NFL Week 3 live updates: Inactives, schedule, kickoff times, matchups, odds and predictions
Welcome to The Athletic's live experience covering all things Week 3 in the NFL .
This week, nine teams look to start 3-0, which includes a pair of dates between unbeatens in the Houston Texans vs. the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Chargers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers .
Conversely, nine NFL teams enter Sunday winless, hoping to avoid the dreaded 0-3 start. That list includes a few shockers, such as the Baltimore Ravens , Cincinnati Bengals or Los Angeles Rams . Baltimore in particular travels to Dallas to face a Cowboys team today coming off a deflating loss at home to the New Orleans Saints .
What will Week 3 bring in the NFL? Stay tuned here to find out.
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers placed first-round pick Troy Fautanu on injured reserve Saturday, one day after the offensive tackle tweaked his knee in practice. It's another blow for the Steelers' offensive line, further complicating an evolving situation at tackle.
Fautanu, the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, impressed during training camp, using his 41 games of college experience (31 starts) to make his case for early playing time in the NFL. However, he sprained his MCL in the Steelers' first preseason game on Aug. 9. The recovery lingered into the season, preventing Fautanu from playing in Week 1. It's unclear whether this is an aggravation of the same knee or a new injury.
Read more here .
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown has been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Saints with a hamstring injury.
Brown, who suffered the injury last Friday, is now missing his second straight game. The Eagles struggled to push the ball downfield without their leading receiver in Monday night's loss to the Falcons. First-year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore now has had an entire week to game plan around Brown's absence. The Eagles leaned heavily on Saquon Barkley and the run game in their first game without Brown. They'll want to expand their efficiency in the passing game with DeVonta Smith, Jahan Dotson and tight end Dallas Goedert. Neither game plan so far has yet focused on Goedert, who has seven catches for 69 yards through two games.
Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has been listed questionable with a foot injury for Sunday's game against the Saints.
Browns left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. appears set to make his season debut, but veteran tackle Jack Conklin will miss the game vs. the Giants due to a hamstring injury he suffered in practice this week.
Both Wills and Conklin missed the entire preseason and the season's first two' games while recovering from knee injuries. James Hudson III had been starting at left tackle, though Conklin had at least worked towards potentially getting left tackle reps. Wills has been the team's starting left tackle and Conklin has been the team's starting right tackle since 2020 when both have been healthy.
Saturday, the Browns announced Conklin would be out and did not promote veteran Germain Ifedi from the practice squad, signaling that Wills will be ready to go. Both Wills and Conklin were listed as questionable on the Friday injury report. The offensive line struggled in Week 1 but was much better last week as the Browns established some semblance of a run game with quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back D'Donta Foreman, then relied on their defense to hold on to an 18-13 win in Jacksonville.
The Browns signed running back Gary Brightwell and tight end Blake Whiteheart from the practice squad to the active roster to address injury shortages at those positions and promoted cornerback Tony Brown II and tight end Geoff Swaim for the game. Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku will miss at least one more game due to what's believed to be a high ankle sprain.
Arguably the Browns' two best defensive players, defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward, are dealing with potentially lingering injuries. Garrett said he has injuries in both of his feet and will likely have to continue to sit out Wednesday and Thursday practices, as he did this week. Garrett does not have an injury designation for this game. Ward was limited to 11 plays last week by a shoulder injury; he told coaches during the first drive that he did not trust his ability to tackle, so he was only used situationally the rest of the way. Ward was a full participant in practice this week.
Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray jumped 10 spots in this week's NFL QB stock report , by far the biggest move from any QB early in the season. He produced a perfect passer rating Sunday against the Rams, a team many around the league believed would be in the playoffs this season, and Murray had the Cardinals close to pulling off a major upset in Buffalo in the opener.
The No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft has been outstanding through two games, completing 73.1 percent of his passes for 428 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 122.9 rating. He's also rushed for 116 yards.
Murray was decent last season when he returned from a torn ACL. Now fully healthy with an entire offseason in Drew Petzing's highly regarded offense, Murray might be on the verge of the best season of his career. And remember, he was in the MVP conversation at times in 2020 and 2021.
Murray does have a history of starting strong and fading down the stretch, but there's reason to believe this is more sustainable. Former head coach Kliff Kingsbury's offense had been criticized by rival executives for stalling due to a lack of evolution as the season progressed. Murray's play suffered as a result. A growing number of injuries also impacted him late in seasons, so that's certainly still going to be a concern.
Before the season, numerous coaches and executives raved about Petzing's scheme in 2023. It's one of the key reasons the Cardinals were selected in the preseason as the team most likely to overachieve in a poll by The Athletic. Many predicted Petzing would get head coaching interviews this offseason.
The Cardinals are better this season. The level of Murray's play will determine just how much of a threat they could be in potentially contending for a playoff spot.
Nine of 32 teams remain unbeaten entering Week 3. The esteemed group: The Bills, Buccaneers, Chargers, Chiefs, Saints, Seahawks, Steelers, Texans and Vikings.
At least two of these teams will have their perfect records soiled this weekend, because the schedule features two games between undefeated teams: Texans at Vikings and Chargers at Steelers.
The Texans, led by second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud and coach DeMeco Ryans, displayed grit and resilience in their first two games of the season. They held off the Colts for a 29-27 road win in Week 1, then weathered challenges from a stout Bears defense at home last Sunday night. Now they take on a Vikings squad that has been one of the early season surprises.
Many expected Kevin O'Connell's team to take some steps backward following Kirk Cousins' departure for the Falcons. Instead, new starting quarterback Sam Darnold looks like a man reborn. Deemed a bust after awful experiences with the Jets and Panthers, Darnold (the third pick of the 2018 draft) spent last season as a backup in San Francisco, then was signed by Minnesota as an insurance policy for the rookie quarterback it planned to draft. But after J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in August, the Vikings turned to Darnold, and he has delivered two strong performances to help Minnesota take an early lead in the NFC North. Can Darnold continue his resurgence against a Texans defense that ranks third-stingiest in yards allowed and second in sacks through two games? (Speaking of sacks, Minnesota has 11, so Stroud and Houston's line better buckle up.)
Meanwhile, Chargers-Steelers should have a throwback feel. New coach Jim Harbaugh has guided L.A. to back-to-back victories while leaning heavily on a strong run game (running back J.K. Dobbins leads the NFL with 266 rushing yards) and dominant defense (227.5 yards and only 6.5 points allowed). The Chargers could need that rushing attack and stout defense more than ever Sunday, because quarterback Justin Herbert (three touchdown passes, one interception through two games) is questionable with a high ankle sprain. Interestingly, Pittsburgh utilizes a similar approach. Through two weeks, Mike Tomlin's Steelers defense also has dominated, allowing 260.5 yards and just 8.0 points per game. That defense and a rushing attack that averages 139 yards per game has helped ease pressure on Justin Fields, who is expected to start his third game in place of a hobbled Russell Wilson.
It may not be sexy, but this approach has served both teams well. Which bruising squad will stay unbeaten?
