Bettor's Remorse: The 5 NFL teams that burned me in Week 3

Another Sunday brought another day of unanswered prayers, missed opportunities and broken dreams, as the likes of Daniel Jones, Jamal Adams and Aaron Donald played with our emotions like a Vegas stripper whispering sweet nothings in our ear all night. And we all know what it’s like to wake up the morning after an all-night bender, with a massive hangover, an empty wallet and that unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach that can only be described as shame and remorse. Welcome to another week of NFL football.

New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-5)

I was one of the many who laughed and mocked Dave Gettleman for taking Jones with the sixth pick in 2019 NFL draft. Not only was it a clear reach when Jones would have almost certainly been available when the Giants picked again at No. 17, but Gettleman came off as a clown when he said he was in “full-bloom love” with Jones after he watched him for only three series at the Senior Bowl. Well, Gettleman surely enjoyed Sunday, as Jones followed up his stellar play in the preseason with an 18-point, second-half comeback victory against a bad Tampa Bay defense that was missing standout rookie linebacker Devin White.

As excruciating as it was to watch Jones make play after play and turn our easy winner into trash, I have to give it up to the Duke product for handling a tough situation with a lot of class, as he’s done nothing but perform since he walked onto an NFL field. It looks like the good times will continue this week, as the Giants play a Redskins defense that is giving up more than 30 points per game and just allowed another draft reach, Mitchell Trubisky, to look like an adequate quarterback.

We’ll see who is laughing after Jones faces Mike Zimmer and the scary Vikings defense in Week 5 and then makes the quick turnaround in Week 6 to face the Patriots in Foxborough for a Thursday-night game. The Giants are already hurting for skill players, so the loss of Saquon Barkley is devastating. Gettleman and his sidekick clown Pat Shurmur may be laughing now, but I have a feeling we may get the last laugh.

Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles (-4)

The Eagles are a bad football team right now. Even with DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery sidelined, I thought Carson Wentz and Co. would bounce back from a disappointing loss last week to Atlanta against a Lions team that has bumbled its way to a 2-0-1 start. But as bad football teams tend to do, it was self-inflicted wounds—turnovers, costly penalties, dropped passes and bad special-teams play—that cost the Eagles a chance to get back on track before they face a daunting and perhaps devastating stretch of games. The championship pedigree of the Eagles is certainly being tested and their season is teetering on the edge.

New York Jets at New England Patriots (-20.5)

According to The Action Network, only seven NFL games have closed with a point spread of 20 points or more since 1993, and the favorites have gone just 1-6 ATS. The Cowboys covered against the pathetic Dolphins and the Patriots were up 30-0 against the Jets, so it looked like history was not going to repeat itself.

However, things got a little dicey at the end of the third quarter, when New York recovered a muffed punt in the end zone to make it 30-7, and then Jamal Adams ruined our day with an interception returned for a touchdown off Pats backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

The Patriots have given up a total of 10 points in the first half over their last eight games and they are now the first team in the Super Bowl era that hasn't allowed a rushing or passing TD in their first three games of the season.

Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals (-2.5)

How bad of a college football coach do you have to be to have both Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen on your team and still go 8-5 on the season, 4-4 in the SEC, and lose to Louisville in the Music City Bowl? Arizona Wildcats fans are finding out this year, as Kevin Sumlin continues to ride the Johnny Manziel wave of 2012 and bumble his way through another mediocre year, despite having a supremely talented quarterback in Khalil Tate.

Speaking of overrated college coaches, the Kliff Kingsbury era in the NFL is off to a rocky start. Sacked eight times in this game, Murray is doing everything he can to get a win, but Kingsbury’s inability to spell defense is haunting him, just like it did in the college game, as opposing tight ends are continuing to have a field day against this Cardinals defense filled with holes. Despite the promise and hope that Murray brings, it’s going to be another long season in the desert.

Los Angeles Rams at Cleveland Browns (+4)

Only a cursed franchise like the Browns could have the collection of talent it currently has but still have a coaching staff that calls a draw play on fourth and 9. That play was only slightly worse than watching the Browns continue to run vertical routes, while Aaron Donald ran circles around Cleveland’s laughable offensive line.

It’s safe to say Freddie Kitchens is no Sean McVay. Add in his rather embarrassing post-game press conference and Freddie may want to get out of the kitchen, because he doesn’t seem to be handling the heat very well.

It’s only going to get tougher from here, as Cleveland prepares to play four of its next five on the road, which includes trips to Baltimore, San Francisco, New England and Denver. There’s no doubt the Browns are finally headed in the right direction, but in order for them to get where their dedicated fans so desperately want them to go, Cleveland is going to need to find the right coach and an offensive line.

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