Deadspin | Week 3 NFL Capsules

NY Giants (0-2) at Cleveland Browns (1-1)

If must-win territory can be reality in September, the Giants are ready to cross the border. They lost their first two games of the season to the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders. If they lose to the Browns, things really get dicey. New York then has a short week before hosting the Dallas Cowboys next Thursday. Anxiety is growing as only two teams (out of 32) that started 0-2 over the past four seasons made the playoffs. That 6.3 percent success rate raises the urgency. But Giants coach Brian Daboll said he doesn’t think desperation has set in. “I want to see consistency like we talk about every week,” Daboll said. “Go in, prepare the right way, come out, play a good football game, do good in situations, play together. Each week is its own week, and we’ll just focus on the Browns this week.” Cleveland split its first two games, getting routed by the Cowboys in its opener before posting an 18-13 road win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Cleveland has committed a league-worst 24 penalties and averaged 17.5 points over their first two games, while New York is scoring a measly 12 per game. The Browns are still trying to get peak Deshaun Watson to appear consistently. He has a 63.0 passer rating, which is lower than counterpart Daniel Jones (66.6).

Chicago Bears (1-1) at Indianapolis Colts (0-2)

Two recent top draft picks are at the center of the Bears-Colts matchup in Indianapolis on Sunday. Rookie No. 1 pick Caleb Williams has been pounded in the first two games of his career, but Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said he’s not worried about the protection or the personnel safeguarding his franchise quarterback. Williams was sacked nine times in the first two games, including seven on Sunday night at Houston, when he was hit 11 total times. With little time to scan for the many weapons the Bears assembled around him in the offseason, the Bears are last in the NFL in passing. Williams and leading WR DJ Moore are healthy entering Week 3, but Keenan Allen (heel) and rookie Rome Odunze (knee) are less than full strength. Second-year QB Anthony Richardson continues to produce electric individual plays. Avoiding mistakes and knowing when to eat a pass before he decides to let it rip if the next step in his maturation by the measurement of head coach Shane Steichen. The Colts are making hay running the ball but rank 29th in the NFL in total defense and allow 237 rushing yards per game.

Houston Texans (2-0) at Minnesota Vikings (2-0)

Availability will be worth tracking all the way to kickoff for anyone with more than a rooting interest on the line in this matchup of 2-0 teams. Among the ailing to start the work week were Vikings WRs Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and Texans RBs Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce. The Vikings will face a tough test against Houston, which is coming off back-to-back wins over the Colts and Bears to start the season. The Texans have limited opponents to 20 points a game in 2024. The addition of former Vikings pass rusher Danielle Hunter, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with Minnrdoys, has boosted the edge pressure for the Texans. He has 1.5 sacks in his first two games. Texans running back Cam Akers also will go up against one of his former teams, although he was with the Vikings for far shorter time than Hunter. Akers could step into a more prominent role this weekend if Mixon is ruled out with an ankle injury. Vikings QB Sam Darnold will try to maintain his impressive start to the season in his first year with the club. Darnold has posted a 111.7 passer rating while throwing for 476 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. CJ Stroud has a 104.7 passer rating to go along with 494 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for the Texans. The Vikings are 5-0 all-time against the Texans. This is their first meeting since 2020.

Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) at New Orleans Saints (2-0)

