Mike Zimmer knows defense. Always has, even when he was getting rejected for head coaching jobs because some were turned off to his in-your-face-don't-hold-back style. That's why his playing great Nelson Agholor Jersey defense shouldn't really come as a surprise. Great is the right word, too. We had that debate on some of our shows Sunday here at CBSSports, and I said the Vikings had a really good defense -- and maybe it had a chance to be great. Then they took the field and had what was a great performance against the . They brutalized 2015 MVP and the high-flying Carolina offense in a 22-10 victory that keeps the Vikings undefeated at 3-0. The Vikings sacked Newton eight times, three by right end Everson Griffin, and they shut out the Panthers in the second half after trailing 10-8 at the half. This is a team that lost its quarterback for the season in , top runner is out for a while with a bad knee and left tackle is gone for the season with a hip injury. That puts it on the defense, and they gladly showed they are to up to it against the Panthers, handing Carolina its first home lo s since November of 2014. This is a hard-nosed defense with good pa s rushers, fast linebackers, an aggre sive group of corners and a top-level safety in , who can do so many things. That's gives Zimmer and defensive coordinator George Edwards a lot of versatility -- and speed. After giving up a field goal and a touchdown on Carolina's first two po se sions, this how the next 10 went: safety, punt, mi sed FG, punt, interception, punt, interception, punt, interception, downs. This was against a Carolina offense that came in ranked first in scoring with 33 DeSean Jackson Jersey points per game. The Vikings held receiver without a catch and had six different players get sacks The defense will have to be special. The offense has done some good things, but without Peterson the running game is limited. We've seen great defenses carry teams to Super Bowls, which is what Denver did last season. For that to happen, the Vikings have to play mistake free, get a few big plays on offense and hope the defense can take the ball away. They won Sunday with just 211 yards of offense. That doesn't' happen often in the , which is why that defensive performance was indeed great. If it stays that way the rest of the season, it will be hard to argue this is a great unit, and they could be a deep playoff team. If that happens, and he's the early leader, Zimmer will be coach of the year. Wonder how all those owners who got turned off by his in-your-face demeanor and vocabulary of four-letter bombs, will feel then? One thing's for sure: Zimmer knows defense. As he would say, the proof is in the f------ pudding. More musings from around the NFL: It's just three games, but is proving he may be on his way to being the next great star at the quarterback position. In Philadelphia's dominating 35-3 victory over the , going 23-of-31 for 301 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. In three games, he still hasn't turned the ball over. That's impre sive. But for all the fanfare that Wentz has received -- and deserves -- I love the way the Eagles are playing on defense. They held the Steelers to 251 yards, which is truly impre sive. Coordinator Jim Schwartz has brought his 4-3 "wide-nine" style to the Eagles and it's working. was special with two sacks against the Steelers, but a lot of players are playing well. The Eagles defenders were on the field a lot under Chip Kelly because of his style of play on offense. Now they are getting rested and winning in a lot of ways. At 3-0, Philadelphia is atop the NFC East going into their bye this week. If Wentz can keep it up, watch out. That defense is much improved. It's a bad look when any player leaves the field early. It's even worse when a quarterback, who is supposed to be a leader, does it. That's what happened Sunday when Jaguars quarterback left the field with 16 seconds left in the game after his third pick of the day in Baltimore's 19-17 victory. That should never happen. Coach Gus Bradley, who is clearly on the hot seat now, needs to bring his quarterback in and have a chat about his actions. He also Jake Elliott Jersey might want to get him to work on his mechanics. They are bad. His windup is long, and he's not stepping into throws. The accuracy isn't there either. He was picked off three times against the , giving him six for the season, and he took a sack late in the game when the Jaguars had a chance to kick a field goal and go up five. But they instead had to try a 52-yard kick and it was blocked. That shouldn't happen in year three. The 0-3 Jaguars have to be considered one of the biggest disappointments of the season so far. They go to London this week to play the . If Derek Barnett Jersey it goes bad there, it would be hard to imagine that a coaching change isn't on the mind of owner Shad Khan. I say it each week, but why aren't the Titans building their offense around ? They ran for 181 yards in coach Mike Mularkey's run-based offense, but scored just 10 points in a 17-10 lo s to the . That's proof enough that the style doesn't work. Yes, Mariota has turned the ball over at times in three games -- throwing four picks -- but it's the style of play that's making it happen. He's thrown much better when he's playing fast and up-tempo. He has three fourth-quarter touchdown pa ses, and just one in the other three quarters combined. Set him free, Mike. The 1970s offense doesn't work It was a horror show for Jets quarterback on Sunday in Kansas City. He threw six interceptions, tying a career high, and it could have been even more. He never got into a groove as the Jets fell to 1-2 in the lo s to the . Fitzpatrick was coming off an impre sive road victory at Buffalo in which he played well, but that's who you get with him: An Shareef Miller Jersey inconsistent pa ser who is not much more than average. It's hard to believe they were pining for Fitzpatrick in New York when he was a holdout deep into the summer. There's a reason nobody else tried to sign him. Sunday is that proof. Can you believe the Rams are in first place in the NFC West? Well, they are actually tied with Seattle, but they beat the . Weird, considering they scored just three offensive touchdowns in three games -- all Sunday in their victory over Tampa Bay. In that Tampa Bay game, the Bucs botched the end of the game. The clock ran out when was tackled on a weird play at end of the game at the Los Angeles 5. The Bucs completed a pa s to the Rams' 15 with 35 seconds left, but didn't call a timeout -- even though they had two. The clock ran and they eventually ended up taking one home. The final play was a second-down play, which means time was the i sue. A timeout earlier would have saved it. That's bad clock management -- and this is a team with a situational coach. In the end, the blame goes to coach Dirk Koetter, who makes the final decisions