Week Three Of The NFL For Penny And Cassie
Penny And Cassie Delivered In Week Two Of The 2024 NFL Season. After Thirty-Two Games, They Are Both Above Even With Their Selections.
Attempting To Show That Research And Thought Can Be Overcome By Enthusiasm And Good Looks, The Dogs Have Interesting Takes For Week Three Of The NFL.
Penny and Cassie raised their game in week two, then went to the park for a new game as they look to take the lead in the overall picks for the year.
The dogs can claim a solid performance for week two of the NFL season. Penny and Cassie both had winning records, and now all of us are above five-hundred for the year.
Week Two:
Bob: 7-8-1
Penny: 8-7-1
Cassie: 9-6-1
The Year To Date:
Bob: 18-10-4
Penny: 15-13-4
Cassie 15-13-4
A strong first week saved my record and lead after a mediocre result out of last week’s slate. The dogs have closed the gap, and I expect it to stay interesting for the remainder of the season.
Typically, the third week is a dangerous one for making wagers in the NFL. Oddsmakers have begun to settle in on most teams. The majority of surprises have been on display, and the spreads are becoming even more challenging to gauge. The teams, however, are now at a stage where the season may be on the line and transitions are going to take place. New Orleans and Baltimore provide us with examples.
The Saints haven’t just won two games so far, they’ve dominated every part of play in both. Their wins came at home and on the road, including a victory over a Dallas team that hadn’t lost on their field since September of 2022. They’ve scored 91-points while surrendering 29. Alvin Kamara is near the top of most valuable player conversations with 198-yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.
The Ravens were understood to be starting off with a difficult schedule. Opening night was against the Chiefs. The loss to the Raiders put their record at 0-2. Their next three games are the Cowboys on the road, the Bills at home, and the Bengals on the road. Even with a schedule that appears to get easier as it moves along, they are facing a start that has already been poor and could quickly get worse.
Have New Orleans and Baltimore delivered in any way as expected? No. I’m not sure if any gambler trusts what they’ve seen from either team so far as evidence of what will happen during the full season. In week three, both clubs are situated in positions where the results could determine the overall successes (especially for the Saints) and frustrations (especially for the Ravens) in 2024.
The standings are littered with clubs that have gigantic questions marks when it comes to consistency and quality. All of that, and more, needs to be sorted out as we face the weekly spreads.
This week the dogs selected their winners by chasing tennis balls. We spared no expense, using thirty-two balls with the name of each team placed on one ball. Two balls were thrown at the same time, reflecting the teams in each game. Penny or Cassie headed out, sixteen times each, and the first ball returned was deemed the selection for that game.
New England Patriots At New York Jets (-6.5)
New England has been a great team to watch this season. The Patriots are full of energy, have been playing well in general, and appear to be building a solid foundation under Jerod Mayo. The defense has been consistent, and ranks in the top ten after two games. The Jets have been playing with little rest out of the gate, with their first three games on Monday, then Sunday, followed by a game on Thursday. If it weren’t for a terrible Tennessee team in week two, New York could easily be 0-2 heading into this game on a short week. The Jets have the better starting quarterback. That’s the only place where they are clearly better than the Pats. The oddsmakers may still be having issues, because this spread feels way off.
Bob: New England
Penny: New England
Cassie: New England
New York Giants At Cleveland Browns (-6)
All Brian Daboll did in week two with the Giants was exhibit the type of unpreparedness that marks terrible teams. To know about Graham Gano’s injury well ahead of the game, and then seemingly having nothing prepared when Gano was pulled from the game after aggravating the injury borders on inexcusable. The team is a mess on offense, and their former star running back (Saquon Barkley) playing well in a different uniform is an ongoing embarrassment for the front office. It is going to be a long, emotional, disappointing season for New York. Enter Cleveland, with a decent performance last week after a rough opener. Their defense looked back in form against Jacksonville, and will dominate at home this week.
Bob: Cleveland
Penny: Cleveland
Cassie: New York
Chicago Bears At Indianapolis Colts (-1)
The way the Bears have looked on offense, it’s mindboggling that they have a win. The Colts have been rough so far in 2024, across the board and all over the filed. The benefit for Indianapolis is their defense goes up against that horrendous Chicago offense.
Bob: Indianapolis
Penny: Chicago
Cassie: Chicago
Houston Texans (-2.5) At Minnesota Vikings
During the week, and unfortunately after making my selections, I started hearing interviews with reporters in Minnesota. The discussion focused on how the team was coming together around Sam Darnold and that the game against the 49ers was going to open the eyes of folks that might be doubting the Vikings. I don’t believe it would have changed my thoughts or pick last week, but it certainly has me doublechecking all my notes for this week. Houston is 2-0 on the year, taking care of what needed to be done to win, but they have not been impressive so far. I like Houston. I like the coaching staff. I like C. J. Stroud. I do not like the way they are performing this season. I do not like them against the Vikings on the road this week.
