NFL Week 3 hot takes: Could Baker Matfield win NFL MVP

Two weeks of the NFL season are in the books and there have been plenty of upsets, injuries, and surprising starts around the league.

The AFC North is on its head with the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals both winless while the Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to lose a game with Justin Fields under center. Meanwhile, the Houston Texans have the only two wins among AFC South teams with victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears.

Over in the other conference, the NFC East has three 1-1 teams with the New York Giants winless through two weeks. The Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, who both opened at around +800 Pennsylvania sports betting odds to win their divisions, are 2-0 atop the NFC North and NFC West respectively. In the NFC South, the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are both 2-0 with both offenses showing tons of firepower.

Will these teams keep it up in Week 3 or will the surprises continue in the month of September? Let's get into our five hottest takes for Week 3 of the NFL season you can bet on with the best PA sportsbooks .

The Patriots shock the Jets on Thursday Night Football The New England Patriots shocked the world and ended a decent portion of survivor pool entries with a Week 1 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

They were able to limit Joe Burrow to just 164 yards and the Bengals to 70 rushing yards as a team. Rhamondre Stevenson shouldered the load for the Pats in Week 1 with 120 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, with Jacoby Brissett managing the ball well under center.

New England trailed for most of its Week 2 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks but took the lead early in the fourth quarter on another touchdown by Stevenson. Unfortunately, despite a win looking like it may be in the cards, the Seahawks blocked a field goal attempt that would've put the Pats up six. They then kicked a field goal of their own in the final minute to force overtime.

The Patriots received the ball first in the extra session but went three-and-out before the Seahawks marched down the field for the win. It was tough loss for the Patriots, who pushed on the closing line of +3 at FanDuel Sportsbook .

This week, FanDuel Sportsbook has the Patriots as 6.5-point underdogs in the Meadowlands against the Jets.

The Jets were dominated by the 49ers in their Monday Night Football matchup to open the season with Aaron Rodgers finding old friend Allen Lazard for two scores, both in the second half after New York went down 26-7.

New York then got its first win of the season in Week 2 with a 24-17 victory in Tennessee. Rodgers once again threw for two touchdowns and the NFL's youngest player, Braelon Allen, scored on a 20-yard run in the final minutes to put the Jets ahead for good.

Coming into Week 3 the Patriots have actually had better offensive output than the Jets with 600 yards of offense as opposed to the Jets' 531. New York has also allowed more yards than the Patriots with 702 compared to 582 through two weeks.

The Jets ended the Patriots' 15-game winning streak over them with a 17-3 victory in Week 18, but New England was checked out by that point. The Patriots are hungry and look like a much better team than most expected thus far.

Baker Mayfield continues to build his MVP case The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of nine undefeated teams through two weeks. That's largely due to Baker Mayfield at quarterback and their passing attack.

Mayfield threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-20 win over the Commanders in Week 1. He followed that up with both a passing and rushing touchdown in an upset win in Detroit on Sunday.

The Bucs closed as 7.5-point underdogs at DraftKings Sportsbook and beat the Lions by four in their own building. They're now 6.5-point home favorites against the winless Denver Broncos.

Look for Mayfield to throw for a few scores with both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin showing out so far this season.

Mayfield may not be your prototypical MVP candidate, but the path might be there for the former Cleveland Browns gunslinger. He's currently tied with Derek Carr for the NFL lead with five passing touchdowns - just as everyone expected - and could continue to lead the Bucs to a winning season and potential division title in the NFC South.

The Buccaneers quarterback is currently listed at 40/1 to win the NFL Regular Season MVP Award at Caesars Sportsbook after opening as high as 66/1. If he has another strong showing on Sunday those odds should continue to come down.

The Saints pile up the points (again) The New Orleans Saints have scored 91 points through two games this season. That's right, 91. And it's not a situation where the Saints offense put up a crazy number of points in one game to make it look more impressive. New Orleans beat Carolina 47-10 in the season opener, which may not have been too shocking given how the Panthers have performed over the past few seasons.

However, what the Saints did to the Cowboys down in Dallas last week was shocking. They put up 35 points in the first half alone en route to a 44-19 road victory. Alvin Kamara ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. He also added two catches for 65 yards, including a 57-yard catch and run to put the Saints up 21-6 early in the second quarter.

In total, the Saints have racked up 811 yards of offense through two weeks: 441 through the air and 370 on the ground. They've averaged 45.5 points per game which is more than 20 teams have scored in their first two games combined.

Derek Carr is tied for the league lead with five touchdown passes, as previously mentioned, and Alvin Kamar has run for a league-high four scores, two more than any other player.

The Saints now catch the Philadelphia Eagles on a short week after one of the worst Birds losses in recent memory. Controversial play-calling, poor tackling, a lack of quarterback pressure, and wide-open receivers allowed the Atlanta Falcons to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat on Monday night.

The Saints are 3-point favorites with the total set at a high 49.5 at BetMGM Sportsbook . New Orleans is capable of putting up 30 or 40 points themselves against an Eagles team that has allowed the sixth-most points in the league through two weeks.

Caleb Williams breaks out in Indianapolis Everyone had high expectations for Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams even before he was officially the first-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. But he hasn't exactly had the best start.

The defense led the Bears to a win in Williams' debut, a game in which the rookie quarterback threw for just 93 yards while completing less than half of his passes (14 for 29). He followed that up with a loss in Houston where he threw two interceptions. Williams did nearly double his passing yards to 174, though, and showed off his legs for 44 yards on the ground.

Sunday's game in Indianapolis against the Colts presents a great opportunity for Williams to get his feet under him. He's had two weeks to learn and watch some tape, and certainly has the skill to break out at any moment.

The Colts have allowed 800 total yards through two games. C.J. Stroud threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1 with Joe Mixon running for 159 yards on the ground. They then allowed Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis to go 12 of 14 for 122 yards and a score on Sunday.

The Bears are currently +105 on the moneyline at Fanatics Sportsbook .

The Ravens fall to 0-3 The Baltimore Ravens were one win away from a Super Bowl appearance last season but couldn't get past the Kansas City Chiefs despite playing at home in the AFC Championship Game. They're still searching for their first win this season as they head down to Dallas to play the Cowboys.

The Ravens opened this season with another loss to the Chiefs, this time by a 27-20 final score in Kansas City. They then lost as 9-point home favorites to the Raiders on Sunday.

Despite adding Derrick Henry in the offseason, Baltimore has seen its running game struggle. That's likely due to the Ravens allowing both right guard Kevin Zeitler and right tackle Morgan Moses to walk in free agency. They haven't adequately replaced them and it's costing them thus far.

This may not be the hottest take since the Ravens are just -1.5 favorites on the point spread across the board, but I don't think anyone had Baltimore starting the season 0-3.

The Cowboys showed that they can still put up the points with a 33-17 win in Cleveland in Week 1. They stumbled against the Saints but look for them to get back on track against Baltimore.