Colts @ Ravens: If the Ravens ever do get 100% healthy, the league is in trouble based on what we saw with the offense last week. A far cry from what they were under Greg Roman, the Ravens have a passing attack that gives Lamar multiple options at his disposal in the win over the Bengals. The makeshift OL held up last week, but with the weather looking not so good the Ravens will likely lean into the running game without Justice Hill, and hope to get good production out of the trio of Gus Edwards, Melvin Gordon and Kenyan Drake.
The Colts will be without rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson as he left last week's game against Houston with a concussion, also Center Ryan Kelly is out as well. This means Gardner Minshew will get the start against Baltimore, who went 19-of-23 for 171 yards and 1 TD filling in for Richardson last week. Can Minshew Magic make a return to the NFL as he looks to lead the Colts to a road win? Or will Baltimore continue to limit the damage early on while waiting on players to return to the lineup?
Titans @ Browns: A brutal three game home stretch for the Browns will dictate how the rest of their season goes. If they don't win on Sunday, with Baltimore and San Francisco coming to town next, things are going to go south quick for Kevin Stefanski and that coaching staff. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be a career ender for Nick Chubb and he will be back by next season. Cleveland's offense will now focus on the passing attack led by Deshaun Watson. If Watson continues to not play up to that contract, they may have to blow everything up for another rebuild. Kareem Hunt is back to help replace Nick Chubb but that won't make Watson play better, and that defense will eventually break from trying to carry Watson and the offense to wins this season.
As for Tennessee, they say don't overreact to week one but Ryan Tannehill did perform much better last week as they got back to doing what they do best. Stopping the run is one of the things the Titans do best, and doing so will force Watson to beat them in the air, force him to make mistakes like he did against the Steelers and the Titans have a chance to pull off a road upset win.
Falcons @ Lions: Atlanta has been one of the nice surprises early on this season, starting 2-0 with a 1-2 punch in the run game that has allowed them to take pressure off Desmond Riddler. Now they head to Detroit where the Lions look to rebound after losing to the Seattle Seahawks last week in their home opener. The Lions have ruled out four players including two offensive lineman in Taylor Decker and Guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai, along with CB Emmanuel Moseley and Safety Kerby Joseph. Atlanta hasn't ruled out anyone but this could be a revenge game for former Lions Cornerback Jeff Okudah who will make his Falcons debut on Sunday giving Atlanta's strong secondary a boost to limit the Lions passing attack.
Saints @ Packers: The NFC South currently has a 6-2 record through the first two weeks of the season, so much for being the worst division in football. The Saints travel to the land of cheese to take on the Green Bay Packers seeking their first 3-0 start since the 2013 season. Green Bay is reeling following a loss to Atlanta where they blew a 24-12 lead in the fourth quarter, something Jordan Love acknowledged talking about needing to play a full game and it coming down to execution. Green Bay's defense was hammered by Atlanta's run game but will catch a break with no Jamaal Williams in the lineup and Alvin Kamara is serving the final game of his suspension. If Green Bay can slow down Chris Olave and contain him, the Packers will give Love a chance to win this game, if not and Olave continues on his current pace then it will be a long day for the Packers secondary.
Broncos @ Dolphins: Broncos fans are just going through the motions right now, every week they seem to find new ways to lose. Sean Payton in his tenure with the Saints was known to be a slow starter and the Saints caught on the rest of the season. Right now, I'd say Denver has way more problems and the red hot Miami Dolphins is certainly one of them. Tua is showing that he can be the franchise guy for Miami, and a Broncos secondary without Justin Simmons will allow Tua and their high passing attack to take over the game. Denver must find a way to limt Tua's chances to hurt them, but after allowing Washington to comeback and win last week, it will be a tough pill to swallow for Broncos fans who had high hopes after trading for Sean Payton in the offseason if they start 0-3.
Chargers @ Vikings: Two teams who made the postseason last year are now looking to avoid an 0-3 to start. The Vikings can't stop turning the ball over despite Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson's best efforts to win. The Chargers always find a way to lose despite high expectations and if something doesn't change, Brandon Staley will probably become the first coach fired. Once again, the Chargers won't have Austin Ekeler(curse my Fantasy Team) and will be without former Viking Eric Kendricks. Obviously the concern for the Chargers is their inability to stop the pass, and I'd say Justin Jefferson is in for a big game because of that statistic. So this game is about who can do their worst to lose, do the Chargers keep Chargering or will the Vikings make some sloppy turnovers that somehow save Brandon Staley's job for at least a week?
