Top storyline for each Week 3 NFL game

Week 3 of the NFL season pretty much represents a must win for a lot of teams out there. The chances of an 0-3 squad making the playoffs are about as remote as Tim Tebow catching on with a 53-man roster and earning the league’s MVP this season. Since 1990, two percent of the teams that have entered Week 4 without a win have earned a trip to the second season.

That makes this week’s games huge for the likes of the Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, all of whom entered the year with championship aspirations.

Speaking of the Eagles, they will be tasked with taking on a New York Jets team that’s riding high after dismantling the Colts in Indianapolis on Monday Night Football. That’s one of the biggest storylines heading into Week 3.

In what has been a weekly article here, let’s check in on the top storyline for each Week 3 NFL game.

Washington Redskins at New York Giants: Will the Giants early-season struggles continue?

This is really starting to sound like a broken record. Since the start of the 2012 season, the Giants are 4-10 in the month of September. That’s one of the primary reasons they haven’t made the playoffs since winning the Super Bowl following the 2011 campaign. Now 0-2 on the season, Tom Coughlin’s squad finds itself in a must-win situation against a vastly improved Washington team.

It’s going to be an interesting dynamic on Thursday Night Football. Washington has gone completely away from its read-option scheme under Robert Griffin III to a power-running style with pocket quarterback Kirk Cousins. It has resulted in a No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL over the first two weeks at 171.5 yards per game.

Meanwhile, a much-maligned Giants defense comes into this game with the third-ranked rushing unit in the NFL at under 70 yards per outing. Whoever wins this battle will come out on top in what promises to be a physical affair.

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens: Must win for the home team in the AFC North race

If at all possible, the Ravens want to avoid falling into a three-game deficit in one of the best divisions in football just three weeks into the season. Just to put this into context, Baltimore would have to see Cincinnati finish under .500 for the remainder of the season and go 9-4 itself in order to grab the division title should it lose on Sunday. That’s obviously not a likely scenario, and it has to be on the mind of the coaching staff heading into this all-important early-season divisional game.

For the Ravens, it’s all about getting back to the basics on defense. That unit yielded 27 first downs and 448 total yards in a disappointing Week 2 loss to the Oakland Raiders. Without Terrell Suggs, the Ravens are going to have to find a way to put pressure on a quarterback in Andy Dalton who has yet to be sacked a single time this season.

That’s one of the primary reasons he has thrown five touchdowns without an interception in two games. Put pressure on Dalton, and it’s likely he will turn the ball over a couple times.

Oakland Raiders at Cleveland Browns: One game vital to direction of both teams moving forward

At 1-1, both Oakland and Cleveland have an opportunity here. That opportunity will lead one team to a winning record heading into Week 4. The last time either team boasted a winning record through three weeks was back in 2011. And while it might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, these are two squads seemingly headed in the right direction. A confidence-building early-season win would be big for both these perennial bottom feeders.

The Raiders are coming off one of their best offensive performances in a few years. Led by Derek Carr’s 351 passing yards and three scores, Oakland tallied four offensive touchdowns in an impressive 37-33 win over Baltimore last week.

Unfortunately for Carr and Co., they are going up against an elite Browns pass defense that is yielding less than 200 yards per game this year. It will be interesting to see if they can continue their momentum from last week.

Pretty much the ugly stepsister of the AFC North, Cleveland has a chance to be closer to first place than last place when Week 3 draws to a conclusion. Despite throwing two touchdowns and leading his team to its first win of the season last week, Johnny Manziel will take a back seat to Josh McCown on Sunday.

Returning from a concussion he suffered in the season opener, the veteran is going to have to perform at a high level against a bad Raiders pass defense if the Browns are going to come out on top.

New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers: The health of Drew Brees

As mired in secrecy as the papal conclave, we are just waiting for the white smoke to come pouring out of the Bayou in order to acquire an understanding of just how serious Brees’ shoulder injury is.

