Tag: Week 3

From the UFL to NFL, Dondrea Tillman is making the most of his opportunity with Broncos

Dondrea Tillman joined the Broncos after winning three titles with the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions. He recorded two sacks in his NFL debut.

Dondrea Tillman has had quite a football journey.

After playing college football at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Tillman spent two years out of football. He then got an opportunity to play in The Spring League in 2021.

The pass rusher’s performance in that league impressed coaches from the Birmingham Stallions, who used a third-round pick to select Tillman in the 2022 USFL draft. Tillman went on to win three straight titles with the Stallions (two in the USFL and one in the UFL this spring).

Tillman dominated spring football and the Denver Broncos signed him following the conclusion of the UFL’s 2024 season. After the Broncos lost Baron Browning to a foot injury, Tillman was promoted to the 53-man roster ahead of the team’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3.

Making his NFL debut on Sunday, Tillman became the first Denver player since at least 1970 to record two sacks in his debut.

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“We weren’t going to just let the other three play 60 snaps or 50 snaps,” coach Sean Payton said of the outside linebacker rotation. “A guy like that was coming up, he’s got to be playing in the kicking game and then getting snaps on defense. I was pleased with his effort.

“He’s strong. I’ve mentioned earlier in the week, we’ve seen a lot from him. I was excited to see him take advantage of the opportunity.”

The Broncos’ defense dominated from start to finish with seven sacks and two takeaways in a 26-7 victory. Tillman finished the day with three total tackles and his two sacks resulted in the loss of 18 yards for Tampa Bay.

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“It feels great,” Tillman said after the game, via the Denver Post‘s Parker Gabriel. “It’s been a lot of time. I’ve been waiting for this. It’s a dream come true. It’s really a blessing.”

After impressing in his first NFL game, the 26-year-old Tillman figures to remain a part of Denver’s pass rush rotation going forward.

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Broncos fans took over Bucs’ stadium in Week 3

Broncos fans took over the Bucs’ stadium in Week 3!

Denver Broncos fans traveled well in Week 3 when the team hit the road for a showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Bucs fans began streaming out of the stadium after the Broncos built a convincing lead. That allowed Denver fans to make their way down toward the front sections around the stadium.

In the fourth quarter, Broncos fans could be heard chanting “Defense!” when the Bucs had the ball. Those chants were followed by “Let’s go Broncos!” later in the game.

“Good following — great following,” Denver coach Sean Payton said after a 26-7 victory. “It’s good to have. This is kind of a unique stadium. Historically, there have been a lot of great events here — I’m talking about postseason [or] what have you, but it’s always nice.

“Look, we travel well. So, towards the end of games, when you travel well, you become the majority, not the minority, and you feel that.”

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An excellent showing from Broncos Country in Florida. We’ll see if the trend continues when the team travels to New Jersey to take on the New York Jets in Week 4.

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Sean Payton is 7-0 against Todd Bowles defenses since 2019 regular season

The Broncos had a perfect game plan on Sunday and Sean Payton improved to 7-0 against Todd Bowles since 2019 in regular-season matchups.

After the Denver Broncos defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-7 on the road in Week 3, Bucs coach Todd Bowles said the Broncos “out-played us, out-coached us and out-hit us and won the game.”

Bowles and Denver coach Sean Payton worked together with the Dallas Cowboys in 2005, and they coached against each other in the NFC South from 2019-2021. Payton knows Bowles well, and he developed a perfect game plan for Sunday’s game in Florida.

“We weren’t going to — we had protection, we had a really good plan relative to getting in and out of some audibles,” Payton said after the game. “Bo [Nix] handled it really well. We were going to have answers if [pressure] came.

“You got to be careful you don’t just caught into — we got in to some of the right looks and I feel like so many different times, having been here — and Todd is someone that I’ve worked with — it is almost like you know the kind of game that it has to be. [The Buccaneers] are counting on takeaways, they are counting on sacks, they are counting on disruption. We just had to do everything to prevent that.”