The Saints are one of nine undefeated teams as they prepare to host the Eagles. Expectations for New Orleans (9-8 last season), which has missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons, were average at best before the current campaign started. The Saints have defied the doubters so far with a 47-10 home win over the Carolina Panthers and a 44-19 road rout of the Dallas Cowboys. Saints QB Derek Carr and the offense have thrived under first-year coordinator Klint Kubiak. New Orleans leads the NFL in scoring with 91 points, 22 more than the next team, the Arizona Cardinals. Carr paces the league in passer rating (142.4) and running back Alvin Kamara is tops in scoring (five touchdowns) and yards from scrimmage (290). And the Saints’ defense has more than held its own, ranking fourth in scoring (14.5 points allowed per game), tied for fourth in yards allowed per play (4.5) and seventh in total yards allowed (273 per game). Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is trying to keep his team from dwelling on a lost opportunity in its last contest against the visiting Atlanta Falcons. Philadelphia had a chance to take a two-score lead with less than two minutes remaining, but running back Saquon Barkley dropped a third-down pass. The Eagles settled for a field goal and a six-point lead, and Atlanta needed just 65 seconds to score the winning touchdown in a 22-21 victory. The dropped pass marred what has otherwise been a strong start to Barkley’s first season in Philadelphia. The former New York Giant is seventh in yards from scrimmage (248) and has scored three touchdowns. This will be the Eagles’ first Sunday game of the young season. They held off the Green Bay Packers, 34-29, on Friday, Sept. 6, in San Paolo, Brazil, then played their home opener on Monday night. Philadelphia wide receiver A.J. Brown (hamstring), who did not play against the Falcons, didn’t participate in the team’s walk-through Wednesday and he has said he expects to miss multiple games.

Los Angeles Chargers (2-0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0)

It’s been an adventurous week for the Chargers, who decided to stick around the East Coast after tearing apart the Panthers last week and with Pittsburgh on the schedule Sunday. QB Justin Herbert (ankle) didn’t take part in every practice but is expected to play in a matchup with Steelers stand-in starter Justin Fields. Fields has led Pittsburgh to a 2-0 start while Russell Wilson (calf) works to get back in the lineup. The Chargers are taking on the personality of head coach Jim Harbaugh quickly. Los Angeles is No. 3 in the NFL in rushing and No. 2 in total defense. The Steelers are letting Fields take a shot or two downfield to George Pickens, who has had multiple big plays voided by penalty, but otherwise following a vanilla approach that head coach Mike Tomlin said was largely a product of the road environments the team won in (Atlanta, Denver) to start the season. Even if the Steelers open it up, don’t expect a repeat of the last meeting in 2021. The Steelers scored 37 points — and lost by four.

Denver Broncos (0-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0)

Not many pegged the Buccaneers to be driving in the fast lane with NFC contenders, but Tampa is one of the true surprises out of the gate after beating the Lions in Detroit last week. QB Baker Mayfield is rolling, averaging 9.7 yards per attempt — nearly double Broncos QB Bo Nix, who is at 5.0 — with WR Chris Godwin on pace for 1,700 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns through two games. A rookie first-round pick in his second road start in the NFL, Nix and the Broncos haven’t been able to stretch defenses in part because opponents aren’t honoring the running game. In Week 1, Denver ballcarriers didn’t gain anything after contact and Nix is the team’s leading rusher with primary backs Javonte Williams (2.1 yards per carry) and Jaleel McLaughlin combining for 73 yards on 32 carries against Seattle and Pittsburgh. Nix could have more room to operate this week. The Bucs have not generated consistent push from the front four with only 2.0 sacks in two games and are allowing 4.9 yards per carry.

Green Bay Packers (1-1) at Tennessee Titans (0-2)

While the Titans are working to rein in second-year QB Will Levis’ mistakes, the Packers arrive with former Tennessee backup quarterback Malik Willis coming off a win — and his first NFL TD pass — as Jordan Love’s stand-in last week. Love hurt his left knee in the opener, a loss to the Eagles, and was able to increase activity in practice this week. The star of the show in Week 2 was the Packers’ defense, which came away with three interceptions of Anthony Richardson, and RB Josh Jacobs (151 rushing yards). Jacobs is ready to go but was limited in practice early in the week due to a back injury. If Green Bay’s running game gets going, the Titans could be in for a long day due to the array of wide receiver options at the Packers’ disposal. Levis has a good number of outlets, too, if DeAndre Hopkins picks up the pace alongside Calvin Ridley (18.1 yards per reception). But Levis has been sacked seven times with three interceptions. The Packers are dripping with ballhawks in the secondary and lead the NFL with five interceptions while holding opponents to a 26.1 conversion rate on third downs.

