Hawks in the NFL - Week 3

Week 3 giveth, Week 3 taketh away for former Hawks plying their trade in the NFL.

Micah Hyde and A.J. Epenesa

Let’s start with the bad news. This is a casualty of Week 2, in which Micah Hyde suffered a neck injury in their demolition of Tennessee last Monday night. As I mentioned in last week’s recap, there was hope that Hyde was ok, as was shared by Bill beat reporter Matt Parrino.

Turns out that was wishful thinking, as it was announced on the eve of Week 3 that Hyde was moving to injured reserve and would miss the rest of the regular season. Two words - that freaking sucks. Get well, Micah Hyde.

Epenesa registered no tackles in Buffalo’s utterly bizarre 21-19 loss in Miami. Look at the box score of this game - Buffalo outgained Miami 497-212, had 31 first downs to Miami’s 15, had a 40:40-19:20 time of possession advantage (makes it hard for Epenesa to do anything when the defense is barely on the field), had a punt go off the ass of a Miami player out of the end zone for a safety...and still managed to lose. And while Buffalo is still perfectly fine and should have won this game, the fact that they can’t win close games at the moment is alarming.

Whatever the case, that’s a contender for weirdest games of the year. Maybe the weirdest game in a few years. At least it gave us this amazing Ken Dorsey freak out at the end of the game.

Hell yeah! Bust that tablet!

Josey Jewell and George Kittle

Now the giveth! Jewell and Kittle both returned to make their season debuts for Denver and San Francisco, respectively, as the two teams met Sunday night. Jewell made an impressive return - he recorded 9 tackles (5 solo), 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery off a botched snap by Jimmy Garoppolo. He was great as Denver’s defense rebounded from a slow start to completely stifle the Niners offense. Meanwhile, Kittle finished with 4 receptions for 28 yards on 5 targets.

Broncos corner: That game sucked. A total snoozefest. It felt like San Francisco was in control despite only leading 7-3, but Jimmy G stepped out of his own end zone for a safety to make it 7-5 in a game they eventually lost by 1 (but if he doesn’t step out and that play happens, Bradley Chubb picked off Jimmy G’s pass and walked into the end zone). Trent Williams was hurt on the same play and missed the rest of the game and the game flipped in Denver’s favor. Russell Wilson struggled until he did Russell Wilson Things late. Whatever. They’re somehow tied for first in the AFC West, while San Francisco is somehow 1-2.

This summed it up well:

/nods sadly

T.J. Hockenson

It’s been a slow start to the year for Hock, as he has just 10 receptions for 82 yards through 3 games. Sunday was more of the same, as he finished with 3 receptions for 18 yards. However, he notched his first touchdown of the year, a 5-yard reception that put Detroit up 14-0 on the Vikings in Minneapolis.

However, Detroit’s gonna Detroit, as they blew that 14-0 lead. They re-established themselves and built another two-score lead, going up 24-14 in the second half, only to blow that too and lose, 28-24. Excellent from the Loins.

Brandon Scherff

I don’t have anything concrete here - there’s no video of him crushing some hapless Charger from this weekend that I could find. But I’m throwing him in here because 1) Jacksonville crushed the Chargers, 38-10, 2) the Jags ran for over 150 yards behind an improved line, 3) what the hell are the Chargers doing keeping starters out there in a 38-10 game, and 4) back to Jacksonville - they might be good? They should be 3-0 - their lone loss was to Washington and Carson Wentz, who had his best game in ages Week 1. They have to overpay for guys in what amounts to a Jacksonville tax but they made good moves - like signing, say, Brandon Scherff - they have drafted well, and they upgraded at coach dramatically after the Urban Meyer Atrocity.

Meanwhile, Washington fans are losing their minds over the fact they had Scherff, Trent Williams, and Morgan Moses on their offensive line, and they all walked or were traded and now they have a line that’s given up 15 sacks through 3 weeks, including 9 on Sunday. Well-run organization, that.

If I missed anything significant, hit the comments!