Top 10 matchups for Week 3 of the NFL season

Week 3 of the NFL season offers up what have to be considered tremendous individual matchups. This is no more apparent than at wide receiver, where some of the game’s top pass catchers will be taking on elite-level cover guys.

Games will also be won and lost in the trenches. Can Joe Staley keep his San Francisco 49ers quarterback upright against Cliff Avril and the Seattle Seahawks?

Will J.J. Watt make minced meat out of veteran New England Patriots left tackle Nate Solder?

These are among the top-10 matchups for Week 3 of the NFL season.

1. Odell Beckham Jr vs Josh Norman

We’ve all heard the war of words. We all remember just how much these two went at in their matchup last season. It got to the point that both players looked bad (watch here).

Now, with the Washington Redskins looking to avoid an 0-3 start against the undefeated New York Giants, things promise to be electric come Sunday afternoon at The Meadowlands.

Outside of what promises to be some clashes of ego on the field here, the in-game matchup is about as good as it gets.

Beckham Jr has caught 12 passes for 159 yards through two games. Not horrible numbers, but one has to believe that he’s set for one of those patented huge games we have seen from him during his still young career.

On the other hand, Norman has been the subject of conversation in his first two games with the Redskins. He hasn’t tailed the opposing team’s top receiver, Antonio Bryant and Dez Bryant, during this span.

That has some wondering why Washington actually paid Norman the big bucks. That’s also somewhat of a false narrative being thrown around. Norman did not follow top receivers around the field during his tenure in Carolina.

It’s in this that Washington is simply continuing what was successful for Norman with the Panthers.

Nonetheless, Pro Football Focus has Norman graded out as the top cover corner in the NFL through the first two weeks. He’s also going to be going up against OBJ more often than not come Sunday. The Skins are going to need a huge performance from him in order to avoid a 0-3 hole to start the season.

2. A.J. Green vs Aqib Talib

This is just one of many top-end matchups pitting wide receivers against corners. It represents two of the best players at their position in the entire NFL. Two players that are performing at a high level early on during the 2016 season.

Talib’s drama-filled offseason gave way to a stellar performance against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Not only did the Pro Bowler record a pick-six off Andrew Luck (watch here), he’s allowed a sub 40 percent completion rate thus far on the season.

On the other side of the field, Green is coming off a disastrous performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He caught just 2-of-8 passes thrown in his direction for an average of less than four yards per target. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Andy Dalton is extremely dependent on Green in the Cincinnati Bengals’ passing attack.

It’s also not a coincidence that Cincinnati’s success as a team depends a great deal on production from Green. In the 10 games that he’s put up 100-plus receiving yards since the start of the 2014 season, Cincinnati boasts an 8-2 record. Yeah, this is one tremendously huge matchup for both sides.

3. Nate Solder vs J.J. Watt

With rookie fourth-round pick Jacoby Brissett potentially under center for the New England Patriots, one has to think that Watt is licking his chops. No, seriously. Is he literally in the bathroom looking in the mirror while licking his chops? We wouldn’t put it past the game’s best defensive player.

The good news for Brissett (or Jimmy Garoppolo) is that whoever is under center will have a veteran protecting his blindside in this one. Solder returned to action last week after missing the season opener to injury. This comes after he missed the final 12 games of the 2015 campaign to torn biceps.

We know very well New England will have to send help Solder’s way in this game. There’s not a single left tackle in the NFL that can handle Watt in one-on-one situations. That’s evident. Though, it’s going to be important for the veteran to hold up when help isn’t moved to his side. Should that fail to happen, the Pats will be in for a long night.

4. Joe Staley vs Cliff Avril

It’s an oldie, but a goodie. These two have gone at it many times over the seasons, starting when Avril was a member of the Detroit Lions during the entire Jim Schwartz-Jim Harbaugh feud.

Yes, that seems like ages ago. And despite their advanced ages, these two remain the best at what they do.

With five consecutive Pro Bowl nods under his belt, the 32-year-old Staley has proven himself to be an elite pass-protecting left tackle. Thus far this season, he’s allowed a grand total of one pressure and zero sacks in 70-plus quarterback drop backs. That’s an insane figure right there.

For his part, Avril has gotten to the quarterback once in two games while acting as one of the most-productive pass-rushing 4-3 defensive ends during that span.

In order for Blaine Gabbert to have any chance, he’s going to need elite-level protection up front. Even then, it’s hard to imagine him doing much of anything against the Seahawks in Seattle. If said protection breaks down, those chances become pretty much obsolete.

5. Brandin Cooks vs Desmond Trufant

Man, this is going to be one of those matchups that define the NFC South for the next 5-10 years. There are no two young players that are better at their positions than these rivals.

Coming off a 2015 campaign that saw him catch 84 passes for 1,138 yards and nine scores, Cooks has picked it up even more in his third season. He’s caught 13-of-18 passes thrown in his direction for 211 yards and two scores in as many games.

