Shield Spartans: Week 3 Update

Quarterbacks

It was not a banner week for Kirk Cousins as he had a rough performance on national TV on Thursday Night Football. His first pass was intercepted and for three quarters the Washington offense was nonexistent. Cousins did rebound somewhat in the second half of the game but he is still plagued by turnovers as he has been in all four years in the NFL. Cousins now has 21 touchdowns to 23 interceptions in his career, with 6 interceptions thrown to the New York Giants alone, in the last two meetings. Cousins' coach Jay Gruden has come out and said there is no QB controversy and that Cousins is his guy, but Kirk will likely need to improve his play to stay the starter in Washington. At the very least he should want to improve to a point where DC bars aren't losing money on his interceptions.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Free shots for every Kirk Cousins&#39; INT? This D.C. bar does just that! <a href="http://t.co/1jTP1a4Xyc">http://t.co/1jTP1a4Xyc</a> <a href="http://t.co/gAaK3TOOhG">pic.twitter.com/gAaK3TOOhG</a></p>&mdash; SB Nation (@SBNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/647381293747994626">September 25, 2015</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Running Backs

Week three brought with it the return of Le'Veon Bell to the fields of the NFL, fresh off a two game suspension. While the game was delayed because of the turf catching fire during pregame introductions, Bell didn't exactly light up the stat line. In a game where the Steelers lost their starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to an MCL injury, Bell scored the lone touchdown in the Steelers'12-6 victory, while gaining 62 yards on 19 rush attempts. Bell actually had a larger impact catching passes out of the backfield as he hauled in 7 passes for a total of 70 yards. With Roethlisberger out for 4-6 weeks, the Steelers will lean on Bell in the weeks to come, especially with a short week this week with the Steelers playing Baltimore on Thursday night.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Le&#39;Veon Bell hurdles defender, ends up jumping really, really high: <a href="http://t.co/PIIl4oOwSt">http://t.co/PIIl4oOwSt</a> <a href="http://t.co/uE7qu6moSQ">pic.twitter.com/uE7qu6moSQ</a></p>&mdash; SB Nation (@SBNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/648289890031898624">September 28, 2015</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A week after scoring his first career touchdown, Jeremy Langford did not receive a single carry in the Chicago Bears 26-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. It is an interesting development in a game where the Bears fell to 0-3 and the coaches have been impressed with Langford's development. Hopefully, Langford will get back to being a part of the Bears' plans going forward.

Wide Receivers

The group of Michigan State wide receivers in the NFL had their best week of the 2015 season Sunday. Bennie Fowler returned to Michigan with the Denver Broncos taking on the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football. Fowler spent all of last season on the Broncos practice sqaud, so his four catches on Sunday night were the first catches of his career. Fowler finished the game with 50 yards receiving, with a long of 13 yards. Keshawn Martin made his debut with the New England Patriots after sitting out last week following a midweek trade. Martin had 3 catches for 33 yards and one touchdown in a game that Tom Brady threw his 400th touchdown pass.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Touchdown Keshawn Martin <a href="https://t.co/hDMg4eq5iJ">https://t.co/hDMg4eq5iJ</a></p>&mdash; PatriotsNation™ (@Jordanems) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jordanems/status/648217654117986304">September 27, 2015</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Keith Mumphrey returned one punt in the Houston Texans' win over Tampa Bay and fumbled the ball on that return. The Texans recovered the fumble but Mumphrey ended the game with zero catches and no more punt returns.

Tight Ends

The San Francisco 49ers have been a complete travesty since the loss of Jim Harbaugh in the offseason. How bad do you ask? Well, not only did the 49ers get wrecked by the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday 47-7, but their offense was so inept that Garrett Celek was the leading receiver on the team with just 3 catches for 29 yards. Dion Sims was held out of the Miami Dolphins loss to the Buffalo Bills recovering from a concussion. Andrew Gleichert was released from the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad on September 15.

Offensive Line

Dan France was not active on Sunday for the Bengals.

Defensive Line

Will Gholston played in the 2nd most snaps of any defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, recording 4 tackles in the loss to the Texans. Domata Peko recorded three tackles in the Cincinnati Bengals in a win over the Baltimore Ravens.

Linebackers

Max Bullough, Marcus Rush and Taiwan Jones did not play for their respective teams.

Defensive Secondary

Trae Waynes finally got involved with the Minnesota Vikings defense on Sunday, recording 5 tackles. Waynes was on the field for 42 snaps and earning some praise from his coach in the story linked here. Darqueze Dennard did not register any tackles in the Bengals win. Trenton Robinson continued his strong play for the Washington Redskins with 7 tackles although he did make the highlight reels in a bad way, when he was run over by New York Giants running back Daniel Fells.