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These are excerpts only. To read the entire article and PK's weekly butt-kissing of Tom Brady and the Patriots(and there's a lot of it) click the link below, but I'm not posting it.
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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/28/nfl-week-3-monday-morning-qb
A Sleepy Football Sunday
The games were mostly a snooze but we still learned plenty on the third Sunday of the season. Here's why a trio of surprise teams are 3-0, the AFC North might be all but over and the U-word whispers have begun in New England. Plus weekly awards, Monday night preview and 10 things I think
by Peter King
This morning, we can see how a few more pieces fit into the 2015 NFL jigsaw puzzle. This wasn’t a particularly good weekend of pro football, and TVs across America must have clicked off with the three late-afternoon games being decided by 40, 27 and 26 points. (Average margin of victory on Sunday: 14.9 points.)
But every week we find out a little more about where the year’s headed. The verities of Week 3:
• The Bengals are in fabulous shape in the AFC North. At 3-0 after a crushing 28-24 win at 0-3 Baltimore on Sunday, Cincinnati is set up nicely for the fifth playoff appearance in Andy Dalton’s five years. “I’m as comfortable playing this game as I’ve ever been,” Dalton said from Baltimore. A 121.0 passer rating would seem to back him up.
• The Steelers will need a 2010 version of Michael Vick to save their season. “How’s Ben?” Dalton asked late Sunday afternoon. “Hope he’s okay.” Ben Roethlisberger, his left knee caved in on a Rams pass-rush, suffered an MCL sprain and bone bruise, but no damage to his ACL. He’s gone for four to six weeks. Vick, 35, doesn’t have too much pressure on him: The Ravens travel to Pittsburgh to play the 2-1 Steelers in four days.
Ben Roethlisberger suffered a knee injury on this play that will keep him out at least a month. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
• Jay Cutler, Tony Romo, Drew Brees … and now Roethlisberger. That’s four marquee quarterbacks hurt before the calendar turns to October. You can be sure the Competition Committee will be pushing for more offseason drill work for offensive linemen; players are now restricted from all offseason contact by the 2011 labor agreement.
• Richie Incognito is back, and he’s really good. Incognito, who didn’t play football for 22 months after the Dolphins’ bullying scandal of 2013, had his third straight very good day at left guard Sunday for the Buffalo Bills, back at Miami. Incognito helped keep Tyrod Taylor sack-free, and through three weeks he’s allowed only one quarterback hit and no sacks in 196 snaps—good for the top guard in the league as rated by Pro Football Focus. “It’s great,” the 32-year-old Incognito said from Miami. “I just kept working on my game and on me as a person, and the Bills gave me a chance. I’m grateful.”
• Indianapolis is the most fortunate decent team in the league. AFC South standings: T-1. Indianapolis/Jacksonville/Houston/Tennessee (1-2). The Colts, their season on the brink, went from disaster to tied for the division lead exiting September in one afternoon. You wouldn’t think a 35-33 win at Tennessee would make a coach emotional after a game. But Chuck Pagano was. “This is bigger than a football game,” he said, exhorting his team after the game in the locker room, via a Colts.com video. “This is about LIFE! That’s as big a win as I’ve ever been a part of IN MY LIFE!”
• There’s a reason you don’t have to worry about Peyton Manning’s health. The Denver defense is huge. “We just have ball hawks,” safety David Bruton said, a few minutes after making his third huge defensive play of the month, an athletic pick of Matthew Stafford to clinch the 24-12 win over Detroit. Stafford couldn’t breathe against the defensive pressure. Now the Broncos, 3-0 after a killer September, have a more humane October: Minnesota at home, Oakland and Cleveland on the road.
• Carolina, Atlanta and Arizona, all 3-0, are there because of new stars. Cornerback Josh Norman saved the Panthers on Sunday with a ridiculous leaping end-zone interception down the stretch. Running back Devonta Freeman saved the Falcons with a 141-yard rushing game. And Tyrann Mathieu did the same for Arizona with a two-pick day. I asked Norman what’s the big difference in him this year from past seasons. “I’m playing,” he said. “Opportunity.” That’s all?