With the win, Payton improved to 7-0 against a Bowles-coached defense in the regular season since 2019 (New Orleans lost a playoff game to the Tom-Brady-led Bucs during the COVID-19 season).

Denver’s offense came out hot on Sunday, marching right down the field to score a touchdown led by the passing attack. After establishing a lead, the Broncos were able to run the ball to close out the game. It was a plan that Payton’s squad executed perfectly.

“That is where it went against a heavy blitz — this is a team that, historically, is hard to run the ball against,” Payton said. “We have played here a number of times and coached in a number of games against Todd. He does a great job. [The Bucs] provide some challenging pressure looks.

“There is a safety or a blitz every other play so if you are not careful you will end up with some minus runs. I felt like we wanted to be aggressive early and run it later in the game. All those things happened.”

Denver’s offense finished the day with 352 net yards and six scores, by far their best game of the season thus far. The game plan was perfect, and the players executed it well on Sunday.

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Broncos CB Pat Surtain shut down Bucs WR Mike Evans in Week 3

Pat Surtain held Mike Evans to one catch for 8 yards. Baker Mayfield was often forced to hold the ball, resulting in seven sacks and an INT.

Another week, another shutdown performance from Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain.

Surtain shadowed Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Evans on 24 of his 34 routes on Sunday, according to NFL Next Gen Stats (via the Denver Post‘s Parker Gabriel). Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield opted to test Surtain in coverage against Evans just one time in Week 3.

Surtain allowed one catch for eight yards in a 26-7 victory over Tampa Bay. His coverage was so tight on the 23 other snaps that Mayfield opted not to test him. Mayfield was forced to hold the ball often on Sunday and Denver’s defense finished the game with seven sacks and one interception.

Surtain has been matched up against DK Metcalf, George Pickens and Evans through three games this season. The cornerback has allowed six receptions for 63 yards, according to NFLNGS.

“It’s a good stretch of receivers,” coach Sean Payton said. “We were talking about it [at] the start of the week, and I asked him, I said, ‘Hey, if Dennis Allen wants to do a quick trade for one week, I’ll take [Marshon] Lattimore and you go there and then we’ll bring you back,’ you know, giving him a hard time. Lattimore has always defended Evans well.

“So, we went and got 35 snaps, of bump-and-run Lattimore and Evans. I put it in his hot folder, [we] talked about it on the plane, and he responded, so it was good… No trade.”

The Broncos’ decision to give Surtain a massive contract extension this offseason was clearly a smart move. He’s the best CB in the NFL.

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Broncos set the tone on first drive vs. Buccaneers

Sean Payton sent ‘a little message’ by electing to receive the opening kickoff. Scoring on the first drive ‘set the tone’ for the Broncos.

NFL teams often defer after winning the coin toss, opting to receive the ball after halftime and beginning the game on defense.

When the Denver Broncos won the coin toss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, they elected to receive the ball. That was an early statement from Broncos coach Sean Payton.

“Yeah, look, I typically, like most coaches, will defer and every once in a while, you send a little message and we felt like we had a good set of openers,” Payton said after the game. 

After receiving the ball, Denver marched 70 yards in six plays and took a 7-0 lead off a Bo Nix touchdown run. Then the team never looked back.

“I think he made that decision just off of making a fast start. And, I wasn’t necessarily shocked by it, but whatever he wanted to do, that’s what we were doing, and we came out and did exactly what we wanted,” Nix said of electing to receive the opening kickoff. “We went down and got a touchdown. And I think that set the tempo and set the tone for the game.”

After setting the tone early, the Broncos dominated the rest of the game in an eventual 26-7 victory on the road. Nix came out slinging the ball and Denver’s offense had its best performance through three games this fall.

“When you start the game with an explosive pass play, you get ‘Court’ [Courtland Sutton] involved early, you win a one-on-one, you flip the field in one play — it opens it up for a coordinator,” Nix said. “I thought Coach Payton did a good job of going right back to it.

