As we enter the third Sunday of the NFL season, there seems to be a lot at stake around the league. Some teams are going to be relying more on their stars than in the first two weeks in order to avoid early-season disaster. This means that their opponents will have to adjust accordingly.
This will be no more prevalent than in Seattle where the Seahawks look to avoid a 1-2 start against the team that they defeated in the Super Bowl last February. With Richard Sherman likely to shut down one quarter of the field against Emmanuel Sanders, the likelihood of Demaryius Thomas having a huge game on the opposite end of the field is real.
That’s just one of the factors that I decided to use when coming up with 10 NFL players set for huge Week 3 performances. You will see advanced statistics, metrics and a whole hot of other information compiled here to come up with the following projections.
1. DeMarco Murray, Running Back, Dallas Cowboys
Projected Statistics: 25 attempts, 155 yards, three receptions, 18 yards and two touchdowns
Courtesy of USA Today: Murray broke a single-game Cowboys rushing record against the Rams back in 2011.
Random stat of the week. Murray is averaging 114 yards and 1.3 touchdowns in four career games against the St. Louis Rams. Murray is also coming off a Week 2 performance that saw him put up 167 yards on 29 attempts against the Tennessee Titans. Considering that Dallas went away from the pass-first philosophy last week that had defined this team in the past and had success doing so, there is no reason to believe that Murray won’t see the necessary touches to have a huge game. This is magnified by the fact that St. Louis’ defense ranks 29th in the NFL against the run at 171 yards per game.
2. Russell Wilson, Quarterback, Seattle Seahawks
Projected Statistics: 20/31, 245 passing yards, seven attempts, 42 yards, three total touchdowns and zero interceptions
Make no mistake about it, this game is going to be much tougher for the defending champions than their destruction of the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl this past February. Seattle is coming off a pretty bad performance against San Diego last week and has its issues (of all places) in the secondary. That could lead to a higher-scoring affair than most people anticipate. It’s also important to note that Marshawn Lynch will be limited against a top-10 rush defense with a back injury.
For his part, Wilson has been deadly at home since he entered the NFL. He has thrown 33 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions for a ridiculous 112.7 rating in 17 career regular season home starts. Now going up against a Broncos pass defense that ranks 31st in the NFL, the expectation has to be that Wilson will have a rather big game.
3. Demaryius Thomas, Wide Receiver, Denver Broncos
Projected Statistics: Seven receptions, 115 yards and one touchdown
With Richard Sherman slated to go up against Emmanuel Sanders a vast majority of the time come Sunday, we have to expect that Thomas is going to eat and eat big time. For the most part, the Pro Bowler will be lining up opposite Byron Maxwell, who has been an absolute disaster in coverage this season. The young cornerback is allowing quarterbacks to complete nearly 77 percent of passes thrown in his direction through two games. Targeted frequently and with a ton of success, Maxwell will have big “X” on his back in this one.
Considering that Thomas has struggled to an extent connecting with Peyton Manning (50 percent completion rate) this season, we can expect both players to find more chemistry come Sunday. This is only magnified by the fact that Manning is likely going to avoid Sherman and target what has been a pretty bad right side of the Seattle’s defense as it relates to pass coverage.
4. Giovani Bernard, Running Back, Cincinnati Bengals
Projected Statistics: 20 attempts, 95 yards, five receptions, 55 yards and one touchdown
Courtesy of SI.com: Bernard is coming off an amazing performance.
This second-year running back tallied 169 total yards on a career-high 32 touches last week against the Atlanta Falcons. Now that BenJarvus Green-Ellis is no longer with the team, Bernard is being tasked with being the primary ball carrier in Cincinnati. And despite the addition of Jeremy Hill in May’s draft, this is an indication that he’s going to compile a ton of touches. Through two weeks, Bernard has acquired 68 percent of Cincinnati’s rush attempts. As a player that averaged 5.4 yards per touch last season, you can do the math. More good news here for Bengals’ fans. Bernard will be lining up against a Tennessee Titans rush defense that ranked in the bottom third of the NFL last season and is yielding an average of 143.5 yards per game this season.
5. Andre Johnson, Wide Receiver, Houston Texans
Projected Statistics: Eight receptions, 115 yards and one touchdown
More so than any receiver in the NFL, Johnson is relied on a great deal in the Texans passing game. He has tallied 42.6 percent of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s completions through two games. On an even more important level, Johnson has caught 80 percent of the passes thrown in his direction thus far this year. Those are both indicators that he’s set for another huge game against a New York Giants defense that is giving up a 64.4 completion rate to opposing receivers.
