Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy in trouble? Sam Darnold top QB? Saquon Barkley best signing?

Week 3 in the NFL was certainly one of the most unpredictable ones in the young season. The Seattle Seahawks lead the NFC West by two games and the Minnesota Vikings are one of the few 3-0 teams in the league. The Pittsburgh Steelers also lead the grueling AFC North by two games.

The New York Giants and Carolina Panthers won a game before the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals. The New Orleans Saints offense could only score 12 points against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Dallas Cowboys can’t win games at home all of a sudden.

This week’s overreactions from the Sunday afternoon games have some meat to the bone. Which ones are indeed overreactions and which ones are reality?

Malik Nabers is the best WR in 2024 draft class
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Nabers is pretty good, that’s all there is to it. The Giants rookie wideout had another huge day, catching eight passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over the Browns, showcasing he already is a No. 1 wide receiver and injecting life into one of the most anemic offenses in football.

Through three games, Nabers has 23 catches for 271 yards and three touchdowns. His 37.8% target share is the fourth-highest for any player through three games over the last decade, and his 271 yards receiving are the second-most for a rookie through three games in franchise history.

Nabers has his case for being the best wideout in this class, but Marvin Harrison Jr. has 10 catches for 198 yards and three touchdowns through three games. This NFL Rookie of the Year race may come down to Nabers and Harrison. They are both very good.

Sam Darnold is the best QB in the NFL after three weeks
Overreaction or reality: Reality

Not only are the Vikings 3-0 after Sunday’s blowout victory over the Texans, but Darnold has been one of the bets quarterbacks in the league. Of all the key quarterback statistics, Darnold is near the top.

Darnold leads the NFL in passing touchdowns (8), ranks second in passer rating (117.3) and is fourth in yards per attempt (8.4). Darnold is the fifth quarterback in the last 25 years to start 3-0 with eight-plus passing touchdowns in his first three starts with a team, and he’s the first quarterback in Vikings history to win his first three games oof the season and throw multiple pass touchdowns in each of them.

The Vikings are getting excellent quarterback play from Darnold, setting up their defense to dominate games late. Without Darnold, Minnesota isn’t 3-0.

Saquon Barkley is the best signing of the NFL offseason
Overreaction or reality: Reality

Want to take a swing at who the NFL’s leading rusher is after three weeks? That would be Barkley, who scored the Eagles’ only two touchdowns in a victory in New Orleans. Barkley finished with 17 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns for Philadelphia, upping his totals to 351 yards and four rushing touchdowns on the season. He leads the league in rushing yards and is tied for the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns.

Responsible for two of the Eagles’ three wins, Barkley has totaled 100-plus yards from scrimmage in every game. He’s been as good as advertised, and is the reason why the Eagles offense is staying afloat despite all the injuries.

Who knows where the Eagles would be without Barkley?

Matt LaFleur should be NFL Coach of the Year
Overreaction or reality: Reality

How is LaFleur having this much success with Malik Willis, who looked like he was going to be out of the NFL after two seasons with the Titans. The Packers have won both of Willis’ starts, as the quarterback is completing 73.5% of his passes with 9.5 yards per attempt, two touchdowns and a 122.6 passer rating this season — in addition to his 114 yards rushing and a touchdown.

In Willis’ two starts, he has completed 75.8% of his passes with a 126.3 rating. Willis is the fourth different Packers player with 200-plus passing yards, 50-plus rushing yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in a game. He wasn’t even on the Packers a month ago, instead as a castoff quarterback for the team he beat Sunday.

What LaFleur done with Willis can’t be ignored. This is the best coaching job in 2024, even better than Kevin O’Connell with Sam Darnold.

Andy Dalton will be the Panthers QB the rest of the year
Overreaction or reality: Reality

This one might be the slam dunk of the NFL season. Dalton is the first quarterback this season with 300-plus passing yards and 3-plus passing touchdowns in a game, and he has more 300-yard passing games in two starts over the last two seasons (2) than Bryce Young has in 18 starts (1).

Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers won their first game of the year, finishing with a 123.6 passer rating. Carolina scored 36 points after having 13 total over the first two weeks.

The Panthers have to go with Dalton moving forward — top draft pick be damned. Carolina is learning there might be some talent on this team after all.

Mike McCarthy won’t last the season in Dallas
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The Cowboys have looked very poor over the last two home games, getting off to slow starts in each of them. The Cowboys have been outscored 56-22 in their last two home games, appearing they were going to get blown out in Sunday’s game against the Ravens.

Here’s why McCarthy should last the season: Dallas still plays for McCarthy, as evidenced by scoring 22 straight points in the second half to make what looked to be a blowout a ball game. Garbage time or not, the Cowboys were a stop away form tying the game up.

McCarthy is under fire with this 1-2 start, especially with both losses coming at home, but the Cowboys aren’t in trouble yet. Let’s see what happens Thursday against the Giants.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson is right about the Saints being pretenders
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Gardner-Johnson was fired up after Sunday’s win, saying in the locker room the Saints were “pretenders” after scoring 12 points and gaining 4.0 yards per play. The Saints came into Sunday averaging 45.5 points and 6.9 yards per play, a torrid start that wasn’t going to last.

One game shouldn’t be the sign the Saints aren’t as good as their offense showed their first two games. The Saints will still have to live up to a three-game scoring average of 34.3 points (first in NFL) and 6.0 yards per play (sixth in NFL). They have a tough stretch with the Falcons, Chiefs and Buccaneers coming up.

Way too early to call the Saints pretenders after a loss that could have been a win. After all, Saints did have the lead in the final two minutes.

Referee from Chiefs-Falcons game explains controversial no-call on apparent pass interference by Kansas City

The Kansas City Chiefs picked up their third win of the season on Sunday night, but it’s a win that might not have happened if they hadn’t benefited from a controversial no-call that came late in the fourth quarter of their 22-17 victory over Atlanta.

With just under 4:30 left to play in the game, the Falcons were facing a third-and-5 from the Chiefs’ 6-yard line. On the third down play, Kirk Cousins threw a laser to Kyle Pitts, but he wasn’t able to come up with the ball. One reason Pitts wasn’t able to make the catch is because Chiefs safety Bryan Cook was draped all over him and he was draped all over him well before the ball got there.

As you can see below, Cook was essentially bear-hugging Pitts before the ball even got to the tight end on a play that probably should have been flagged for pass interference.

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Bryan Cook appeared to interfere with Kyle Pitts NBC/NFL
Here’s a video of the play so you can see what it looked like at full speed.

Man, this sure looked like defensive pass interference on the Chiefs.

Bryan Cook had his back turned to the ball and was all over Kyle Pitts. pic.twitter.com/289IcVxsG2

— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) September 23, 2024
Despite the apparent interference, there was no penalty flag thrown on the play.

So why didn’t Cook get flagged for PI?

According to referee Tra Blake, it’s because the official who was responsible for making that call didn’t see any interference happen.

“That is a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on,” Blake said in the pool report. “From the angle that they had at the time, they did not feel that there was a foul committed.”

Since pass interference is no longer reviewable, officials have to make a snap judgment when it comes to throwing a flag for PI and in this case, the officiating crew didn’t feel that the play warranted a flag.

“That’s a real-time judgment call for us,” Blake said. “We do the best we can to make that decision.”

So that’s why there was no pass interference flag thrown on a play where there appeared to be obvious pass interference.

That being said, even if the officials had thrown the flag on Cook, there’s no guarantee that the Falcons would have won. If the officials had thrown a flag, the Falcons would have gotten a first down at the 1-yard line with about four minutes left in the game. If Atlanta had scored a touchdown, they would have gone up 23-22 pending the extra point (They likely would have gone for two in an attempt to go up 25-22).