“We hit Josh [Reynolds] on the other side and then we get points and we get a touchdown on that first drive. That’s really important to start explosive, but you can’t just hit one. You have to come back and continue to finish out drives. It was good to see that on the first one.”

Nix totaled 263 yards on Sunday and he took no sacks and had no turnovers. It was the best performance of his career thus far and perhaps a sign of things to come for the Broncos’ offense.

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Top 100 photos from Falcons’ Week 3 matchup against the Chiefs

LOOK: Top 100 photos from the Falcons’ Week 3 matchup against the Chiefs

The Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs faced off in prime time on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Despite a close game, the Chiefs escaped with a 22-17 win over the Falcons. Atlanta is now 1-2 on the season while Kansas City moves to 3-0.

Many big names, including hot dog-eating champion Joey Chestnut and acting legend Samuel L. Jackson, showed up for the team’s Week 3 showdown at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Check out the best pictures from Sunday night’s game in Atlanta below.

Commanders vs. Bengals: Week 3 staff picks and predictions

Can the Commanders shock the Bengals?

Can the Washington Commanders (1-1) pull off the upset against the Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) on Monday Night Football?

The Bengals opened as 7.5-point favorites last week and will get a big part of their offense back on Monday when star wide receiver Tee Higgins returns. Higgins missed the first two games with a hamstring injury, and now quarterback Joe Burrow will have his full complement of weapons for the first time this season.

Will Washington win its second game in a row?

It’s prediction time.

Bryan Manning

The Bengals will jump on the Commanders early, but Washington battles back. Cincinnati will lead throughout the game, but Jayden Daniels will make plays with his arm and legs to keep things interesting. Running back Brian Robinson Jr. will have another big game for the Commanders. However, the defense can’t slow down Burrow, Higgins, and Ja’Marr Chase, and Cincinnati will pull away for an 11-point victory.

Bengals 31, Commanders 20

Ivan Lambert

Washington is a 7.5-point underdog Monday night in Cincinnati against Joe Burrow and the Bengals. In fact, the Commanders were already a 7.5-point underdog even before the announcement that Bengals’ receiver Tee Higgins would be returning from a hamstring injury, in time to face the Commanders.

The Commanders secondary has struggled in pass coverage against the Buccaneers and the Giants. It only stands to reason to those predicting the game that they will struggle against the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and company. In fact, according to NFL Pickwatch, 97% of the expert picks believe Cincinnati will defeat Washington.

So, what can the Commanders do Monday against the Bengals? The best answer to slow down the Bengals offense may actually be the Commanders offense. The Bengals are surrendering 4.5 yards a rushing attempt. Consequently, the Commanders should attempt to run the ball as often as possible. In addition, it would not hurt to attempt to run as many zone-read options as well, provided Jayden Daniels slides and gets down. However, using him with the zone-read options could also open up runs inside for Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler. Finally, using play action out of those successful zone-read runs could open up passing lanes not previously utilized in the first two weeks.

But in the end, until the Commanders can get a pass rush on Joe Burrow, they simply have not provided any evidence that they can defend well in the secondary in the first two weeks.

Bengals 31, Commanders 24

8 players did not play in Broncos’ game vs. Buccaneers

Eight Broncos players did not play against the Bucs, including rookie RB Blake Watson, who has been inactive for all three games this fall.

Eight members of the 53-man roster did not play in the Denver Broncos’ 26-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, safety JL Skinner, wide receiver Devaughn Vele, running back Blake Watson, cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine, tight end Lucas Krull and defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike were inactive in Week 3.

Skinner was ruled out with an ankle injury and Vele is still getting back up to speed after suffering a ribs injury in Week 1. The five other inactive players were healthy scratches on Sunday.

Despite being inactive, Wilson still dressed as the team’s emergency third-string quarterback. Bo Nix played every snap on offense, so primary backup Jarrett Stidham also did not play, giving Denver eight total players who did not see the field against the Buccaneers.

Broncos rookie running back Blake Watson has been inactive for all three games this season. Tyler Badie was elevated from the practice squad to the game-day roster on Sunday and he impressed. We might see Badie eventually fully promoted to the active roster if he keeps playing well.

