Tucker’s Top 5 NFL Football Games: Week 3

By Tucker Harlin

Week 3 of NFL football kicks off tonight when the New England Patriots head south for a division battle with the New York Jets.

The next few weeks of the season are when we gain an understanding of which teams are the true competitors for a postseason appearances and which teams are the pretenders.

I’m basing most of this Top 5 on what we’ve seen through the first two weekends. It is of course in ascending order.

5. TEXANS (2-0) @ VIKINGS (2-0)- HOU -2, 1 PM CBS, SUNDAY

Credit: Minnesota Vikings

Fun fact: the Minnesota Vikings are 5-0-0 against the Houston Texans all time.

This isn’t a matchup I had on my radar to start the season, and J.J. McCarthy’s injury made it even harder to believe the Vikings could throw themselves into playoff contention.

But somehow, the Vikings sit at 2-0 while the rest of the NFC North is 1-1. Sam Darnold has put on a show in each of Minnesota’s two wins, most recently logging a 257-yard passing performance against the juggernaut 49ers defense. It helps when you have one of the best receivers in the league in Justin Jefferson, a luxury Darnold didn’t have with in New York or Carolina.

Houston has picked up right where it left off in 2024. The Texans had to outrun the Colts in a 29-27 shootout back in Week 1, a game in which both C.J. Stroud and Joe Mixon shined on the offensive end. The win against the Bears on Sunday night was different with the Texans relying heavily on their pass rush to knock down Caleb Williams and their kicker to score most of their points.

Ultimately, this one feels like it has to come down to quarterback play and the productivity of the defensive lines.

I like the Texans on paper, but that 5-0-0 has me thinking they could stumble.

4. LIONS (1-1) @ CARDINALS (1-1)- DET -3, 4:25 PM FOX, SUNDAY

This is another matchup I had much less interest in before the beginning of the season, but the play of the Cardinals has impressed me through two weeks.

It may not have ended well for Arizona in Week 1, but it held a two touchdown lead at one point in the 34-28 loss at Buffalo. The Cards came out and blew the doors down on the Rams in a 41-10 win last week that featured a productive connection between Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr.

However, the Cardinals are searching for their first win in nearly 10 years over the Lions. Dan Campbell’s bunch derailed Arizona 30-12 in their last meeting back in 2021, and the Lions are still capable of doing such in 2024.

The Lions fought tooth and nail in a Sunday night overtime victory against the Rams in Week 1 but fell short to a strong Buccaneers team 20-16 last week.

The Lions have been great at applying pressure on opposing quarterbacks but let both Cooper Kupp and Chris Godwin terrorize their secondary in the opening weeks, something they absolutely can’t let Marvin Harrison Jr do this week. James Conner is coming off a strong week on the ground, but Detroit should prove to be a difficult challenge as its allowed no more than 83 rush yards in each of its first two games.

3. RAVENS (0-2) @ COWBOYS (1-1)- BAL -1, 4:25 PM FOX, SUNDAY

These two winning franchises only meet about once every four years, but the Cowboys’ fall from grace in the 2000s coincided with the birth of a perennial AFC power in the Ravens.

Neither of these supposed defensive juggernauts have exactly lived up to the billing through two weeks.

It doesn’t help that the Ravens played the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in Week 1, but Gardner Minshew had similar numbers to Mahomes in the Raiders’ road victory in Baltimore. Minshew is essentially the second coming of Ryan Fitzpatrick; his play and personality bring you excitement for about three or four weeks, but he’s never destined to be a long term option.

The Cowboys defense had a nice showing in Cleveland against a washed Deshaun Watson, but Alvin Kamara absolutely shredded it when the Saints came marching into Dallas last week.

The offensive strategies starkly contrast one another. Baltimore will focus more on keeping the ball on the ground both with Derrick Henry and designed/improvised run plays by Lamar Jackson while Dallas doesn’t have that “feature back” so it will do most of its work by letting Dak Prescott air it out. It’s also worth noting that Jackson has aired it for no less than 230 yards in both Ravens games

Both of their strengths on offense have been a weakness for the opposing defense in at least one game so far. In short, Dallas wins if it throws all over the Ravens defense and stuffs the run, but it had better hope for a sounder performance on defense than what it did a week ago.

2. CHIEFS (2-0) @ FALCONS (1-1)- KC -3.5, 8:20 PM NBC, SUNDAY

The Chiefs are the ultimate “prove it” matchup for a Falcons team with playoff aspirations.

The passing attack has only gotten better for Patrick Mahomes with the emergence of Rashee Rice and rookie Xavier Worthy, bringing a little bit of depth to a weak point of last year’s Super Bowl champion. The temporary loss of Isiah Pacheco may cause the Chiefs to alter their approach on the ground with running backs like Carson Steele and Samaje Perine.

The Falcons started the year with an ugly 18-10 loss to Chris Boswell and the Steelers defense, leaving many to wonder if this was the same old Falcons.

But primetime Kirk Cousins showed up and showed out in a Monday Night Football win against the Eagles in Philadelphia, quickly guiding his team down the field in the final two minutes for the go ahead score.

You never know if the good or bad version of Kirk will show up, but if there’s one thing that should encourage Falcons fans, it’s the fact the Chiefs secondary has struggle shutting down the pass in the opening two weeks.

I fully anticipate another close call for the Chiefs but ultimately another win.

1. EAGLES (1-1) @ SAINTS (2-0)- NO -2.5, 1 PM FOX, SUNDAY

Credit: Philadelphia Eagles

The main reason I’m listing this as my top game of Week 3 is because I’m curious to see whether or not the Saints can keep up the offensive heater they’re on.

I didn’t really care in Week 1 because the Panthers stink, but the beating they put on a prolific Cowboys defense caught my attention. Philly has looked sloppy at points both in defending the pass and run, something that ultimately cost it last week against Atlanta.

The Saints are already stout on defense, but the Eagles will have the most dimension of any offense they’ve seen to this point. The Cowboys are going to be a pass happy group this season, and the Panthers are, well, not very good anywhere right now.

I’d say the higher scoring this game is, the better it is for the league given the lack of fireworks throughout the first two weeks.

It feels like a shootout would be the Eagles’ easiest path to victory, but the Eagles are in trouble if the Saints are getting stops.