At that point, the Chiefs would have had well over three minutes to drive down and take the lead, so Kansas City certainly still could have won even if the flag was thrown, but the fact they got the benefit of bad no-call definitely drew the ire of everyone in Atlanta.

Falcons coach Raheem Morris was asked about the no-call after the game and he decided not to comment.

“I like my money.”

Raheem Morris when asked about the no-PI call late in the 4th quarter. pic.twitter.com/FGAOep9n3n

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 23, 2024
That’s the old, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all” answer. Morris didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to get hit with a fine for criticizing officials, but it’s pretty clear that he didn’t agree with the no-call.

Jaguars vs. Bills picks from Jacksonville expert on 41-18 roll

An AFC collision will happen on Monday Night Football when the Buffalo Bills (2-0) host the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2). This will be the third time that Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence have squared off, and Lawrence owns a 2-0 advantage. In 2024, the Bills have been money in the red zone, going 6-of-8 (75%). Meanwhile, Jacksonville is 3-of-7 (42%) in the red zone. The Jags are also 2-6 against the spread in their last eight games.

Kickoff from at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, NY., is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Buffalo is a 5.5-point favorite in the latest Jaguars vs. Bills odds via SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 45.5. Before locking in any Bills vs. Jaguars picks, make sure to check out the NFL predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine expert Mike Tierney.

A veteran sportswriter whose work appears periodically in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Mike Tierney has covered the NFL for decades and reported from seven Super Bowls. Mike is 154-124-9 in the NFL the past two seasons, returning $1,586 to $100 players. Tierney also has a strong read on the Jags. In fact, he is 41-18 (+2161) on his last 59 NFL picks in games involving Jacksonville. Anyone who has followed him is way up.

Now, Tierney has locked in on Jaguars vs. Bills and just revealed his coveted NFL picks and sports betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several NFL odds and NFL betting lines on the spread, money line and over/under for Bills vs. Jaguars:

Jaguars vs. Bills spread: Buffalo -5.5
Jaguars vs. Bills over/under: 45.5 points
Jaguars vs. Bills money line: Buffalo -250, Jacksonville +203
BUF: Bills have hit the 2Q money line in 10 of their last 19 games
JAX: Jaguars have covered the 1H spread in 13 of their last 21 games
Jaguars vs. Bills picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why the Bills can cover
Defensive end Greg Rousseau generates havoc in the backfield for opposing clubs. Rousseau has a blend of speed and power to blow past linemen. In two games, the Miami (FL) product has 10 total tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks, and one forced fumble. Linebacker Von Miller seems to have plenty of juice this season and is giving Buffalo a spark. Miller has four tackles and two sacks this season.

Linebacker Dorian Williams has been thrust into the fire but has been a stable presence around the ball. The Tulane product owns good play recognition skills and wraps up well. The 23-year-old leads the team in total tackles (19) with one fumble recovery. He had a career-high 10 stops in his last outing. See who to back at SportsLine.

Why the Jaguars can cover
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence isn’t off to the hottest start ,but he has the skillset to be effective in any contest. Lawrence has a strong throwing arm with the athleticism to gain yards with his legs. In his last outing, the Clemson product threw for 220 yards and rushed for 45. In 52 career games, Lawrence completed 63% of his passes for 12,152 yards and 59 passing touchdowns.

Running back Travis Etienne Jr. provides Jacksonville with an explosive playmaker in the backfield. Etienne Jr. has the vision to hit the open hole in a flash while using his speed to break away. Prior to this season, he has finished with 1,000-plus rushing yards in consecutive years. In two matchups so far this season, Etienne Jr. has 96 rushing yards, 21 receiving yards, and two scores. See who to back at SportsLine.

How to make Jaguars vs. Bills picks
Tierney has analyzed Bills vs. Jaguars from every possible angle and while we can tell you he’s leaning Over the point total, he has also discovered a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. Find out what it is at SportsLine.