NFL 2024 (Week 3)

Last week was a rough one.  Lots of upsets across the board, some of which were the result of just absolutely terrible performances.  For me, that carried over into Week 3.  I took the Patriots on Thursday night because they had that ridiculous winning streak at Met Life Stadium going.  So, of course, the Jets (who are the better team and should've won the game) dominated despite not even playing well.

Thursday Night: New England (Loss)

Giants (0-2) at Browns (1-1): Cleveland-The Giants are not a good football team.  That's about the simplest way I can put it.  With their starting schedule, they easily could've been 2-0.  Instead, they're 0-2, and last week, they didn't even have a kicker!  When you can't kick field goals and have to go for two after every touchdown no matter what, it's a bad sign.  Especially when that happens in Week 2.  I'm not sure I see a win coming before the rematch with the Commanders in Week 9.

Packers (1-1) at Titans (0-2): Green Bay-Playing the Colts at home was the soft landing Green Bay needed after the season-opening loss in Brazil.  Now the Packers play their first true road game of the year against the Titans.  In baseball, the AL Central has four playoff contenders because of how bad the White Sox are.  I think the same thing may happen in football.  The AFC South is so bad that they'll bulk up the records of every opponent who plays them.  The Packers go to 2-0 against that division.

Bears (1-1) at Colts (0-2): Chicago-This is a tough one to forecast.  Indianapolis is 0-2 and hasn't looked great.  But the Colts haven't looked terrible, either, and this is definitely a game they can win.  The Bears feel exactly the same way.  Their three-game, season-opening tour of the AFC South concludes with a game that's in a city only three hours away.  Gotta love NFL geography!  Anyway, a 2-1 start for Chicago is also a very realistic possibility.

Texans (2-0) at Vikings (2-0): Minnesota-Of all the 2-0 teams, Minnesota is perhaps the most surprising.  Beating the Giants is one thing.  Beating the 49ers is another.  Are the Vikings actually better than people thought?  Everyone knew the Texans would be good, and everybody else in the AFC South is 0-2, so they've already got a two-game division lead.  They could already have it wrapped up by midseason.

Eagles (1-1) at Saints (2-0): New Orleans-I have absolutely no sympathy for the Eagles about what happened on Monday night.  Yes, Saquon dropped the ball.  But why are you passing on 3rd & 5 from the 8 anyway?  You had to chances to get the 1st down and, even if you don't, they have to go 95 yards in less than a minute.  Run the damn ball!  Anyway, the Saints have put a lot of points on the board in their first two games, so expect that to continue.

Chargers (2-0) at Steelers (2-0): Pittsburgh-In the other matchup of 2-0 teams, the Chargers visit Pittsburgh.  You've gotta be impressed with the way the Steelers have won their first two games.  They went on the road twice, allowed a total of 16 points and gave up only one touchdown.  They haven't exactly lit it up on offense, but 2-0 is 2-0.  This is by far the biggest test Jim Harbaugh will face in his young tenure with the Chargers (until next week when they play Kansas City).

Broncos (0-2) at Buccaneers (2-0): Tampa Bay-Through two weeks, the Bucs have been impressive.  In fact, they've been one of the more impressive teams in the league.  That 2-0 record is no fluke.  After putting up 37 on a not-so-great Washington team, they went into Detroit and held the Lions to 16 in another win.  Now they get another not-so-great opponent at home, so 3-0 looks like a good bet.  Bo Nix will work out in Denver.  It'll just take a little bit before it does.

Panthers (0-2) at Raiders (1-1): Las Vegas-Carolina finally benched Bryce Young.  While the franchise's failures can't be blamed entirely on him (they were a mess long before he arrived), their young quarterback has certainly looked like he was in way over his head on more than one occasion.  Will the switch to Andy Dalton make any difference?  I guess we'll find out.

Dolphins (1-1) at Seahawks (2-0): Seattle-Tua Tagovailoa has ANOTHER concussion!  Sadly, I think concussions are gonna end up cutting his career short.  They have such an impact, too.  Because we've seen how the Dolphins are such a different team with him than they are without him.  Tua-less Miami makes the long trip to the complete opposite corner of the country for a matchup with 2-0 Seattle.  Make that 3-0 Seattle.

Ravens (0-2) at Cowboys (1-1): Dallas-As great as Dallas looked defensively in Week 1, the Saints completely tore the Cowboys apart in Week 2.  So, which is it?  Is their defense good or not?  The Ravens, meanwhile, gave away that game against the Raiders and fell to a surprising 0-2.  They really needed that one because things aren't exactly getting easier with at Dallas, Buffalo, at Cincinnati.  Baltimore, a team many (including me) thought would be a Super Bowl contender, could end up starting 0-5.  At the very least, 0-3 seems likely.

49ers (1-1) at Rams (0-2): San Francisco-While the Rams losing in Arizona was surprising, that wasn't the shocking part of that result.  The fact that they allowed 41 points was.  Like the Cowboys, it just leaves me with a ton of questions about the Rams defense.  The good news is that they're finally home after opening with two straight on the road.  The bad news is they're playing San Francisco.

Lions (1-1) at Cardinals (1-1): Detroit-After playing two of their playoff opponents at home, the Lions hit the road for the first time and head to Arizona.  That offensive explosion by the Cardinals last week really came out of nowhere.  They sure moved the ball better against the Rams than Detroit did!  It's Week 3 and they've already got that common opponent.  Who they both beat, but in very different ways.  I'm not sure if we should read anything into that, though.  The Lions are a better team than the Cardinals and everybody knows that.

Chiefs (2-0) at Falcons (1-1): Kansas City-It hasn't been easy (or pretty), but the Chiefs have gotten the job done in their first two games.  Will the luck continue as they hit the road for the first time?  The Falcons really needed that comeback against the Eagles.  Without it, they would've been staring at 0-3 in the face with New Orleans and Tampa Bay coming up.  As it is, even with a loss here, those next two games could still set them up nicely in the NFC South race.

Jaguars (0-2) at Bills (2-0): Buffalo-An early-season matchup between two teams that were expected to be playoff contenders.  The Bills have certainly looked like one, scoring 30-plus points in both games so far.  Jacksonville, meanwhile, is 0-2 with road games against Buffalo and Houston on the horizon in the next two weeks.  They're in real danger of letting the season get away from them really quick.

Commanders (1-1) at Bengals (0-2): Cincinnati-Washington visits Cincinnati in the ABC Monday night game.  Few would've predicted that the Bengals would be the 0-2 team heading into this matchup, but here we are.  The loss to the Chiefs is disappointing because they feel they should've won, and they absolutely should've beaten New England.  Just like how they absolutely should beat the Commanders.

Last Week: 8-8
This Week: 0-1
Overall: 20-13