We will be looking into the entire slate of Week 3 games and do our best to come up with a reasonable prediction, based on the latest information of injuries, roster moves and early trends that are developing from the reasonably smaller sample size of information gleaned from two weeks of play.
By the way, this article is not intended for betting purposes. What you choose to do with the following information, is entirely up to you. But, for what it is worth, I called the Buffalo Bills upset of Kansas City in Week 1, as well as the Bills defeating the Oakland Raiders in Week 2.
Can I make it three in a row for Buffalo? Let's find out.
San Francisco 49ers (1-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)
It is probably going to be hard for some people to accept that the winner of the Cincinnati Bengals versus San Francisco 49ers will actually have a winning record of 2-1 after three weeks, but that is the reality of this situation. Both of these teams struggled in 2010, and both teams have struggled with their quarterback situation, for different reasons.
Andy Dalton came back from an injury to his wrist to throw for over 300 yards against the Denver Broncos in a loss last week. Rookie receiver A.J. Green had 10 catches for 124 yards, so this rookie duo should be hooking up for many other big days as their careers unfold. Dalton will have to be careful when throwing the ball towards Bengals corner Tramaine Brock, who is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with two.
The 49ers are coming off a heartbreaking loss in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys last week. David Akers nailed a 55-yard field goal to put the 49ers up 24-14 with 11:00 minutes left in the game, but they couldn't hold on, asTony Romoled the Cowboys on a dramatic comeback to force overtime, where the Cowboys eventually won it.
So far in 2011, the 49ers have the best run defense in the NFL, while the Bengals are an overall top 10 defense. As stingy as the 49ers are in giving up yards on the ground, they are surrendering about 300 yards per game in the air, which is 100 less than the Bengals do. The Bengals have yet to turn the ball over so far, so for those reasons, and since they are playing at home, I like the Bengals in a close one.
The Miami Dolphins hosted the Cleveland Browns in 2010, and that game resulted in a 13-10 Browns victory. This year, the Dolphins travel to Cleveland. It is hard to tell if the Dolphins will be a better road team in 2011 like they were in 2010, because they haven't played on the road before this year. You may recall the Dolphins had the strange home record of 1-7 in 2010, and they have already dropped their first two home games of 2011.
The Dolphins did give a very good strong performance to New England to open the season, only to fall short to the record setting performance ofTom Brady. The Browns meanwhile were upset by the Cincinnati Bengals to open the year. At least the Browns recovered in Week 2 to defeat the Indianapolis Colts, while the Dolphins lost to the Houston Texans.
The Browns continue to feed the rock to Peyton Hillis, who is third in the NFL with 44 rushes so far. With that said, every facet of the Browns offense is in the bottom third of the league, so the Dolphins defense, which is ranked dead last overall in the NFL, catches a break here.
On the other hand, the Browns have the sixth-best overall defense in the NFL, and they are facing the 10th-best overall offense in Miami, so something has to give. After throwing for 400-plus against the Patriots in the season opener, Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne came back to earth with a 170 passing yards against the Texans.
How well Browns corner Joe Haden is able to contain Dolphins wide receiverBrandon Marshallwill go a long way towards determining this game. I think the Dolphins finally win their first game.
TheTim Tebowshow travels to Tennessee, and maybe it is a good thing to go on the road, so the home crowd will stop calling endlessly for Tebow. It is hard to even know what Tebow is these days. Is he a starting QB, a situational Wildcat offense QB, the No. 3 QB or an emergency wide receiver? If there is anyone suffering an identity crisis in the NFL this year, it is Tebow.
Well, at least he gets to play a game in the South, so there will be some Tebow followers in attendance. The Titans don't have to worry about their quarterback, asMatt Hasselbeckhas been just fine, thank you. Hasselbeck is averaging 311 yards per game, so he is fitting in very well to the Titans offense and glad that he escaped Seattle.
Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt has been picking up the slack for Chris Johnson, who is now earning big bucks but doesn't do much to show that he is really trying to earn it. So far, Johnson is averaging an anemic 2.3 yards per rush and is ranked 34th in the NFL in rushing. Can you imagine where he would be if he didn't stay in shape during his holdout? Kenny Britt is second in the NFL by averaging 135 yards in receptions per game. That is strong production.
Champ Bailey has a hamstring injury, while Brandon Lloyd has a groin injury. The Broncos can't afford to lose either player, and it is because of those issues that I am taking the home Titans this week. Not only that, but the Titans have the third best overall defense in the NFL this year, and the Broncos have turned the ball over five times already.
The undefeated Detroit Lions travel to face the winless Minnesota Vikings in a NFC North division contest. The Lions are now the proud owners of a six-game winning streak that has carried over from the 2010 season and are looking to stretch that to seven against the struggling Minnesota Vikings.
As far as these two teams are concerned, it appears that both of them have reversed their fortunes in the span of a two-year time period. The Vikings are headed down, while the Lions are on the rise.
Matthew Staffordhas been averaging 300 yards a game in the air, whileDonovan McNabbis averaging 134 yards a game. The Lions have yet to allow a sack this year, while the Vikings have given up four. The Lions have already created eight turnovers on defense, while the Vikings have created three turnovers. The Lions have the eighth-best offense while the Vikings are ranked 27th.
The Lions defense is ranked seventh overall, while the Vikings are at 21. Every facet of these teams tells me that the Lions are the better team. They have the momentum, but the Vikings are playing at home. I say it doesn't matter, I like the Lions to make it seven straight wins.
The Houston Texans are off to a fast start in the 2011 season, coming out of the gates with two wins, while the New Orleans Saints are sitting there at .500, as they beat the Chicago Bears in Week 2.
Texans running backs Arian Foster (hamstring) and Derrick Ward (ankle) are both nursing injuries, so the Texans may need to turn to Ben Tate and Steve Slaton to run the ball this week. Meanwhile, the Saints are still figuring out who to give the ball to the majority of the time, as rookie Mark Ingram is only averaging 3.4 yards per carry, while Pierre Thomas is averaging 5.1 yards per carry. The other running back, Darren Sproles, is excelling at catching the ball out of the backfield.
Through two weeks, the Texans have the best overall defense in the NFL. They also have the top-ranked pass defense, which is a dramatic change from just one season ago. The Texans hope that Jonathan Joseph will be able to get over his ankle injury to play this Sunday, because they will need him againstDrew Breesand his wide array of weapons.
I suspect that the Texans pass defense ranking will take a hit this weekend, as Brees should be filling up the dome with lots of passes. The Saints welcome back Will Smith this week from his suspension, so quarterback Matt Schaub should have some decent pressure placed on him this week. I see this game as a wild shootout, with lots of passing yards and lots of points. Great game for fantasy football leagues.
New York Giants (1-1) at Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)
I wonder if the New York Giants will punt the ball this Sunday to DeSean Jackson? Probably not. The Giants are coming off their victory on Monday Night Football over the St. Louis Rams, while the Philadelphia Eagles are recovering from their loss on Sunday Night Football to the Atlanta Falcons.
As everyone has heard by now, Eagles quarterbackMichael Vicksuffered a concussion in the game at Atlanta, so his availability will not be known until he attempts to pass his battery of league-mandated post-concussion tests to determine if he is fit to play. If Vick can't go, it appears that the only healthy QB is Mike Kafka, who came in against the Falcons and was very respectable in his performance.
If you watched the Monday night game, there wasEli Manningfloating a lazy pass towards the sidelines that got intercepted, but he settled down after that and did not have another pick in the game.
Last year, the Eagles swept the Giants, so the Giants have to be up for this game. The Giants were only two sacks short of tying for the most sacks in the NFL in 2010, so their pass rush will be a big factor against either Michael Vick or Mike Kafka. The Eagles also have a tough defensive line, as Trent Cole looked unstoppable Sunday night, with four tackles for a loss.