• The Raiders, usually out of it by now, will actually have a winning record as October dawns. The Raiders (2-1) play on the road next week—and they are actually favored to beat Chicago. The quarterback, Derek Carr, is a big reason. “Having a quarterback is everything,” said Charles Woodson from Cleveland. Having Woodson is something too. His last-minute interception, 10 days shy of his 39th birthday, ensured the 27-20 win. “I’m not surprised at all,” he said. “I was born to do this.”
So the games might have put us to sleep Sunday. The results, and the meaning, did not.
* * *
The Red Rifle is Trying to Bury His Past.
Think of the environment the Bengals walked into Sunday: Ravens home opener, Ravens at 0-2 in desperate straits knowing a loss would put them three games out in the division after three games, and then the little thing about the Ravens and Bengals not liking each other. And then think of Dalton getting stripped in the fourth quarter, having it returned for a score, and, after being up 14-0, trailing 17-14 with seven minutes left, crowd going nuts.
“I just knew we needed a play,” Dalton said from Baltimore. “We had to answer. I told A.J. Green what I thought we'd get for coverage, and I though the play to him would be there.”
First down, Bengals’ 20. Dalton drops. Green runs a seam route deep up the left side, bracketed by safeties Kendrick Lewis and Will Hill; the left corner, Jimmy Smith, was singled on the outside receiver. Dalton threw a perfect strike 36 yards in the air, between the two safeties, and Green won the race against them and Smith, who came over to try to help. Too late: 80-yard touchdown. But the Ravens came back to take another lead.
And here came Dalton again, taking over at his 20 again. “We’re going to need every one of you here,” he said in the huddle. “I trust every one of you to make plays right now.” Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones made big catches, and Dalton had a second-and-goal at the Baltimore seven, with 2:16 to go. Now he knew Smith would take Green, but Green got a step on him, and Dalton lofted the ball toward the left corner of the end zone. Again, a perfect strike. Touchdown. This time, the winning touchdown.
In two drives during the last seven minutes, Dalton drove the Bengals 160 yards for two touchdowns … in a total of one minute and 58 seconds. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in what we’re doing,” Dalton said. “Once you’ve been in a system for a while and you know your receivers, you get a lot more confident, and that’s where I am with these guys right now.”
I’d like to see Dalton’s three October tests, all against pressure defenses (Kansas City at home, Seattle at home, at Buffalo), before saying anything definitive about him. But what I saw Sunday, I liked a lot. Pressure throws, in a cauldron, with the game on the line. And one of them a well-placed long throw made with confidence right on the money. Dalton’s a 66.3% passer this morning, with eight touchdowns and one interception. And lots of confidence.
Again: Dalton’s been a good regular-season quarterback (43-23-1, 107 touchdowns, 67 picks), and a maddening postseason one (0-4, one touchdown, six interceptions). Cincinnati won’t love him until that changes. But that can’t change in September, and what Dalton has done in September is all he can do. It’s been plenty good enough.
* * *
The city of Pittsburgh sighs.
Michael Vick, 35, has a better chance to go 2-2 against a tough October slate (Baltimore, at San Diego, Arizona, at Kansas City) than a majority of backup quarterbacks. But if you’re a Steelers fan, you have to hope that the four-to-six-week injury to Ben Roethlisberger keeps him out for those four games only. Thirty-four days from now (five weeks, so at the midpoint of what was the best guess for Roethlisberger’s recovery as of Sunday night), the Bengals come to Heinz Field to start a Cincinnati-Oakland-Cleveland home slate.
You’ve got to figure Cincinnati is the game etched in Roethlisberger’s head (and Mike Tomlin’s) as the one he’d love to get back to play in. Because the Steelers play five of their six AFC North games Nov. 1 and later, Pittsburgh wouldn’t be out of contention if the Steelers could win at least one of the next four and Roethlisberger could return then.
The injury is a strain of the MCL and a bone bruise. But the ACL is intact. Roethlisberger thought the worst when he left the field, because of the pain. And the Steelers have to feel good that Tomlin banged the drum to get Vick in the building as the backup, because he’s played in the kind of games he’ll have to win beginning Thursday night—against Baltimore, in a rabid-rivalry game at home.
“I’m playing with some great talent,” Vick said Sunday. “I know how to do it right.” Doing it right is handing it to Le’Veon Bell and throwing it to Antonio Brown; the weapons are there. Vick has had some great hurrahs in the NFL, and there’s no reason why, with this talent, he can’t scotch-tape the offense together and win a couple of games over the next four weeks.
