Looking back at the results of week 3 around the NFL it was a bounce back week for yours truly, scoring 12 correct winners in the 16 games played. It might have been better if not for several upsets, one of them a major surprise. The next round of predictions follows after my immediate thoughts about every final from last week’s slate of games.
Week 3 Knee-Jerks
Buffalo 31 / Miami 21: With each passing week it appears the team to beat in the AFC is solidly in favor of the Bills. The Dolphins tried to hold their own but simply are not the better team.
Carolina 30 / Atlanta 0: The winner is not surprising as much as the Falcons, unable to score a single point. Second year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was having an awful game, so he was pulled for Kirk Cousins who nearly doubled Penix’s quarterback rating.
Cleveland 13 / Green Bay 10: Not just the biggest upset of the day but the game that shocked me most. The Browns are known for a good defense but with the addition of Micah Parsons, the Packers were supposed to be the team to beat in the NFC. Not so fast. Parsons had exactly two tackles and two quarterback hits and nothing more. The Browns sacked Jordan Love five times.
Jacksonville 17 / Houston 10: The Jaguars boot the Texans out of Florida and send Houston home still looking for their first win of the season. C.J. Stroud throws two picks and has yet to show he can be an elite quarterback.
Minnesota 48 / Cincinnati 10: Bengals fans knew they took a major hit by losing Joe Burrow to an injury, but I don’t think anyone would expect such a terrible blowout. Replacing Burrow is Jake Browning and he was atrocious. Two interceptions and sacked three times will most times earn you a loss. And lose the Bengals did.
Pittsburgh 21 / New England 14: If not for five turnovers by the Patriots and the Steelers sacking Drake Maye five times, the final score of this game may have been much different. While the Steelers offense remains somewhat stagnant, they are showing signs of improvement. Mistakes and turnovers in the NFL will cost a team dramatically and thus New England found that out the hard way. Pittsburgh’s defense is beginning to come together.
Philadelphia 33 / Los Angeles Rams 26: The Super Bowl champion Eagles stay undefeated, but the Rams are no joke.
Tampa Bay 29 / New York Jets 27: For those fans who do not like the Jets these fans must be loving this game as the Green and White remain looking for a first win. Justin Fields was supposed to be the savior at quarterback, but he had a bad game in his last outing and then suffered a concussion and did not play in this one. It seems the Jets have yet another long season ahead.
Indianapolis 41 / Tennessee 20: Top rookie Cam Ward is hardly lighting up the league and Daniel Jones is reborn as his new team the Colts remain undefeated.
Washington 41 / Las Vegas 24: Apparently, Marcus Mariota can still play. Without Jayden Daniels who was out with an injury, the Commanders still put up a 40 spot on the Raiders. Ashton Jeanty is still looking for that first big numbers game with Las Vegas.
Los Angeles Chargers 23 / Denver 20: A nailbiter but we’ve seen this story before. The Chargers start hot and tail off at the end. Some are thinking L.A. is the team to beat in the AFC but they’ve lost Najee Harris for the season along the way.
Seattle 44 / New Orleans 13: After solidly beating the Steelers a week prior, Seattle returns home to trounce the hapless Saints. New Orleans fans should start looking ahead to the 2026 NFL draft as their team will be among the top 10 in draft order. Long season ahead for the “Aints.”
Chicago 31 / Dallas 14: Now this is embarrassing. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones not only let Micah Parsons be traded before the season began, but he also made very few free agent moves or significant trades to improve his team. Now they get their doors blown off in Chicago and there are no signs the team will get better. Quarterback Caleb Williams needed this win more than any other QB playing on this day.
San Francisco 16 / Arizona 15: A battle of undefeated teams ended with the smallest of differences in the final score. First round goes to the 49ers, but they will meet again.
Kansas City 22 / New York Giants 9: I hung myself out to dry on this one. I picked Giants to win but ex-Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson laid an egg. It cost him his job. Jaxon Dart starts in place of Wilson in week four. The Chiefs get their first win of the season, and it was impressive but the reigning AFC champs sill have some work to do.
Detroit 38 / Baltimore 30: It’s hard to believe the Ravens are near the bottom of best defensive teams. Rest assured their team is not used to this either. Can they snap out of it? To a degree I say yes but they are absolutely vulnerable. Detroit? If they play like this the rest of the way they will be downright dangerous.
Week 4 Picks – The Steelers Hoping for the Luck of the Irish
As the NFL has been scheduling games overseas for years, 2025 marks the first time the league has placed a game in the legendary country of Ireland. Ironically, Roger Goodell and his office chose the Pittsburgh Steelers to place in the land of green which makes sense given the background of the Rooney family owners of the team. With a strong Irish ancestry, the Steelers and Minnesota Vikings will be playing on Sunday with a kickoff in Eastern Standard Time of 9:30 a.m.
While I’m sure there will be Vikings fans making the trip, I would place a bet that the Steelers faithful will FAR outnumber the Minnesota purple people eaters. Both teams come off a victorious week three and at least the league cut Pittsburgh a break by giving them their bye week in week five. Jet lag is a real thing so the Steelers will have nearly two weeks to recover while the Vikings will play a week later in Cleveland.
My picks for week four begin with the Ireland game.