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Commanders QB Jayden Daniels talks Monday Night Football debut

What is Jayden Daniels’ approach to his first Monday Night Football game?

Jayden Daniels is accustomed to playing under the lights. Daniels began his career at Arizona State, where he started for three seasons before transferring to LSU for his final two collegiate seasons.

During his time with the Tigers, Daniels played in his fair share of big games. As a rookie with the Washington Commanders, Daniels has already experienced a lot of firsts. In Week 1, it was his NFL debut. In Week 2, it was his home debut.

Now, in Week 3, Daniels plays in his first career Monday Night Football game. The 1-1 Commanders are in Cincinnati to face a desperate Bengals team looking to avoid a 0-3 start.

How is Daniels approaching his first career NFL prime-time game?

“I mean, it’s special, obviously,” Daniels said. “Be able to play one that’s early just coming off my first actual game, the first home opener, now first Monday night game. So, it’s gonna be special, but at the end of the day, it’s another game you’re just playing later on in the week.”

His opponent this week is someone with whom Daniels has a lot in common: Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Both are former LSU record-breaking quarterbacks who won the Heisman Trophy after transferring to the Tigers and spending their final two years in Baton Rouge.

Burrow spoke about Daniels last week and is a fan.

Has Daniels spoken to Burrow recently?

“No, I haven’t talked to him recently,” Daniels said of Burrow. “I wish him nothing but the best in his success over in Cincinnati, what he’s done so far, what he did for the state of Louisiana. So, it’s big for the whole state of Louisiana to see both of us go up against each other on Monday night.”

Washington won its first game last week, defeating the Giants 21-18, while the Bengals lost a heartbreaker to the Chiefs.

What channel is Commanders vs. Bengals on today? Time, TV streaming info to watch Week 3 game

Here is all the info you need to watch the Commanders vs. Bengals on Monday Night Football.

The Washington Commanders (1-1) and Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) clash in the Week 3 edition of Monday Night Football in The Queen City.

There are two Monday night games in Week 3, with the Commanders/Bengals scheduled to kickoff 45 minutes after the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.

Washington won its first game of 2024 last week, defeating the New York Giants, 21-18, behind seven Austin Seibert field goals. Running back Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for a career-high 133 yards, and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels played mistake-free football. Red-zone penalties helped keep the Commanders out of the end zone.

Cincinnati looks for its first win after suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs as time expired. The Bengals received positive injury news this week, as wide receiver Tee Higgins will make his 2024 debut.

Here’s how to watch the Commanders game, including time, TV schedule and streaming information:

What channel is Commanders vs. Bengals game on today? Time, TV schedule

TV Channel: ABC

Start time: 8:15 p.m. ET

Commanders vs. Bengals will broadcast nationally on ABC in Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will call the game from the booth at Paycor Stadium, with Lisa Salters reporting from the sidelines.

Where to watch Commanders vs. Bengals on livestream

Streaming options for the game include and FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.

For FUBO:

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Commanders vs. Bengals predictions, picks, odds

Bengals 31, Commanders 20: The Bengals will jump on the Commanders early, but Washington’s defense will adjust and make some stops. Jayden Daniels and Brian Robinson Jr. will help Washington claw back into the game before Cincinnati pulls away in the fourth quarter. Daniels and Joe Burrow will have big games.

ODDS: Bengals by 7.5 points

O/U: 47

All NFL Odds via BetMGM.

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Commanders schedule 2024

  • Sept. 8: at Tampa Bay (L, 37-20)
  • Sept. 15: New York Giants (W, 21-18)
  • Sept. 23: at Cincinnati
  • Sept. 29: at Arizona
  • Oct. 6:  Cleveland
  • Record: 1-1

Bengals schedule 2024

  • Sept. 8: New England (L, 16-10)
  • Sept. 15: at Kansas City (L, 26-25)
  • Sept. 23: Washington
  • Sept. 29: at Carolina
  • Oct. 6: Baltimore
  • Record: 0-2

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