Week 3 in the USL Championship provided lots of late drama and high-scoring draws, which in turn raised questions about some lackluster defending among other things.

Before Memphis 901 FC and the New York Red Bulls II kick off the Week 4 slate on Friday night (7 p.m. ET | Match Center | ESPN+), I took some time to address the lingering questions that fans across social media have been asking since Sunday night.

Let’s get started.

Reddit user @CaptainJingles asks: The Hounds have given up an uncharacteristic amount of goals (for Head Coach Bob Lilley) so far. Is this for real or will they regress back to their expectation?

I don’t think this is anything to worry about over the long term. It has been weird to see Pittsburgh concede four times over its opening two games – and weirder still to see some of the lackluster defending that led to a couple of those goals – but I think that just comes down to early-season missteps and a small sample size. And even despite the disappointing start, there are some encouraging signs. The Hounds have faced the fewest shot attempts in the Championship so far (15), which ranks them ahead of the 11 other sides that have only played two games. While last year’s defensive record of just 28 goals conceded and 17 clean sheets may be tough to replicate, there’s little doubt in my mind that Bob Lilley will have things sorted out at the back sooner rather than later. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pittsburgh’s first shutout of the season come this weekend at Bethlehem Steel FC either.

Reddit user @JterrellNMU asks: With Tulsa currently sitting on top of the table in the west are they the biggest early surprise? And if not, what is the biggest surprise and disappointment?

To me, Tulsa is by far the biggest surprise in the Championship so far. The most impressive improvement has come on the offensive end, where the side has already scored 11 goals after just finding the back of the net 36 times last year in 34 games. I’m still not sure how sustainable it is – especially since defender Luca Lobo leads the team (and league) with five goals in four games – but Head Coach Michael Nsien deserves plenty of credit for his side’s early-season performances. The fact that the Roughnecks could surpass their 2018-win total (3 games) in April tells you all you need to know.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I’d say my biggest disappointment to this point is Nashville SC. There’s nothing particularly wrong with a road draw with the New York Red Bulls II or a defeat to Saint Louis FC, but I just thought I would be seeing more production in the attacking third at this point. It’s still early – and I’m not backing off my USL Cup prediction after three weeks – but I expect more from the flashy offseason acquisitions of Cameron Lancaster, Daniel Rios and Kharlton Belmar.