NFL 2010 Week 3 Review: Chiefs Start 3-0 Rout 49ers, Browns Stay Close With Ravens

As we roll on with our NFL 2010 Week Three review we will take a look at two games with stunning implications.

First we we have the surprising, young and exciting Kansas City Chiefs who dismantled the San Francisco 49ers at Arrowhead Stadium.

Then we have the Baltimore Ravens who had to come from behind to beat the lowly Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium.

Break Up The Chiefs! First 3-0 start since 2003 – Final: 31-10

Kansas City Chiefs fans are in 7th heaven as their hometown hero’s have sprinted out of the gate with a 3-0 record.

We liked the Chiefs here because of the cross-country road trip the San Francisco 49ers made on a short week and after they left their hearts on the field in their MNF loss to the Saints.

The 49ers looked very flat as they managed just 251 yards of total offense including a meager 43 rushing yards. QB Alex Smith returned to his pedestrian like self as he completed just 23 of his 42 pass attempts for 232 yards, one TD and one INT.

As surprisingly good as the Chiefs early season has been, the San Francisco season has been an equally huge disappointment through the first three weeks.

For their part the Chiefs seemed able to score at will on the lackluster 49er defense. Matt Cassel had one of his best scoring games as the Chiefs starter with three touchdown passes but still looked ordinary in going 16 of 27 for 250 yards.

The Chiefs racked up 207 rushing yards with Thomas Jones gaining 95 rush yards and a touchdown while Jamal Charles added 97 yards on the ground to go along with his 57 receiving yards. Rookie Dexter McCluster and fourth year receiver Dwayne Bowe each caught a TD pass and had 69 and 61 receiving yards respectively.

The Chiefs are a well-coached, exciting team but they face a stiff litmus test with trips to Indianapolis and Houston on the horizon after their Week 4 Bye. The 49ers are facing a 0-4 start as they head over to Atlanta to face the explosive Falcons in Week Four.

Browns Serve Up A Ravens Reality Check – Final: 24-17

The Cleveland Browns went into Baltimore and almost stole a win from the Baltimore Ravens. When we were looking over the Week Three schedule we saw “major spanking” written all over this game. The Ravens were coming off a loss, they were playing at home and they were facing the a bad Browns team with backup quarterback Seneca Wallace. It was the perfect storm for a blowout.

The Browns made sure it didn’t happen as they actually led this game 17-14 after they scored a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Cleveland played a near perfect game as they ran the ball right at the Ravens defense and ripped through them for 173 rushing yards on 29 attempts. Wallace was a caretaker like 18 of 24 for 141 passing yards and one touchdown.

Like the Browns, the Ravens also played mistake free football in this game. In fact this was the only game on the weekend that didn’t have a turnover of any kind. Baltimore was just slightly better on this day as they escaped with a 24-17 win.

Quarterback Joe Flacco and wide receiver Anquan Boldin both had a coming out party in the victory. Flacco was a solid 22 of 31 for 262 yards with three TD passes to Boldin who caught eight passes for 142 yards.

The Ravens will need to work on their defense if they hope to stay in the AFC North race. We still think that a three-win season for the Browns would be a success.