* * *
Three questions for… Richie Incognito.
But first, a stat: Through three games, the former Dolphins guard—as mentioned above, Pro Football Focus’s top-rated guard in the NFL—has surrendered one quarterback disruption (either a quarterback sack, hit or pressure). The Dolphins’ starting guards have given up 26.
My sense is Incognito will enjoy that one.
Speaking from the Bills’ locker room after Buffalo’s 41-14 rout of his former team, Incognito reflected on his successful return to the game.
The MMQB: What was important against such a good defensive front in keep Tyrod Taylor clean?
Incognito: We came out and wanted to move the pocket with Tyrod. They are such a good one-gap penetrating team that we wanted to move him so they wouldn’t know where he’d be. For me, the important thing was to take out the emotion of coming back here. And I was able to do that, to take the emotion out and just go play a football game. In my younger days, I think my emotions would have gotten the best of me and who knows how I would have handled a day like today.
The MMQB: Do you regret not being signed last year, even though you were eligible to play, and missing the entire season?
Incognito: I do. A big part of me wishes I played last year. I missed the game. But I was able to work on a lot of things, so when I got my chance this year, I’d be ready. And the way it’s worked out is great—to get a chance here with Rex Ryan. I’m grateful [GM] Doug Whaley took a chance on me, and [owners] Terry and Kim Pegula. They showed faith in me, and I appreciate it.
The MMQB: When you say you worked on a lot of things—what exactly did you work on?
Incognito: I spent my year off polishing my craft. A year and a half, really. It was a long time. But I worked on myself physically and mentally. I went to Exos Sports in Arizona and worked with a trainer, Brett Bartholomew, on all parts of my body. When you play year after year, even after an off-season, you enter the next year and something might be bugging you physically.
Overall, taking a year off at this stage of my career—even though I wanted to play last year—has been a huge positive. And it’s been amazing coming back and playing again, after what happened [with the bullying scandal with Jonathan Martin]. You keep working and working and working, and good things can happen. It says something about the human spirit and second chances.
* * *
GOATS OF THE WEEK
Can we honor The Entire Miami Team here? No? Well, here are the goatiest three:
Brandon Marshall, wide receiver, New York Jets. Jets in Eagles territory, driving to cut the Philly lead to 17-7. Marshall catches a throw from Ryan Fitzpatrick and, in traffic at the Eagles’ 35, attempts to lateral to a teammate and hits Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin right in the facemask. Philadelphia linebacker Jordan Hicks recovers. Instead of the Jets cutting the margin to 17-7, the Eagles drove and scored to go ahead 24-0. “I have been watching the Jets all my life,”
Tweeted Jetaholic Mike Greenberg. “That is the dumbest play I have ever seen.” Marshall agreed. “Probably the worst play in NFL history,” he said. There was more: With the Jets down 10 late and driving to try to stay in the game, Marshall let a fairly easy catch tip off his hands and into the hands of Walter Thurmond for a clinching interception.
Colin Kaepernick, quarterback, San Francisco. Any chance the Niners had at Arizona on Sunday rested on the right arm of Kaepernick, who simply couldn’t turn it over against an offensively explosive team like the Cardinals. And on his first two series, he threw footballs to Cardinals. Both were intercepted, and both were returned—for 33 and 21 yards—for touchdowns, putting the Niners in a 14-0 hole they couldn’t dig out of.
Trying to close a three-touchdown gap in the final minute of the first half, Kaepernick was intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu for a second time, setting up a field goal for Arizona to close the half. On his next pass, with San Francisco trailing 31-7 on the first drive of the second half, Kaepernick threw another pick, right into the hands of Arizona’s Jerraud Powers. A very bad day for Kaepernick.
Kyle Brindza, kicker, Tampa Bay. Bucs lost by 10 at Houston. The rookie missed 10 points worth of kicks—an extra point clanked off the right upright, a 41-yard field goal and a 33-yarder went wide right, and a 51-yarder was shanked wide left.
* * *
I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 3:
a. That mangy-looking ShopVac vacuuming the field in the Ed Jones Dome after the turf caught on fire.
d. A 27-minute delay for a tiny piece of turf that caught on fire in St. Louis? Come on. Please.
k. St. Louis tight end Lance Kendricks, with an inexplicable drop, open behind the defense, for what should have been the go-ahead touchdown late in the first half against the Steelers.
