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With week 2 in the books, there are some teams that are trying to salvage their season and some teams that are flying high heading into week 3. Browns are looking to rebound after losing their star running back Nick Chubb in a horrific injury in a 26-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night. The Patriots are in desperate need of a win this week as they take on the New York Jets in Metlife stadium. One team will come out on top and get their first win of the season when the Los Angeles Chargers go into Minnesota to face the Vikings.
Tennessee Titans vs. Cleveland Browns
The topic everybody is talking about is the loss of Nick Chubb, the running back for the Cleveland Browns and who will step in to fill that gap. Coach Kevin Stefanski announced earlier this week that second-year back Jerome Ford will get the start Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. The Offensive Line has to play better if they want to take the pressure off Deshaun Watson; a week ago the Browns saw Watson under pressure almost every play against the Steelers and gave up five sacks.
When asked about the injury to Chubb on Tuesday, coach Stefanski talked about needing to have the next-man-up mentality and how nobody is bigger than the team.
Joe Burrow has been battling a calf injury since the beginning of the season and it has showed with his play on the field. Through the first two games, Burrow has completed 41-72 for 304 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Ja’Marr Chase has only 70 yds on the season with only 10 receptions this season. Bengals fans are beginning to panic after seeing what was one of the hottest offenses last season flame out the first two weeks. Stefanski was asked about Burrow and his performance Tuesday and thought his quarterback played well last week even after looking off in the first half in their week 2 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
New England Patriots vs. New York Jets
Bill Belichick’s Patriots have fallen into a 0-2 hole on their season and are trying to avoid starting 0-2 in the AFC East. Patriots lost a heartbreaker to the Miami Dolphins last week as they simply ran out of time. Mac Jones has looked shaky to start the season and has a 54.6 quarterback rating, he will try to get things going this week when he has to go up against the young vaunting Jets secondary. the question that looms over Jones’ head is can he be the new face of the franchise for the Patriots. After taking the Patriots to the playoffs in his first season, Jones has struggled to become the leader the franchise thought he would become at this point in his career.
The Jets are still trying to find their identity on offense after losing their star QB Aaron Rodgers. Zack Wilson remains to look like a liability to the Jets offense as he completed only 12 of 27 passes for 170 yds, one touchdown, and three interceptions. The Jets have one of the deepest defensive lines in the league, and although the defense will keep them in many games this season, it will come down to how the offense can perform and it hasn’t looked pretty under Wilson.
Los Angeles Chargers vs. Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota lost a close game against the Philadelphia Eagles last week. The Vikings have miscues all over the field whether it be Justin Jefferson fumbling a 30-yard catch into the endzone and out of bounds for a touchback which would have made it 14-10 Vikings in the second quarter or them losing three first-half fumbles and four overall on the night. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota QB, spoke to the media about the Jefferson fumble and about how the team should have played better.
Cousins has been solid through the first two games of the 2023 season as he has posted a 70.8 QBR and will look to keep feeding his two deep threats in Jefferson and Jordan Addison this weekend. Addison has broken out this season and has become one of Cousins’ favorite targets, scoring a touchdown in the first two weeks. The Vikings are a pass-heavy offense because of the offensive line being unable to open up holes for the running backs. Expect to see this offense try to force the ball down the field as they will be going against a secondary in LA that gave up 466 yds through the air in week 1 against Miami.
LA has issues on defense, especially in their secondary so they will try and right the wrongs on that side of the ball this week in Minnesota. Justin Herbert was good last week in the Chargers overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans Sunday. The Chargers were able to stop Derrick Henry which is the key to slowing down the Titans, now the question going into this week is can the secondary slow down Jefferson and Addison.