Carolina Panthers (0-2) at Las Vegas Raiders (1-1)

It’s the matchup you’ve waited for all week … Andy Dalton vs. Gardner Minshew. OK, maybe this wasn’t on the radar prior to the regular season. It certainly was not part of the plan for the Panthers, who are skidding to new lows by the week. Last year’s No. 1 draft pick, Bryce Young, was benched after Carolina was blitzed 26-3 in the home opener by the Chargers — a team that beat the Raiders in Week 1. Switching to Dalton clouds the future for the Panthers and Young, but Carolina had only one touchdown — a short Young TD run in garbage time of the 47-10 loss to the Saints — and was outscored 73-13 in the first two games of the Dave Canales era. What’s ailing the team is not an easy question to address based on the length of the answer. Carolina has three first-half points, a third-down conversion rate of 9.1 percent and ranks 31st in passing and 32nd in total offense. The Raiders found a spark offensively to rally and upset the Ravens. Minshew completed 30 of 38 throws for 276 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the 26-23 win at Baltimore. Dalton’s only start as a Panther came a year ago in a Week 3 loss at Seattle, where he threw for 361 yards and two TDs. In his career, Dalton’s record is 83-78-2 as a starter, including 4-0 against the Raiders.

Miami Dolphins (1-1) at Seattle Seahawks (2-0)

Mike McDonald was hired in Seattle for his sagaciousness as a defensive coach with the Ravens, and the league’s youngest head coach is off to a great start with two wins and the No. 6-ranked defense in the NFL. The Seahawks draw the NFL’s No. 2 passing attack but the Dolphins are not the same as they arrive in the Pac Northwest. Skylar Thompson, a seventh-round pick in 2022 out of Kansas State, replaces Tua Tagovailoa, who is on injured reserve after sustaining his third concussion in two seasons last Thursday in a 31-10 loss to the visiting Buffalo Bills. Thompson started three games in 2022 with Tagovailoa sidelined, including a playoff defeat to the Bills. Thompson completed 78 of 150 passes for 461 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in those three starts, going 1-2. He served as the Dolphins’ No. 3 quarterback all of last season and didn’t get into a game. Thompson completed 8 of 14 passes for 80 yards off the bench last week. The Seahawks claimed a 23-20 overtime victory last Sunday at New England. With running back Kenneth Walker III sidelined due to an oblique injury, Geno Smith carried the offense by completing 33 of 44 passes for 327 yards and a touchdown. Smith drove the Seahawks down the field for a last-minute field goal in regulation to tie the score, then led the winning march in overtime.

Detroit Lions (1-1) at Arizona Cardinals (1-1)

The Detroit Lions won their season opener in overtime against the Los Angeles Rams despite QB Jared Goff being limited to 217 passing yards. Goff was intercepted twice and nearly got picked off twice more on Sunday, when the Lions lost to Tampa Bay 20-16. The Lions will need their quarterback to be much sharper in their first road game against the Cardinals on Sunday. The Lions haven’t lost two straight since a five-game slide during the first half of their 2022 schedule. Goff expects the Lions to bounce back in similar fashion from their latest setback. The Cardinals’ offense, with quarterback Kyler Murray fully recovered from the torn ACL he suffered in December 2022, has looked explosive. They’ve already had a dozen plays of 20 or more yards via the pass or rush. Arizona (1-1) is also No. 1 in the league in third-down conversions (58.3 percent). Murray has thrown four touchdown passes without an interception. First-round draft pick Marvin Harrison Jr., who was held to one reception in his debut, erupted for four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-10 romp over the Los Angeles Rams last week. Keeping the pressure on Murray would help the Lions corners. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is coming off a monster performance in which he recorded 4 1/2 sacks. The Lions won the last meeting 30-12 in 2021.