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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/09/28/nfl-week-3-monday-morning-qb
A Sleepy Football Sunday
The games were mostly a snooze but we still learned plenty on the third Sunday of the season. Here's why a trio of surprise teams are 3-0, the AFC North might be all but over and the U-word whispers have begun in New England. Plus weekly awards, Monday night preview and 10 things I think
by Peter King
This morning, we can see how a few more pieces fit into the 2015 NFL jigsaw puzzle. This wasn’t a particularly good weekend of pro football, and TVs across America must have clicked off with the three late-afternoon games being decided by 40, 27 and 26 points. (Average margin of victory on Sunday: 14.9 points.)
But every week we find out a little more about where the year’s headed. The verities of Week 3:
• The Bengals are in fabulous shape in the AFC North. At 3-0 after a crushing 28-24 win at 0-3 Baltimore on Sunday, Cincinnati is set up nicely for the fifth playoff appearance in Andy Dalton’s five years. “I’m as comfortable playing this game as I’ve ever been,” Dalton said from Baltimore. A 121.0 passer rating would seem to back him up.
• The Steelers will need a 2010 version of Michael Vick to save their season. “How’s Ben?” Dalton asked late Sunday afternoon. “Hope he’s okay.” Ben Roethlisberger, his left knee caved in on a Rams pass-rush, suffered an MCL sprain and bone bruise, but no damage to his ACL. He’s gone for four to six weeks. Vick, 35, doesn’t have too much pressure on him: The Ravens travel to Pittsburgh to play the 2-1 Steelers in four days.
Ben Roethlisberger suffered a knee injury on this play that will keep him out at least a month. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
• Jay Cutler, Tony Romo, Drew Brees … and now Roethlisberger. That’s four marquee quarterbacks hurt before the calendar turns to October. You can be sure the Competition Committee will be pushing for more offseason drill work for offensive linemen; players are now restricted from all offseason contact by the 2011 labor agreement.
• Richie Incognito is back, and he’s really good. Incognito, who didn’t play football for 22 months after the Dolphins’ bullying scandal of 2013, had his third straight very good day at left guard Sunday for the Buffalo Bills, back at Miami. Incognito helped keep Tyrod Taylor sack-free, and through three weeks he’s allowed only one quarterback hit and no sacks in 196 snaps—good for the top guard in the league as rated by Pro Football Focus. “It’s great,” the 32-year-old Incognito said from Miami. “I just kept working on my game and on me as a person, and the Bills gave me a chance. I’m grateful.”
• Indianapolis is the most fortunate decent team in the league. AFC South standings: T-1. Indianapolis/Jacksonville/Houston/Tennessee (1-2). The Colts, their season on the brink, went from disaster to tied for the division lead exiting September in one afternoon. You wouldn’t think a 35-33 win at Tennessee would make a coach emotional after a game. But Chuck Pagano was. “This is bigger than a football game,” he said, exhorting his team after the game in the locker room, via a Colts.com video. “This is about LIFE! That’s as big a win as I’ve ever been a part of IN MY LIFE!”
• There’s a reason you don’t have to worry about Peyton Manning’s health. The Denver defense is huge. “We just have ball hawks,” safety David Bruton said, a few minutes after making his third huge defensive play of the month, an athletic pick of Matthew Stafford to clinch the 24-12 win over Detroit. Stafford couldn’t breathe against the defensive pressure. Now the Broncos, 3-0 after a killer September, have a more humane October: Minnesota at home, Oakland and Cleveland on the road.
• Carolina, Atlanta and Arizona, all 3-0, are there because of new stars. Cornerback Josh Norman saved the Panthers on Sunday with a ridiculous leaping end-zone interception down the stretch. Running back Devonta Freeman saved the Falcons with a 141-yard rushing game. And Tyrann Mathieu did the same for Arizona with a two-pick day. I asked Norman what’s the big difference in him this year from past seasons. “I’m playing,” he said. “Opportunity.” That’s all?
• The Raiders, usually out of it by now, will actually have a winning record as October dawns. The Raiders (2-1) play on the road next week—and they are actually favored to beat Chicago. The quarterback, Derek Carr, is a big reason. “Having a quarterback is everything,” said Charles Woodson from Cleveland. Having Woodson is something too. His last-minute interception, 10 days shy of his 39th birthday, ensured the 27-20 win. “I’m not surprised at all,” he said. “I was born to do this.”