6. Philip Rivers, Quarterback, San Diego Chargers
Projected Statistics: 23/36, 265 yards, three touchdowns and one interception
Rivers is coming off one of the best performances of his stellar career against the single-best defense in the NFL last week at home versus Seattle. Accounting for 36 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 104.5 since the start of the 2013 campaign, Rivers is playing at the highest level of his career.
Now ready to travel to Western New York to take on a Buffalo Bills team that has been surprising thus far this season, some expect Rivers to have issues against an elite defensive line on the road. I just don’t envision Buffalo’s defense posing too much of an issue for this Pro Bowl quarterback. Jim Schwartz’ unit ranks 28th in the NFL against the pass. Expect the Rivers to Keenan Allen connection to take off on Sunday.
7. Andre Ellington, Running Back, Arizona Cardinals
Projected Statistics: 18 attempts, 80 yards, four receptions, 30 yards and one touchdown
Ellington may still be dealing with a foot injury that he suffered Week 1 against the San Diego Chargers, but he should be ready to go here. And considering that Arizona will be without Carson Palmer for this divisional matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, he’s going to need to produce at a high level. Going up against a much different 49ers defense last year, Ellington averaged 5.4 yards per touch in two games.
Now that San Francisco is without All-Pro linebacker and one of the best sideline-to-sideline players in the NFL in the form of NaVorro Bowman, Ellington should be able to both hit the edge on rush attempts and find the boundaries on passes out of the backfield. That’s going to be absolutely huge for Arizona in this one. With more of a focus on the run game, there is no reason to believe that Ellington can’t put up 100-plus yards on 20-plus touches in this one.
8. Michael Crabtree, Wide Receiver, San Francisco 49ers
Projected Statistics: Six receptions, 90 yards and one touchdown
In eight career games against the Arizona Cardinals, Crabtree is averaging 77.3 yards and about one touchdown. Those numbers increase substantially when he’s lining up against Patrick Peterson, who has allowed an 80 percent completion rate against Crabtree since entering the league. In the 18 targets that Peterson has seen thrown his way, the 49ers receiver has four touchdowns. Needless to say, Crabtree is Peterson’s kryptonite. Now that the talented receiver is 100 percent healthy and coming off a stellar performance against the Chicago Bears, we can expect him to continue dominating Peterson in the passing game. Arizona also has trouble covering the middle of the field, which means it will have to push coverage that way and leave Peterson one-on-one against Crabtree.
9. Kendall Wright, Wide Receiver, Tennessee Titans
Projected Statistics: Eight receptions, 100 yards and one touchdown
Courtesy of Fox Sports: Wright may not be flashy, but he’s a QB’s best friend.
Oddly enough, a lot of the talk out of Tennessee this season has been about second-year wide receiver Justin Hunter. And in complete honesty, I have no idea why. Hunter is catching just 35.7 percent of the passes thrown in his direction and is accumulating 12.5 percent of the team’s targets. Meanwhile, all Wright does is catch the darn football. Fresh off a 2013 campaign that saw him haul in over 70 percent of targeted passes, the former first-round pick is back at it again. He’s caught 75 percent of the passes thrown in his direction this season and represents 22.5 percent of the team’s receptions. Now going up against a Cincinnati Bengals defense that ranks 27th in the NFL against the pass, look for Wright to have another big game.
10. Cordarrelle Patterson, Wide Receiver, Minnesota Vikings
Projected Statistics: Four receptions, 70 yards, one touchdown, three attempts, 40 yards and zero touchdowns
First off, it’s important to note that the New Orleans Saints rank dead list in the NFL in pass defense through two games. Their starting cornerbacks are also allowing a combined 74 percent completion rate to opposing wide receivers. Those are some disastrous numbers right there. For his part, Patterson acts like the big-play receiver that Minnesota drafted him to be in 2013. Including his 15 career rush attempts, Patterson is averaging 12.2 yards per touch. This doesn’t even take into account his amazing ability in the return game. Considering that the Saints are in must-win mode, we can expect them to put this game on Drew Brees’ throwing arm. If so, look for a higher-scoring affair. That only plays into what Patterson does so well.
Photo: USA Today