There are 10 NFL Road Favorites This Weekend, Here Comes the Chaos
By Jason McIntyre
After the first two weeks of the NFL, the buzzword is boring. Whether it’s poor QB play, horrendous offensive line play or terrific defense, the fans on social media are MAD ONLINE. I think it’s all massively overblown, and I have been glued to my TV, but I digress.
What has hurt the NFL is the standalone games so far have left a lot to be desired, a trend that will continue in Week 3:
Dallas 19, New York Giants 3 (Week 1, SNF)
Houston 13, Cincinnati 9 (Week 2, TNF)
Detroit 24, New York Giants 10 (Week 2, MNF)
Week 3:
Rams at 49ers
Jacksonville vs Baltimore (London)
Dallas vs Arizona
Hey, it’s not the NFL’s fault that Odell Beckham was hurt and missed the opener, and clearly wasn’t 100% in Week 2. Or that David Johnson is out for two months.
But this is a reason to be excited for Week 3, if you’ve been sucked into the NFL-is-boring vortex: There are 10 road favorites this weekend. That’s usually an invitation to chaos. Even if we exclude the 49ers and Cardinals, it still leaves the following:
Browns -1 at Colts. This is the first time in three years that the Browns have been favored on the road. They lost that game.
Steelers -7 at Bears. You know Big Ben’s home/road splits. You know Tomlin’s road woes. You’ve been warned.
Dolphins -6 at Jets. The Jets could manage to keep this close, but 1-2 big plays from Parker/Landry will probably be the difference.
Broncos -3 at Bills. Trevor Sieman is favored on the road? The Bills have faced the Jets and Panthers, and are 2nd in YPP allowed (3.9).
Bucs -3 at Vikings. This has everything to do with Sam Bradford’s status. Case Keenum is not very good, and the Tampa front seven is at times nasty.
Falcons -3 at Lions. Detroit keeps games close. That’s what it does. Atlanta will be without its best pass rusher, Vic Beasley.
Chiefs -3 at Chargers. Alex Smith favored on the road. Against a desperate team playing at home that’s lost at the horn twice.
Raiders -3 at Redskins. Everything screams shootout, so naturally the defenses will show up. The Redskins defense is giving up 6.0 ypp, and that came against Carson Wentz and Jared Goff. Oakland’s much more dangerous.