So the games might have put us to sleep Sunday. The results, and the meaning, did not.
* * *
The Red Rifle is Trying to Bury His Past.
Think of the environment the Bengals walked into Sunday: Ravens home opener, Ravens at 0-2 in desperate straits knowing a loss would put them three games out in the division after three games, and then the little thing about the Ravens and Bengals not liking each other. And then think of Dalton getting stripped in the fourth quarter, having it returned for a score, and, after being up 14-0, trailing 17-14 with seven minutes left, crowd going nuts.
“I just knew we needed a play,” Dalton said from Baltimore. “We had to answer. I told A.J. Green what I thought we'd get for coverage, and I though the play to him would be there.”
First down, Bengals’ 20. Dalton drops. Green runs a seam route deep up the left side, bracketed by safeties Kendrick Lewis and Will Hill; the left corner, Jimmy Smith, was singled on the outside receiver. Dalton threw a perfect strike 36 yards in the air, between the two safeties, and Green won the race against them and Smith, who came over to try to help. Too late: 80-yard touchdown. But the Ravens came back to take another lead.
And here came Dalton again, taking over at his 20 again. “We’re going to need every one of you here,” he said in the huddle. “I trust every one of you to make plays right now.” Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones made big catches, and Dalton had a second-and-goal at the Baltimore seven, with 2:16 to go. Now he knew Smith would take Green, but Green got a step on him, and Dalton lofted the ball toward the left corner of the end zone. Again, a perfect strike. Touchdown. This time, the winning touchdown.
In two drives during the last seven minutes, Dalton drove the Bengals 160 yards for two touchdowns … in a total of one minute and 58 seconds. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in what we’re doing,” Dalton said. “Once you’ve been in a system for a while and you know your receivers, you get a lot more confident, and that’s where I am with these guys right now.”
I’d like to see Dalton’s three October tests, all against pressure defenses (Kansas City at home, Seattle at home, at Buffalo), before saying anything definitive about him. But what I saw Sunday, I liked a lot. Pressure throws, in a cauldron, with the game on the line. And one of them a well-placed long throw made with confidence right on the money. Dalton’s a 66.3% passer this morning, with eight touchdowns and one interception. And lots of confidence.
Again: Dalton’s been a good regular-season quarterback (43-23-1, 107 touchdowns, 67 picks), and a maddening postseason one (0-4, one touchdown, six interceptions). Cincinnati won’t love him until that changes. But that can’t change in September, and what Dalton has done in September is all he can do. It’s been plenty good enough.
* * *
The city of Pittsburgh sighs.
Michael Vick, 35, has a better chance to go 2-2 against a tough October slate (Baltimore, at San Diego, Arizona, at Kansas City) than a majority of backup quarterbacks. But if you’re a Steelers fan, you have to hope that the four-to-six-week injury to Ben Roethlisberger keeps him out for those four games only. Thirty-four days from now (five weeks, so at the midpoint of what was the best guess for Roethlisberger’s recovery as of Sunday night), the Bengals come to Heinz Field to start a Cincinnati-Oakland-Cleveland home slate.
You’ve got to figure Cincinnati is the game etched in Roethlisberger’s head (and Mike Tomlin’s) as the one he’d love to get back to play in. Because the Steelers play five of their six AFC North games Nov. 1 and later, Pittsburgh wouldn’t be out of contention if the Steelers could win at least one of the next four and Roethlisberger could return then.
The injury is a strain of the MCL and a bone bruise. But the ACL is intact. Roethlisberger thought the worst when he left the field, because of the pain. And the Steelers have to feel good that Tomlin banged the drum to get Vick in the building as the backup, because he’s played in the kind of games he’ll have to win beginning Thursday night—against Baltimore, in a rabid-rivalry game at home.
“I’m playing with some great talent,” Vick said Sunday. “I know how to do it right.” Doing it right is handing it to Le’Veon Bell and throwing it to Antonio Brown; the weapons are there. Vick has had some great hurrahs in the NFL, and there’s no reason why, with this talent, he can’t scotch-tape the offense together and win a couple of games over the next four weeks.
* * *
Three questions for… Richie Incognito.
