Three games into the season, the NFL’s early noise is starting to sort itself out. Some of the preseason hype still has a pulse, but a few storylines already look ready for the scrap heap.
Start with the Los Angeles Rams, who were supposed to be the league’s shiny new power. Instead, they’re 1-2, tied with the Arizona Cardinals at the bottom of the NFC West, and nowhere near the dominant force many expected.
They were flattened 27-7 by the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, then watched the Denver Broncos put up 30 second-half points in a crushing loss on " Sunday Night Football." The strange part is that the offense has still moved the ball in bunches: through three games, the Rams lead the league in total offense with 1,253 yards.
The problem is that all that yardage has produced only 61 points, which ranks 20th. The talent is there.
The urgency is, too.
The New England Patriots also arrived with plenty of buzz, but the early returns have been brutal. After spending the offseason replaying their 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX, the Patriots were expected to answer with a fast rebound.
Instead, the plan took a hit when wide receiver A.J. Brown went down with a high ankle sprain that will sideline him for several weeks, and Drake Maye has already thrown six interceptions in three games.
Mike Vrabel is even showing concern for his quarterback. Following Sunday’s 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England is 1-2 and looking less like a contender and more like a team still trying to prove it belongs in the conversation at all.
If this keeps up, last season’s Super Bowl run will start to look like the outlier.
Then there’s the Las Vegas Raiders, who have flipped the script completely. The talk all offseason centered on whether Fernando Mendoza would be asked to rescue the franchise, but the Raiders don’t need him yet because they’re 3-0 and have already matched last season’s win total.
First-year head coach Klint Kubiak has steadied things despite offseason contract drama with defensive end Maxx Crosby and questions about whether veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins still had anything left. The formula has been simple and effective: get Ashton Jeanty the ball, block better, and lean into the run.
That approach has helped Jeanty pile up 206 rushing yards, ninth among running backs, and given Las Vegas a style that can keep it in games. Cousins may not be the long-term answer, but Mendoza is getting exactly what a rookie quarterback needs most right now: time to sit, watch, and learn.
In Other News...
Rams Loss Sparked An Officiating Outrage Fans Will Want To See
A late officiating decision turned a tight Rams-Broncos game into a postgame argument as much as a loss. Los Angeles fell 30-26 to Denver in a 2026 NFL matchup, and the most talked-about moment came on a controversial pass interference call against Josh Wallace that drew immediate criticism from former players, analysts and even a rules expert.
The flag helped set up the Broncos decisive touchdown, leaving the Rams with another frustrating result to sort through before heading home. Their next test comes against the Philadelphia Eagles, and given the way this one ended, the conversation around the officiating figures to linger well into the week. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Just Got The Myles Garrett Update They Were Dreading
Myles Garretts knee situation is shaping up to linger longer than the Rams first hoped, after arthroscopic surgery led to a recovery timeline of about six weeks. Los Angeles already placed him on injured reserve after the season opener, and the early view was that this could be a short-term absence. Now, though, the picture is clearer: the Rams are looking at multiple games without one of their most important defenders.
Week 9 is the rough target for a possible return, but even that comes with the usual caution that follows a knee rehab. The Rams are taking a careful route with Garrett, which makes sense given how much they need him once he is back. For now, the focus is less on rushing him into the lineup and more on making sure the injury does not become a bigger issue later in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Sean McVay Added To Rams Frustration After Brutal Collapse
The Rams spent Sunday trying to explain away a collapse that felt all too familiar, a 16-point halftime lead against the Broncos slipping into a loss that pushed Los Angeles to 1-2. It was the kind of defeat that leaves more questions than answers, especially for a team trying to establish a rhythm early in the season and avoid letting a strong first half get buried by everything that follows.
Sean McVay only added to the frustration afterward with a notably short postgame press conference, a move that did not sit well with the team's beat writers and left the mood around the team even sharper. He is expected to address it more fully at the next media session before the Rams turn their attention to the Eagles, where the pressure to reset quickly will only grow. [Read more 🡒]