Week 3 of the NFL has just about come and gone, and it brought major shakeups around the league. From the Philadelphia Eagles roaring back to defeat the Los Angeles Rams to the Carolina Panthers shutting out the Atlanta Falcons to the Cleveland Browns upsetting the Green Bay Packers (!), it's safe to say this weekend didn't play out entirely as expected.
With such a crazy week comes a slew of overreactions. But while some of them can be safely ignored, here are five hot takes that do in fact have some truth to them.
5) The Chiefs are far from a playoff lock
I'm going to say it: I'm worried about the Kansas City Chiefs. They were able to earn their first win of the season in Week 3 against the New York Giants, but would how they played have been good enough to have beaten 80 percent of the NFL? Does beating the Giants mean much of anything in 2025?
Kansas City's defense stepped up, but it's not as if Russell Wilson posed as a major threat on the other side. As for the Chiefs' offense, well, it was good enough, but the Dallas Cowboys put up 40 points against New York just last week. Kansas CIty still has a ton of work to do offensively, and it's getting to the point where I just don't know if they have what it takes to put it all together to make the playoffs.
Yes, the Chiefs are without Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice right now, and life without the two best receivers on any given team would be difficult, but it's not as if Worthy has proven himself to be a reliable weapon, and this Chiefs offense wasn't exactly spectacular last season.
It feels like an overreaction to say that the Chiefs are at any risk of missing the playoffs, but is it? Perhaps we look back at this in a couple of weeks and laugh, but the Chiefs look painfully mediocre at best to me, and that's not a good thing.
4) Brian Daboll is the problem with the Giants
I've held off from criticizing Brian Daboll too much because the New York Giants' rosters have left a lot to be desired throughout his tenure, and his first season with the franchise was so magical. But ultimately, when will enough be enough? I didn't think the Giants would win many games this season, especially with the hardest schedule in the NFL, but the product just continues to look awful. This has been a theme ever since that shockingly fun 2022 campaign.
The Giants went 9-7-1 in that regular season, and have gone 9-28 since. It honestly has felt even worse than that. What's even more embarrassing is that players who did not live up to their end of the bargain in New York have thrived elsewhere. Okay, we all assumed Saquon Barkley would go nuts in Philadelphia, but who had Daniel Jones in the MVP conversation three weeks into his post-Giants tenure in Indianapolis? That's the reality of the NFL landscape right now. Jones might crash down to earth sooner rather than later, but is it not concerning that players who struggled mightily under Daboll seem to be playing better than they ever have away from him?
The Giants have been held to 20 points or fewer 14 times in 20 games since the beginning of the 2024 campaign. Brian Daboll is supposed to be an offensive-minded head coach. His unit is a dumpster fire: Russell Wilson isn't good, and while perhaps Daboll can figure something out if/when Jaxson Dart steps under center, it's looking like the coach can be blamed for much of the Giants' current dysfunction. It's hard to argue against the idea that he should be fired.
3) Bengals don't stand a chance without Joe Burrow
Life without Joe Burrow was always going to be tough for the Cincinnati Bengals, but Bengals fans had hope that backup Jake Browning could at least keep them competitive. The first week without Burrow suggested otherwise: Losing to the Minnesota Vikings (who were also leaning on a backup quarterback in Carson Wentz) would've been one thing, but Cincy lost 48-10. It was 48-3 at the end of the third quarter. The Bengals' lone touchdown came in garbage time.
The Bengals' defense was not good in this game, but who expected it to be? The reason many expected the Bengals to miss the playoffs to begin with was because of their defense. Their offense, meanwhile, was supposed to carry them — but through part of two games, Browning looks like a liability. I mean, he leads the league with five interceptions despite throwing the 29th-most passes.
We all know this defense isn't good enough, so the offense is going to have to carry the load. The Bengals have the weapons to get that job done, but the guy throwing them the ball appears to be far too erratic. With matchups against the Broncos, Lions and Packers looming, what was once a strong 2-0 start could soon become a distant memory. The Bengals sure don't look like a team able to compete without Burrow.
2) The Texans offense will cost them a playoff spot
One of the easiest picks to make this preseason was for the Houston Texans to win the AFC South division. They won it in 2023 and 2024, and had the ingredients to do so again thanks to an elite defense and the best quarterback in the division. Well, clearly, the Texans need more than that to claim another South title, or even to win a single game.
The defense has indeed been great, holding the opposition to just 17.0 points per game thus far. The other two teams that have cleared that mark, the Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars, are a combined 4-2. The Texans, meanwhile, are 0-3, and the big reason why is an offens that's averaging the fewest points in the league (12.7). Houston's defense is playing well enough to win, but the offense has been non-existent.
C.J. Stroud isn't blameless, but the Texans' offensive line is pathetic, and who outside of Nico Collins is supposed to catch the ball? The surrounding pieces just aren't good enough. In theory, even with the 0-3 start, a team as talented as the Texans should be alive in the postseason race. But not only am I going to say that the Texans won't win a third straight division title, I don't even see them making the playoffs.
1) Falcons should consider giving Kirk Cousins a look
The Atlanta Falcons went from a team looking like it was on the rise to one that was utterly humiliated in Week 3, as they lost 30-0 on the road against a 0-2 Carolina Panthers team. Allowing 30 points was bad enough for a defense that showed major improvements in Week 2, but the offense didn't score a single point. How that's possible, I have no idea, but the Falcons did just that, and Michael Penix Jr. deserves plenty of blame.
Penix completed just 18 of his 36 passes for 172 yards and two interceptions before being pulled late in the game. He was pulled because the game was out of hand, and I'm not going to put too much stock into Kirk Cousins looking much better than Penix in garbage time. But I'm also not going to pretend that didn't happen.
Had Penix lit the NFL world on fire to begin the season, perhaps this wouldn't be an issue, but that isn't exactly the case. Penix played well in Week 1, but was essentially a non-factor in Atlanta's Week 2 win and then looked awful in Week 3. I get that the Cousins experience hasn't gone as planned in Atlanta and I get that this is supposed to be Penix's team, but getting Cousins a look under center should be considered, right?
The Falcons won't do it, at least not right now. But if Penix continues to underwhelm, don't be surprised if there's a shift in tone. This Falcons team is too talented to be content with lackluster quarterback play.