An MRI immediately following the injury Brees suffered in New Orleans’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday revealed that he had no structural damage. However, the future Hall of Fame quarterback is seeking a second opinion — an indication that it might be more serious than the Saints want to let on.

As reported by ESPN’s Mike Triplett:

“Brees will get a second opinion from orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews with another look at the MRI, and his availability will be determined by how the injury responds to treatment over the next few days, the sources said.”

At 0-2 on the season, New Orleans is in danger of losing its first three games for the first time since starting the 2012 campaign with four consecutive defeats. And while there’s a decent chance 10 wins can nab the NFC South title this season, New Orleans just doesn’t have the look of a playoff team. It’s now up to the Saints to prove that this isn’t the case moving forward in 2015. It will either start or end Week 3 against a darn good Carolina defense.

Atlanta Falcons at Dallas Cowboys: The backups in Big D

Brandon Weeden will get the start this week for Dallas. Not only that, he’s slated to be under center until at least Week 11 with Tony Romo being placed on short-term injured reserve on Tuesday. The question here becomes whether Weeden can even lead the Cowboys to a winning record in Romo’s absence. That’s going to be difficult considering star wide receiver Dez Bryant is also going to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.

Add in the injury to Jason Witten, whose status for Sunday is uncertain, and the Cowboys are going to have to dig deep to tread water over the short term. In reality, the Cowboys probably couldn’t have picked a worst game to give Weeden his first start of the year. Led by the Matt Ryan-to-Julio Jones connection, Atlanta has an ability to put up a ton of points on the offensive side of the ball.

Unless Dallas can continue its surprisingly good defensive performance in its biggest test of the season thus far, it will likely end Sunday with a 2-1 record. After all, there is just too much missing from this team’s offense for it to even boast the remotest of chances to outscore the Falcons in a shootout.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Houston Texans: What is Bill O’Brien’s plan?

Seriously, what is it? Arian Foster is not yet ready to return. Meanwhile, the decision to replace Brian Hoyer with Ryan Mallett didn’t necessarily work out in a 24-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers last week. Houston needs to decide whether it wants to believe it has a remote chance at the playoffs or simply to give its young players a chance to gain valuable experience. And in reality, that starts at the quarterback position.

O’Brien either needs to stick with Mallett under center or give the team back to Hoyer. He can’t be switching up quarterbacks at the rapid pace we have seen since he took the Texans head coaching job prior to last season. If this means keeping Mallett under center while the Texans continue to struggle finding a way to win, then so be it. Hoyer isn’t the long-term solution, and this team is going nowhere fast.

This isn’t to say the Texans should tank for a quarterback. Rather, it’s an indication that they need to know what they have in Mallett before the 2015 season draws to a conclusion. Giving that up for the sake of winning a few games makes no sense at this point.

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans: Andrew Luck’s struggles

By now, I am sure you know the storyline here. Luck has more turnovers since the start of last season than any other quarterback in the NFL. Through just two games this year, the preseason MVP candidate has turned the ball over a whopping six times. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the odds of a team winning dwindles significantly with its quarterback turning the ball over at that rate.

The interesting thing here is that it’s not necessarily a lack of pass protection. While the Colts offensive line is far from the best in the NFL, it has allowed Luck to get sacked a total of two times in as many games. Instead, it’s all about the fourth-year quarterback failing to make the right read and throwing into traffic. That coupled with Colts receivers struggling to get open has led to the team putting up an average of 10.5 points per game this season, the worst mark in the NFL.

The good news here is that Indianapolis ventures into the AFC South for the first time this season. Luck has won 13 consecutive games within the division dating back to his rookie campaign.

Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots: Tom Brady’s fiery-hot start

Let’s play a game of extrapolation here. Through two games, Brady is on pace to throw for over 6,000 yards with 56 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Yeah, that would be a pretty historical season. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it also tells just just how good Brady has been thus far this month. It’s kinda like he’s trying to prove a point to a certain someone who’d rather see him riding the pine early this year.

