Picking Football Games, Week 3

So...it turns out I was right about last week.  A week that's full of it-could-go-either-way matchups is likely gonna lead to going somewhere around .500, which is exactly what happened.  Although, really, who saw Panthers-Saints and Titans-Seahawks coming?!  Fortunately, this week seems to be a little more straightforward.  There are some tossups, but, for the most part, the favorites this week are pretty clear.

Thursday Night: Carolina (Win)

Washington (1-1) at Bills (1-1): Buffalo-That's more like it.  The Bills had an uncharacteristically bad game offensively in Week 1.  In Week 2, they were solid on both sides of the ball in their shutout of Miami.  Washington, meanwhile, was the beneficiary of the Giants' choke job.  They have a crazy schedule, too, by the way.  They played the Giants last week, but don't play another division game until December.  They play 10 straight outside the division before playing their final five against the Cowboys, Eagles and Giants.  It's basically an NFC South schedule.

Bears (1-1) at Browns (1-1): Cleveland-Both of these teams won last week after Week 1 losses.  Was either incredibly impressive, though?  The Bears played the Bengals and only won by a field goal, while the Browns played a Texans team that we all saw on Thursday night.  Frankly, I think they both played better games in Week 1.  So they've both still got a lot to prove.  This one will be close, but since it's in Cleveland, I'm going Browns.

Ravens (1-1) at Lions (0-2): Baltimore-Last week's win was so huge for the Ravens.  Not only did it mean they wouldn't start the season 0-2, it, more importantly, gave them the confidence that they can beat good teams.  The Lions, however, are NOT a good team!  So Baltimore shouldn't have much of an issue with them.  Although, if they play like they did in the first half against the Packers, this has potential to be a close one.

Colts (0-2) at Titans (1-1): Tennessee-Carson Wentz will start for the Colts, but how effective will he be on that injured ankle?  Even if he was 100 percent, would it matter?  Not when they're playing a Titans team that rebounded nicely after getting thumped by the Cardinals and then some.  No one saw that comeback in Seattle coming, and it's gotta give them a whole slew of confidence heading into a stretch of three games they should win.  They have the chance to create some real separation in the AFC South.

Chargers (1-1) at Chiefs (1-1): Kansas City-Suddenly, this game has a lot of meeting.  The Chiefs and Chargers are still probably the two best teams in the AFC West, but one of them will be in last place after they both suffered tough losses last week.  Although, it must be noted, they both lost to pretty good teams.  While I think Kansas City is more capable of bouncing back from 1-2, the Chiefs rebounding and getting to 2-1 seems more likely.

Saints (1-1) at Patriots (1-1): New Orleans-I'm gonna blame last week on the Saints being without so many of their coaches.  Some of them are still on the COVID list, but enough are back for New Orleans to resemble the team they're supposed to be.  So I'm expecting this to be a bounce back week for the Saints.  I'm also curious to see how New England plays in its home opener after starting the season with two division road games.

Falcons (0-2) at Giants (0-2): Giants-The Giants have become masters at finding ways to lose games they've already won.  How else do you explain last week, which is really just a microcosm of the past few seasons?  Of course, you could say the same thing about the Falcons, who've been a mess since they blew the Super Bowl five years ago.  They'll be the one that's 0-3 after this matchup.  That is, if the Giants don't find a way to blow it again.
  
Bengals (1-1) at Steelers (1-1): Pittsburgh-Will the real Pittsburgh Steelers please stand up?  Do we even know who the real Steelers are?  Is it the team that won in Buffalo or the one that lost at home to the Raiders?  The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.  At least this week we'll get to see what their defense is like without T.J. Watt.  I'm also curious to see what Cincinnati does after playing two games that were decided by a field goal to open the season.

Cardinals (2-0) at Jaguars (0-2): Arizona-Has any offense been more impressive over the first two weeks than Arizona's?  I'm sure they'll have a bad game at some point, but it won't be this week.  Not against the Jaguars.  Another 30-point effort seems much more likely.  Arizona will move to 3-0, while Jacksonville will fall to 0-3.

Jets (0-2) at Broncos (2-0): Denver-Denver's 2-0 with a pair of road wins to start the season.  Sure, they played the Giants and Jaguars, but still.  They and the Raiders are the only undefeated teams in the AFC, and the Broncos should be able to make that 3-0 against another bottom-tier opponent in the Jets.  Things will get a lot more challenging with the Ravens, Steelers, Raiders and Browns coming up after this.  So they can't afford a letdown against a Jets team they should beat.

Dolphins (1-1) at Raiders (2-0): Las Vegas-How's Miami gonna play without Tua?  It wasn't very good last week, when the Dolphins were shut out at home by the Bills.  The Raiders, meanwhile, followed up their impressive win over the Ravens with a perhaps even more impressive victory in Pittsburgh.  Dare I say Las Vegas is for real?!

Buccaneers (2-0) at Rams (2-0): Rams-This is perhaps the best game of the week.  And it'll get people to stop talking about whether the Bucs will go undefeated or not.  Because they're not going to.  Tampa Bay's offense has been firing on all cylinders, especially last week, but neither the Cowboys nor the Falcons is as good defensively as the Rams.  The Rams have the offense to hag with them, too.  Which is why I think they'll win.

Seahawks (1-1) at Vikings (0-2): Seattle-What exactly happened last week?  The Seahawks somehow managed to blow that game against the Titans and lost in overtime!  As a result, they're the last-place team in the NFC West.  So they're gonna need to go into Minnesota and take care of business.  The Vikings aren't as bad as their record indicates, but they aren't as good as the Seahawks either.

Packers (1-1) at 49ers (2-0): Green Bay-Aaron Rodgers looked like himself last week after looking like anything but in Week 1.  Now he returns to his hometown for potentially the final time as Packers quarterback.  San Francisco began the season with two very different road wins.  They beat the Lions in a shootout, then won a low-scoring affair in Philadelphia.  What kind of game do the 49ers have in store for us on Sunday night?

Eagles (1-1) at Cowboys (1-1): Dallas-They may be 1-1, but the Cowboys have put forward two very solid efforts to start the season.  Things could've gone either way on Opening Night, and they played a great game against the Chargers.  As I've said all along, a healthy Cowboys team is far and away the best in the NFC East.  And Dallas is well on its way to becoming healthy.  Which means look out as they begin a three-game homestand!

This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 9-7
Overall: 20-13