2017 Season: Week #4 Recap

Buffalo Bills vs Atlanta Falcons (3GML Game of the Week)

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

BUFFALO                  14        0        21       14        49

ATLANTA                  0         6         0         0         6

ATLANTA – Aaron Rodgers finally looked like the All Pro we are used to as the Buffalo Bills (2-0) dominated the Atlanta Falcons 49-6. 
"We finally felt like ourselves today," Rodgers said. "We had a killer mindset - coaches kept telling us to 'Finish Them' and we did."
For the game Rodgers finished 16-28 for 250 yards with 4 TDs and 2 INT.
Despite Rodgers improved performance, the story of the game was the relentless pass rush by the Bills defense which finished with 12 sacks. 
Rookies Myles Garrett and Zach Cunningham had 5.5 sacks combined.
"We were hunting tonight," Garrett said. "Our whole top of the division is now .500. It's anybody's game now."
For the Falcons, this once proud franchise has now fallen on hard times. The team has been demolished in each of their first four games and now stand four full games out of first place. Their season seems lost.
"It's frustrating," Dan Quinn said. "Everybody's job is on the line."
The Bills next face the Cincinnati Bengals while the Atlanta Falcons head into their bye as the lowest performing team. 

New Orleans 19 @ Miami 14 (London, England)
Despite a pair of 100-yard performances by Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook, the Miami Dolphins fell to the New Orleans Saints 19-14 in London's Wembley Stadium. The game was hard-hitting and sloppy with a total of seven fumbles (two lost) and four interceptions in the game combined. The New Orleans defense (ranked #1 in the NFL) controlled the game throughout as the team rolled toward their 4th consecutive victory to start the season. The Dolphins return home to take on the Tennessee Titans while the Saints will head into their bye week undefeated.   

Jacksonville 20 @ New York Jets 16
Tyreek Hill kicked away a chance for his squad to salt away a close victory by muffing a punt late in the 4th quarter leading to his team's 20-16 loss. The New York defense was dominant throughout, but could not overcome the late Hill error. The Jets next face the Cleveland Browns. 

Carolina 17 @ New England 16
A late field goal sent the winless New England Patriots to their fourth consecutive loss to start the 2017 season as the Patriots fell to Carolina Panthers 17-16 in Foxboro. An errant Dak Prescott pass led to a 2nd half pick-six for the opportunistic Panthers defense. Now, on short rest, New England will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. 

2017 Season: Week #3 Recap

Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets (3GML Game of the Week)

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

MIAMI                        0        3          0        14        17

NY JETS                    7         0         0         0          7

NEW YORK – With two fumbles in their first three plays from scrimmage - one by Tarik Cohen leading to a 48-yard scoop-and-score by Kam Chancellor - the Miami Dolphins (2-1, 1-0 AFC East) looked to be in for a long afternoon against the New York Jets (2-1, 1-1).
"We were all hitting out there today," Chancellor said. "It could have went either way man, we just didn't put them away like we could have."
To their credit, the Dolphins took the initial hit in stride, played their typically conservative style of football, and were able to catch enough breaks to come out on top 17-7 in the early season divisional showdown. 
With a pair of missed field goals and a crushing red zone fumble by All Pro David Johnson, the New York Jets will be circling their calendars for their Week #7 rematch against Miami. 
Early in the 4th, with his team still trailing 7-3, Dalvin Cook carried his team down the field and into New York territory for the team's first red zone possession of the game. On a 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Cook reached pay dirt to silence the raucous Jets faithful.
"It felt great," Cook said. "I loved those fans all training camp and was kind of shocked to be traded. It was cool to get a TD there."
Derek Carr then led his team quickly down the field for what looked like, at minimum, a chance for Nick Folk to redeem himself to put the game into overtime. 
On a 2nd down from the Miami 40-yard line, Miami's Miles Killebrew stripped the ball from Carr's hand as he prepared to hit an open receiver downfield. Khalil Mack did the rest, recovering the fumble and taking it to the house to put the game away at 17-7.
"Huge play by that kid," Mack said. "Our D came up huge today."
The Jets will next battle the improving Jacksonville Jaguars while the Dolphins head to London to take on the undefeated New Orleans Saints. 

