-2 Lions.
That was not the case, however, as former Patriots defensive coordinator, now Lions head coach, Matt Patricia, had his team more than ready for this primetime battle. Detroit would go on to win the game 26-10, and truthfully, it wasn’t even that close. The Lions looked sharp on both sides of the ball to start the first half.
New England did not even record their first 1st down until under four minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter. Detroit went into halftime up 13-3. After the break, Tom Brady marched the Patriots down the field, and connected with James White to close the gap at 13-10. This is when we all anticipated that New England would take over, but that would not be the case.
Detroit immediately responded with a drive of their own, capped by a 33-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones from Matthew Stafford late in the 3rd quarter. Dominated by time of possession the entire game, New England would have no answer.
The Patriots were missing some key players, but this was the most out of sync that I have seen from them in quite some time. I do not recall the last time they lost two in a row so I certainly don’t remember the last time they lost three in a row. That’s exactly what the Dolphins will try to attempt, however, next week when they travel to Foxboro. A win for Miami would give the Dolphins a commanding lead within the division just four games into the season.