Around the AFC
Fireworks in London. The Bills take their show on the trans-Atlantic tour this weekend against Jacksonville in London. Josh Allen and company lost opening night to the Jets but have been scorching since then, scoring 38, 37 and 48 in consecutive wins. The Bills, according to ESPN, are 46-12 when Allen turns the ball over one or fewer times. He’s leading the league in completion percentage and, oh yeah, they’re second in scoring defense (13.8 points allowed per game). Not bad.
Law of average. There’s parity and then there’s the AFC South in the early going this year. All four teams — the Jags, Indianapolis, Tennessee and Houston — are 2-2. Their point differentials, respectively, are minus-2, minus-2, plus-2 and plus-17. Perhaps a team will separate at some point like Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville did last year. Or maybe this will turn into one of those years where, hey, if you just get to 8-9 you might find your way into the postseason as the No. 4 seed.
Dolphins bounce back? Miami’s dream start came to a screeching halt last week against the Bills, but they’ve clearly got the weapons to bounce back quickly. Not only that, but games against the New York Giants and Carolina the next two weeks should provide for plenty of points. Take care of business, and Mike McDaniel’s team should be 5-1 heading into an Oct. 22 Sunday night date at Philadelphia.
Around the NFC
Eagles soar (cross-country). Speaking of the Eagles, they’re 4-0 and garnering, well, not all that much attention seemingly. They’ll get tested the next two weeks on the road against the somewhat surprising L.A. Rams and then the feisty Jets. It’s a long trip out to the West Coast, but worth it just to see Philly center Jason Kelce and the Eagles offensive line do battle against Aaron Donald and company.
All-Pro’s tough go. We get used to just assuming pro athletes will bounce back from injuries, even major ones, with little setback these days. Packers All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, however, has had a hellacious go of it since he tore his ACL in practice in January 2021. This week he landed back on injured reserve after his fourth surgery. The 2013 fourth-round pick out of Colorado has played fewer snaps over the past two-plus seasons than he did in any of his first eight seasons and it’s unclear when (and, sadly, if) he’ll play again.
Big Apple blues. A wild stat after four weeks: The only two teams in the NFL who haven’t run an offensive play with the lead this year are the Jets and Giants, who share MetLife Stadium. The Giants, in particular, have been brutally bad offensively. Daniel Jones got sacked 11 times Monday vs. Seattle and, outside of a win at Arizona in Week 2, the G-Men have scored zero, three and 12. Yikes.
Game of the Week
Dallas at San Francisco
An early measuring stick game in the NFC and just a terrific good-on-good matchup between San Francisco’s offense and Dallas’ defense. Trent Williams against Micah Parsons? Brock Purdy putting his perfect regular-season record on the line? Kyle Shanahan and Dan Quinn matching wits? It’s going to be awesome. They’re the two NFC offenses who have scored the most points through three weeks and the pair of defenses that have allowed the least. The Niners are a four-point home favorite and find a way to get the job done.
49ers 24, Cowboys 23
Lock of the Week
Detroit at Carolina
The Lions are off to a terrific start, are coming off a dominant win over division rival Green Bay and now get wide receiver Jameson Williams back, too. He saw a six-game gambling suspension shortened when the NFL and NFLPA agreed to tweak rules around non-football betting. So now Jared Goff has the speedy 2022 first-round pick in addition to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds and rookie tight end Sam LaPort. Good times in the Motor City. They roll as 10-point favorites against winless Carolina.
Lions 31, Panthers 13
Upset of the Week
Texans at Falcons
Houston rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud’s been really fun to watch so far. He’s not only playing well, but he’s got a confidence to him that should help a young roster and also pairs well with first-time head coach DeMeco Ryans. Looks already like a promising duo to lead the Texans into the future. Winning on the road is never easy for a young team, but the bet here is they do it this weekend as 1.5-point underdogs against the Falcons, who have struggled with Desmond Ridder under center despite some excellent young skill talent.
Texans 24, Falcons 20
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