Brady and the Patriots now look to continue their dominating ways against a Jaguars squad that’s coming off a rare victory. It’s a 13.5 point spread for the home team at Gillette Stadium. And it affords Josh McDaniels to get even more creative with the playbook against a lackluster defense. That’s bad news for anyone not in a Patriots uniform come Sunday.

San Diego Chargers at Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson’s rebirth

Back in November of 2007, Peterson broke the NFL single-game rushing mark when he put up 296 yards against these very same Chargers. Now coming off a performance that saw him rack up 192 total yards against a solid Detroit Lions team, Peterson appears to be back in old form after missing all but one game last season.

Calling it a rebirth may seem a bit generic, but that’s exactly what it is. Peterson started the season with a lackluster performance against the San Francisco 49ers. At that point, there were overreactions aplenty. Some indicated the veteran wasn’t the same running back that ran roughshod over the NFL for so many years prior to 2014. If nothing else, Peterson’s performance against Detroit last week proves he’s still right up there among the best running backs in the league.

If that’s the case, the 1-1 Vikings are in good hands moving forward this season. It will definitely be interesting to see how Peterson follows up his stellar outing from last week.

Philadelphia Eagles at New York Jets: Two teams headed in vastly different directions

If I had told you back in August that the Eagles would be looking for their first win against an undefeated Jets team in Week 3, you probably would have called for me to be exiled from actually writing about football. But here we are, three weeks into the NFL season, and a Jets game at The Meadowlands may be one of the most important on this weekend’s NFL docket.

Even in a weakened NFC East with the Cowboys injury issues, Philadelphia cannot afford to fall to 0-3 on the season. Since 1990, only two percent of the teams that have lost their first three games to start the season have made the playoffs. Those aren’t odds that Chip Kelly and Co. want to face heading into Week 4.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, they have to travel to New Jersey for a game against a Jets squad that’s riding high after its first 2-0 start since the 2011 campaign.

The matchups here favor New York big time. Philadelphia’s offensive line has been disastrous in terms of run blocking through two games. It also has a hobbled Demarco Murray dealing with a hamstring injury after putting up 11 yards on 21 attempts through the first two games. That’s a less-than-ideal scenario with the likes of Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson controlling the trenches along New York’s defensive line.

Pittsburgh Steelers at St. Louis Rams: Will the real St. Louis Rams please stand up? 

I almost want to do a cut up of the famous Eminem song with highlights of the first two Rams game. But alas, I lack that sort of creativity. In any event, the Rams 2015 season has pretty much mirrored Jeff Fisher’s tenure to a T.

Following up an impressive Week 1 win against the Seattle Seahawks with a disastrous performance against the Redskins in D.C., the Rams need to find some sort of identity to remain a viable threat in the ultra-competitive NFC West.

Everything should be in place here for the Rams to make a game of it. Unlike San Francisco last week, St. Louis boasts the necessary pass rush to make Ben Roethlisberger uncomfortable in the pocket. At this stage in the veteran’s career, that’s the only way to stop him from eating your secondary alive. With the likes of Chris Long, Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald set to eat against an over-performing Steelers offensive line, the Rams could continue to show their lack of consistency by pulling off an upset win at home.

If not, we could be looking at a team prepared for a free-fall as its difficult schedule continues against the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers in the coming weeks.

San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals: Early-season barometer for both teams

Depending on what happens between St. Louis and Pittsburgh, the Cardinals could open up a two-game cushion in the NFC West heading into Week 4. They could also find themselves tied with two teams atop the division at the near 20 percent mark of the season. Regardless, Bruce Arians and Co. have a golden opportunity against an inexperienced 49ers team that has was absolutely manhandled against the aforementioned Steelers last week.

In reality, this is a barometer game for both teams. Is San Francisco more like the team we saw blowout the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 or is it closer to the squad that got embarrassed by Pittsburgh last Sunday?

