Not to mention the quarterback, starting running back, and starting tight end missed most of or all of the preseason and never formed a rapport with their teammates. Week 3 comes with an almost-elimination game against the Buccaneers, who showed signs of life after their opening-week disaster.
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The Cowboys started the season with sky high expectations, but their first two victories came along with painful loses. Remember, they’ve yet to play a home game.
Jets at Eagles (-2): OK, I’m a believer in the J-E-T-S after their domination of the Colts, their second consecutive defensive dismantling of the season.
Then again, they opened the year with two road games against two good teams, they will likely win seven or eight games at home, and it’s not very hard to imagine them getting from there to 10 or 11 wins and the playoffs.
Ravens, as solid of an National Football League franchise as you can find and another Super Bowl contender. Their excellent offensive line should be able to keep Brandon Weeden on his feet and Dallas on the winning side. Plus, WR Julio Jones has a great connection with QB Matt Ryan and they look unstoppable at times. We’d even go a step further and say the game was heading in that direction before the Hyde injury. But somehow this new reality doesn’t feel catastrophic. But that’s just they’re appearance on paper. But they have a good chance to win when they visit the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, and they are getting more than a field goal in a game that’s essentially a tossup. Rex Ryan can put some serious pressure on the fourth-year quarterback with his defensive lineman, and it wouldn’t be stunning to see Stephon Gilmore draped all over Jarvis Landry for most of the afternoon. No one knew what to expect, but everyone liked what they saw on the field for the first 2 weeks. By itself that wouldn’t be the worst news. In Bills we believe. The Seahawks have Kam Chancellor back and are itching to take out their frustration on someone.
GROUNDED JETS?: Cornerback Darrelle Revis didn’t practice Wednesday and was limited Thursday with what the team said was a groin injury, and his status was uncertain for the game. For the record Cutler and a great defense lead Chicago to the NFC Title game but have not done anything since. Through two weeks, the Patriots, Broncos and Packers are a combined 6-0 and again look to be the class of the NFL. He has vowed to be ready to face the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Surely he recognizes how critical this game is for his team. The Jets’ first two opponents have combind for two touchdowns and 10 turnovers. The team offense has the same amount of problems.
The Colts and Seahawks are primed to right their ships in Week 3, facing the Titans and Bears respectively, both of which finished as bottom-10 passing and rushing defenses in 2014. The Seahawks are 0-2 after tough losses in St. Louis and Green Bay. But that’s not exactly the case. After a home game with the Miami Dolphins, there are road trips to New England and Indianapolis. Their stock continues to rise as many start to wonder if they can give the Patriots a test in the AFC. In the following offseason, the Broncos parted ways with head coach John Fox and brought in Gary Kubiak, who pledged to strengthen the team defense and running game, in order to relieve his aging quarterback.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens-The Bengals had an impressive showing in their win over the Chargers last week. But we’re not gonna give up. Still Bengals have more explosive power and in the last season opener they beat Ravens on their own turf so we like Bengals with a +2.5 handicap more. The action gets under way with a clash between the Redskins and Giants on Thursday Night Football.
The New England Patriots have achieved the feat twice after slow starts. The Lions’ NFC North rival Chicago Bears also are 0-2, as are the Houston Texans, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints. Tyrod Taylor and the offense looked seriously lacking, and Sunday’s game against the Dolphins should tell us a lot about them.
They started 0-2 past year and still wound up with 11 wins, and there’s plenty of room for error in the awful AFC South. Jacksonville, Tennessee and Houston aren’t winning this division.
San Diego Chargers @ Minnesota Vikings: AP showed last week that he can still run the ball, but he did fumble 4 times in the process.
When Derek Carr was in for the Oakland Raiders in Week 1, he completed 58.3 percent of his passes, averaged 5.08 yards per pass and had a QBR of 34.4. By the way, I think Johnny Manziel should be the Browns QB, but they will still win with Josh McCown.
This game is huge for me because I’m a Rams fan while my brother, brother-in-law and one of my best friends are Steelers fans. Pittsburgh put up 43 points against a team that didn’t allow a touchdown in Week 1, and now that Le’Veon Bell is returning from his suspension, the Steelers might have the best offense in football.
The 49ers have won four of the past six games straight-up against the Cardinals in Arizona.
The Cardinals are better than I thought. Generally, 0-2 starts result in a wildcard berth, with 12 of the 24 teams reaching the first round of the playoffs. The Colts are pushed into a corner and they must win. You can’t count beating a Lions team that is probably one of the worst in the league as a good thing. After last year’s loss to the Patriots, head coach Pete Carroll’s squad will be looking for revenge. Carolina always plays the Saints tough and has won four of the last six meetings. Will the mighty Colts and Andrew Luck fall to 0-3 to start the season? The Lions’ yet disappointing performance should encourage the Denver players.
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Kansas City Chiefs (1-1) at (-7.5) Green Bay Packers (2-0), 8:30 p.m.
