NFL 2019-20 Week 3 Predictions

Miami at Dallas - The Dolphins clearly need to play better. Many are accusing them of deliberately tanking, and that very well may be. However, that does not excuse allowing 102 points in their first two games, while scoring only 10 points total. Add those numbers up, and that means that they average 5 points per game, while allowing 51. Now, they take on the Dallas Cowboys, who look red hot at the moment. On top of it, this is in Big D! This will be Miami's first road game, and it is also not likely to be pretty. A trip to Dallas would be tough for anyone at the moment, but right now, the Dolphins are looking historically bad. They seem to have the worst defense in the league, certainly to this point in the season, anyway. And they very well may have the worst offense, too, although that is a bit less certain. Put that on the road against a team who's confidence is soaring, and who may feel are legitimate contenders in the NFC, and the picture does not look pretty for the Fins. Right now, it would be hard to predict not only a Dallas win, but likely another blowout win, at that. Not sure if it will be a historic level beat down like the two that Miami has already suffered, but I would not exactly bet against it at the moment, either. My pick: Dallas

N.Y. Jets at New England - Speaking of blowouts, the Jets have been outscored 40-3 since taking that early 16-0 lead up at Buffalo. They lost their starting quarterback, and then lost the backup, before losing their first home game in blowout fashion to the Browns. Now, they head up to New England, quite possibly the toughest place to play in the NFL, to take on the league's defending champions. Pretty grim scenario, and the outlook appears bleak for Gang Green. The team seems in disarray, and they are taking on a team that looks ready to make a very serious run at another championship. The Pats offense looks hot, averaging 38 points per game. And their defense looks great thus far, allowing 3 points total to this point in the season. Not sure that this game will be as ugly as the Pats-Dolphins game last weekend was, but I am also not sure that it will not be. Hard to predict anything but a Patriots blowout win, and impossible not to predict at least a win for the home team, even if they have an uncharacteristically bad day. Right now, yes, the Jets do look that bad. My prediction: New England

Cincinnati at Buffalo - Whenever these two teams meet, it gives me flashbacks to the great games that these two teams had with one another back in the eighties. They met twice in 1981, once in the regular season, and once in the playoffs. Ditto for 1988. The Bengals won each of those meetings, and advanced to the Super Bowl both of those seasons, ultimately losing to the 49ers each time. But the Bengals are nowhere near that level of play right now. They are 0-2, and played a horrendous game in getting blown out by San Francisco after a promising, albeit disappointing, loss to the Seahawks to open up the season. Meanwhile, the Bills look awesome and have to be flying high, after a comeback win against the Jets, followed by a blowout win at the Giants. The Bills finally enjoy their first home game, and that defense should be able to contain the Bengals. Meanwhile, Buffalo's offense looks fairly solid. Not the most explosive offense, but they have gotten the job done well enough to win their first two games, which is a solid accomplishment. This is a great chance for the Bills to keep pace with the Patriots early in the season - assuming that New England beats the Jets - and to put some cushion between themselves and the two bottom feeders in the AFC East, the Jets and especially the Dolphins. The Bills just look too good right now not to pick them. My prediction: Buffalo

Baltimore at Kansas City - This may be the first really big showdown between two hot teams this season. Both teams are undefeated at the moment. The Ravens specialize in tough defense, while the Chiefs have one of the most explosive offenses in the league, and possibly the most explosive. We all know that Arrowhead Stadium is a very tough place to play right now, and that is a big advantage for KC. The question is whether the Ravens can overcome that, and if their defense can keep that explosive Chiefs offense in check, at least enough to give the offense a chance to stay in the game and, ultimately, to win it. My guess is that the Chiefs offense, and the tough environment at Arrowhead prove too much. My pick: Kansas City  