Denver 30 @ Buffalo 16
 The Super Bowl champs dropped to 1-2 with a disheartening loss to Drew Brees and the Denver Broncos. The game was close throughout, but Brees and company proved too much in the end as the Broncos finished with 14-unanswered points in the 4th quarter. Buffalo next heads to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. 

Houston 34 @ New England 13
 JJ Watt and his defensive mates made life miserable for Dak Prescott and Julio Jones as the Houston Texans ran away from the New England Patriots 34-13 in Foxboro. The Patriots will remain home for Week #4 with a winnable game against the 0-3 Carolina Panthers in an effort to put their season back on track. 

2017 Season: Week #2 Recap

Buffalo Bills vs Carolina Panthers

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

BUFFALO                   0         7         0        16        23

CAROLINA                0         0         0         0          0

CHARLOTTE – After a week of national 'hot takes' claiming the reigning Super Bowl champions were "done" after Week 1, the Buffalo Bills (1-1) silenced their critics with a dominating shutout victory over the Carolina Panthers (1-1) Sunday morning.
Both offenses were virtually non-existent throughout with the Bills out-gaining the Panthers 146 to 114 on the day. 
James Bradberry, who finished with three interceptions for the game, and Su'a Cravens both took picks to the house for the games only touchdowns.
"It was one of those games where the offense needed us to pick them up," Bradberry said. "We can win lots of different ways, today was our turn, next week I expect the O (offense) to get back on track."
Despite the team's passing woes, Todd Gurley finished with a workman-like line of 28 carries for 107 yards.
The Bills next face Drew Brees and the Denver Broncos.

New England Patriots vs New Orleans Saints

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

NEW ENGLAND      0         0         10       0          10

NEW ORLEANS       0        10       10        7          27

NEW ORLEANS – Six Dak Prescott interceptions spelled doom for the New England Patriots (0-2) as his team fell by a final of 27-10 to the hot New Orleans Saints (2-0).
A week after gashing the Minnesota Vikings, DeMarco Murray was held to only 68 yards rushing by a gritty Patriots defensive unit. But with Prescott's nightmare afternoon, the Pats defenders had no chance to keep the game close in the end.
"We are a tough locker room man," Michael Bennett said. "But we can't give the ball away like that. On D (defense), we made enough plays to win. Our offense needs to wake up."
The Saints have now proven they can win in dominating fashion (like last week) and in a game where their offense provided very little. 
"The only stat that matters in the end is whether you win or lose," Sean Payton said. "We couldn't get much going offensively, but we were fortunate our secondary came to play."
The Patriots now head home to take on the Houston Texans while the Saints head to Carolina to face the recently shut out Carolina Panthers.

Miami Dolphins vs Los Angeles Chargers

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

MIAMI                        0        14       7         9          30

LAC                              7        0         7         7          21

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Chargers (1-1) failed in their attempt to "Fight for LA" falling 30-21 to the Miami Dolphins (1-1) in the NFL opening of the Stubhub Center.
Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook combined for 280 rushing yards as the duo brought to mind last year's two-headed monster of Thomas Rawls and Chris Ivory for the Dolphins.
"It felt good to get out there and finally get our running game going," David DeCastro said. "If we can control the game on the ground, that opens everything up for our team."
Late in the 4th quarter, with the game in the balance, newly acquired Marquette King pinned LAC at their own 1-yard line. On first down, Melvin Gordon was stuffed deep in the end zone for a safety, sealing the win for Miami.
"I feel like we play them every year and every year it's a dogfight," Philip Rivers said. "We just got to keep at it and we'll be alright."
Miami now travels back across country to take on the AFC East leading New York Jets. 