Patriots @ Jets: Without Aaron Rodgers, the Jets have once again become the team who is a quarterback away from being a contender. As much as Robert Saleh supports Zach Wilson in the media, they have to find someone who can win games with and save their season from being a disaster. Oh and now their starting Left Tackle Duane Brown is out for the next four games, things continue to get worse for the Jets. On the flip side, you have the disaster that is Bill Belichick without Tom Brady, Bill O'Brien hasn't fixed Mac Jones' play and the Patriots are 0-2 for the first time since 2001 when Drew Bledsoe was Quarterback.
The Patriots have 14 straight wins over the Jets, without Rodgers it will be a tall order to win on Sunday with Zach Wilson, who has struggled against the Patriots defense in his short career, throwing two touchdowns to seven interceptions. Perhaps a banged up Patriots secondary can help turn things around for Wilson and the Jets offense. Rainy weather should see both of these teams look to establish the run but once again I expect the play of Mac Jones and Zach Wilson to determine who wins this game, this is a must win for both teams this week.
Bills @ Commanders: Much like the NFC South, the NFC East has a 6-2 record and that includes the Washington Commanders who stormed back to win over the Broncos, and that's after an improbable hail mary and a controversial two point conversion failure. This week, the Commanders will get their first true test against the Buffalo Bills who reminded everyone just who they were last week in a dominating win over the Raiders. With sloppy weather forecasted for this game, this is going to be a game won in the trenches and the Commanders may have the best defensive line in the NFL. The one weakness for Washington is their secondary which if the weather permits, Allen and Diggs may be able to get the passing game going and that would be a problem for Washington.
Be it there is a new owner, perhaps Eric Bieniemy is indeed able to work magic with Quarterbacks not named Pat Mahomes, as Sam Howell has certainly been progressing quite well early in the season. There is a lot of optimism in Washington as sold out stadiums is now the new norm and a win over a potential Super Bowl contender will put a lot more eyes on the Commanders as the season rolls on.
Texans @ Jaguars: It's a bad week to be a rookie quarterback in week three, luckily for Houston that CJ Stroud avoided missing this game after dealing with a shoulder issue earlier in the week. After struggling last week against the Chiefs defense, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars offense will play a depleted Texans defense missing their top Corner Derek Stingley, linebacker Denzel Perryman, and Safety Jalen Pitre. Look for Jacksonville to air it out and force CJ Stroud into a shootout. Stroud is showing lots of promise early on but it will be too much to overcome especially if the shoulder becomes an issue during the game.
4PM Late Window
Panthers @ Seahawks: Andy Dalton will get the start this week as Bryce Young deals with an ankle injury looking to lead Carolina to a huge road win against the Seattle Seahawks and the 12th man. Bryce Young's NFL career hasn't gotten off on the right foot, even got booed last week by the home crowd during the loss to the Saints on Monday Night. Carolina's offensive line is not doing him any favors, Adam Thielen isn't enough to help in the passing game, he has no supporting cast. Meanwhile, Geno Smith has all that and is doing quite well having a career resurgence out in Seattle following a comeback win against the Lions last week. After leading them to the postseason last year, Geno Smith and the Seahawks seem poised to once again prove doubters wrong and show who really won the Russell Wilson trade.
Bears @ Chiefs: Be it teams have figured out how to stop Mahomes, the Chiefs offense through the first two weeks haven't been as explosive as we are used to seeing. Holding Patrick Mahomes to just 17 points is a recipe for a win, most of the time. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, the Chiefs defense is looking really good. Holding Trevor Lawrence and the Jags to just nine points says a lot, and factor in they only allowed 14 points(take away the Mahomes Pick 6 in week one) against the Lions. Steve Spagnuolo may be on his way to another Head Coaching gig following this season if the defense keeps up it's current pace.
Chicago on the other hand? Well let's just say this season is not what Bears fans had in mind heading into the season, some were even saying Justin Fields would be an MVP candidate. They got Carolina to give up DJ Moore so they could give Fields a big time weapon down field, and everything has been a disaster offensively. Their defensive coordinator just stepped down, Justin Fields is blaming the coaches in the media, now we question whether Fields is the guy long term in Chicago. Or perhaps it is coaching, and they need to bring in an offensive minded coach that can potentially turn Fields' career around before it's too late.
Cowboys @ Cardinals: The Dallas Cowboys are 2-0 and have a defense that currently has a point differential of +60. They are on pace for a +510 point differential, a potential new regular season record. The Arizona Cardinals are a team that if Kyler Murray wasn't hurt, would be 2-0 right now making this a surprisingly early trap game for the Cowboys. Losing star CB Trevon Diggs to a torn ACL during practice on Thursday will hurt the rest of the season, and given that Josh Dobbs and the Cardinals offense put up 28 points against the Giants, it will be interesting to see if Arizona can exploit Diggs' absence throughout the game and match the Cowboys offense while keeping the game close and potentially pulling off the upset.
