The NFL travels into its third week as teams begin to find out if they are contenders, pretenders or will be playing the rest of the 2019 season for draft position.
11. Henry will not rush for 100 yards
The Jacksonville Jaguars were humiliated by Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans last year in their second meeting. Henry had 4 TD runs, including a 99-yarder, and 238 yards on 17 carries. Don’t expect the Jags to let him go off Thursday in Jacksonville.
10. Daniel Jones won’t throw multiple TD passes
The New York Giants have made the switch from Eli Manning to Daniel Jones. They could have picked a better foe for the first-round pick from Duke to start against. The Bucs’ defense is coming on and it won’t be an easy read for the former Blue Devil. The prediction is less than 200 yards passing and 1 TD in another Giants loss.
9. Aaron Donald will get his first sack of 2019
The Rams’ defensive star has been double- and triple-teamed to the tune of only having a pair of tackles thus far. That is going to change against Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns. Expect him to harass Cleveland’s offensive line and take down Mayfield at least once, if not more.
8. Matthew Stafford will throw for 300 yards
No guarantee the Detroit Lions can create a two-game winning streak with their trip to Philadelphia. However, expect Matthew Stafford to find his receivers for plenty of yardage. The Eagles had three picks of Matt Ryan Sunday night while still allowing 320 yards. That sounds like the kind of game we can expect out of Stafford and his receiving corps.
7. The Buffalo Bills will go to 3-0
Sean McDermott has the Bills on the right track coming into Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Josh Allen is playing well and the defense is among the elite in the NFL. The only danger — and it is a big one — is this is a trap game. Buffalo faces New England next week and is nowhere near good enough to be looking ahead. This will be the first time the Bills open the season 3-0 since 2011. That year they won their third straight in a game that saw Tom Brady and Ryan Fitzpatrick throw for a combined 756 yards with 6 TD passes and 6 picks in a 34-31 victory. The Bills wound up 6-10 in 2011, in case you were wondering.
6. Devonta Freeman will struggle
Devonta Freeman, the Falcons’ first-team RB, is off to an awful start after a year derailed by injuries. He has carried the ball 19 times for a paltry 41 yards, which is 2.2 yards per carry. The Colts have allowed nearly 124 yards per game in their first two. Expect the Indy defense to get healthy against Freeman. If this keeps up, don’t be surprised if the Falcons make a call to the Los Angeles Chargers about the availability of holdout Melvin Gordon.
5. Luke Falk will better Sam Darnold
Third-string QB Luke Falk heads into Foxboro for one of the toughest places to make your first career start. In 2018, Sam Darnold faced the Patriots once, in the final game of the season. The then-rookie out of USC was 16-of-28 for 167 yards. Expect more yardage through the air out of Falk, who doesn’t appear to be afraid to air it out, especially in the direction of Robby Anderson.
4. The 49ers will go to 3-0
It has been a long, long time since San Francisco started a season with 3 straight victories. In fact, the last time the 49ers were 3-0 was in 1998. The coach was Steve Mariucci and the Niners were on their way to a 12-4 season that ended with a playoff loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the Divisional Round. The playoff game before that was the famous victory over Green Bay that saw Terrell Owens make a great TD catch with 8 seconds left. These Niners catch Mason Rudolph and the Steelers at home Sunday.
3. The Panthers will fall to 0-3
Something is way off in Carolina and it isn’t only with Cam Newton. Whether the Heisman winner from Auburn faces Heisman winner Kyler Murray, expect the Panthers to drop to 0-3 for the first time since 2010 when they started 0-5 en route to a 2-14 season.
2. Watson, Rivers will light it up
Expect plenty of firepower in Los Angeles as the Texans journey to the Chargers. Wouldn’t be stunned to see more than 600 yards in passing and a half-dozen TDs between Philip Rivers and Deshaun Watson in what figures to be a wild West shootout.
1. Bears-Redskins will be ugly
Don’t expect many highlights from the Monday night matchup. The Bears will contain Case Keenum and the Chicago offense will do what it does to make Washington look good. Don’t be stunned if the point total for both teams doesn’t break 33.