New York Jets vs Oakland Raiders

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

NYJ                            14        0         9        6          29

OAKLAND                 7         7         0         3          17

OAKLAND – A 4th quarter, 94-yard scoop-and-score by Zach Brown helped deliver the New York Jets (2-0) a cross country victory over the Oakland Raiders (1-1) by the score of 29-17.
"Right place, right time," Brown said. "Any win you can get you take it. They had a chance there at the end, I'm just glad we slammed that door shut."
David Johnson had a second consecutive strong performance with 114 yards rushing on 19 carries with a touchdown. 
"Not our best game on either side," Johnson said. "But Zach (Brown) said it best: a win is a win. People are gunning for us, we just gotta keep grinding.
Three Jets players finished with over 50 yards rushing for the game as Johnson, Jordan Howard, and surprisingly Derek Carr led the strong ground attack.
"Kind of a weird game," Carr said. "I'm not Michael Vick 2.0. I just saw some chances to run and took them today."
The Jets now head home to take on their rivals from Miami. 

2017 Season: Week #1 Recap

New York Jets vs Buffalo Bills (3GML Game of the Week)

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

NEW YORK              14       14        3         7          38

BUFFALO                   0         0         0         6          6

BUFFALO – The NFL's marquee matchup to start the 2017 season was over before it began as the New York Jets (1-0, 1-0 AFC East) dominated the Buffalo Bills (0-1, 0-1) 38-6 in front of a stunned Bills home crowd. 
"We knew they were planning to parade around their championship banner pregame," David Johnson said. "We wanted that to be the last smile we saw from Bills fans all day."
Johnson led the Jets rushing attack that collectively gained 297 yards on the day. With only 12-carries, Johnson finished with 213 yards rushing to go along with four TD runs to complete his fantasy-football dream game.
Aaron Rodgers, who was stoic in defeat postgame, had no chance all day as the New York pass rush, led by newly signed Aaron Donald, picked up six sacks.
"We came to eat," Donald said. "We (were) hungry.
The Jets, now every sports talking heads 'hot take' to win Super Bowl 52, will travel to face Derek Carr's former team, the Oakland Raiders while the Bills head south to take on Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

Kansas City 25 @ New England 22
With a strong performance by 4th year HB Spencer Ware, the Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) stormed back late to stun the New England Patriots (0-1) 25-22 up in Foxboro. With a 14-0 lead early in the 4th quarter, Dak Prescott and company looked to be in control, but the team's 3rd down inefficiency (only three conversions on the game) doomed the team late. 
New England next heads to New Orleans to take on the Marcus Mariota led Saints.

Tampa Bay 20 @ Miami 17
A 4th quarter TD drive with under 2-minutes remaining put the NFL on notice that Jameis Winston and his Tampa Bay (1-0) teammates are ready for primetime. The Miami Dolphins (0-1) played their typically vanilla style of game but could not close the deal at the end. For the game, Tampa's Doug Martin finished with 234 all purpose yards.
The Dolphins travel next to the west coast to take on the Los Angeles Chargers.

2017 Season: Week #1 Preview

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Dak Prescott and the New England Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs under the lights to start each team's 2017 season. The Chiefs have recently been on the precipice of 'championship caliber' and are anxious to square off against these new look Pats. With Prescott and Julio Jones gaining strength throughout the preseason, Kansas City's dreams of becoming a true contender will have to wait another week.
Prediction: Patriots win 30-20

NEW YORK JETS @ BUFFALO BILLS
The NFL's premier rivalry kicks off our 2017 campaign as the New York Jets travel to face the Buffalo Bills. Aaron Rodgers and company sealed their AFC East crown and ended New York's postseason dreams in a Week 17 classic a year ago. The Jets have been long talked about as this season's clear favorite to make it to Super Bowl LII based on their GM's accumulation of All-Pro talent. Over the past two seasons, the Jets-Bills match-ups have given us the 4th-and-19 Game and The Game No One Wanted to Win. Only time will tell if this latest round will lead to another 'named' game.
Prediction: Jets win 31-28

