NFL: 5 Teams in Panic Mode After Week 3 (2021)
Week 3 of the NFL season didn’t go as planned for many NFL teams. Now that the season is starting to take shape, which teams and their fans should be panicking?
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are in last place in the division for the first time since 2015. While they will bounce back, it appears they’re still in their head after their blowout Super Bowl loss. Teams in their division beefed up to get pressure on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will have to adjust. This early in the season is the time for adjustments before the losses count towards the end.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s just one loss to a fairly good NFL team, right? Sure, but Tampa Bay struggled mightily against a tough Rams defense. Not every team will have an Aaron Darnold to get pressure on, but the defense covered well enough to do the unthinkable, sack Tom Brady multiple times. Just as teams will copy what the Bucs did to stop the Chiefs, they’ll also copy what the Rams did to stop the Bucs.
More NFL: Where Have the Dolphins Actually Improved?
New England Patriots
Mac Jones had his “back down to earth” moment against the Saints. His 3 interception game showed the rookie has some learning to do still. He’s not really pushing the ball downfield yet and had to throw over 50 times. The mistakes cost the Patriots as the Saints were kept relatively in check. There’s now a lot of film out on Jones after a poor performance. Can he bounce back or will opponents emulate how to defend him?
Pittsburgh Steelers
How quickly the NFL can turn on you. The Steelers went from “How good are the Steelers” to “Should the Steelers bench Big Ben” in a matter of one week. Pittsburgh got off to a good start beating a tough Bills team, but it’s been downhill ever since. At least they got their midseason collapse out of the way early. Their offense is sputtering despite being in games. Moving the ball isn’t the problem. The Steelers just can’t consistently get in the endzone.
New York Giants
Unlike the other NY team, the New York Jets, the Giants don’t have a rookie HC, a rookie QB, and are just kicking off a rebuild. No, the New York Giants have been rebuilding for a couple of years now., Unfortunately, other than Giants fans, you’d never know it with the quality of the product they put on the field. Neither side of the football looks like it’s ready to compete each week and they might have to soon hit the reset button again.
Rick ODonnell aka Caveman Rick has many years covering the Miami Dolphins, Sports, and all sorts of movies and television.