Detroit at Philadelphia – The Lions should be 2-0. They should have beaten the Cardinals in the opening game, but at least they made up for it by producing an upset over the Chargers last week  Now, however, they play another tough one. This time, it is at Philadelphia, against a team that won the Super Bowl just a year and a half ago. The Lions have a decent defense, but they will need an exceptional day to keep the Eagles in check. And Philly, meanwhile, has a tough defense in their own right. They did not play too well last week, which is all the more reason why they want to remedy that and find a way to win it at home this time around. And I believe that they will win this one, too. My pick: Philadelphia  


Denver at Green Bay - Like with Minnesota and Oakland, this is a game of teams that met in the Super Bowl. That one was a memorable game that went in favor of the underdog Broncos. Denver will be underdogs again in this one, but unlike the 1997 Broncos, this Denver team just does not have the strengths necessary to dig deep enough to pull off a win at Lambeau Field. Aaron Rodgers can be too explosive, and his veteran leadership will be tough for the Broncos defense to contain. Meanwhile, the Packers defense looks very impressive, and Denver’s offense has not exactly been firing on all cylinders with their new quarterback, Joe Flacco. The Packers should be able to remain unbeaten after this one. My pick: Green Bay  

Oakland at Minnesota – The Vikings fell behind badly against the Packers early, when Green Bay took a 21-0 lead. But then Minnesota came back to make a serious run at winning the game. They did not, because in the end, 21 points proved to be just a little bit too much to overcome. At home against a weak team, and desperate not to drop a second straight, look for the Vikings defense to come up big, and for the running game to have their way against an Oakland defense that will probably have just a bit too much on their hands to be able to handle this and make much of a game of it. My pick: Minnesota  

Indianapolis at Atlanta – The Falcons came up big against the Eagles last week, right when they needed it the most. But they have another tough game this time around, as the Colts come to town. Indy seems to be playing well, and their offense has a decent quarterback who is still trying to gel with the offensive system. They have played well, but this will be a tough test for them, as Atlanta is not an easy place to play. The Falcons always seem to play particularly well at home, and their offense should really put the Colts defense to the test. Look for Matt Ryan to come up big, and for the Falcons to down the Colts. My pick: Atlanta  

N.Y. Giants at Tampa Bay – The Giants look really troubled right now. They made a switch at quarterback, but is Daniel Jones really ready for this? Tampa is coming off a solid win last week when they upset the Panthers in Carolina. Now, back at home against a Giants team that already appears like it is reeling this early in the season, it is hard to predict anything but a Tampa Bay victory. Hope that I am wrong, but it just seems like this one is headed towards a convincing Bucs victory against a weak and overmatched New York squad. My pick: Tampa Bay  

Carolina at Arizona – Both of these teams look bad right now. The Cardinals were widely considered a serious candidate to be the worst team in the league entering this season, while the Panthers have opened up the season looking surprisingly bad, losing both of their first two games. Right now, the Panthers still can recover, and they still have talent, despite the poor start. Arizona, meanwhile, has surprised some people with how well they have played to this point. They came back from way down to force a tie against the Lions in the season opener, and then played tough against the Ravens in Baltimore. So, I believe that the Cardinals can really challenge the Panthers, and perhaps even win a surprise. It would not shock me, since Carolina looks on the verge of disarray. However, I figure the Panthers are overdue for a win, and they should be able to beat the Cardinals, frankly. So while the Panthers look vulnerable and could lose, I figure that they should be able to put aside whatever problems and limitations that have plagued them to date, and win this game. My prediction: Carolina 

Houston at L.A. Chargers -  Two teams who both made it to the playoffs last year, and have realistic hopes of winning their division and making some noise in the playoffs. The Texans more or less gambled to win this season, while the Chargers have solid talent on both sides of the ball, and are one of the most complete teams in the league. That said, it was a disappointing loss for the Bolts last week in Denver. If they hope to make a leap and contend for a title this year, they need to win those kinds of games. But back at home, against a Texans team that has hardly looked particularly impressive to this point, it really is hard to go against the home team. My pick: L.A. Chargers

