NFL Week 3 preview: injuries, low scores, upsets behind the NFL’s wild start

Scoring is down, injuries are wreaking havoc and underdogs are pulling off more surprises than ever: what can we expect in Week 3?

There are three massive trends so far in the 2024 NFL season.

With pre-season being treated with more disdain than Jim Harbaugh meeting someone who doesn’t froth over football, defences are reigning supreme and as a result, teams are scoring at a lower rate than at any time since 2006. Underdogs are also winning at a remarkable rate after going 8-8 last week, making for the most in a Week 2 since 2018. Most importantly, however, injuries are ruining seasons (both fantasy and real) left, right and centre.

It sets football fans up for another chaotic round in Week 3, so Jaymz Clements from NFL Straya previews Week 3 of the new NFL season (above), breaking down all the games for the weekend ahead..

After all, Week 2 will take some topping. The Raiders came from 10 points down in the fourth to beat the Ravens in Baltimore, the Jags fells short agaisnt DeShaun Watson and the Browns, Green Bay rode backup Malik Willis to a win over the Colts, the Saints smashed the Cowboys in Dallas, Kirk Cousins shredded the Eagles in Philly’s home opener to lead the Falcons to a Monday night football win.

Drake London of the Atlanta Falcons celebrates with Chris Lindstrom #63 after scoring a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles. Picture: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Injuries are also taking a huge toll on teams: Miami is missing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and a raft of running backs, big names like Christian McCaffrey, Cooper Kupp, AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel, Isaiah Pacheco, Joe Mixon and Jordan Love are all missing time, leading this week’s NFL Straya to lament the way teams treat the first four weeks of the actual NFL season like pre-season.

The injuries are bad, but teams are also scoring at a rate - an average of 21.4 points per game, after peaking at 24.8 in 2020 - that’s leaving fans puzzled. But with passing touchdowns at their lowest point through two since 1979 and passing yards per game down to 318.5 per game from 359 in 2020, perhaps defences leaning on two-high ‘Cover-2’ coverages is finally making a big impact. It also means that the NFL’s depth of throw is down to 6.6 yards against Cover-2, down from 7.8: we’ll see if it’s a passing trend as offences adjust to the start of the season, or if it’s the quality of quarterback play across the league.

With that in mind, the dreaded 0-2 start hangs over eight teams, meaning that pre-season playoff contenders like Baltimore, Cincinnati and Jacksonville have an uphill battle to make the postseason. Since 2007, the NFL has seen only 13 of the 131 teams that started a season 0-2 make the playoffs, and none who went 0-2 last season made the playoffs.

0-2 NFL teams by point differential: 

• Cincinnati -7
• Indianapolis -8
• Jacksonville -8
• Baltimore -10
• Denver -13
• Tennessee -14
• NY Giants -25
• LA Rams -37
• Carolina Panthers -60

Nine teams are riding high at 2-0, so Week 3 will be crucial in examining which of the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, LA Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings are legit contenders.

With two games between a pair of 2-0 teams, a couple of fanbases will be feeling great at 3-0 after the week.

Which game are you most looking forward to? pic.twitter.com/HeuBQaDv52

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 18, 2024

The story of the round was the deplorable Carolina Panthers benching last year’s No.1 overall pick Bryce Young in favour of veteran backup Andy Dalton,

For the Aussie NFL players, both Philly’s Jordan Mailiata and Baltimore’s Daniel Faalele had rough outings and will be looking to help their teams get back to winning ways after tough losses.

Either way, Aussie NFL fans have a terrific Week 3 slate to dig into, so watch the NFL Straya breakdown above to see who should win and why.

https://youtube.com/@nflstraya?si=Wp1KLF8iIAujpAR5

NFL Week 3 Schedule:

FRIDAY 10.30am AEST

NE Patriots @ NY Jets

MONDAY 3am AEST

NY Giants @ Cleveland Browns

Philadelphia Eagles @ New Orleans Saints

Chicago Bears @ Indianapolis Colts

LA Chargers @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Houston Texans @ Minnesota Vikings

Denver Broncos @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Green Bay Packers @ Tennessee Titans

MONDAY 6.05am AEST

Carolina Panthers @ LV Raiders

Miami Dolphins @ Seattle Seahawks

MONDAY 6.25am AEST

Detroit Lions @ Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens @ Dallas Cowboys

San Francisco 49ers @ LA Rams

MONDAY 10.20am AEST

Kansas City Chiefs @ Atlanta Falcons

TUESDAY 9.30am AEST

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Buffalo Bills

TUESDAY 10.15am AEST

Washington Commanders @ Cincinnati Bengals

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Will Aaron Rodgers have a better home prime time debut than last year when he tore his achilles?

Can the Texans, Bills, Bucs, Chiefs, Saints and the other 2-0 teams stay unbeaten?

Will AFC North powerhouses in the Bengals and Ravens get up off the canvas from 0-2 and get a win on the board?

Find out with NFL Straya’s NFL Week 3 preview and in the breakdown above.

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Originally published as NFL Week 3 preview: injuries, low scores, upsets behind the NFL’s wild start