Baltimore Ravens (0-2) at Dallas Cowboys (1-1)

Baltimore, which leads the regular-season series 5-1 against the Cowboys, needs to get the running game revved up to set up the pass. After a slow start, Henry finished with 84 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown. Lamar Jackson has thrown for 520 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in two games. He will likely test the Dallas pass defense, which is ranked 16th in the NFL allowing 189.5 yards per game. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott agreed to a four-year, $240 million contract with a record $231 million guaranteed earlier this month. Prescott had an uneven performance over the past two games, throwing for 472 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. As a veteran, Prescott understands the pressure to win as the Cowboys quarterback. The Ravens’ pass rush has seven sacks in two games. However, the secondary appears vulnerable to big plays. Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb could be poised to have a huge game. In the season opener, Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice caught seven passes for 103 yards and often ran free in front of and behind Baltimore’s defense. And Davante Adams finished with 110 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions last week. Ravens rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins missed the previous game and practice this week after he was involved in a car accident resulting in a concussion and neck injury. One of the biggest challenges facing the Ravens is closing out games. Over the past five seasons, the Ravens have had 10 losses when leading by seven or more points in the fourth quarter — the most by any team. Conversely, Prescott has led the Cowboys to 22 wins when they are tied or trailing in the fourth quarter or overtime since 2016 — second most in franchise history behind Tony Romo (24).

San Francisco 49ers (1-1) at Los Angeles Rams (0-2)

San Francisco has won at Los Angeles in each of the past five seasons. The injury list might make this Week 3 matchup more unpredictable. San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey is on IR, WR Deebo Samuel is doubtful with his own calf issue and 49ers QB Brock Purdy and his NFL-best 550 yards passing through two games take center stage. His 72.3 completion percentage is eighth in the league, but he has just one touchdown pass. Purdy threw his first interception Sunday after he had 11 last season, while earning Pro Bowl honors. He also lost a fumble, while the 49ers had a punt blocked. The Rams are dealing with their own injury issues. Wide receiver Puka Nacua (knee) was placed on injured reserve after Week 1 and wide receiver Cooper Kupp (ankle) is expected to miss extended time. The Rams also have holes on the offensive line: Jonah Jackson (shoulder), Steve Avila (knee) and Joe Noteboom (ankle) are on IR. Even rookie kicker Joshua Karty (groin) is ailing and missed practice to start the week. Behind a makeshift line last week, even veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford looked rattled, and understandably so, as Los Angeles was never competitive in a 41-10 loss on the road to the Arizona Cardinals. Tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) returned in Week 2 and tackle Alaric Jackson (suspension) is set to come back Sunday. On defense, the Rams already were up against it after the retirement of star defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The revamped group has struggled to an NFL-worst 426 yards allowed per game. Against the run, Los Angeles has allowed 197 yards per game, third worst in the NFL. The Rams recently placed safety John Johnson II (shoulder) on IR.

Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) at Atlanta Falcons (1-1)

Trailing by six with 1:39 left, Kirk Cousins led the Falcons on a six-play, 70-yard game-winning drive on Monday, earning his first win for his new team following the signing of a four-year, $180 million contract with Atlanta. Now the measuring stick is the team that finished on top of the NFL heap each of the past two seasons, the Chiefs. Nearing relevance after several years of national apathy, the Falcons are coming off their first “Monday Night Football” appearance since 2020. Now they prepare for their first “Sunday Night Football” game since 2019. The Chiefs have won eight straight games (including the playoffs) since last year’s Christmas Day loss to the Raiders. Kansas City’s win streak will be put to the test on Sunday without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco. Pacheco’s leg was caught under a defender in Sunday’s win, fracturing his right fibula. In his absence, the Chiefs signed former running back Kareem Hunt, who rushed for 2,151 yards with the team from 2017-18. Hunt had been in a primarily backup role with Cleveland from 2019 through last season. Pacheco had 135 yards and a touchdown this season. Three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes enters play vying for a better performance, following a rare lackluster showing on Sunday. Mahomes threw for a pair of touchdowns against Cincinnati but was also picked off twice. The two-time NFL MVP’s 151 passing yards were his fewest since throwing for a career-low 76 against Denver on Oct. 17, 2019 before dislocating his kneecap. Kansas City holds a 7-3 series lead over Atlanta. The Falcons will look for their first win over the Chiefs since Week 1 of the 2012 season.

–Field Level Media