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS @ MIAMI DOLPHINS
Jameis Winson has been outspoken in his belief that his team will be playoff-bound following the 2017 regular season campaign. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers want to turn their Hard Knocks fame into on-the-field success, they will need to survive a tough road test as they visit their in-state rivals, the Miami Dolphins. This game seems to be a toss up as both teams are young and have talent in key areas.
Prediction: Buccaneers win 24-23

3GML AFC East Preview

2016 AFC East Recap
The 2016 season nearly saw the division place three teams into the AFC playoff field. After a sluggish start to the season, the New York Jets came on strong and were arguably playing the best football in the NFL prior to their Week 17 loss to Buffalo. The Jets lost the tiebreaker for the conference's final playoff spot and had to put their Super Bowl aspirations on hold for another season.

Down south, in Miami, the team put together another solid campaign after their 2015 championship run. The Dolphins fell to the red hot Jets in a 13-6 slugfest before finishing with wins over the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots the final two weeks of the season to run their record to 14-2. The team had to settle for the AFC's 5th seed after losing the division tiebreaker to the Bills. In their Wild Card matchup at Houston, rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett did just enough to outlast a tough Texans squad to setup his team's trip to #1 seeded Buffalo.

With their 23-20 Week 17 win over the Jets in, what has become, THE NFL rivalry, the Bills not only secured the AFC East crown and the conference's top seed, but they also ended New York's season. This led the Jets front office to jettison Jimmy Garoppolo, trade from their war chest of draft picks to acquire Earl Thomas & Lane Johnson (from Miami), Desmond Trufant (from Atlanta), and most importantly Derek Carr (from Oakland). In addition to spoiling the playoff dreams of the Jets, the Bills also ended the season of their rivals from Miami with their 13-9 victory in blizzard-like conditions. A week later, the team dismantled the Andy Dalton led Cincinnati Bengals before embarrassing the Carolina Panthers 38-9 in Super Bowl LI.

After their first playoff-less season in what seemed like an eternity, the New England Patriots shook up their front office, moved Tom Brady to Dallas, and reloaded their entire team behind rookie Dak Prescott during the offseason. The team will look to re-establish themselves as the Patriots of old during the upcoming campaign.

2017 AFC East Preview: New England Patriots (8-8, 3-3 AFC East)
Week 1: KC L
Week 2: @ NO L
Week 3: HOU L
Week 4: CAR W
Week 5: @ TB L
Week 6: @ NYJ L
Week 7: ATL W
Week 8: LAC W
Week 9: Bye
Week 10: @ DEN L
Week 11: @ OAK W
Week 12: MIA W
Week 13: @ BUF L
Week 14: @ MIA L
Week 15: @ PIT W
Week 16: BUF W
Week 17: NYJ W

With all the institutional & personnel changes, expect the Patriots to struggle early in the season before coming on strong to finish the year. This team is talented and if the new staff can keep games close, this could easily be a 10-6 team with a legitimate playoff chance later in the season.

Game we are most looking forward to: Week 8 vs Los Angeles Chargers. This game feels like it could be a Wild Card 'eliminator' for either the Patriots or the Chargers. A win here for New England would shoot them into their Bye week with confidence as they prepare for Drew Brees and his Denver Broncos. New England will control their own division fate with five of their last six games against division opponents.

