Normally I'm "Eh" about the Thursday night game, but this week it might've been the best game of the week. And, I've gotta admit, the LA Rams aren't just good. They're a fun team to watch! They're even more fun to watch when wearing the classic LA Rams blue-and-yellow throwbacks. Now if they would just go back to them full-time!
Thursday Night: Rams (Win)
Bengals (2-1) at Falcons (1-2): Atlanta-Atlanta has gotten off to a rocky start. But in their defense, they've had a brutal starting schedule with three playoff teams from last season (including the Super Bowl champs). Although, last week's shootout in New Orleans makes me think that the NFL should consider going back to 15-minute overtime periods. The two ties and the Saints' seven-minute drive leaving on three minutes on the clock had they not scored just leads me to believe that a 10-minute overtime is too short. As for this game, the Falcons know they need it. Especially with the Steelers coming up next week.
Buccaneers (2-1) at Bears (2-1): Tampa Bay-Things are about to get really interesting in Tampa. James Winston's suspension is over, but the Bucs have (wisely) decided to stick with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the time being. But you know he's gonna be on a short leash. We'll see if he feels under any extra pressure this week (and I don't just mean from Khalil Mack and Co.). These two are both surprise contenders, and one of them's gonna move to 3-1 (provided that this game isn't this week's tie).
Lions (1-2) at Cowboys (1-2): Dallas-Matt Patricia finally got his first win! And he looked like a genius in doing it. I guess we all forgot to consider that a guy who was a Patriots' assistant for so long would know exactly everything Belichick was planning on doing. Back to reality this week, though, as they head to Dallas. I'm still trying to figure out the Cowboys, who got completely outplayed in Seattle. Should be a different story for them at home, though.
Bills (1-2) at Packers (1-1-1): Green Bay-OK, who saw that coming last week? The Bills, the consensus worst team in the league, goes into Minnesota and absolutely dominates the Vikings. Now they head to the NFC North's other heavyweight, as the Packers look to rebound after laying an egg in Washington. They're unbeaten at home, but that required a miracle comeback to beat the Bears and surviving for a tie against Minnesota. We'll see how Green Bay does with a team from outside the NFC North visiting Lambeau for the first time this season.
Eagles (2-1) at Titans (2-1): Philadelphia-Philadelphia hasn't really looked like the Super Bowl champions so far. They had one good half against the Falcons and looked OK last week. But they certainly haven't been overly impressive by any means. Now they head to Nashville to face a Titans team that somehow won despite scoring only nine points last week. It'll take more than that to beat the Eagles.
Texans (0-3) at Colts (1-2): Houston-The Texans are a team badly in need of a win. Houston's better than 0-3 and they know it. A team this good can't be as bad as they were for most of game against the Giants last week. Fortunately, their Week 4 opponent is Indianapolis. If they drop this one, they might as well start planning for 2019. Already. It's crazy to call Week 4 a must-win, but for the Texans, it essentially is.
Dolphins (3-0) at Patriots (1-2): New England-Not only are the Dolphins in first place, they have a two-game lead. You can bet the Patriots don't like looking up at anybody in the division, even if it is just Week 4 (although I, personally, love it). Anyway, you can certainly bet New England is happy to be home, especially after last week's clunker in Detroit. Miami's the only team in the AFC East that consistently manages to give the Patriots fits. I expect that to be the case again, but I don't see New England dropping three straight, either.
Jets (1-2) at Jaguars (2-1): Jacksonville-Every time Jacksonville does something that makes you want to be a believer, they go and play the most boring NFL game you've ever seen. They beat the Patriots, then lose a 9-6 game to the Titans where offense was clearly optional. Now they get a Jets team that did something that no one had done since Christmas Eve 2016 (and drove the Chargers out of San Diego, where they still belong)...lose to Cleveland! Which Jaguars team will show up? If it's the good one, beating the Jets at home shouldn't be a problem.
Browns (1-2) at Raiders (0-3): Cleveland-How about them Cleveland Browns! Now that the winless streak is over, can they start a winning streak? Playing the Raiders is a good recipe for that. Jon Gruden may be rethinking this whole return to coaching thing (although, in fairness, they did play the Rams, Chiefs and Broncos). Call me crazy, but I'm taking Baker Mayfield on the road in his first NFL start.
Seahawks (1-2) at Cardinals (0-3): Seattle-Remember when this matchup would be circled on the calendar as potentially the one that would decide the NFC West? Yeah, not so much anymore. The Seahawks somewhat resembled the Seahawks of old last week. The Cardinals actually looked pretty good for a quarter last week, too. Then they played the other three quarters. It's gonna be a long season in Arizona. And I think there'll be some false hope in Seattle after the Seahawks move to 2-2 (which will still be two games behind the Rams).
Saints (2-1) at Giants (1-2): Giants-Don't ask me why I'm picking the Giants in this one. Maybe their finally getting a win last week gave me a false sense of confidence. Especially since the Saints are in a shootout every other week. Although, both of those shootouts have come in division games (defense is optional in the SEC, so I guess it extends to the Southeast's NFL entries). When they played Cleveland, they barely won 21-18. That's why I actually think the Giants might win this.
49ers (1-2) at Chargers (1-2): Chargers-Jimmy Garoppolo's torn ACL has sent the 49ers' season all but down the drain. Their first game post-Garoppolo takes them down the Pacific Coast Highway for a matchup with the Chargers. The Chargers may be 1-2, but their two losses are to arguably the two best teams in football. Beating a Garoppolo-less 49er squad at home shouldn't be much of a problem.
Ravens (2-1) at Steelers (1-1-1): Pittsburgh-That's more like it, Steelers. Who knew that all it would take was a Monday night game for them to actually look like the Steelers again. Sure, they almost blew it, but 1-1-1 sure looks a lot better than 0-2-1. And they could find themselves back in their usual position of first place if Atlanta beats Cincinnati and they get their annual three-point Sunday-night win over Baltimore.
Chiefs (3-0) at Broncos (2-1): Kansas City-In 2016, these two played a Sunday night game on Christmas that I watched as I played UpWords with my mom. It's one of the last times I spent time just me and her, so I'll always remember that game. Kansas City won that night to establish themselves as one of the premier teams in the AFC. That hasn't changed. What has changed is that Denver is relevant again after missing the playoffs the last two seasons. So this will be a good early battle for AFC West supremacy. Denver's got a great defense, but will they be able to slow down a Kansas City offense that's scored at least 38 points in every game? It'll be a tough proposition.
This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 7-9
Overall: 26-21-2
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