After three weeks, nearly everyone in the NFL has a win, and nearly everyone has a loss. There are just five winless teams remaining, and five undefeated teams keeping the 1972 Dolphins from their annual champagne toast.
How long will the streaks last? It’s time to gaze into our crystal ball.
This week, the Bengals come home riding high off a big road win in Pittsburgh, and the Jaguars get to serve as a classic trap game. They stink, but the Bengals aren’t as good as they’d like to think they are yet. In a Thursday night game, in front of everybody, we all get to hear some nonsense about Urban Meyer making progress with this group or some such, and Trevor Lawrence will have his best game yet as a pro. And then the Jaguars will finish 1-16, including a clutch December 26 loss to the Jets that seals a second straight No. 1 pick.
A win is a win is a win, but you cannot ignore that the Broncos’ wins so far have been against the Giants, Jaguars, and Jets, the three worst teams in the league. They beat them the way they should, yes, but it’s still going to be a stunner if Denver remains undefeated past this Sunday, when Lamar Jackson and the Ravens come calling.
So far in the Dan Campbell era, the Lions have rallied to turn a blowout by the 49ers into a nail-biter, shown that they weren’t ready for primetime against a Packers team needing a bounce-back in its home opener, then lost to the Ravens at the buzzer on the longest field goal in NFL history. They’re going to get on the board in one of these next three games, and the way things are feeling for the Bears right now, it’s going to be this Sunday in Chicago, plunging the Lions’ old rivals into last in the NFC North and further chaos.
How for real do you believe this team is? The quarterbacks they’ve faced so far are Zach Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Davis Mills. It’s gonna be a little different this Sunday in Dallas facing Dak Prescott. It’s also going to be Sam Darnold facing a defense that will give up big chunks of yards, but also turns the ball over. Get past the Cowboys, and the Panthers have it pretty easy until November. They still could wind up the surprise team of the league this year. But they should lose in Dallas.
It’s a battle of unbeatens in the NFC West this Sunday, and the edge goes to the Rams being at home. The Cardinals are still quite good. They also have a really difficult middle of the schedule. Even if they do get past L.A., the run with that zero in the “L” column probably isn’t going to last for very long.
Assuming that they do take care of the Cardinals on Sunday, the next game is Thursday night at Seattle. Honestly, if the Rams can beat the Bucs, Cardinals, and Seahawks within 17 days, they deserve the Giants/Lions/Texans cushion that follows, a likely 8-0 record into November, and the mantle of Super Bowl favorites. But, yeah, at Seattle next Thursday.
Gang Green is definitely capable of losing every game remaining on the schedule, but that’s because they’re the Jets, not because it’s a particular gauntlet of a slate. The road team has won the last three Jets-Falcons games — not really meaningful, as said three-game streak started with a game where Braylon Edwards and Tony Gonzalez scored the touchdowns — and their meeting on October 10 in London is an Atlanta home game. It also feels right for the Jets to get a win on a Sunday morning and have a lot of people not realize they actually got a win.
It’s an unexpected bad start for the Colts, but not for anyone who was skeptical of Carson Wentz, who in addition to being bad, isn’t healthy. This week’s game in Miami is winnable, but hardly a sure thing. After that, the Colts close out their road trip in Baltimore on a Monday night. At 0-5, it may become clear how much Philip Rivers was holding things together last year. But back at home on October 17 against the Texans, the Colts should find that win column.
The offense is legit good. The defense is good… enough. There’s still a lot to prove, but after Monday night’s game against the Chargers, the Raiders — even though they’ve come close to dropping two games already — have a pretty soft stretch ahead. It’s entirely possible that they get to 9-0 before the big rivalry game against Kansas City in Sin City, on November 14 in primetime.
It was the opening of the Giants’ schedule that was the easy part, and, well… now they’ve got the Saints in New Orleans’ homecoming game, at Dallas, the Rams and Panthers, at Kansas City on a Monday night, and a short week vs. the Raiders before the bye. Then it’s at Tampa Bay. Could they beat the Eagles at home? Sure, the Eagles aren’t that good, either. But the Giants are worse. Instead, watch for the Giants to go all the way to 0-13, beat the Cowboys on December 19 at a cold Meadowlands, and sow chaos in the NFC East while also blowing the No. 1 draft pick with another win by the end of the year.