2024 NFL: Previewing Week 3

Week 2 has ended, and there are 9 remaining undefeated teams.

Week 2 started last Thursday night with Miami dropping a home divisional game to the Bills, and losing Tua Tagovailoa to another concussion.

It was a pretty innocuous hit that he took, which I’d think would factor in to the young QB’s decision making process.
It’s an unfortunate reality that once a concussion has been sustained, you are more susceptible to concussions going forward.

If I was Tua, I’d want a 3rd party medical evaluation.
I’d want to speak with my family.
And then I’d make a decision.

He’s aware of the risks.
If he chooses to end his career, that’s understandable and you wish him the best.
If he chooses to continue, I think that’s also understandable, and you wish him the best.

Some will say the decision needs to be taken from him.
Reasonable people can disagree.

In the immediate, the Dolphins have placed him on IR, with him not being eligible to return until Week 8.

Week 2 Quick Hits

Bills 31 Dolphins 10 – Miami needed this game more than the Bills. Buffalo continues to dominate their divisional opponent. The Bills won by 3 TD’s in a game where Josh Allen threw for 139 yards.

Saints 44 Cowboys 19 – New Orleans blew out Carolina in Week 1, but that was the Panthers. More eye opening to see them rout the Cowboys in Dallas. 190 yards on the ground for the Saints. Great game from RB Alvin Kamara.

Bucs 20 Lions 16 – Tampa Bay stealing this game wasn’t shocking. But I would’ve expected Baker Mayfield to need to have a bigger game than he did. Detroit should realize Jared Goff getting 55 pass attempts is probably not ideal.

Packers 16 Colts 10 – Malik Willis was buried before the game in the press. That was a little unfair, considering he was a 3rd round pick in ’22. Meaning he had enough talent to go relatively high in a draft, and didn’t play a lot in his first two years. Most of his pass attempts were apparently around the line of scrimmage, but he did enough. That’s a nice win for Green Bay without Jordan Love.  The Colts giving up 261 yards on the ground, knowing they weren’t facing Love? That doesn’t bode well.

Jets 24 Titans 17 – 2023 1st round pick Will McDonald had 3 sacks for the Jets.

Vikings 23 49ers 17 – Minnesota beats SF in a game where they didn’t have Jordan Addison, and Justin Jefferson had to leave early. Okay.

Seahawks 23 Patriots 20 – Seattle wins in OT.  So a win, and another competitive showing for NE?  Seattle was without RB Kenneth Walker, but WR’s DK Metcalf and Jason Smith-Njigba combined for 22 catches, 246 yards, and a score.

Commanders 21 Giants 18 – New York sacked Jayden Daniels 5 times and still lost.

Chargers 26 Panthers 3 – JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards combined for 35 carries, 190 yards, and 1 TD.   Bryce Young is headed to bench.  Young hasn’t been good, but he’s surrounded by nothing.  Maybe they’re trying to protect him a bit vs. having him absorb beatings week after week. Can’t imagine that Young doesn’t reclaim the job from Andy Dalton at some point.  Justin Herbert suffered a leg injury, but x-rays were negative.

Browns 18 Jaguars 13 – Not to put everything on the QB, but if you were a Jags fan, you’d like Trevor Lawrence to be good enough to win this game in Year 4 of his career. He was 14 of 30.

Raiders 26 Ravens 23 – The Ravens had a 10 point 4th Quarter lead and couldn’t make it hold up vs. Vegas. That’s not good.  I think the Ravens will rebound. I still think Vegas is pretty bad. Brock Bowers has a great career ahead of him.

Cardinals 41 Rams 10 – LA blasted, and they suffered more injuries. I liked the Rams to get back to the playoffs when the year began. Can’t see that happening now. Arizona could have a solid offense.

Steelers 13 Broncos 6 – Bo Nix has 4 picks in his first two games. Javonte Williams has 40 yards on 19 carries so far.  Pittsburgh’s defense was good enough, and Denver’s offense inept enough, that the Steelers didn’t have to ask much from Justin Fields.

