NFL Week 3 grades: Bills get an ‘A’ for thrashing Washington, Patriots get an ‘F’ for ugly loss to Saints
Written by Lucky Wilson | KGTO Writer on September 27, 2021
If anyone in Buffalo was worried about Josh Allen after watching him struggle through the first two weeks of the season, they’re probably not worried much anymore after watching him dice up Washington on Sunday during the Bills‘ dominating 43-21 win over the Football Team.
After playing at an MVP level in 2020, Allen had some high expectations on him going into the 2021 season and through the first two weeks of the year, he wasn’t living up to those, but there’s a good chance the narrative is going to change this week. In one of the most impressive performances of his career, Allen threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns, which tied a career high. The Bills quarterback also tacked on a rushing touchdown to give him five totals scores for the day, which also tied a career high.
Allen’s at his most dangerous when he’s throwing with pinpoint accuracy while scrambling and he showed why against the Football Team. On his first TD pass of the day, Allen rolled out of the pocket and threw a 28-yard dart to Emmanuel Sanders.
Although Allen is deadly when he’s on the move, he can also do some damage from the pocket, which hasn’t always been one of his strengths. However, it seems to be a strength now and he proved that when he hit Dawson Knox for a TD pass in the second quarter.
The only thing more amazing than Allen’s throw on this play was the catch.
Allen struggled with his accuracy through the first two weeks of the season — completing just 55.6 percent of his passes — but it looks like he’s finally figured things out. Against Washington, Allen completed 74.4 percent of his passes, which is even more impressive when you look at the throws he was making. These weren’t checkdowns: He was throwing downfield and he averaged 8.2 yards per pass.
Washington’s defense isn’t as good as it was last year, but it’s still Washington’s defense and Allen made it look like a D-III college team.
The bottom line is that when Allen is playing like this, the Bills are a Super Bowl contender and right now, they’re looking like one of the best teams in the AFC.
Alright, let’s get to the grades for every game from Week 3. If you’re looking for a deeper dive on Carolina’s 24-9 win over the Texans that was played on Thursday, be sure to click here.
Buffalo 43-21 over Washington
Tennessee 25-16 over Indianapolis
Baltimore 19-17 over Detroit
Atlanta 17-14 over N.Y. Giants
Arizona 31-19 over Jacksonville
Cincinnati 24-10 over Pittsburgh
Bengals-Steelers grades by Bryan DeArdo (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
New Orleans 28-13 New England
Saints-Patriots grades by Tyler Sullivan (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Cleveland 26-6 over Chicago
Bears-Browns grades by Josh Edwards (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
L.A. Chargers 30-24 over Kansas City
Chargers-Chiefs grades by Jeff Kerr (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Denver 26-0 over N.Y. Jets
Minnesota 30-17 over Seattle
L.A. Rams 34-24 over Tampa Bay
Buccaneers-Rams grades by Cody Benjamin (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
Las Vegas 31-28 over Miami (OT)
Dolphins-Raiders grades by Jordan Dajani (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter.)
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