2017 AFC East Preview: Miami Dolphins (9-7, 2-4 AFC East)
Week 1: TB L
Week 2: @ LAC W
Week 3: @ NYJ L
Week 4: NO L
Week 5: TEN W
Week 6: @ ATL L
Week 7: NYJ L
Week 8: @ BAL W
Week 9: OAK W
Week 10: @ CAR W
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: @ NE L
Week 13: DEN W
Week 14: NE W
Week 15: @ BUF W
Week 16: @ KC W
Week 17: BUF L

Each year we pick the Dolphins to finish last in the AFC East and they surprise us with a positive record. This year, picking them third, there is no telling how this team turns out. Will their one-dimensional style finally cease to work or will their strong, attacking defense continue to bail them out? This feels like a team that could easily finish 4-12 or 12-4. At 9-7, the team has an outside shot at the postseason if the cards fall their way.

Game we are most looking forward to: Week 15 @ Buffalo. The weather could be similar to their playoff matchup from a year ago. This game screams 'revenge factor' for Miami. Will the team play within themselves or be overwhelmed (again) by the moment?

2017 AFC East Preview: Buffalo Bills (10-6, 3-3 AFC East)
Week 1: NYJ L
Week 2: @ CAR W
Week 3: DEN L
Week 4: @ ATL W
Week 5: @ CIN L
Week 6: Bye
Week 7: TB L
Week 8: OAK W
Week 9: @ NYJ W
Week 10: NO W
Week 11: @ LAC W
Week 12: @ KC W
Week 13: NE W
Week 14: IND W
Week 15: MIA L
Week 16: @ NE L
Week 17: @ MIA W

Some teams have 'Super Bowl hangovers,' and some do not. We expect this team to struggle a bit early in the season, but to ride the hot hand of Aaron Rodgers back into the playoffs for a chance to defend their title. Despite the loss of Luke Kuechly, this defense is arguably much better than a year ago with the strong growth of Casey Hayward, rookie Budda Baker, the addition of Donta Hightower, and the drafting of Myles Garrett.

Game we are most looking forward to: Week 1vs New York Jets. The schedule-makers got it right here. It would have been tempting to have a Super Bowl rematch against the Panthers Week 1 (but we would expect another snooze-fest there). Pitting the Bills against the Jets as the season's opening showcase was absolutely the right call. Todd Bowles and company have had this game circled all summer. Forcing the Jets to watch the Bills players get their championship rings & the stadium to have their banners raised will be must-see-TV.

2017 AFC East Preview: New York Jets (12-4, 4-2 AFC East)
Week 1: @ BUF W
Week 2: @ OAK W
Week 3: MIA W
Week 4: JAX W
Week 5: @ CLE W
Week 6: NE W
Week 7: @ MIA W
Week 8: ATL W
Week 9: BUF L
Week 10: @ TB L
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: CAR W
Week 13: KC W
Week 14: @ DEN L
Week 15: @ NO W
Week 16: LAC W
Week 17: @ NE L

On paper, this may be as close to a 'super-team' as we may ever see - but the rest of the NFL knows this. It would surprise no one if the Jets start out 8-0 before their Week 9 showdown against Buffalo. The New York Jets will finally taste the playoffs in the third year of this new regime. Can they put it all together to give the AFC East three Super Bowl wins in a row?

Game we are most looking forward to: Week 14 @ Denver. This should be the AFC Championship preview. We are projecting Denver to runaway with the AFC's #1 seed behind Von Miller's defensive unit and Drew Brees breaking records in the Mile High air. Although we are predicting a Denver win here, a Jets victory on the road could help them be in line for the top seed in the conference.

2017 AFC Playoff Prediction
WILD CARD
#5 BUFFALO @ #4 Cincinnati - Buffalo wins 31-17
#6 MIAMI @ #3 Houston - Miami wins 20-17

DIVISIONAL ROUND
#6 MIAMI @ #1 Denver
#5 BUFFALO @ #2 NEW YORK JETS

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
???

Week 1 starts September 7th! Get your popcorn ready!!

Madden Ratings Release: Top 3GML K/Ps

1. Justin Tucker, K, Miami Dolphins (87)
98 KPW, 98 KACC, 97 Swag

5. Marquette King, P, Miami Dolphins (85)
998 KPW, 92 KACC, 100 Swag