Alright, let me put up a reminder to post these blogs more regularly detailing my picks for each week.
Two weeks in, and there's already some question marks on how I'm picking these games. Like take the Monday Night finale for Week 2 with the Giants and the Rams. The Rams sorted out quite a bit of their question marks, and now the Giants will need to figure out their next moves now that Jaxson Dart is out for what could be an extended time.
Before the picks, a couple notes. First, congratulations to KEVIN from Glens Falls and SCOTT from Queensbury. They were on top of the leaderboard for Weeks 1 and 2 respectively to earn their $50 in food and drink from UNCLE MARIO'S GARAGE in Queensbury. Way to go! Second, note these picks are for entertainment purposes and should not be used for wagering purposes.
Now onward to Week 3:
Thursday Night Football
Atlanta at Green Bay - 8:15pm
Green Bay shouldn't have won on Sunday. They were bailed out by questionable coaching decisions and a bit of good fortunes that finally broke for them after 4 1/2 quarters of misfortune dating back to the start of the fourth quarter against Minnesota in Week 1. But they have certainty under center, something Atlanta doesn't have. The Falcons had to resort to their 4th string Quarterback against Carolina and with a short week, no certainty who will line up under center come Thursday.
Pick: GREEN BAY
Sunday Early Window
LA Chargers at Buffalo
The Chargers have looked absolutely terrible in the first two weeks of the season and now has to go against one of the most explosive offensive teams this season. Now, Buffalo has had a history of looking past an opponent and dropping a game they shouldn't have, but new coach Joe Brady's resolve has yet to be tested yet. DJ Moore's status is unknown at the time of this typing, but the Bills showed they could work around his departure last week against Detroit.
Pick: BUFFALO
Carolina at Cleveland
Carolina may not look like deep January contenders, but they are looking solid coming off their first two weeks. Sure they lost to Chicago in week 1, and the score was lopsided, but the fact that the Panthers were able to generate offense with Bryce Young and company is not to be overlooked. It helped that they won by a good margin in Week 2 against the Falcons. Now, Cleveland came out of Tampa Bay with a win, but this may be a reflection where Tampa Bay is currently more than Cleveland sorting out their issues in the post Miles Garrett era.
Pick: CAROLINA
NY Jets at Detroit
The Jets had a brutal collapse featuring questionable decisions, and now have to take a trip to Michigan to face a team with an extra 3 days rest after their loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football. Detroit fell behind early, but never really went away to the point that you have to wonder if they didn't have their slow start how the game would of progressed for the Lions. I expect the Lions to rebound here.
Pick: DETROIT
Houston at Indianapolis
Houston, we may have a problem here. The team with what is supposed to be a championship-caliber defense comes in after two games where their defense has been suspect at best. Indianapolis isn't Buffalo or Cincinnati, but the Colts may have figured a few things out with their Sunday Night loss to Kansas City, pushing the Chiefs to overtime. If Houston drops to 0-3, might be time to sound the alarm here.
Pick: INDIANAPOLIS
Kansas City at Miami
The Dolphins are making Darius Rucker cry. Kansas City won't cure that, they have way too many weapons. There's a reason why the Chiefs are 11 1/2 point favorites (as of this typing on Tuesday).
Pick: KANSAS CITY
Tennessee at NY Giants
Jaxson Dart appears to be out for quite a bit, and Jameison Winston looked unprepared for what he was getting thrown into for the Giants. Winston will have some time to prepare for this week, but he'll need a massive improvement the way he looked against the Rams. The Titans are coming off a game that was much closer than it needed to be against the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost Saquon Barkley early that affected their offensive plan. This game comes at the right time for the Titans.
Pick: TENNESSEE
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh looked very lost against the New England Patriots, meanwhile the Bengals actually have a defense. Finally Joe Burrow doesn't need to be at his best on every drive in order for the Bengals to be successful. Aaron Rodgers has a lot to prove after a lackluster effort against Atlanta that was only a win because the Falcons running on their third string quarterback, and then after the Week 2 dud. He'll have more to prove after this effort.
Pick: CINCINNATI
Seattle at Washington
This game comes at the worst time for the Commanders still reeling after the Jayden Daniels injury just before the half on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. Marcus Mariota just couldn't keep up with Dak Prescott's ability to move the ball. And now they've got Seattle coming in, and JSN is going to be hell to defend against.
Pick: SEATTLE
New England at Jacksonville
New England wasn't perfect against Pittsburgh, and they didn't need to be. Drake Maye will need to start flinging touchdowns instead of picks to survive this trip to Northeastern Florida. Jacksonville got a Denver squad that shook free of their Week 1 rust last week. The Patriots need to sort out their run game as Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson are short of 5 yards per carry. Parker Washington is having a strong start to the season for the Jaguars.
Pick: JACKSONVILLE
Sunday Late Window
Arizona at San Francisco
Arizona may have stunned the league with their Week 1 win, but that win is less meaningful the more the Chargers struggle. They got a big dose of reality against the Seattle Seahawks and now the 49'ers have multiple weapons that could make things difficult for the Cardinals. The 49'ers got a meaningful Week 1 win over a tired Rams squad, then rolled easily over the Miami Dolphins. This should be easy for the 49'ers.
Pick: SAN FRANCISCO
Minnesota at Tampa Bay
This one is challenging, and a lot of this has to do with how Tampa Bay responds after a gut-punch at the hands of the Cleveland Browns. Minnesota has some quality, plus should have Kyler Murray back on the lineup after clearing concussion protocols. This hopefully will reignite the offense that was held to just field goals by the Chicago Bears, though in a winning way after Caleb Williams went down for the Bears.
Pick: MINNESOTA
Las Vegas at New Orleans
The Raiders being 2-0 may be one of the bigger surprises of the young season, but are Miami and the LA Chargers really measuring sticks for how the Raiders are? Could Brock Bowers make his season debut for the Raiders? He would be able to give a boost in their offense. After narrowly knocking off the Detroit Lions, only coming up short due to going for two. And a solid win against the Baltimore Ravens, but questions about the utilization of Derrick Henry in that second half surface. This could be a good game that many won't get to watch.
Pick: LAS VEGAS
Baltimore vs. Dallas - in Rio De Janerio
Dallas had a solid run against the Washington Commanders, and the way their offense was jelling, they likely would have picked up the win even if Jayden Daniels wasn't injured. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb have good chemistry early, but how are they going to handle the Ravens defense. Baltimore collapsed against the New Orleans Saints, and if the Ravens drop this game there will be many questions pointed at the young coaching staff.
Pick: DALLAS
Sunday Night Football
LA Rams at Denver
The Rams looked really good against the New York Giants. And this is not a team that is 100%. That's the scary part, how will they be when they are firing on all cylinders ... and not dealing with rest issues due to international travel. Denver seemed to get some things figured out in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars to shake free the rust against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, but this will be a real test for Bo Nix and company.
Pick: DENVER
Monday Night Football
Philadelphia at Chicago
A lot of this game comes down to how Caleb Williams and Saquon Barkley are in the Week 3 practices leading up to this game. If healthy, I like Philadelphia slightly better than I do the Chicago Bears, but then again, these Bears did score 59 on the Carolina Panthers. Nevermind the 3 they put up against Minnesota in a chilly rainy Sunday that included that injury to Williams.
Pick: PHILADELPHIA?
Make sure you play along for your chance to score a $50 Gift Card to Uncle Mario's Garage in Queensbury. Play Football Picks with Rockin' Rick and listen Thursdays, Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:45am for more analysis each week throughout the NFL Season.
