Through 2 weeks of the NFL plus a Week 3 Thursday night matchup, team identities are beginning to form and the panic button is becoming just as visible as Super Bowl aspirations. Between early QB injuries and teams already falling short of season expectations, this week is likely to see some pretty ugly games following 2 weeks of jam-packed competitive football. Here, we will take a look at 4 of the more intriguing matchups for both viewing and plot-driven purposes.
Texans (0-2) v.s. Jaguars (1-1)
The Texans and Jaguars were both teams that had high hopes coming into the 2025 season. Jacksonville traded up in the draft to select the two-way top prospect in Travis Hunter to compliment the first season under HC Liam Coen, in addition to making several defensive personnel adjustments to aid what was a league-worst passing defense in 2024. Through 2 weeks, Jacksonville has beaten a continuously struggling Panthers team and narrowly dropped a matchup that saw Jake Browning under center for the majority of the contest following Joe Burrow’s exit and subsequent landing on IR.
Despite having 3 years remaining on his 5-year contract following the 2025 season, Lawrence has failed to be the difference maker on his team outside of the 2022 playoff comeback win against the Chargers– which still saw him throw for 4 interceptions. Lawrence’s main target in Brian Thomas Jr. had what was an extremely uncharacteristic game in Week 2, which included a game-losing drop and multiple plays where he showed (very) early anticipation for contact prior to receiving the ball– which is a story to follow in its own right that I’ll tentatively coin as “Hospital Ball Gate”. The seat may be warming up for Lawrence under Liam Coen (and 1st-year GM James Gladstone), who’s already displayed animated frustration with his 5th-year QB– so the Jags will very much be under the microscope in this Week 3 divisional matchup.
Houston is working through issues of its own, opening the season at 0-2 as a team that has won playoff games in back-to-back years under the Stroud/Ryans tandem. They’ve had to face off against 2 bonafide playoff contenders in the Bucs & Rams and kept both games close, but the main story to follow will be the performance of their new and seemingly not improved offensive line that saw the exodus of multiple lineman including Pro-Bowl LT Laremy Tunsil. Joe Mixon’s absence has also hurt the team’s cause in getting any offensive momentum in the rushing attack, which has played a role in Stroud’s quiet 395 yards/1 TD/1 INT line through the first 2 contests. Given both teams’ prior matchups, I’d have to lean more in favor of Houston for this one– but weird things happen in divisional games and the fallout of either team losing will be worth following.
Rams (2-0) v.s. Eagles (2-0)
There’s not much needed to preface this 2024 NFC Championship rematch, as both the Rams & Eagles seem to have picked up where they left off in 2024– for the most part. There are still questions to be answered regarding the Eagles defense that saw a concerning amount of vulnerability against Dallas in Week 1–albeit without Jalen Carter–despite recently beating an unrecognizable Chiefs unit. The situation’s been suspiciously quiet with AJ Brown’s seldom usage through 2 weeks, but another tight game coupled with minimal volume/targets for the WR1 in Philly could stir up some drama (and sideline book clubs).
The calls are growing louder for something to be done about the tush push, as highlights from the Week 2 beg the question(s): are false starts innate to the play, and can this play even be officiated? A memo was released to all 32 teams informing them that the oft-used Philly play will be officiated “tight” going forward– so it’ll be interesting to see how that materializes in what will be a cutthroat conference matchup.
Outside of rumors that Matthew Stafford spent the whole offseason sealed away in a cryochamber to heal his back, the Rams remain one of the most steady and consistent teams in the league. A loss in Cooper Kupp meant a gain in Davante Adams, and they’ve showed through 2 weeks that they can keep games close (and sometimes sluggish). They appear more comfortable giving Blake Corum a role in the backfield to complement Kyren Williams, and seem poised to lean heavier on the run to open up their aerial attack. Their young defense led by 2nd-year edge rusher Jared Verse bottled up CJ Stroud and the Houston offensive line, and will look to create problems at the line of scrimmage for Jalen Hurts & Co.
Broncos (1-1) v.s. Chargers (2-0)
The Chargers are in an incredibly rare spot having the first 3 games of their season be divisional matchups, and have the opportunity to enter even rarer air with a win over Denver on Sunday to firmly establish a divisional grip. This week will mark their first home game at SoFi, and comes following a comfortable road win against the Raiders where the passing offense continued to outshine the run game. Herbert dealt with plantar fasciitis for the early part of the 2024 season which led to a heavy leaning on the run (plus the Harbaugh/Roman affinity for the ground & pound), so it makes sense that with a better offensive supporting cast and at full health they’d unleash him on secondaries. That said, there are serious concerns about the Chargers rushing attack as the team’s rushing leader and 2024 1st round draft pick–Omarion Hampton–has just 72 yards on 23 carries through 2 games. Najee Harris is clearly dealing with a pretty significant eye injury given his limited usage despite looking far better than Hampton whenever he’s gotten touches, but the Chargers may need to expand his role against a powerhouse Denver defense that could very well limit the aerial attack.
Denver hasn’t quite lived up to the offseason hype as being a league frontrunner, having beaten Tennessee in a snooze fest and dropping a late-game thriller to the Indiana Jones led Colts. Both teams could pan out to have strong defenses and in hindsight, those games might be remembered in a better light– but the fact of the matter is that they haven’t looked particularly dominant in any phase of the game. Divisional matchups are always grimy, and they could very well be in the power-position to bounce back against the Chargers with a J.K. Dobbins revenge game in order. The Chargers defense has looked daunting, but if the Broncos can run the ball and maintain lengthy drives with the Bo Nix signature quick game, their defense has proven the ability to pull their weight when needed and the team could end up dealing the Chargers their first loss of the season.
Lions (1-1) v.s. Ravens (1-1)
The Lions had a statement win against the ever-destitute Bears in Week 2, hanging a 50-burger over Ben Johnson’s new team– a feat accomplished twice under Detroit’s former OC. This team will have growing pains working through a high-turnover offseason on their coaching staff, but the roster talent is very much still there and Dan Campbell is still a kneecap-biting sicko of a head coach that will have his team running through brick walls every week. It will be interesting to see how the offense stack up against a playoff-caliber defense following their Week 1 dogwalk by Green Bay, but it’s likely that they’ll put up a high-scoring effort on primetime. The Ravens’ rush defense hasn’t been spectacular so far, which could pave the way for Gibbs & Montgomery to have a signature night and innately leads to perfect conditions for Jared Goff to put the secondary to work with a fearsome Detroit play-action.
The Ravens really shouldn’t have lost that Week 1 primetime thriller to Buffalo, but as is the very nature of the league we all love. They outplayed the Bills for 3 quarters of football and reminded the world of the perennial Super Bowl threat they are, but a costly Derrick Henry fumble mixed with Josh Allen magic led to them being 1-1 now after pounding the Browns 41-17. Lamar Jackson is still an MVP-caliber QB, Derrick Henry has still got it at 31, and–as it turns out–Deandre Hopkins is still an offensive weapon at 33. The concern about this team has never been about regular season success, but rather getting back to the AFC Championship to give them another chance at a Super Bowl appearance with a QB/Coach combo that’s more than deserving of one. Losing to a conference contender in the Bills is frustrating enough, but dropping a 2nd game to a 2024 playoff team will not inspire an organization desperate to make a deep run.
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