Eli Manning will have to account for Nnamdi Asomugha and be more careful with the ball. The prediction on this game is very much in limbo due to the health status of Michael Vick. Based on the whiplash effect I witnessed, my guess is that Vick will not start or play in the game. Because of that, I have the Giants winning.
My prediction : New York Giants 23 - Philadelphia 17
Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1) at Carolina Panthers (0-2)
To open up his NFL career with 400-yard passing performances in his first two games, rookie quarterback Cam Newton has proven that his detractors didn't have a clue as to how talented he was, myself included.
I didn't think he would be able to adapt to the pro game as quickly as he did. Sure, there were the bad throws that Green Bay lured him in to throwing that were intercepted, but I don't know of anyone that counted on this level of success so soon. Congratulations to both Newton and to the Panthers.
Regarding the game against Jacksonville, the Jaguars might as well turn the reigns over to Blaine Gabbert and let the two rookies battle it out to see which one of them will be first to win a 2011 start. That would make for a better story line, because the combined records of 1-3 is not that great to be excited about.
Believe it or not, Newton has energized the Panthers offense so much, that they are currently the No. 2 overall offense in the NFL. They have the second-best passing attack but are 29th in running the ball, and that will catch up with them sooner than later.
The Panthers defense is 26th overall and lost two key linebackers to the I.R. in consecutive weeks (Thomas Davis and Jon Benson), so the Panthers rush defense is probably looking quite good to Maurice Jones-Drew right about now.
This game looks like it will be the running of Jones-Drew versus the arm of Newton. if Gabbert does get the start, I think Newton will emerge as the winner due to already having two games under his belt. The Jaguars have the fifth-best defense in the NFL, but they have not been up against a quarterback as agile or unpredictable as Newton yet.
The Oakland Raiders had a tough week. They had a short week of practice after opening up the season on Monday Night Football and then had to travel through three time zones, only to blow an 18-point lead in the second half to the Buffalo Bills.
They played the game without their three top receivers and their tight end, but things are not all that bad. Jason Campbell had a monster game, and he discovered that if he throws the ball to rookie wide receiver Denarius Moore, that the kid will make a play on the ball.
Moore may have just elevated himself to become a regular starter for the rest of the year based on his performance in Buffalo. The secondary needs work, and the Raiders displayed atypical poise in the first half, until they started committing a number of penalties in the second half. What they still do well is run the ball, but the opponent this week, the New York Jets, are very good at shutting down the run.
The Jets will watch the game tape from the Bills game and will probably put Darrelle Revis on Moore, making Campbell throw the ball elsewhere. If the Jets are smart, they will see that a short, quick passing game like the Bills employed will cancel the Raiders strong pass rush that is generated by the defensive line. The Raiders failed to get a sack in Buffalo and don't think that went unnoticed by the Jets.
The Raiders are averaging 160 rushing yards a game, while the Jets are giving up just 88 yards on the ground. I think that Revis will shut down Moore, and the Jets defense will be too much for the Raiders.
The St. Louis Rams just dropped their Monday Night Football game to the New York Giants, so the Rams have yet to taste victory this season. They now face a tough task, as they have a short week to prepare for their next opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, who are coming off an ugly loss to the Tennessee Titans. Not exactly the recipe you want to subscribe to when you are about to face the Ravens.
Sam Bradfordthrew for over 300 yards in the loss to the New York Giants, but the Giants defense was able to get to him with their pressure. The Rams have been really missing the dynamic production of running back Steven Jackson, so they have not been able to attack teams like they would prefer.
The Ravens had a great opener against their arch-rival Pittsburgh Steelers, only to turn up a clunker against the Titans. So after two weeks, the Ravens have the 25th-best overall offense and the 22nd best overall defense. Not exactly playoff-like rankings. It i...
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