NFL Week 3 Recap: Cacophony

There's some big trouble in South Beach right now.

So, Week 3 of the 2025 season started with the Buffalo Bills hosting the Miami Dolphins, and when I saw this in the schedule, I went, "Again?" This is the second straight year that this matchup is featured so early on TNF; last year, it was Prime's first game of the season. However, I kinda cringed this year because last year's TNF matchup saw Tua lit up and concussed again. Another reason why I cringed is because the Dolphins look absolutely horrid to start the season.

Many people expected a bloodbath. We actually didn't get that. The game was actually quite back-and-forth, but we all knew the Bills were winning this. The Bills did go on to win, 31-21, in a game that was closer than a lot of people (myself included) expected. It was a game effort from the Dolphins, but the sad truth is, they're 0-3. A lot of the blame has been shift to Tua Tagovailoa, as we've seen the "Turndaballova" alter-ego come out at the wrong time. Many say Mike McDaniel will get canned, and I do fear that will happen sooner than later. McDaniel's a victim of circumstances in this, and as I've said before, teams don't give Black coaches the same amount of mulligans/excuses that our White counterparts do.

However, if I have to place a vast majority of blame on someone, it would have to be Tyreek Hill. Remember when he joined the Dolphins after the Chiefs got tired of his bullshit? What did we hear from him every few minutes? "Tua's better than Mahomes." On a loop, he said this. Look, I stick up for Tua when he's accused of being turnover prone, but putting him and Mahomes in the same breath is asinine. Tyreek's still an abusive ass as well, and now, he's been throwing tantrums begging to be traded, all while his play is pretty much declining. The Dolphins are in deep trouble; 0-3 is not a start teams can easily comeback from, history states that. Granted, the Dolphins once went from 1-7 to 9-8 in 2021, but that took a lot. I don't know if this team can pull of something, but we'll see.

Well, Chiefs, you got Win #1 finally. It was against a dead Giants team and it was ugly as hell for the most part, but a win is a win and you do have to beat who is in front of you. People who have been hate-watching KC for a few years now had been hoping to see that same Giants team from a week before this, but they became a pumpkin at kickoff. KC only had to do the bare minimum to win, and they somehow won by doing less than that, that's how pathetic the Giants are. Speaking of pathetic, let's talk about Travis Kelce, shall we? If he put as much energy into the game as he does when he's bullying Andy Reid, he'd have more than four catches for 26 yards (which results in a measly 6.6 fantasy points). No wonder he was listed so low on the tight end list on fantasy drafts this year.

Let's talk about Monday Night Football, shall we? I had been looking forward to this one for a good bit, because it's Lions/Ravens. Two strong teams, and from a fantasy standpoint, two teams with players a lot of people have on fantasy. This game went about as expected; a lot of offense, the right players showing up, and wild plays. In the end, the Lions won it 38-30, as the tail end saw Derrick Henry lose a fumble for the third straight game, and that Ravens defense couldn't do a thing right. Here's the thing: the Ravens head to Arrowhead next. Entering this game, I was confident that the Ravens would beat KC. Now, I have doubts; that Baltimore defense is absolutely suspect right now.

The centerpiece in Sunday's early window was a battle of unbeatens; the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles facing off in a rematch of last year's Divisional Playoff, which was also close. For the first time all year, the Eagles really had their backs to the wall. The Rams had a huge lead, and with their capability of stealing games against anyone, it looked like they'd beat the champs, but Philly bounced back big time. Jalen Hurts had three passing TDs; his first ones of the season, and the Eagles had a 27-26 lead late. The Rams did get to field goal range, and had a chance to win it in the end, but not only was it blocked, it was returned all the way at the end, sealing a 33-27 win for the Eagles.

Blocked field goals were quite a thing in the early window. This wasn't even the only one that was returned for six! The Jets blocked a FG and returned it all the way to take the lead after being down by a mint, but the Bucs did win it in the end still. The biggest block came in the Packers/Browns contest, as Brandon McManus' potential game winner was blocked, and the Browns managed to win it with a long field goal of their own, a clear upset of the week. Elsewhere in the early window, the Vikings absolutely tormented the Burrow-less Bengals, the Panthers blasted the Falcons, 30-0, because Atlanta couldn't even find the red zone, and the Steelers and Commanders picked up Ws as well. A pair of AFC South division battles saw the Jaguars eke out a win over the Texans, while the Colts improved to 3-0 with a win over the lowly Titans.

The late window saw the Seattle Seahawks tap dance all over the New Orleans Saints, and the Los Angeles Chargers and the San Francisco 49ers each won with last second field goals. But we have to talk about Dallas, because that's an order from Jerry Jones. The Cowboys are a walking soap opera, trainwreck, and dumpster fire disguised as an NFL team, but so are the Bears. I figured, "Hey, even Dallas with their problems should just flatten the Bears." And then the Bears were suddenly up 14-3. Even worse, CeeDee Lamb had one play, where he was (for some reason) acting as a running back, and he ended up injured. More on him later. Dallas managed to tie it at 14, but the Bears took a 17-14 lead at halftime. Dallas wouldn't score again. Bears won, 31-14. Caleb Williams, who gets sacked at least three or four times a game, never got touched. First time ever that Caleb went an entire NFL game without being sacked. Hmmm, if only Dallas had someone who could easily rush the QB. I wonder where that guy is now?

About CeeDee Lamb. NFL's Twitter states that he'll miss at least two games, but ESPN's report states that he'll be out for 3-4 weeks. Oh boy. Of course, Dallas has to deal with Micah Parsons' revenge game next week, but after that: @ NYJ, @ CAR, and vs WSH. Sad part: that would be a 2-2 split with CeeDee. Considering they needed the entire 70 minutes (four quarters and overtime) to beat a dead Giants team, don't be shocked if Dallas loses all four games. Jerry Jones has his soap opera that he wanted, but he should be glad they're not in The Bold and the Beautiful; Sheila Carter would go scorched earth on this team just because it's a day with a Y in it.

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Week 4 will kick off with an NFC West battle between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. It will also see the first of the string of early morning international games, with the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers facing off in Dublin. On Sunday Night Football, it's the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys battling it out; Micah Parsons' return to Dallas after the trade. On Monday Night Football, it's a pair of games: first, a battle of 0-3 teams in the AFC East--the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets. Second, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos battle it out.

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