Big story of Week 2 were the injuries. Saquon Barkley, pretty much the only offensive weapon on the Giants, tore his ACL and is, sadly, out for the year. Carolina loses the best offensive weapon and potential MVP Christian McCaffrey for at least a few weeks. And, most painfully, the Niners get ravaged, losing their star DE Nick Bosa for the year. (sidenote: I don’t like wishing injuries on people, and I don’t like it when I’m not so sympathetic, but I greatly dislike Nick Bosa and am not heartbroken over this. If you don’t know why, google Nick Bosa, social media, racist and Trump.) They also lost fellow D-Line superstud Solomon Thomas for the year. It doesn’t stop there, they lost their #1 and #2 RB’s for a week or more, their QB (whoever will throw those 5 yard passes that go for 80 yards?) although he may play Week 3, and still don’t have their other DE, Dee Ford, who was injured last week. Rough go. The Broncos lost a couple big names too. Courtland Sutton, a youngster who was just starting to assert himself as a true #1 WR, and their QB Drew Lock (not a huge loss if you ask me). And that’s just the tip of the injury iceberg from last week.
I have no clue if the lack of preseason/conditioning or the turf in NY are responsible for the rash of injuries, but it’s not great to see. Here’s hoping for some healing.
Speaking of “healing”, it appears that, thanks to a motion to suppress evidence, the charges against Robert Kraft for paying for a handjob at a massage parlor will likely be dropped. Just so we’re on the same page, that does not mean he didn’t do it (he did), or that he should be punished (if it is completely consensual without duress), just that Rich people get away with stuff that poor people don’t.
Outside of injuries, I always kinda like weeks 3 and 4 of the NFL season. The excitement of the start of the season goes away, the coaches have a bit of tape on the other teams, and we get a better view about the reality of some of the teams. There are always teams that aren’t as good as their record (Bears) or not as bad as their record (Falcons, Broncos). Week 3 might reveal more about a lot of teams.
So, here’s the games:
NFL Week 3
Thursday, September 24
Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars (-3, 48)
Sunday, September 27, Early Games
Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots (-6, 47.5)
Los Angeles Rams at Buffalo Bills 9 (-2.5, 48)
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers (-4, 45)
San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants (+4, 41.5)
Tennessee Titans at Minnesota Vikings (+2.5, 49)
Washington Football Team at Cleveland Browns (-7, 45)
Cincinnati Bengals at Philadelphia Eagles (-5.5, 46.5)
Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons (-3, 48)
New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts (-11, 44)
Late Games
Carolina Panthers at Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5, 44.5)
Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals (-6, 55)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Denver Broncos (+6, 43.5)
Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks (-5, 55.5)
Night Game
Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints (-3, 52.5)
Monday, September 28th, 7:15 p.m.
Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens (-3.5, 54)
Thanks to the quirks of NFL media (and he undying hatred of the city of St. Louis has for Stan Kroenke), I do not get to watch the game I wanted to (Bears/Atlanta) and instead get the LA Rams/Buffalo. It’s not a horrible game by any means, and it could prove very interesting because the Mystical Moose Josh Allen is confounding me (but he has played only garbage teams so far) and it might be good to see him play live.
I’ll certainly check out the Moustache v. the Beard (for a laugh, read how they threw shade at each other on social media). And, of course, Sunday night Packers v. Saints should be fascinating. I know I should want to watch the Cowboys v. Seattle, but neither team has a great defense and the game has the highest over total this week, so it might be a great fantasy game. Just not a great game that I’d like to watch.
And the Monday night game is stellar. Two of the best teams in the league facing off. Mahomes v. Jackson. Reid v. Harbaugh. It should be a fascinating, fun game to watch. I can’t wait to see what Steve Spagnuolo and Wink Martindale (yes, that’s his name) have planned to contain the other team’s offense.
An interesting note with the line: the 0-2 Atlanta Falcons are 3 point favorites against the 2-0 Chicago Bears. I think this year the “home field advantage” hasn’t/isn’t a huge deal, but who knows. I’m also a bit surprised the Niners are just 4 point favorites at the Giants, but I suppose that’s mostly due to the aforementioned injuries they have to deal with, but they’re still a better team.
So share! How’s your team doing so far? Which teams/players are for real and which get a wake-up call this week? How can an NFL doctor puncture the lung of a starting QB? Thoughts? Feelings? Prognostications? Let’s hear from you.