But first, a stat: Through three games, the former Dolphins guard—as mentioned above, Pro Football Focus’s top-rated guard in the NFL—has surrendered one quarterback disruption (either a quarterback sack, hit or pressure). The Dolphins’ starting guards have given up 26.
My sense is Incognito will enjoy that one.
Speaking from the Bills’ locker room after Buffalo’s 41-14 rout of his former team, Incognito reflected on his successful return to the game.
The MMQB: What was important against such a good defensive front in keep Tyrod Taylor clean?
Incognito: We came out and wanted to move the pocket with Tyrod. They are such a good one-gap penetrating team that we wanted to move him so they wouldn’t know where he’d be. For me, the important thing was to take out the emotion of coming back here. And I was able to do that, to take the emotion out and just go play a football game. In my younger days, I think my emotions would have gotten the best of me and who knows how I would have handled a day like today.
The MMQB: Do you regret not being signed last year, even though you were eligible to play, and missing the entire season?
Incognito: I do. A big part of me wishes I played last year. I missed the game. But I was able to work on a lot of things, so when I got my chance this year, I’d be ready. And the way it’s worked out is great—to get a chance here with Rex Ryan. I’m grateful [GM] Doug Whaley took a chance on me, and [owners] Terry and Kim Pegula. They showed faith in me, and I appreciate it.
The MMQB: When you say you worked on a lot of things—what exactly did you work on?
Incognito: I spent my year off polishing my craft. A year and a half, really. It was a long time. But I worked on myself physically and mentally. I went to Exos Sports in Arizona and worked with a trainer, Brett Bartholomew, on all parts of my body. When you play year after year, even after an off-season, you enter the next year and something might be bugging you physically.
Overall, taking a year off at this stage of my career—even though I wanted to play last year—has been a huge positive. And it’s been amazing coming back and playing again, after what happened [with the bullying scandal with Jonathan Martin]. You keep working and working and working, and good things can happen. It says something about the human spirit and second chances.
* * *
GOATS OF THE WEEK
Can we honor The Entire Miami Team here? No? Well, here are the goatiest three:
Brandon Marshall, wide receiver, New York Jets. Jets in Eagles territory, driving to cut the Philly lead to 17-7. Marshall catches a throw from Ryan Fitzpatrick and, in traffic at the Eagles’ 35, attempts to lateral to a teammate and hits Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin right in the facemask. Philadelphia linebacker Jordan Hicks recovers. Instead of the Jets cutting the margin to 17-7, the Eagles drove and scored to go ahead 24-0. “I have been watching the Jets all my life,”
Tweeted Jetaholic Mike Greenberg. “That is the dumbest play I have ever seen.” Marshall agreed. “Probably the worst play in NFL history,” he said. There was more: With the Jets down 10 late and driving to try to stay in the game, Marshall let a fairly easy catch tip off his hands and into the hands of Walter Thurmond for a clinching interception.
Colin Kaepernick, quarterback, San Francisco. Any chance the Niners had at Arizona on Sunday rested on the right arm of Kaepernick, who simply couldn’t turn it over against an offensively explosive team like the Cardinals. And on his first two series, he threw footballs to Cardinals. Both were intercepted, and both were returned—for 33 and 21 yards—for touchdowns, putting the Niners in a 14-0 hole they couldn’t dig out of.
Trying to close a three-touchdown gap in the final minute of the first half, Kaepernick was intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu for a second time, setting up a field goal for Arizona to close the half. On his next pass, with San Francisco trailing 31-7 on the first drive of the second half, Kaepernick threw another pick, right into the hands of Arizona’s Jerraud Powers. A very bad day for Kaepernick.
Kyle Brindza, kicker, Tampa Bay. Bucs lost by 10 at Houston. The rookie missed 10 points worth of kicks—an extra point clanked off the right upright, a 41-yard field goal and a 33-yarder went wide right, and a 51-yarder was shanked wide left.
* * *
I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 3:
a. That mangy-looking ShopVac vacuuming the field in the Ed Jones Dome after the turf caught on fire.
d. A 27-minute delay for a tiny piece of turf that caught on fire in St. Louis? Come on. Please.
k. St. Louis tight end Lance Kendricks, with an inexplicable drop, open behind the defense, for what should have been the go-ahead touchdown late in the first half against the Steelers.