New Orleans at Seattle – The Seahawks are off to a hot start at 2-0. Meanwhile, the Saints struggled to beat Houston at home on the opening weekend, and then lost star quarterback Drew Brees for several weeks, before being blown out last weekend to the Rams. And they have to go to Seattle, which is not an easy place for an away team to play. It will be tough for the Saints offense to make proper adjustments without Brees at the helm, and especially against a tough Seattle defense. The Seahawks and their fans should be fired up, and this should prove a tough test for a vulnerable Saints defense going up against a potentially dangerous Seahawk offense led by Russell Wilson, who himself is now a seasoned veteran with significant experience. All in all, you have to like the home team’s chances. My pick: Seattle    

          

Pittsburgh at San Francisco – The 49ers look awesome so far, with two solid road wins on the East Coast (well, Cincy is not exactly the East Coast, but it was a good road win nonetheless). Now, they get to enjoy home field advantage for the first time this season, and they will face the winless and struggling Steelers, who appear on the verge of a precipice this season. Usually, you can rely on the black and gold to be a solid team, but this season could not have started off more disastrously for them. They were blown out by the Patriots in the season opener, although that was not exactly a shock. But then, they lost last weekend at home against the Seahawks, where they lost their starting quarterback for the season as well. Now, they are 0-2, and heading into a tough game all the way out on the West Coast, even if they are trying to stay on East Coast time for this game, still looking for their first win. Pittsburgh has started off 0-2 for the first time since the 2013 season. The Steelers defense has allowed an average of 30+ points per game, and their offense is not looking nearly as explosive as it has in recent seasons, to counter this. Against the 49ers, who are averaging 36 points per game while allowing, on average, merely 17 points per game, Pittsburgh will have their work cut out for them. They are surely feeing a bit desperate, but they at least have had a full week to try and work on their issues, and Mason Rudolph has had a week to try and gel with the offense and get more comfortable behind the helm. He did not play poorly in last week’s game, and there is already speculation that his replacing Roethlisberger might not be temporary at all. Still, even if he plays well, and if the Steelers defense steps it up, it might be asking a bit too much to expect them to actually win this game against one of the hottest teams in the league at the moment. San Fran has not seriously contended for the playoffs since the 2013 season, when they went to the NFC Championship Game, and they clearly are eying what would be an impressive 3-0 start. With the offense on fire, and with home field advantage, it all feels like a little bit too much for a Steelers team that seems in a state of disarray. My prediction: San Francisco

Sunday Night Football - L.A. Rams at Cleveland - Things are looking up right now for Cleveland. They entered the season with a lot of momentum and hype, which has not been the norm for Cleveland for quite some time. A lot of enthusiasm, and a second straight nationally televised game. Unfortunately, this will feature the Rams. Even with home field advantage, the Browns will have a much tougher time than they did against the Jets. It is certainly not impossible that the Browns can win this one, although Los Angeles has one of the best and most explosive offenses in the league, and a defense that seems to do the job fairly consistently. Plus, they have a good amount of experience, having enjoyed two straight division titles, and made a run to the Super Bowl last season. They come in as one of the hot teams in the league, and they likely need to reach 3-0 to keep pace with either the Niners or the Hawks, or possibly both. Hard to predict anything but a win for the Rams in this one. My pick: L.A. Rams

Monday Night Football - Chicago at Washington - Da Bears escaped with a win last week at Denver. Now, they go to the nation's capital for a Monday Night Game. Like last week, Chicago faces a winless team, although Washington will be a tough test. They are better than their 0-2 mark suggests. While the Bears have a tough defense, they clearly have limited capabilities on offense. That proved very costly in the game against the Packers to open the season up, and it almost cost them last week at Mile High. My guess is that it will cost them in this nationally televised game again this week, and that the rumblings about this among the Chicago faithful begins to grow much louder after this game. My pick: Washington