Through the first three weeks of the NFL season, there have been some predictable trends and plenty of curveballs.
Through the first three weeks of the NFL season, there have been some predictable trends and plenty of curveballs. A look at what we did and didn’t see coming:
Not surprising: Tom Brady picked up right where he left off from the Super Bowl, and — even at 40 — is on pace for a career year.
Surprising: No Super Bowl hangover so far for the 3-0 Atlanta Falcons, despite their historic collapse on the league’s biggest stage.
Not surprising: New Orleans is terrible on defense again. The Saints, who seem to find new defensive lows each year, are ranked 31st in that department.
Surprising: New England has been even worse. Through three games, the Patriots lead the NFL in yards allowed (461.0), have precious little pass rush and lots of mix-ups in the secondary.
Not surprising: Chicago is turning over the ball and not taking it away. The Bears, who already have played their Week 4 game, are last in the league with a minus-7 turnover differential. They were at the bottom last season at minus-20.
Surprising: Jacksonville is cruising in this department. The Jaguars, who were 30th at minus-16 last season, are now second at plus-5.
Not surprising: Through three games, the Rams have already fumbled eight times, losing four.
Surprising: That was the season total for the league-leading Falcons last year.
Not surprising: The Rams are better on offense than they were last season. They had nowhere to go but up.
Surprising: They’re No. 1 in scoring, with 107 points. That’s approaching half their scoring total of 224 in 2016.
Not surprising: The Jets are in the AFC East cellar.
Surprising: They aren’t horrendous. They beat Miami last Sunday, and quarterback Josh McCown has looked better than expected. He has done a good job of protecting the ball and getting everyone involved.
Not surprising: Pittsburgh lost on the road. Happens to everybody.
Surprising: The Steelers, who were stunned by Chicago, can’t buck their trend of blowing road games they should win. They are 5-13 in their last 18 road games against losing teams.
Not surprising: Steelers star Antonio Brown leads the NFL with 354 yards receiving.
Surprising: In second and third place are Minnesota’s Adam Thielen (299) and Stefon Diggs (293), who have emerged as one of the NFL’s most dangerous tandems, even with a quarterback change. Diggs was a fifth-round pick, and Thielen went undrafted.
Not surprising: Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers has beaten every other team in the league.
Surprising: Rodgers just won his first overtime game. Before beating Cincinnati, he was 0-7 in those.
Surprising: Houston’s Deshaun Watson nearly became the first rookie quarterback to win a game in Foxborough, Mass., in the Bill Belichick era.
Not surprising: The Patriots pulled it out at the end, running their record to 9-0 against those first-year talents, adding Watson to a list of that includes Andrew Luck, Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota.
Not surprising: Detroit’s Matt Prater, who boomed a 64-yard field goal in Denver, is still a marksman from long distance. He has made four kicks from 55 yards or longer this season, an NFL record.
Surprising: The guy who stole the show from long distance is Philadelphia rookie Jake Elliott, who beat the New York Giants with a game-ending 61-yarder. Not only is that the longest field goal by a rookie in league history, but it’s tied for the third-longest game-ending kick behind Tom Dempsey’s 63 in 1970 and Matt Bryant ’s 62 in 2006.
Not surprising: Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt fumbled the first time he touched the ball. Hey, he’s a rookie, and it was on a huge stage, at New England on national TV.
Surprising: Everything Hunt has done since that turnover. The third-round pick from Toledo has six touchdowns in his first three games, tied for the most in NFL history, and his 538 yards from scrimmage are second-most by a player in his first three games, behind the 562 by Detroit’s Billy Sims in 1980.
Not surprising: The Chargers have lost some close games. That has been their pattern in recent years.
Surprising: Heading into Week 4 of their inaugural season in Los Angeles, they’re 0-3 and facing a must-win situation Sunday against Philadelphia. With a trip to Oakland coming next week, the season doesn’t get any easier.
