SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (1-1) AT LOS ANGELES RAMS (0-2)
San Francisco has won at Los Angeles in each of the past five seasons. The injury list might make this Week 3 matchup more unpredictable. San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey is on IR, WR Deebo Samuel is doubtful with his own calf issue and 49ers QB Brock Purdy and his NFL-best 550 yards passing through two games take center stage. His 72.3 completion percentage is eighth in the league, but he has just one touchdown pass. Purdy threw his first interception Sunday after he had 11 last season, while earning Pro Bowl honors. He also lost a fumble, while the 49ers had a punt blocked. The Rams are dealing with their own injury issues. Wide receiver Puka Nacua (knee) was placed on injured reserve after Week 1 and wide receiver Cooper Kupp (ankle) is expected to miss extended time. The Rams also have holes on the offensive line: Jonah Jackson (shoulder), Steve Avila (knee) and Joe Noteboom (ankle) are on IR. Even rookie kicker Joshua Karty (groin) is ailing and missed practice to start the week. Behind a makeshift line last week, even veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford looked rattled, and understandably so, as Los Angeles was never competitive in a 41-10 loss on the road to the Arizona Cardinals. Tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) returned in Week 2 and tackle Alaric Jackson (suspension) is set to come back Sunday.
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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (1-1) AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (2-0)
The Saints are one of nine undefeated teams as they prepare to host the Eagles. Expectations for New Orleans (9-8 last season), which has missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons, were average at best before the current campaign started. The Saints have defied the doubters so far with a 47-10 home win over the Carolina Panthers and a 44-19 road rout of the Dallas Cowboys. Saints QB Derek Carr and the offense have thrived under first-year coordinator Klint Kubiak. New Orleans leads the NFL in scoring with 91 points, 22 more than the next team, the Arizona Cardinals. Carr paces the league in passer rating (142.4) and running back Alvin Kamara is tops in scoring (five touchdowns) and yards from scrimmage (290). And the Saints’ defense has more than held its own, ranking fourth in scoring (14.5 points allowed per game), tied for fourth in yards allowed per play (4.5) and seventh in total yards allowed (273 per game). Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is trying to keep his team from dwelling on a lost opportunity in its last contest against the visiting Atlanta Falcons. Philadelphia had a chance to take a two-score lead with less than two minutes remaining, but running back Saquon Barkley dropped a third-down pass. The Eagles settled for a field goal and a six-point lead, and Atlanta needed just 65 seconds to score the winning touchdown in a 22-21 victory. The dropped pass marred what has otherwise been a strong start to Barkley’s first season in Philadelphia. The former New York Giant is seventh in yards from scrimmage (248) and has scored three touchdowns. This will be the Eagles’ first Sunday game of the young season. They held off the Green Bay Packers, 34-29, on Friday, Sept. 6, in San Paolo, Brazil, then played their home opener on Monday night.
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LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (2-0) AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS (2-0)
It’s been an adventurous week for the Chargers, who decided to stick around the East Coast after tearing apart the Panthers last week and with Pittsburgh on the schedule Sunday. QB Justin Herbert (ankle) didn’t take part in every practice but is expected to play in a matchup with Steelers stand-in starter Justin Fields. Fields has led Pittsburgh to a 2-0 start while Russell Wilson (calf) works to get back in the lineup. The Chargers are taking on the personality of head coach Jim Harbaugh quickly. Los Angeles is No. 3 in the NFL in rushing and No. 2 in total defense. The Steelers are letting Fields take a shot or two downfield to George Pickens, who has had multiple big plays voided by penalty, but otherwise following a vanilla approach that head coach Mike Tomlin said was largely a product of the road environments the team won in (Atlanta, Denver) to start the season. Even if the Steelers open it up, don’t expect a repeat of the last meeting in 2021. The Steelers scored 37 points — and lost by four.
Denver Broncos (0-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0)
Not many pegged the Buccaneers to be driving in the fast lane with NFC contenders, but Tampa is one of the true surprises out of the gate after beating the Lions in Detroit last week. QB Baker Mayfield is rolling, averaging 9.7 yards per attempt — nearly double Broncos QB Bo Nix, who is at 5.0 — with WR Chris Godwin on pace for 1,700 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns through two games. A rookie first-round pick in his second road start in the NFL, Nix and the Broncos haven’t been able to stretch defenses in part because opponents aren’t honoring the running game.
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CAROLINA PANTHERS (0-2) AT LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (1-1)
It’s the matchup you’ve waited for all week … Andy Dalton vs. Gardner Minshew. OK, maybe this wasn’t on the radar prior to the regular season. It certainly was not part of the plan for the Panthers, who are skidding to new lows by the week. Last year’s No. 1 draft pick, Bryce Young, was benched after Carolina was blitzed 26-3 in the home opener by the Chargers — a team that beat the Raiders in Week 1. Switching to Dalton clouds the future for the Panthers and Young, but Carolina had only one touchdown — a short Young TD run in garbage time of the 47-10 loss to the Saints — and was outscored 73-13 in the first two games of the Dave Canales era. What’s ailing the team is not an easy question to address based on the length of the answer. Carolina has three first-half points, a third-down conversion rate of 9.1 percent and ranks 31st in passing and 32nd in total offense. The Raiders found a spark offensively to rally and upset the Ravens. Minshew completed 30 of 38 throws for 276 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the 26-23 win at Baltimore. Dalton’s only start as a Panther came a year ago in a Week 3 loss at Seattle, where he threw for 361 yards and two TDs. In his career, Dalton’s record is 83-78-2 as a starter, including 4-0 against the Raiders.
MIAMI DOLPHINS (1-1) AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (2-0)
Mike McDonald was hired in Seattle for his sagaciousness as a defensive coach with the Ravens, and the league’s youngest head coach is off to a great start with two wins and the No. 6-ranked defense in the NFL. The Seahawks draw the NFL’s No. 2 passing attack but the Dolphins are not the same as they arrive in the Pac Northwest. Skylar Thompson, a seventh-round pick in 2022 out of Kansas State, replaces Tua Tagovailoa, who is on injured reserve after sustaining his third concussion in two seasons last Thursday in a 31-10 loss to the visiting Buffalo Bills. Thompson started three games in 2022 with Tagovailoa sidelined, including a playoff defeat to the Bills. Thompson completed 78 of 150 passes for 461 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in those three starts, going 1-2. He served as the Dolphins’ No. 3 quarterback all of last season and didn’t get into a game. Thompson completed 8 of 14 passes for 80 yards off the bench last week.