4th and Short: Bills playing over their heads, Giants aren't done yet
Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast." Every Monday, Williamson will look at four major developments from the previous day's action in the NFL.
The Buffalo Bills looked terrific in a 10-point win over the Broncos. Are reports of their 2017 demise greatly exaggerated?
I can't believe I am saying this, but maybe. I honestly thought the Bills were just about guaranteed to have a pick in the top five next April. I honestly thought Denver's cornerbacks would be left on islands and just totally eliminate Buffalo's suspect wide receivers, leaving the Broncos to crush the Bills' running game, much as they did to the Cowboys a week ago.
Now, those predictions did more or less come true, but Denver turned the ball over twice on the road. We know Tyrod Taylor can be a wild card and his style of quarterbacking certainly isn't for everyone, but Sunday, he showed playmaking skills that are just tough to account for. The Bills are well-coached on defense and don't have a very intricate scheme, and the Broncos' offense was bound to come back to reality a little.
A major theme in Week 3 was teams that looked to be down and out roaring back to show they're not dead yet. I didn't expect this performance from the Bills at all and they finished this game very strong. However, I still see them back among the NFL bottom-feeders before long.
Jacksonville made a statement in London with a 44-7 throttling of Baltimore. Was this an outlier or are the Jaguars legit?
Both. As we saw in glorious fashion in Week 1, the Jaguars' defense is legit - in fact, it may end up being the best defense in the league when all is said and done - but the Ravens were bound to fall a peg or two.
Baltimore created an unsustainable number of turnovers in wins over Cincinnati and Cleveland, and the Ravens have been hit with a litany of injuries. Still, Joe Flacco threw for just 28 yards against Jacksonville. Little was asked of the Ravens' offense in the first two games, but to its credit, it ran the ball well in those contests. Without Marshal Yanda, though, creating running room could be very difficult - and their offense might be one of the NFL's worst.
That's not to diminish what Jacksonville accomplished on defense, and clearly this was their best game on the other side of the ball too. No one saw 44-7 coming. The performance by Jacksonville's defense, at least, is no surprise. But can Blake Bortles keep it up? Probably not.
Which remaining unbeaten team - Atlanta or Kansas City - is most likely to stay that way the longest?
The Chiefs and Falcons were greatly tested Sunday, but prevailed in the end.
Kansas City has the most impressive string of performances in the NFL through three weeks. The Chiefs host the Redskins and travel to Houston over the next two weeks. After that, they host the Steelers and then have a very short week in Week 7 when they travel to Oakland. I think either the Steelers or Raiders will knock off Kansas City.
As for the Falcons, remember that they very well could have lost in Chicago. The Falcons host the Bills next, have a bye, and then host Miami. Then they travel to New England in a Super Bowl rematch. The Patriots look much more beatable than I expected, but I'm betting that New England finds a way (once again) to outscore Atlanta in that contest.
The Giants lost a heartbreaker in Philly to drop to 0-3. Are their playoff hopes toast?
Not quite yet. The return of Odell Beckham was absolutely huge for this organization and it isn’t a coincidence that Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard had their best outings of the year with Beckham on board.
While the NFC East is strong and competitive from top to bottom, New York is only two games out of first place with 13 games still on the slate. We know this defense is capable of being dominant, as it was a year ago, and getting Janoris Jenkins back healthy for this game was huge.
The Giants once again had no running threat and the Eagles rush the passer extremely well, but Philadelphia still couldn't sack Eli Manning, who played his best game of the season. That represents some progress for this troublesome offensive line, and the offense improved as the game continued.
If Jake Elliott doesn't hit the 61-yard field goal to win this game for Philadelphia, we might be looking at the Giants much more optimistically. New York has a very difficult upcoming schedule and could be buried soon, but for now, the Giants' heads are still above water.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)