Week 3 NFL disappointments: Tampa Bay tumbles

Certain players and teams are going to want to turn the page on Week 3 as soon as humanly possible. The game tape won’t look pretty for the several individuals and squads listed in this piece. All statistics are sourced from Football Reference.

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed had been a part of explosive passing plays in each of the first two weeks of the NFL season. However, the speedster was surprisingly held in check in Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles. That might be an understatement, as the pass catcher failed to reel in any grabs from five targets.

It’s tough to get too down on Shaheed considering how well he played in the Saints’ first two games, but the fact he didn’t get into the stat sheet on offense is pretty notable. He was pretty close to scoring another touchdown in Week 3, had it not been for a tremendous pass breakup by Eagles defender Quinyon Mitchell.

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On paper, Tampa Bay was in a perfect position to continue their strong start to the season. They were at home, facing a Denver Broncos team that had not been close to finding its stride. The Bucs squandered a chance to claim sole possession of the NFC South division lead, losing in embarrassing fashion by a final score of 26-7.

There’s enough blame to go around in this game, perhaps starting with an offense that was only able to reach the endzone once. Quarterback Baker Mayfield told the Bucs’ website reporters that this “was a good lesson”, proving that they cannot take any team lightly. Tampa Bay’s defense was also disappointing, as Denver rookie passer Bo Nix looked much better against them than anyone else so far this year.

The Houston Chronicle dug up a neat trend; heading into Week 3’s tilt, the Houston Texans had never beaten the Minnesota Vikings in franchise history. That streak continues after Minnesota’s drubbing of Houston. It was apparent how little the Texans could move the ball on the ground with Joe Mixon out of the lineup.

Reserve back Cam Akers did get into the endzone on a swing pass, but only rushed for 21 yards on nine carries in this one. This effectively made Houston one-dimensional, and Minnesota was ready for their predictable attack. The team will hope that Mixon is able to make a speedy recovery and return in Week 4.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis didn’t produce the same level of mind-boggling turnovers that he had in previous weeks, but still threw an extremely costly pick-six that allowed the Green Bay Packers to race out to a lead they would never relinquish. The lack of care Levis has taken with the ball is a main reason why the Titans find themselves at 0-3.

Despite Levis’ struggles, Tennessee head coach Brian Callahan is supporting his starter. He told ESPN, “We’ve also got to play better around him. I’m not going to overreact to an interception. Those things happen, guys throw picks, we just can’t give it to their team. It’s a killer. But we’ve not played a complete game in any phase at any point yet.”

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It wasn’t pretty for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, as their offense sputtered against an opponent many thought they should handle comfortably in the New York Giants. Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s numbers were average, but they don’t tell the full story about the struggles that were present on Sunday.

Watson was brought down eight times against the Giants. Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski told the team’s website, “He can’t get sacked that many times, can’t get hit that many times. That’s not good enough, and that’s on me and that’s on us to get that fixed.” With that said, Watson is likely expected to make something out of nothing on occasion, given the massive contract the team gave him when he was acquired.

Week 3 got started with a resounding victory for the New York Jets. At no point did the division-rival New England Patriots provide any legitimate resistance. It was a disappointing turn of events, considering how surprisingly well the team played in their first two games.

ESPN wrote that the thumping the Patriots received might be indicative of the true skill level of the team. Despite the grim forecasting, New England head coach Jerod Mayo is going to stick with veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett heading into their Week 4 game. With that said, rookie Drake Maye may get the starting nod sooner rather than later at this point.

Miami fell by a final score of 24-3 on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. While that score would paint a picture of complete ineptitude, the Dolphins had their chances to hang in this game. However, things went from bad to worse for them in this game, as fill-in starter Skylar Thompson was knocked out with a rib injury.

The Palm Beach Post wrote about third-string quarterback Tim Boyle’s insertion into the lineup, which is the last thing Dolphins fans wanted to see. Boyle hasn’t shown that he’s a competent NFL player. If Thompson can’t go next week, it seems quite likely that head coach Mike McDaniel would turn to the recently signed Tyler Huntley under center.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce was not happy with his team’s effort in a stunning home loss against the Carolina Panthers. “There were definitely some individuals that made business decisions. And we’ll make business decisions going forward as well,” he told Yahoo Sports.

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Carolina elected to start veteran Andy Dalton under center this week, who proved to be a massive upgrade over Bryce Young. With that said, Dalton isn’t exactly the most fleet-a-foot in the pocket, but Las Vegas was not able to make him move his feet or move him off of his spot. It was an unforeseen and disappointing turn of events for the Silver and Black.