Bob: Minnesota
Penny: Houston
Cassie: Houston
Philadelphia Eagles At New Orleans Saints (-2.5)
I don’t believe the Saints can continue at this level for the full season. New Orleans, regardless of my opinion, is playing dynamic football so far. The biggest problem is that there are plenty of reasons in place that create confusion in judging the Saints. After two weeks, the Saints have surrendered passing yards at a clip that places them in the bottom third of the league. Normally, that would be bad. They have been so far in front in each game, however, that opposing offenses have had little choice but to throw the ball. Normally, that swings the passing numbers a bit off balance. The better way of approaching this game, as a result, is to look at Philadelphia. First, both of Philadelphia’s games were close, physical contests, and the team is likely at least a bit more drained than usual entering week three of a season. Second, the Eagles are coming off of a difficult loss, which was also a Monday night game and means a short turnaround for this road match. And third, while technically it’s the first road game of the year, the opener was played in Brazil and the team has travelled a lot already. Add that up, and a tired defense that has been struggling is taking on an explosive offense that hasn’t looked even remotely close to stopping.
Bob: New Orleans
Penny: Philadelphia
Cassie: Philadelphia
Los Angeles Chargers At Pittsburgh Steelers (-2)
Two teams without a loss meet in this game. Both have been outstanding on defense, where the respective units of each is the key reason for every win. Justin Hebert is going to be the best quarterback on the field, regardless of who lines up behind center for Pittsburgh. The real reason to take the Chargers, however, is J.K. Dobbins with his 2 touchdowns and 266-yards this year. Dobbins is averaging almost 10-yards per carry so far, and will force the Steelers to take a bit from pass coverage to contain the damage potential of the run. Nothing Pittsburgh has shown on offense this season suggests that whatever they do in this game on defense will be enough.
Bob: Los Angeles
Penny: Pittsburgh
Cassie: Pittsburgh
Denver Broncos At Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-7)
Bo Nix has not looked nearly as bad as the two losses and lack of points on the scoreboard suggests. Nix also has 4 interceptions, no touchdowns, and has not looked that good. The Broncos are headed on the road to play a very confident Buccaneers team this week. All Tampa Bay has done is exactly what they need to do to win. The trick in this game is actually the spread. Denver’s defense hasn’t looked bad, while Tampa’s is ranking low on yardage allowed and passing numbers, suggesting a low-scoring affair may be in order. It is possible Tampa wins but can’t pull away. In such dilemmas, I always revert back to a simple concept: Never bet on the underdog to cover if you don’t think they can win. Rules are always made to be broken, but there are no reasons in Denver’s favor to break one here.
Bob: Tampa Bay
Penny: Denver
Cassie: Denver
Green Bay Packers At Tennessee Titans (-3)
The Titans have suffered back-to-back 24-17 losses to the Bears and Jets. The Titans have a starting quarterback (Will Levis) that is causing the entire coaching staff to figuratively pound their foreheads against the wall and literally comment publicly about his poor play. Jordan Love is a possibility to return from an MCL sprain in this game, which only serves to make a Green Bacy victory more likely.
Bob: Green Bay
Penny: Green Bay
Cassie: Green Bay
Carolina Panthers At Las Vegas Raiders (-5.5)
Carolina benched their young starting quarterback and will take the field with Andy Dalton leading the way. The Red Rifle will not make a difference. Las Vegas has a chance to win its second game in a row. The Raiders also seem to be supporting each other as teammates, with a sideline interaction last week between Garner Minshew and Maxx Crosby appearing to exemplify the group mentality and cohesiveness. Never discount what an emotional team can do to overcome significant talent gaps against an opponent. It definitely helped the Raiders defeat the Ravens. This week, the Raiders don’t have a talent gap to overcome.
Bob: Las Vegas
Penny: Las Vegas
Cassie: Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins At Seattle Seahawks (-5)
Later in this article, I’m going to mention that Jacksonville is in trouble and has not been getting much out of Trevor Lawrence. Miami beat that underperforming Jacksonville team to open the year. The Dolphins have looked out of sync all season, may be fortunate to have a win at all, and enter this contest without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Seattle has done a decent job this season, winning both games in contests where they were the better team. This is the right opponent at the right time for the Seahawks to register their third victory of 2024.
