Atlanta was too pass-heavy in its loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which was reflected in an unbalanced stat line: 42 called passes to 18 designed runs. That disparity was reflected immediately in the team's opening-game script for the first 15 to 20 plays. The Falcons only called four runs in their first 15 plays, and five in the first 20.
It shouldn't come as a shock that the Cleveland Browns are 2-5 through the first seven weeks of the season. The defensive line is very good, yes, and Denzel Ward is still one of the premier cornerbacks in football, but the offense is nothing short of abysmal. Going into the preseason, Kevin Stefanski had four main options at quarterback upon finding out Deshaun Watson would be out for the year: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders.
Both have cited Pete Carroll as a major influence. Schottenheimer only spent three years with Carroll, as his offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2020, but it helped shape his approach to being a head coach. Meanwhile, Canales was on Carroll's Seahawks staff for 13 seasons, overlapping with Schottenheimer's tenure; in fact, Canales was promoted to pass game coordinator in Schottenheimer's final season there.
Sunday was a day of frustrating defeats. Every NFL team gets upset about losing, of course, but Week 3 was full of dramatic collapses, bizarre endings and a shocking number of blocked field goal attempts. In a matter of minutes, there was a pair of block-scoop-and-score touchdowns, as Jordan Davis sealed up a comeback win for the Eagles while Will McDonald IV appeared to set one up for the Jets.
A lot went wrong for Mike Vrabel and the Patriots in their season-opening loss to the Raiders on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. After a promising first half, Drake Maye and the Patriots' offense flatlined down the stretch - punting or turning the ball over on six of the team's final seven drives of the afternoon. New England's defense did only allow 20 points, but Geno Smith and the Raiders still managed to generate