The story of the first two weeks of the NFL season has been defense. Scoring is down, passing stats are way down, and some folks are having a hard tome dealing with the way defenses have adapted to modern offenses. The question, of course, is how long will that continue and at what point will offenses find the counters to what defenses have done to slow them down.
That’s dependent on team and talent, especially on the offensive line where I think many of the league-wide problems start. If you can’t protect (especially against four-man rushes), you can’t throw down the field, and if your line isn’t a strength, you won’t be effective running the ball even against lighter boxes. The good news is, line play tends to improve as the season goes on (pending health) as groups get more comfortable with one another and build the continuity and chemistry needed to deal with the quality of defensive fronts in the NFL today.
With that in mind, Week 3 will be fascinating to see if some teams can start getting themselves out of the mud, especially teams we thought were going to be real factors as Super Bowl contenders prior to the season. Here, we’re taking a look at the Week 3 slate to highlight the games we’ll be keeping an eye on as some teams already find themselves facing a bit of desperation.
Primetime Game of the Week: Jaguars at Bills (Monday 9/23, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The best games of the week on paper are not part of the primetime slate in Week 3, but of the four options (it’s a MNF doubleheader this week) I’m most intrigued by Jags-Bills. We just saw Buffalo demolish the Dolphins in Miami, but that’s become a trend for the Bills against their divisional foes. Jacksonville, meanwhile, is inventing ways to lose games, having blown a huge lead to Miami and then refused to score points against the Browns despite Cleveland’s best efforts to give them the game. This game will be interesting almost no matter the outcome, because we’ll either see the Jaguars finally put it together offensively for four quarters or we will see Doug Pederson’s seat heat up in real time.
Sunday Funday Game of the Week: Texans at Vikings (Sunday 9/22, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS) and Ravens at Cowboys (Sunday 9/22, 4:25 p.m. ET, FOX)
This is the best Sunday afternoon slate of the early season, with a ton of interesting games. I couldn’t pick just one here, so I’m rolling with a game in the early and late window on Sunday. The Vikings showed they’re the real deal with a win over San Francisco last week and now welcome Houston into town in a battle of 2-0 teams. The Texans did horrible things to Caleb Williams on Sunday night defensively, but their offense couldn’t finish drives and kept the Bears in the game until extremely late in the fourth quarter. They’ll need to tighten up offensively against a feisty Minnesota defense, while the Vikings will face another stiff test as an offense going up against this Texans D. This has a chance to be an absolute treat and we should learn a lot about both squads.
The national game of the week on FOX has a much more desperate vibe than Texans-Vikings. The Ravens badly need a win to avoid an 0-3 start after an inexplicable loss to the Raiders at home on Sunday. The Baltimore offense has not really gotten out of first gear yet, and will need their best game of the season here. The Cowboys, meanwhile, got lit up by the Saints last week and very quickly lost any shine they had from beating down the Browns in Week 1. Whichever team loses this game is going to be the focal point of every TV and radio talk show next week, and we don’t often get a matchup between expected contenders that will be this desperate for a win in Week 3, so it ought to be tense and fun to watch.
Under the Radar Banger: Eagles at Saints (Sunday 9/22, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX)
Are the Saints just the best offense in football? Everyone kind of shrugged off their Week 1 performance on account of playing Carolina, but after dismantling the Dallas defense, they have the league’s full attention. Now they head to Philly to face an Eagles team that is coming off a pretty embarrassing loss on Monday Night Football to the Falcons, giving up a late TD march to Kirk Cousins and company with almost no resistance in the last two minutes. The Eagles pass rush has not shown up as expected, and if they can’t get to Derek Carr, he and the Saints have shown they can light it up.
Who Won The MVP Last Week: Marvin Harrison Jr.
The top receiver taken in the Draft needed a week to get his feet underneath him, but the former Ohio State standout showed why he was considered a future All-Pro coming into the league in Week 2 when he caught 4 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinals torched the Rams to improve to 1-1. While the MVP has become a QB award, the best passing performance last week came from Kyler Murray and half of his passing production went to Harrison, so we want to highlight the young star receiver who showcased all his talents as a route-runner, pass catcher, and even improvisor down the field.
Best Bet (0-2): Chargers vs. Steelers UNDER 35.5
Look, it’s not been a good start in this space (or over in Winners), so it’s time to get back to what I know which is Unders. Neither the Chargers nor the Steelers have played in a game that’s reached 35 points this season and yet both are 2-0 –Pittsburgh hasn’t even been involved in a game that’s touched 30. These teams are not here to throw the ball around the yard or run tempo or do any of that Mickey Mouse nonsense. They are here to see how many tight ends we can fit into a formation and run the dang ball. It’s the lowest total on the board this week and I don’t think it’s low enough. Give me the Under and let’s watch some proper football.