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2022 NFL Week 3 Fixtures – Brady vs Rodgers

September 22, 2022

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It’s week three of the 2022 NFL season and already we are down to only six teams with a 100% record! Whether this is going to be a season of parity is debatable however what we are sure of is that there will be a max of five 3-0 teams after Monday as two of them meet in the weekend’s big AFC match-up.

There are plenty of interesting games scheduled with two really standing out one in the NFC and one in the AFC.

The big NFC clash sees the Green Bay Packers travel to Tampa. This will be billed as Rodgers v Brady and barring (a highly possible) post-season meeting this could be the last time these two future HOF QBs meet. Neither are really firing on all cylinders, and Tom Brady will be without his most reliable WR as Mike Evans is suspended for the game. Still, their defense is as good as expected and with the Packer’s offense still struggling to establish its identity it should go the home side’s way.

In The AFC the big game is the all-East clash between the Dolphins & the Bills. Both are 2-0 and both have looked impressive in getting there. The Bills have pretty much annihilated both their opponents racking up a combined total of 72-17 in the process. Given one was against the reigning Super Bowl Champions and the other a 2021 playoff team they will be strong favourites to go 3-0. However, the Dolphins have shown their metal in both their games with the highlight being last week’s win in Baltimore.

The winner will join the Chiefs at the top of the AFC power rankings and even at this early stage have put a marker down. Anyway here are the weeks fixtures, starting with…

Thursday Nights Game

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland Browns

Both are 1-1, although the Browns must still be wondering how they managed to lose to the Jets. All four games they have played have been one-score affairs and this could be close too.

Prediction

Pittsburgh 17 @ Cleveland 20

Sunday Early Games

The Sunday early games are headed by that AFC East clash between the Bills & Dolphins. This will be a good test for both teams, however, the way Buffalo is playing it’s hard to see any other outcome but a Buffalo win. However, it probably won’t be a blowout this time.

The Indianapolis-Kansas game should also attract a bit of attention given their contrasting starts. The Chiefs have taken the loss of Tyreek Hill in their stride and showed a lot of grit to outlast the Chargers last week. Right now we regard them as the second-best team in the NFL and a win at the Colts will set them up nicely for the upcoming tough run of games.

Indianapolis has been disappointing thus far failing to win either of their openers against teams who were regarded candidates for the No1 pick in next year’s draft. Matt Ryan is struggling to get the offense moving so far and if it doesn’t click soon they could be in a similar position to last year when they missed the playoffs.

Divisional Games

There are three additional divisional games to enjoy and of these, the Eagles’ trip to Washington is the most appealing from a neutrals point of view. It’s early days, but with Dak Prescott out for the Cowboys, Philly has the opportunity to steal a march. Overall the NFC East looks much improved in 2022.

Predictions

New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panther

Saints 21 Panthers 17

Houston Texans @ Chicago Bears

Texans 23 Bears 20

Kansas City Chiefs @ Indianapolis Colts

Chiefs 31 Colts 20

Buffalo Bills @ Miami Dolphins

Bills 31 Dolphins 24

Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings

Lions 17 Vikings 28

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots

Ravens 27 Patriots 20

Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Jets

Bengals 21 Jets 14

LV Raiders @ Tennessee Titans

Raiders 20 Titans 23

Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Commanders

Eagles 31 Commanders 20

Sunday Late Games

The late games feature five teams who will be expecting to make the playoffs this year and they are headed by the Tampa, Green Bay game. The Buccs are 2-0 thanks in no small part to their defense which has been rock solid so far.

This is bad news for the Packers, as although they won last week it was against the struggling Bears and even there their offense looked slightly out of sync. Once Rodgers gets into a rhythm with his rookie WR cast things will come right but that may take a game or two yet. They might have to resort to running the ball more and that’s not easy against the Buccs front seven.

Tampa has only given up one TD so far, and that was when the game was already as good as over. Tom Brady hasn’t been his usual productive self in their opening games, however much of this is down to the injuries on offense. He has shown in the past that even when devoid of offensive weapons he knows how to win and he will probably find a way to get the Buccs to 3-0.

Image: Steve Jacobson/Shutterstock.com

Predictions

Jacksonville Jaguars @ LA Chargers

Jags 17 Chargers 31

LA Rams @ Arizona Cardinals

Rams 20 Cards 17

Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks

Falcons 27 Seahawks 17

Green Bay Packers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Packers 17 Buccs 21

Sunday Night Game

This is another tale of two QBs with Jimmy Garoppolo back as their starter following the Trey Lance injury. He is up against his old foe Russell Wilson who has found life a little tougher than expected in Denver following his blockbuster trade. Still, they should have been 2-0 had they not had a bad case of the fumblies (is that a word?) in their opener. They didn’t look particularly impressive against the Texans either. Possibly another close one.

Prediction

San Francisco 49ers @ Denver Broncos

49ers 17 Broncos 20

Monday Night Football

No, it’s not April 1st, The Giants really are 2-0 and on a bit of a roll. OK their two wins have been by a combined 4 points and Daniel Jones is still taking too many sacks, however, their defense looks quite good. They face a Cowboys team without their star QB, Dak Prescott. However, stand-in Cooper Rush has looked surprisingly capable so this could be a close one. Maybe not worth sitting up for if you are in the UK.