Chiefs 26 Bengals 25 – This was the game of the weekend. Cincinnati backed up their talk, and pushed KC… but KC won again.  Much of the early National talk coming out of this game is, “Watch out for Cincinnati, and bury the Ravens.”   Both Baltimore and Cincinnati are 0-2.  Both have losses to KC.  Both have losses to bad teams. In regards to this game, the Bengals obviously would have been helped with Tee Higgins. They also would have been helped by getting more from their running game (Zack Moss, 12 carries, 34 yards).  The Chiefs were down 25-23, and facing 4th and 16 with 48 seconds left. Some were quick to say the NFL wanted KC to win when the yellow flag came out, but that was obviously pass interference that had to be called. KC lost Isiah Pacheco to injury (6-8 weeks, fibula), and Hollywood Brown is now out for the year.

Texans 19 Bears 13 – Caleb Williams looked better in Week 2, but he was sacked 7 times, and had 2 picks. Houston has a lot of ways to beat you, and are going to pile up the wins in the AFC South.

Falcons 22 Eagles 21 – Atlanta better in Week 2, with Kurt Cousins being utilized better. More play action. Bijan Robinson with 97 yards on 14 carries.  Philadelphia loses at home, in a game where Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley combined for 180 rushing yards.

Week 3 Games

Thursday September 19th

New England at New York Jets – The Jets haven’t looked great. I think they’ll look better here in their first home game.  NE being competitive for a third straight game, on the road, on a short week would be surprising to me.

Sunday September 22nd 

New York Giants at Cleveland – The Browns winning in Jacksonville was a good win for them.  Watson apparently looked improved vs. Week 1. This should be a Cleveland win.

Green Bay at Tennessee – Have to expect that Love is out of this game for GB.  Willis figures to face his former team. The Titans know GB will be trying to run, and run often. Sometimes teams play up for a week after losing their guy. A collective rally. Usually that falls off a bit the following week. Is Will Levis good enough to at-least occasionally elevate his team?

Chicago at Indianapolis – After seeing what GB did to the Colts run defense, the Bears have to commit to running the ball until the Colts show they can slow it.  Establishing a ground game should be a priority for the Bears anyway, to give Williams some play action help. Everyone knows Anthony Richardson is raw. But at home, facing a raw QB on the other side, this is the type of game Indianapolis needs to win.

Houston at Minnesota –  Two undefeated teams.  Sam Darnold playing well so far. Who does he have available to throw to this week?

Philadelphia at New Orleans –  The Saints beat up the Cowboys in Dallas, and now get the NFC East’s other best team at home.  The Eagles going on the road after a short week.

LA Chargers at Pittsburgh – Two undefeated teams.  I prefer the ceiling of the Chargers with Herbert.  Herbert had a leg injury in the game Sunday.  Is he ready to play here vs. the strong Steelers defense? Will the Chargers be able to run against that defense?

Denver at Tampa Bay – The Bucs are well positioned to get to 3-0 here.

Carolina at Las Vegas –  The Panthers might look more competent with Dalton in the immediate, but will obviously still be horrible. The Raiders losing here after beating the Ravens in Baltimore would be perfectly on-brand… but just can’t see the Panthers winning.

Miami at Seattle – The Seahawks should get to 3-0.  With Tua now officially on IR, the Dolphins have added former Raven Tyler Huntley.  Huntley can manage games, but he’s not able to push the ball down the field. So the Dolphins speed will be running shorter routes.

Baltimore at Dallas – The 0-2 Ravens head to Dallas.  The Cowboys are coming off a beating from the Saints.  Outside of Sunday’s game, and the home playoff loss to Green Bay, Dallas has been very good at home the last couple of years. Dallas let up a ton of rushing yards vs. the Saints. The Ravens need to feed Henry (and Jackson).

San Francisco at LA Rams – This game is going to be ugly.  SF will travel well.  The Rams fans will be checked out with their numerous injuries.  SF will be ticked coming off of their loss at Minnesota. The Niners should roll.

Detroit at Arizona – A potential shootout in the desert?

Kansas City at Atlanta – Seems like an interesting game.  The Falcons will be coming off the short week, but a nice win vs. the Eagles.  KC of course has the head-to-head wins vs. the Ravens and Bengals. With the Chiefs now being without Pacheco, and Brown; maybe this is a week where the Chiefs can be caught?  If I’m Atlanta, I’m giving KC a bunch of Robinson, and looking to use Kyle Pitts like the Ravens used Isaiah Likely.

Monday September 23rd

Jacksonville at Buffalo – Bills expecting to get to 3-0, Jacksonville in danger of falling to 0-3.

Washington at Cincinnati – The Bengals got up their game vs. KC.  Is there a let down vs. Washington?  Have to think Joe Burrow is excited about facing the Commanders defense.