For the Cardinals, it’s all about maintaining their status among the best teams in the NFL. At home against a lesser squad, they should be able to do just that.

The key for San Francisco will be to find a way to put pressure on Carson Palmer in this one. Its secondary simply cannot stick with what Arizona has to offer at wide receiver if Palmer is given all day in the pocket. That will open up the flood gates like we saw last week against Pittsburgh.

On the other hand, a similar pass rush as we saw against Minnesota in Week 1 could put the 49ers defense in position to force a couple turnovers and pull off a road upset against the division favorites.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins: Rebound game for two teams that struggled in Week 2

Both Buffalo and Miami entered the season with high expectations. For the Bills, those expectations were taken to an entirely new level after they destroyed the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener. And while Miami wasn’t anywhere near as impressive in a Week 1 win over Washington, it also got the regular year off to a solid start. All this changed last week.

Miami traveled to Jacksonville to take on a Jaguars squad that had won a total of nine games since the start of the 2012 season. Joe Philbin and Co. left EverBank Field on the wrong end of a surprising 23-20 score.

Meanwhile, a seemingly elite Bills defense was ripped to shreds by Tom Brady and the Patriots at home. Now entering Week 3, this becomes an extremely important early-season game between the two division rivals. With the Patriots looking as good as ever, neither one of these squads wants to fall to 1-2 on the campaign.

Chicago Bears at Seattle Seahawks: Get right game for Pete Carroll and Co.

https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/646678952161976321

There is absolutely no reason Seattle shouldn’t destroy a Bears team that will be without Jay Cutler when it travels to the Pacific Northwest on Sunday. With Jimmy Clausen getting his first road start since the 2010 season, the Legion of Boom should be primed for a bounce-back game. That’s only magnified by the likely return of Kam Chancellor, who ended his six-week long holdout on Wednesday.

If Seattle struggles in this one, it will tell us a lot about where this team is at heading into October. Even if Pete Carroll and Co. pull off a close win, the narrative will read that the two-time defending NFC champions are nowhere near the same team as we have seen in the past.

In reality, this has to be a get right game at the expense of a Bears team that probably won’t win more than a handful of games when all is said and done this year. Anything short of that would be a major disappointment for Seattle.

Denver Broncos at Detroit Lions: The lucky unbeaten vs the unlucky winless

That subheading seems a bit drastic, but there’s little questioning the fact that Denver has been relatively lucky over the course of the first two games — luck that’s always needed for a team to have a successful campaign. On the other side of the ledger, Detroit has lost two road games against darn good teams. Now prepared to open its home slate, the Lions early-season schedule doesn’t get much easier.

We all know the lack of success Matthew Stafford has had in his career against winning teams. In his first six seasons with Detroit, the former No. 1 overall pick boasts a 3-32 record against teams that finish that particular season with a winning record. Considering the first-place Broncos are likely going to win double-digit games this season, that’s not a good sign for Detroit.

More than this, Stafford must lead his Lions to a win in order to avoid a 0-3 start to the season. He has to do so while nursing a rib injury that could very well impact his performance.

Kansas City Chiefs at Green Bay Packers: Huge test for Packers offense

By the end of the season, it’s possible that the Chiefs might boast the best defense in the NFL. The emergence of rookie corner Marcus Peters coupled with a superior pass rush has this unit bordering on elite status. Even after defeating Seattle at home on Sunday Night Football last week, the Packers will likely face their toughest competition this Monday night.

If Green Bay is able to surgically move down the field much like it did against Seattle last week, it will tell us what we need to know about how good its offense is, even without Jordy Nelson and potentially missing a hobbled Eddie Lacy.

Interestingly, it will be up to the offensive line to protect Aaron Rodgers from an onslaught of a pass rush led by Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. If that happens, Monday night could be a major statement game for a team that could very well be considered early favorites for the NFC title.