Bob: Seattle
Penny: Seattle
Cassie: Miami
Detroit Lions (-3) At Arizona Cardinals
I view this game as a blindingly important, necessary game for Detroit. The Lions have an entertaining team to watch under Dan Campbell, seem to have a solid organization and roster in place, and are doing a brilliant job continuing the narrative as lovable underdogs that need to keep achieving. The reality is that it took overtime to defeat the Rams in week one, and in many ways allowed the Buccaneers to control the game in week two. The Cardinals ran with the Bills on the road and gave them fits until falling in the first game of the year, and then trounced the Rams in the second. I enjoy what the Lions are doing. I want to see them as a solid selection in this contest. I can’t. Last weekend against the Bucs, the Lions outperformed them in every area except punting and then lost by 4. The Cardinals are playing better than the Bucs.
Bob: Arizona
Penny: Detroit
Cassie: Detroit
Baltimore Ravens (-1) At Dallas Cowboys
It would be easy to point at last week as an outlier for Dallas. The argument would be built upon showing Dak Prescott is a good quarterback, and supported by how in recent seasons the Cowboys have protected their home field better than any team in the league. Using Prescott’s history and statistics, and the last two years of games at AT&T Stadium, it would be a decent claim to make. Before you apply that to this game, however, look a bit deeper into the first game of the year. The Cowboys won because of how poorly the Browns played, and not because they were far superior. Prescott threw for just 179-yards in that game. Ezekiel Elliot was their leading rusher, at 40-yards gained. CeeDee Lamb had 5-receptions for 61-yards. When forecasting other contests at least a bit of consideration must be given to the idea that none of those numbers suggest the blowout victory on the scoreboard. Week two may be closer to the 2024 Dallas reality than many might think. The Ravens, meanwhile, are doing a lot of finger-pointing. Two losses, and far too many claims of being targeted for penalties and poor officiating to go with far too few admissions of needing to step up and win. I don’t like the Cowboys because I’m not convinced they are a decent club. I like the Ravens because they need this game and are too talented not to be a force this season. Neither of those reasons have me feeling secure about my pick.
Bob: Baltimore
Penny: Dallas
Cassie: Dallas
San Francisco 49ers (-7.5) At Los Angeles Rams
After last week’s game, where the 49ers lost on the road to the Vikings, it’s hard to place any confidence in them on the road in this divisional matchup. They’re missing Christian McCaffrey. Last week, they got more than 300 passing yards from Brock Purdy, 100 rushing yards from Jordan Mason, and 8-receptions and 110-yards from Deebo Samuel, and still only scored 17 points. The Rams have it worse though, with injury problems and questions in every area of play.
Bob: San Francisco
Penny: Los Angeles
Cassie: San Francisco
Kansas City Chiefs (-3.5) At Atlanta Falcons
Dangerous game to overthink. Kansas City has found ways to win two home games to start the season. Atlanta has looked all sorts of untrustworthy on offense. The deciding factor here has to be the Chiefs on defense. They have not looked strong in either game, are giving up a lot of yardage, and head on the road for the first time this year. Plus, the Chiefs are in the middle of a blistering opening of opponents, with the Chargers, Saints and 49ers coming up. I’m not sold on Atlanta, but this game has something of an emotionally drained road team written all over it.
Bob: Atlanta
Penny: Kansas City
Cassie: Atlanta
Jacksonville Jaguars At Buffalo Bills (-5.5)
All the Bills have done this season is methodically win. The Jaguars have displayed all sorts of inconsistencies. It is far too early to name Josh Allen the MVP or declare this team the best he’s played on, especially since neither claim may be true as the season progresses. It is not too early to say Trevor Lawrence needs to deliver some strong numbers and demonstrate his leadership skills, and this is going to be a brutal game for him to hit such targets.
Bob: Buffalo
Penny: Buffalo
Cassie: Jacksonville
Washington Commanders At Cincinnati Bengals (-8)
I am not enjoying any thoughts about this game. Washington has been slightly better than poor so far, with Jayden Daniels providing several glimmers of hope toward a positive future. The Commanders turned in some decent moments against the Buccaneers, even as they opened the year with a loss. Despite not scoring a touchdown, they did what they needed to do to defeat the Giants last week. They are going to be a fun team this season, and could develop around Daniels quickly. Cincinnati players were thumping their chests heading into the game against Kansas City and were then defeated in soul-crushing fashion. Tee Higgins has been out, and his status coming back from injury is definitely in question for this game. Ja’Marr Chase, the receiver dissatisfied with progress on his new contract, hasn’t been meaningful on the field in either game played this season. There are things happening off of the field in Cincinnati that are definitely hampering the club on the field. The quick impulse is to believe the Bengals are the better team here. I’m not sure that’s the case.
Bob: Washington
Penny: Washington
Cassie: Washington
Odds sourced from USA Today
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