Still Undefeated: Which 3-0 Teams are Real Contenders?

Week 4 remaining undefeated NFL teams, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles
-
0

As we approach Sunday’s Week 4 action, let’s take a look at which undefeated teams are left standing:

New England Patriots
Baltimore Ravens
Denver Broncos
Philadelphia Eagles
Minnesota Vikings

These five teams are the only remaining teams with a golden goose-egg in the loss column. At this time last year, there were still 9 undefeated teams (Bengals, Broncos, Cardinals, Cowboys, Falcons, Jets, Packers, Panthers, Patriots).

Of the nine 2015 playoff teams who didn’t make this “list of undefeateds”, five are 2-1 and four, including the Super Bowl runner-up Carolina Panthers, are sitting on a 1-2 record. Can we chalk this up to brutal scheduling? Or did a lot of good teams take a step back in the offseason? Is the injury bug already taking its toll? In the first three weeks of the 2016 season, a whopping 58% of the games have been decided by 7 points or less. There’s been a lot of close wins for the teams on the 3-0 list, and a lot of close losses for everybody else.

Whatever reason other teams have for losing, we can be sure about one thing: these 3-0 teams find a way to win. They’re winners. Let’s take a look at how each of these five teams got to 3-0:

New England Patriots (#1 in Rushing YPG, #5 Scoring Defense)

W 23-21 @ Cardinals
W 31-24 vs Dolphins
W 27-0 vs Texans

Baltimore Ravens (#2 (Tied) in INTs, #2 in Defense (YPG))

W 13-7 vs Bills
W 25-20 @ Browns
W 19-17 vs Jaguars

Denver Broncos (#2 in sacks, #4 Scoring Offense)

W 21-20 vs Panthers
W 34-20 vs Colts
W 29-17 @ Bengals

Philadelphia Eagles (#1 Scoring Defense, #2 in Scoring Offense)

W 29-10 vs Browns
W 29-14 @ Bears
W 34-3 vs Steelers

Minnesota Vikings (#1 in sacks, #2 (Tied) in INTs)

W 25-16 @ Titans
W 17-14 vs Packers
W 22-10 @ Panthers

These teams have each found a different winning formula, but they all have at least two in ingredients in common–a great coach and a dominant defense.

Great Coaches

In a league full of talented rosters, these undefeated teams have great leaders and coaches to lead them. Take a look at Mike Zimmer, who has his Vikings at 3-0 despite losing his young franchise quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater and his All-Pro running back in Adrian Peterson. At the start of the season, no one would have guessed that in Week 4, Sam Bradford and Jerrick McKinnon would be leading the Vikings offense in keeping an undefeated season going. Despite injuries to cornerstone players, Zimmer has made adjustments and personnel changes that have ensured that neither the offense or defense has skipped a beat.

The Patriots’ Bill Belichick entered the season without his future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Tom Brady. After two wins with Jimmy Garropolo at the helm of a tailor-made offense, the second-string quarterback was injured and Belichick was forced to rebuild his entire offense around rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett with only a week to game plan. The Patriots blew out the Texans 27-0 that week, reminding us that Belichick still has one of the greatest minds in football and can find a way to exploit the weaknesses of his opponents while maximizing the strengths of his players–no matter who those players are.

Broncos’ coach Gary Kubiak put together a Week 3 game plan where Trevor Siemian, a 2015 seventh-round pick, threw for 312 yards and 4 touchdowns against a strong Bengals defense. Kubiak, a former quarterback himself, has played a big role in the development of Trevor Siemian and has crafted an offense that can make enough plays to keep the Broncos ahead, while their dominating defense suffocates any hope of a comeback for the opposition.

Doug Pederson has done a masterful job in coaching up rookie phenom Carson Wentz in making the big leap from the FBS to the NFL. Although Wentz’s own personal film study habits have undoubtedly made Pederson’s job easier, the Eagles coaches have done a tremendous job of protecting and easing in the young face of their franchise, while giving him room to maximize his impressive skill set. Recently, Wentz has been compared to Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning, and while it may be too early to be making those kinds of comparisons, Wentz’s high level of play is certainly is a credit to Pederson and the Eagles coaching staff.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is one of the greatest motivators in the league. He believes in the importance of good coaching and regularly adds former head coaches to his staff, including former Bears head coach Marc Trestman and former Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier. Harbaugh is an old school coach who believes in hard work, dominant defense and strong special teams play. Last year, ESPN’s Jamison Hensley accurately described the 5-11 Ravens as the NFL’s best worst team of 2015, after they lost 14 of their 16 games by eight points or less. This year, Harbaugh has the Ravens on the right side of the close games–winning all three games by a margin of six points or less. Harbaugh’s emphasis on special teams has been key in those wins with clutch kicker Justin Tucker hitting all 9 of his field goal attempts, and with the Ravens blocking field goals in two of their three games. In fact, the Ravens lead the NFL in blocked kicks with 10 since 2014.

Dominating Defenses

The NFL has become increasingly offense-oriented. You could go so far as too say this is the golden age of the quarterback. There are rules and penalties in place to protect the quarterback and his receivers at an unprecedented level. Defenses have had to adjust their play accordingly, and these five teams have figured out a way to play dominating yet disciplined defense. Each of these teams sits near the top of the league in at least one defensive category. All five of the undefeated teams are in the top 10 in scoring defense. Interceptions, sacks and fumble recoveries have come in bunches for these teams and have played a big part in swinging the momentum in their favor.

The Patriots posted the only shutout of these teams, blanking the Houston Texans in Week 3. The Ravens defense has been clutch, shutting down opponents’ potential game winning drives with a sack in Week 1 and interceptions in Weeks 2 and 3. Von Miller’s Broncos defense started the season where they left off in the Super Bowl, constantly pressuring and blowing up Cam Newton throughout their Week 1 Super Bowl rematch. The Eagles put the rest of the league on notice when they kept arguably the best offense in the league out of the end zone in their 34-3 walloping of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Vikings absolutely dominated the Panthers in Week 3, sacking Cam Newton eight times and picking him off three times.

There are plenty of highlights from these dominating defenses, and there are sure to be plenty more to come. These defenses are a huge part of why these five teams are undefeated. And like the 2015 Broncos and 2014 Seahawks reminded us, defense still wins championships.

Predictions

With great coaches and dominant defenses, the Patriots, Ravens, Broncos, Eagles and Vikings all have the winning formula in place. A few of these teams will face off during the regular season so somebody’s perfect season has to end at some point. I have a feeling we will see all five of these teams playing January football, so we may see these teams face off in the playoffs as well. Here’s my prediction on how long each undefeated season will last:

Patriots: 13-0 (Week 14 loss to the Broncos)

Ravens: 7-0 (Week 9 loss to the Steelers)

Broncos: 10-0 (Week 12 loss to the Chiefs)

Eagles: 9-0 (Week 11 loss to the Seahawks)

Vikings:  6-0 (Week 7 loss to the Eagles)

 

Let me know what you think of our predictions in the comments below and be sure to make your predictions for each undefeated team’s season in our polls here:

(Photo Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images; Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports; Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports; Michael Perez/AP; Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports)

Leave a Reply