NFL week three: overtime, blowouts, field goals, oh my!

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  • Chicago Bears’ runningback, Jordan Howard (24).

  • Green Bay’s quarterback, Aaron Rodgers (12).

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DYLAN PADY, Sports Editor | [email protected]

Week three of the National Football League featured a handful of great matchups across the entire league. There was an overtime effort in Chicago, as well as Green Bay, a 44-7 blowout in England and a rookie kicked a 61-yard game-winning field goal in Philadelphia.

First, the Chicago Bears hosted an undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers team at Soldier Field. Chicago lost their first two games to the Falcons and the Buccaneers. The Bears scored once in the first quarter and held the Steelers to zero points until seven minutes into the second quarter, when Ben Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown in the end zone on an easy seven-yard pass.

The Bears led 14-7 and, with 30 seconds left in the half, blocked a Steelers field goal that just so happened to land in the hands of cornerback Marcus Cooper. Cooper saw nothing but open field and was a good 15 yards ahead of any defenders. He began to slow down just before scoring and was stripped of the ball in the end zone, resulting in a fumble on the one-yard line after it was intentionally batted away. The Bears had to settle for a field goal of their own instead of a touchdown.

Chicago then went completely scoreless in the second half, allowing a one-yard touchdown run by Le’veon Bell, followed by a Pittsburgh field goal to tie the game 17-17.

Tarik Cohen almost had a 73-yard touchdown run on just the second down of overtime, but was ruled out of bounds after a gain of 36 yards. Jordan Howard ran the ball for 18 yards, then finished off the Steelers with a 19-yard footrace to the left side into the end zone.

This was Chicago’s first win of the season and Pittsburgh’s first loss. Mike Glennon threw for 100 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Howard had 138 rushing yards on 23 attempts with two touchdowns. Roethlisberger had 235 yards with one touchdown, and Brown had 110 receiving yards with 10 receptions. Brown had one touchdown as well.

Aaron Rodgers looked to defend Lambeau Field in Green Bay against a defeated Cincinnati Bengals team. Surprisingly, Andy Dalton and his offense scored 21 in the first half compared to the Packers’ 7 points.

Rodgers threw a 75-yard pick six just before halftime, but only took five minutes in the third to put something together offensively. Rodgers found Jordy Nelson in the end zone on a one-yard pass to narrow the deficit.

Besides Rodgers’ pass to Nelson, no other scoring occurred during the third quarter. The fourth consisted of a field goal from each team, as well as another three-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Nelson that sent the game into overtime.

The Packers held the Bengals offense and forced them to punt, then 11-year veteran Mason Crosby drilled a 27-yard field goal that sent Packer fans everywhere home with a smile on their face. Rodgers completed 28 of his 42 passes, resulting in 313 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Wembley Stadium in London opened in 2007 after the original was demolished throughout all of 2002 and 2003. Football fans in London were able to witness a very one-sided affair between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens. It started to feel like a game of Madden towards the end when the Jaguars ran the score up 44-7.

Blake Bortles completed 20 of his 31 attempts, threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns. Jacksonville scored 23 in the first half and 21 in the second. Baltimore was only able to score once in the fourth quarter after a six-yard touchdown pass from backup Ryan Mallett to Benjamin Watson. Joe Flacco threw two interceptions and 28 yards on eight completions before he was benched.

Finally, the New York Giants traveled to the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia where a last quarter rally led by Eli Manning fell just short in what would have been their first win of the season. The Eagles scored 14 points in the second and third quarter, compared to the Giants who were not on the scoreboard until early in the fourth.

Manning found Odell Beckham Junior (OBJ) on a 10-yard touchdown pass two minutes into the quarter, followed by another OBJ touchdown reception just four yards. After another good defense possession for the Giants, Manning hit Sterling Shepard, who was untouched for a 77-yard touchdown reception, as well as the lead. Their three scoring drives in the fourth quarter only took 4:10 off the clock. The Eagles wouldn’t give it up that easily and punched the ball in the end zone, giving Corey Clement a 15-yard touchdown carry to tie the game 21-21.

New York’s kicker, Aldrick Rosas, made a 41-yard field goal to take a three-point lead and with 56 seconds left, Philadelphia’s kicker, Jake Elliott matched him with a 46-yard field goal of his own.

Keep in mind, Elliott is only 22 years old and this is his first season in the NFL. As time was about to expire, the Eagles put together a drive that landed them on the Giants’ 43-yard line. Elliott lined up and completed a 61-yard field goal before being carried off by the rest of his team to end the game.