Week 3: Top NFL Stories

There were five gunslingers named Matthew, Brett, Carson, Peyton, and Mark whipping the pigskin around the gridiron this past week who all made the Top 5 NFL Stories cut. While that quintet does prance around in spandex quite often, they certainly aren’t some new boy band.

Here are the Top 5 NFL Stories from Week 3 in no particular order. As always, click on the headlines & links for NFL.com video highlights and other gems…

1. Detroit Wins. Detroit Wins? DETROIT WINS!

Yes, the Detroit Lions finally won. Even though they allowed the Washington Redskins to get all the way to their 22-yard line, they finally broke their 19-game losing streak in a 19-14 win. Top pick Matthew Stafford was able to hook up with Bryant Johnson for a touchdown in the 1st quarter and the Lions never looked back. Stafford picked up his first career victory as he threw for 241 yards & 1 TD. It was a good thing that Detroit won when they did as they have to travel to Chicago, host Pittsburgh, and travel to Green Bay in their next three games before hosting the NCAA Division I-AA St. Louis Rams. By the way, should Redskins coach Jim Zorn start packing his bags?

2. Vintage Favre
I was hesitant to add Brett Favreto the list, but that game-winning touchdown pass was unreal. With 0:02 seconds left, Favre hooked up with Greg Lewis on a ridiculous 32-yard slingshot to give the Minnesota Vikings a 27-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The Vikes are now 3-0 and the Minnesota brass is looking rather clever, but the almost 40-year-old QB has seen his passing attempts jump from 21 to 27 and now up to 46 this week. Did they not watch him play last year? With the New York Jets, Favre finished the season 1-4 with 2 TD passes & 9 INTs in that 5-game span.

3. Bengals Top Steelers in Comeback Win
Led by Carson Palmer’s 98 yards passing on their final two possessions, the Cincinnati Bengals were able to seal up a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers with 0:14 left after trailing the entire game. This was a huge W for the Bengals as they not only defeated last year’s Super Bowl Champions 23-20, but got a much needed home win against their AFC North foe. Crazy to think the Cincinnati Bengals would be 3-0 if not for that unfathomable 87-yard TD catch by Brandon Stokley in the waning seconds of Week 1. Next week they take on the 0-3 Cleveland Browns who began their QB carousel with Brady Quinn & Derek Anderson just last week.

4. Peyton Tosses 4 TDs in Blowout
The Indianapolis Colts got off to a slow start, but Peyton Manning’s 4 TDs & 379 yards passing and Reggie Wayne’s one-handed acrobatic TD & 126 yards receiving boosted the Indianapolis Colts to 3-0. Even though the Colts defense allowed the Arizona Cardinals to gain over 300 yards through the air, they still easily won 31-10. Peyton has thrown for over 300 yards in every game this year and shown there has been no drop-off with the departure of Tony Dungy.

5. Mark & the Jets are 3-0
Am I suffering from déjà vu? Well, just like in Week 1 & Week 2, Mark Sanchez & the New York Jets grab the bottom spot on the Top NFL Stories. As I am a Sanchez fan, I hope this trend continues. Aside from enjoying the NYC life, Mark has now led the Jets to a 3-0 start with a 24-17 win over the surprisingly winless Tennessee Titans. The Jets defense finally allowed a touchdown, but Mark and his old-school Namath jersey threw for 2 TDs and rumbled for a tough 14-yard TD run on New York’s opening drive. By the way, when will the Mark & the Jets CD finally be on iTunes?

See you all in Week 4…

More rumblings from Casey can be found on BuyAthletes.com.