5 Things We Learned from the NFL Week 3

5 Things Week 3 From the NFL Taught Us

Week 3 of the NFL season started with a bang, and I literally mean a bang. On Wednesday, news came down that the Cleveland Browns had traded running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first-round pick in the 2014 draft. The trade raised a lot of eyebrows as speculation started rising on what the Browns were doing and the direction they were headed.

The trade paired the first overall pick in the 2012 draft with the third overall pick as Richardson is now teammates with quarterback Andrew Luck. Perhaps the best part of the trade is the quote Mike Holmgren gave concerning it when he said, "Philosophically, if I am the coach and someone came in anywhere and did that, I'd say 'OK, fire me, or I'm going to quit.'"

The games began and ended with dominating performances as the Eagles were completely man-handled by their ex-coach and his new team, the Kansas City Chiefs. While on the backend of the week, the Denver Broncos dominated the Oakland Raiders. In the win, Peyton Manning threw his 12th touchdown on the season. This total passes Tom Brady for the most touchdowns in the first three games of a season. In the win, Manning put on an absolute clinic against the Raiders defense.

Raise your hand if you thought the Cleveland Browns would get their first win of the season before the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins, New York Giants or Minnesota Vikings. However, that's exactly what we have right now. Things are so bad that Adrian Peterson's daughter even asked him how they could lose to the Browns. Here are five more things we learned from another exciting week in the NFL.

5. Big Trouble in the Big Apple

Three games in and the New York Giants are still trying to figure this out. Eli Manning leads the league in interceptions with eight. There's plenty of time for this team to right the ship, but it's not looking very good. The Giants were completely embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers on Sunday 38-0.

4. Surprise, Surprise

It's hard to predict which teams are going to be good and which teams are going to have down years. I'm pretty sure nobody expected the AFC East to come out and be as good as they have been. The four teams are a combined 9-3 and Buffalo has two of those losses. The real surprise, however, is the way the Miami Dolphins have come out of the gate. The Dolphins are 3-0 with two of the wins coming against the Atlanta Falcons and the Indianapolis Colts. Perhaps, the Patriots have a little competition for the division after all.

3. Obscure Stat of the Week

The Cincinnati Bengals are the first team in NFL history to lead by 14, then trail by 16 and then comeback and win the game. After hearing this stat, my first thought was, "who in the world thought they needed to look this up?" This stat is so utterly ridiculous it made me wonder what if they had only trailed by 15? Would that still have made the record books?

2. Meet Me in St. Louis

I have to think that every time Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray sees the Rams on the schedule, he get a little happy. Two years ago, he ran for a franchise recored 253 yards. On Sunday, he torched the Rams defense for another 175. Murray is probably trying to figure out a way to play the Rams every week of the season.

1. And the Oscar Goes To...

Justin Houston. The Kansas City linebacker had a day he'll never forget against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night. With 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries, Houston was the clear choice for this weeks MVP award.