Monday, Sept. 27 Time (ET) TV Location
Packers at Bears 8:30 PM ESPN Soldier Field
NFL Week 3 Betting Marquee Matchups:
Titans @ Giants
It will be interesting to see, this early in the NFL betting season, if the Titans are ready to show that their second-half surge from 2009 is legitimate. Questions are swirling around the Tennessee camp after Vince Young’s wayward offseason, which involved an assault at a strip club provoked by nothing more than a childish series of insults. Young is supposed to be the leader of his offense, but that incident showed that the signal caller is far from a fully-grown man. He did well to rebound from a dark period a few years ago when he was said to have considered suicide, but Young has evidently revealed that he has not progressed as much as a lot of people were led to believe. Going into the new Meadowlands Stadium to take on the Giants – who also have a lot to play for after missing the playoffs last season – will provide Young with a stern test. This is certainly an early-season matchup that one will want to keep an eye on.
Falcons @ Saints
The defending champions host the one team in their division that’s capable of overtaking them. In a nutshell, that one sentence captures the significance of this Southern showdown in New Orleans. Matt Ryan missed the last several games of last season with a foot injury; the Atlanta organization badly needs its franchise quarterback to step onto the gridiron each and every Sunday. Ryan’s battle with Saints quarterback Drew Brees will, in its own right, be worth the price of admission. This is clearly the best game on the betting board in week three. Keep an eye on the matchup between Ryan and the Saints’ ballhawking secondary, which propelled this franchise to its exhilarating Super Bowl title last season.
Jets @ Dolphins
Can Miami’s unorthodox rushing offense, with the Wildcat formation, throw the Jets’ elite defense off balance? How will players and fans react to the fact that longtime Dolphin Jason Taylor – a regular tormentor of the Jets – will now be wearing the firehouse green of the New Yorkers? This is a time for New York to affirm its supremacy in the AFC East, while Miami needs this game to develop confidence for the long, hard slog of the entire season.