Bills and Chiefs on collision course? Bengals and Cowboys in trouble? Time to worry about Caleb Williams? NFL Week 3 takeaways
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season left us with more questions than answers.
We saw five previously winless teams get off the mark and others stutter just when they looked to be kicking into gear.
There is still plenty left to play for with the season in its infancy, but a lot of players and coaches will be left soul-searching as we head into Week 4.
Here are the main takeaways from the past week in the National Football League:
Are the Bills and Chiefs on an AFC Championship collision course?
Through three weeks, the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs look like the teams to beat in the NFL.
Both are undefeated and have displayed why they have Super Bowl aspirations this year.
For the Chiefs, their three wins have come against teams with preseason contender status in the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons. And while their explosive offense has been lacking at times, their defense has picked up the slack and put the clamps on opposing attacks.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has made some uncharacteristic mistakes through three games, but he has been able to come up with the moments of magic when his team needed them most.
“We haven’t played good – I mean, really all three games,” Mahomes said after Kansas City’s victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday. “We’ve been able to win. That speaks to the character of the team, the grit, how we’ve been in these situations before.
“But, I’ll speak especially offensively to me, myself. I feel like I haven’t played very well, and that’s not a stats thing. I just feel like I’m missing opportunities whenever they’re out there and not throwing the ball in the exact spot I want it to be at. So it’s about me getting back to my fundamentals, putting our guys in the right position, and then we’ve got to execute at a higher level offensively.”
The Bills, on the other hand, came into 2024 with questions over the direction of the organization after an offseason of upheaval.
But three impressive victories – including comfortable wins against the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars – have allayed some of those fears with quarterback Josh Allen putting in some inspired performances.
Buffalo has scored the most points in the NFL this season so far with 112 and – although the Bills face three tough away games in a row against the Ravens, Houston Texans and New York Jets – Allen and Co. have a perfect platform to continue their hot start to the season.
The Chiefs and Bills have had some memorable playoff meetings in past years, with Allen and Mahomes doing battle in the AFC postseason numerous times, and we could be treated to another if Buffalo and Kansas City continue at their current pace.
Are the Bengals and Cowboys in trouble?
It has been a 2024 season to forget so far for the Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys.
Cincinnati is winless and has suffered two shock losses at home to the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders to leave their season teetering on the brink already.
Their hopes of reaching another Super Bowl now look slim and history is against them; only six teams have made the playoffs after starting 0-3 since 1979 – and just one since 2000 – with none of them winning the Super Bowl, per the Associated Press.
With a stacked offense that competed toe-to-toe with the Chiefs and Commanders, residing at the bottom of the AFC North is far below Cincinnati’s expectations. The franchise already sits three games behind the division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 3-0.
‘America’s Team’ is also surrounded with negativity after two successive disappointing home losses.
First, they were demolished by New Orleans Saints, and on Sunday, Baltimore ran all over Dallas’ defense to claim its first win of the season and deepen the Cowboys’ woes.
There was pressure on head coach Mike McCarthy’s shoulders heading into this year’s campaign after successful regular seasons but lackluster playoff runs.
Things appeared to be trending in the right direction with a convincing 33-17 Week 1 victory over the Cleveland Browns and the signing of quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to long-term extensions.
But all that goodwill seems to have evaporated after three weeks, with question marks popping up around the team’s future, especially if the poor results continue.
Despite the rough start to the year, McCarthy called his team a “work in progress” after Sunday’s defeat to the Ravens.
“I get it, you love the fan support. I stood up in Week 1 and said the same thing. I didn’t feel like we were anywhere close to where we needed to be in Week 1,” he told reporters.
“We’ve clearly got some things that we’re going to work on, and anytime you struggle with a situation or a unit struggles, whether it’s run offense or run defense or pass protection and so forth. So we need to clean our own house. Our house isn’t where it needs to be right now.”
Up next for Dallas are two big away games where only wins are acceptable for owner Jerry Jones and the Cowboys fanbase: first to division rival, the New York Giants, in Week 4 and then a trip to Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5.
Is it time to worry about Chicago’s Caleb Williams?
It has not been a dream start to life in the NFL for Caleb Williams.
The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft has battled the growing pains of adjusting to pro football in his first three games for the Chicago Bears and showed all the inexperience of a rookie quarterback in Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
He threw the ball 52 times, completing 33 passes for 363 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
While he achieved a career high in passing yards and his first two touchdown throws of the season against the Colts, Williams’ display came with the errors one might expect of a first-year passer.
The former USC Trojan star is not helped by a porous Chicago offensive line and an almost non-existent running game – the Bears have totaled a mere 218 yards on the ground this season, second-worst in the NFL. And despite that, Williams has still been able to produce some highlight-reel plays.
But those are interspersed with some head-scratching decisions, including his two interceptions against the Colts where he threw the ball into the hands of Jaylon Jones . He was also stripped-sacked late in the fourth quarter, resulting in a touchdown that sealed the win for Indianapolis.
After the latest loss, Williams said that despite the problems so far this season, he feels like the Bears are close to finding their offensive identity.
“Got our first two pass touchdowns of the year. Obviously, which feels good. Excited to get that going, finally, in the second half of this game,” he told reporters. “So having the offensive identity is – I think it is brewing.
“I think it is a lot closer than it was the week before, or weeks before. And I think us figuring that out is going to get this thing going. I think we’re right there. It’s – on all the plays, we were just simply, one small detail – I mean, that’s myself included on some of these plays that happen today, but we’re one small detail (away). A lot of these plays that like I’ve said in many other interviews, that these small details always add up to be something bigger.”
The Bears are lucky to be 1-2 this season after some defensive and special team heroics bailed them out in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans. But while Williams is clearly still coming to terms with the speed of the pro game, there doesn’t appear to be a need to panic yet in terms of his development as he continues to learn and settle into the NFL.
Full Week 3 scores
Away vs. home (winners in bold)
New England Patriots 3-24 New York Jets
New York Giants 21-15 Cleveland Browns
Chicago Bears 16-21 Indianapolis Colts
Houston Texans 7-34 Minnesota Vikings
Philadelphia Eagles 15-12 New Orleans Saints
Los Angeles Chargers 10-20 Pittsburgh Steelers
Denver Broncos 26-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Green Bay Packers 30-14 Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers 36-22 Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins 3-24 Seattle Seahawks
Detroit Lions 20-13 Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens 28-25 Dallas Cowboys
San Francisco 49ers 24-27 Los Angeles Rams
Kansas City Chiefs 22-17 Atlanta Falcons
Jacksonville Jaguars 10-47 Buffalo Bills
Washington Commanders 38-33 Cincinnati Bengals
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