That average of 11.7 yards per target is elite-level stuff. For comparison’s sake, Antonio Brown is averaging 7.5 yards per target on the season.

Cooks will have to continue performing at this level against one of the top cover guys in the NFL if he wants to help the New Orleans Saints win their first game of the season.

Including last week against Amari Cooper and the Oakland Raiders, Trufant has allowed five completions on 11 targets for less than 60 yards. In fact, quarterbacks are averaging 5.3 yards per target against him on the year. That’s insane.

6. New England Patriots passing attack vs Houston Texans pass defense

We covered the impact J.J. Watt is going to have on this game. And it’s going to be right there for us to watch come Thursday night. That much is already known.

Though, what we should really be looking at is how the Texans decided to defend New England with one of two inexperienced quarterbacks under center. One has to believe that they will stack the box against the run, leaving their corners out on one-on-one against an underrated group of Pats receivers.

That’s where the likes of Kareem Jackson, Johnathan Joseph and Kevin Johnson come into play here. Houston normally plays off the line in coverage, but may decide to go with more of a bump and run version this week.

If so, that will give the likes of Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan an opportunity to beat them in one-on-one coverage. That trio has caught 73 percent of the 40 balls thrown in their direction through two games.

7. Taylor Decker vs Clay Matthews

The old man versus the wide-eyed rookie. Two teams licking their wounds after disappointing Week 2 losses. The old black and blue division. All this set to take place at Lambeau Field come Sunday afternoon.

With both teams at 1-1 on the season, there’s somewhat of an urgency to get back on the winning track this week. We can talk about Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers under we’re blue in the face.

We can also discuss just how much the former has struggled in Green Bay throughout his career. That’s more than fine, but Stafford is going to need help up front in order to help Detroit win this one.

Last week saw the much-maligned signal caller sacked four times, with three of those take downs coming from the left side of the line. That’s the post Decker, a rookie first-round pick from Ohio State, mans.

Now that Matthews has moved to his natural EDGE rusher position, Green Bay is going to demand that he gets back to his old ways, which included consistent double-digit sack performances. Through two games, Matthews has accumulated two sacks, two quarterback hits and a half dozen pressures.

He has an opportunity to continue that momentum against an inexperienced division rival on Sunday. If so, Green Bay should come out ahead here.

8. Alex Boone vs Kawann Short

This is trench warefare at its best. Boone, in just his first season in Minnesota, has struggled to an extent opening up holds along the interior of the offensive line. Though, he remains one of the top pass-protecting guards in the NFL. That’s going to have to show itself against one of the best interior pass rushers in the league.

Short absolutely dominated the interior of the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive line last week. It didn’t result in quarterback sacks or him filling up the stat sheet, but the Pro Bowler made his presence known more often than not.

In order for Sam Bradford to pick up where he left off last week in his Vikings debut, he’s going to need protection along the interior of the line. That’s the issue we’ve seen plague Bradford in what has been a pedestrian career thus far.

Even if Boone fails to do much in the run game, he’s going to have to contain Short’s elite-level pass-rushing ability. That’s the biggest key here.

9. Sammy Watkins vs Patrick Peterson

We wanted to cover just how well the Buffalo Bills’ defense matches up against the Arizona Cardinals’ offense. We then decided that it was time to fork over the synthetic bath salts and touch back down in reality.

Instead, let’s go with what should be an intriguing matchup within the broader game. Despite consistently dealing with a foot injury, Watkins has played in each of Buffalo’s first two games. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had much to show for it.

He’s caught just 6-of-11 balls for 63 yards during that span. Watkins will also be going up against one of the game’s greats.

Peterson did yield six receptions and a touchdown to Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans last week. But that came on a ridiculous 17 targets, meaning that Jameis Winston averaged just a hair over four yards when targeting Peterson.

This came on the heels of the Pro Bowler absolutely dominating the New England Patriots in Week 1.

As much as we are going to want to focus on Buffalo’s defense, its offense needs to be consistent. Should that fail to happen, the Bills will find themselves in a 0-3 hole to start the season.

10. Marcus Mariota vs Derek Carr

If the Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders had their druthers, this would be the next in a long line of great inter-conference quarterback battles.

While it’s not yet known whether this will actually be the case, it’s going to be darn intriguing to watch these two young signal callers go up against one another come Sunday.

Fresh off an impressive win over Detroit, the Titans are looking to get over .500 for the first time this late in the season since 2013. Offensively, they have one heck of a favorable matchup here.

Oakland has yielded an absurd 131.4 rating to opposing quarterbacks through two games. It’s also giving up an 80-plus catch rate to receivers during this span. It’s in this that Super Mario should have a field day.

If that’s the case, Carr and the Raiders’ offense must continue to do their part. Here’s a unit that ranks third in the NFL in scoring at over 31 points per game.

For his part, Carr leads the NFL in completions and hasn’t thrown an interception in 83 pass attempts. He’s also completing 70 percent of his passes with four touchdowns.

We could definitely be looking at a high-scoring affair in the first outing between these two former college stars. Prepare to be entertained.