The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks and the Miami Dolphins are all 3-0 to start the season.  Now this doesn’t mean they are going to be Super Bowl contenders.  The playoffs are likely, but that doesn’t always mean success.  There are eight teams who are 2-1 to start the season and they all have a chance at success later this season.  The two surprise teams to come out of the 3-0 group are the Chiefs and Dolphins.  Miami’s defense was solid last year, but the offense was the big question going into this season.  It seems that QB Ryan Tannehill needed some more weapons to be a pretty good quarterback.  The Chiefs were 2-14 last season and a simple head coaching change and a new quarterback was all they needed to quickly turnaround their outlook.  Whether this early success continues into the fall is yet to be determined, but you’re in a good spot if you’re undefeated to start the season.

Both the Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals had rough moments in this game.  They both had 4 turnovers and sloppy play.  For a moment it looked like the Packers would hold on for an important road win.  The Packers were up 30-14 late in the 3rd quarter.  Green Bay had scored 30 straight points, but the Bengals slowly crept back into the game.  Bengals QB Andy Dalton threw a TD pass to WR A.J. Green.  Then Dalton threw another one to WR Marvin Jones in the 4th quarter.  The Bengals were only down by a field goal.  Packers rookie RB Jonathan Franklin fumbled with under 4 minutes to go in the game and the Bengals promptly returned it for a go-ahead touchdown.  The Bengals would go on to win the game.  At one point in the game the cameras caught Packers head coach Mike McCarthy get into a heated conversation with QB Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines.  Both downplayed the incident, but I would have to think that Rodgers is getting tired of being constantly pressured with a porous offensive line.  He was sacked four times and threw two interceptions.  Whether or not it was a one time thing or a sign of things to come is unclear. Rodgers is a competitor and doesn’t want to be sitting down while competing. 

Before the Indianapolis Colts went to the play the San Francisco 49ers, they made a big splash in acquiring RB Trent Richardson from the Cleveland Browns for a 2014 1st round pick.  That’s right, the Browns gave up on Richardson after only one year.  Most were shocked and figured that the Cleveland Browns were giving up on the season.  Turns out they were lucky to play a dismal Minnesota Vikings and caught them off guard winning without Richardson and QB Brandon Weeden who was out with a thumb injury.  But on to the Colts.  They did lose their opening week starter Vick Ballard for the season with a knee injury.  And free agent pickup Ahmad Bradshaw isn’t a sure thing for an entire season.  This trade makes perfect sense for them now and for many years.  Think about it. The Colts gave up a 1s round pick to get a 1st round pick from the 2012 draft.  If you remember Colts QB Andrew Luck was the first pick in that draft and Richardson was the 3rd pick.  In just one year if you can get away with having two of the top five picks in a draft your future will be bright.  Time will tell of course, but on paper the Browns are cleaning house in a bigger way than many thought under new ownership and the Colts may have a repeat of the Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James years.