If there is anything consistent in the National Football League (NFL), it is the fact that there is never a dull moment. After another weekend of spills and thrills, there are so many storylines, they could fill the books at the local library. But there are a few that are particularly interesting.

Firstly, after three weeks played, five teams boast a 3-0 record, and three teams are labouring at 0-3. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Minnesota Vikings are sitting pretty, while the Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans are on the schneid. Since 1990, only four teams have made the postseason after starting 0-3 and, while the Jaguars and Titans are possibly where they should be, the Bengals are better than their record suggests and must get their season on track when they face the Carolina Panthers (1-2) this Sunday as JustBet favourites.

The Bengals vs Panthers rivalry has a very short history, having faced each other on only seven occasions, with Cincinnati winning three, Carolina winning three, and the other ending in a draw. The Panthers started the season with quarterback (QB) Bryce Young, who was dismal in the first two games (245 total yards, three interceptions), with the team scoring 13 total points in both losses. They started veteran Andy Dalton last Sunday and he engineered 36-22 win over the Los Angeles Raiders, finishing with 319 passing yards and three touchdowns, thereby creating a buzz for the Cincinnati matchup this weekend.

On the subject of Cincinnati, they had one of the most entertaining games in Week 3, and definitely the highest scoring. Between them and the Washington Commanders, a feast was laid out on Monday night, which served up an NFL game that featured no punts and no turnovers, for the first time since 1940. Washington’s QB Jayden Daniels was nearly perfect (21/23, 254 yards, 2 touchdowns), giving him the highest, single-game completion percentage (91.3) for a rookie QB in NFL history. He also ran for 39 yards and a touchdown in the 38-33 upset win.

This Sunday, the Commanders (2-1) travel west as slight JustBet underdogs to face the Arizona Cardinals (1-2), where offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury will return in an effort to outsmart the team he coached from 2019 to 2022. The Washington offence has scored on every drive in the last two games (excluding kneel downs), becoming the only team since 2000 to achieve this in multiple games. If Daniels can conjure a repeat of Monday’s performance, this should be a good watch.

The next storyline worthy of mention is that of the Green Bay Packers, who endured not only a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first week of the season, in the first-ever NFL game in South America, but also the loss of their starting QB, Jordan Love, in the closing seconds of the game. In stepped Malik Willis against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 and, helped by the Green Bay defence, carved out a 16-10 win. Then last weekend, against his former team, up to less than a month ago, Willis led the Packers to a commanding 30-14 win over the Tennessee Titans. The Green Bay defence registered eight sacks against Titans QB Will Levis, the first time since 2005 that the team amassed eight sacks in a game.

The Packers have now secured back-to-back wins and, with Love’s time to return remaining an uncertainty, Willis will need to lead the team (despite whispers that Love may return this weekend). He will face the 3-0 Vikings when they visit on Sunday afternoon, and the defence will need to bring their A-game if the Packers have a victory in their ambitions. There have been 127 games (including two postseason games) in this National Football Conference (NFC) North rivalry, with Green Bay winning 66 and Minnesota winning 58 games, along with three ties. JustBet gives the home team a slight edge and considering the teams have toggled wins in their last six encounters, this should be a close contest.

The final storyline has turned out to be the proverbial elephant in the room and it has been the subject of many conversations, both in and outside of football. The defending champion Chiefs — who can aptly be described as the ‘Cardiac Chiefs’ due to the heart-stopping endings to their first three games — are 3-0, despite the underperformance of their high-profile tightend Travis Kelce.

Kelce has had the lowest production through any three-game spell of his entire career to start the 2024 season, and a statistical comparison over the last three seasons places a bright spotlight on his shortfall. After his first three games in 2023, Kelce had recorded 17 receptions for 152 yards and two touchdowns. The previous season, he opened with 17 receptions for 230 yards and two touchdowns across his first three games, and for the same period in 2021, he had 20 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns. So far this season, the 34-year-old is yet to score and has managed only eight receptions for 69 yards in the three games.

The statistics reveal an obvious decrease year over year, and it can be argued that defensive schemes have been better designed to mitigate his impact; however, his pedestrian role in the first three games stands out like a sore thumb. Some have insisted that his hectic off-season and off-field activities, and the distraction that comes with his connection with Taylor Swift, as potential reasons for his on-field decline, but these reasons have been shut down by Kelce, saying, “It’s just football”.

The Chiefs tackle the Los Angles Chargers (2-1) on Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium and their five wins in a row over these opponents loom large approaching this encounter. The Chiefs have momentum on their side and are heavily favoured by JustBet to spoil the home team’s Sunday afternoon.

The strength of the Chiefs has been their ability to stop the run, as the featured running backs for the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons produced their lowest output of the season against the Chiefs this year. In the season opener, the Chiefs held Derrick Henry of the Ravens to 46 yards at 3.5 per carry, then followed that by limiting Zack Moss of the Bengals to 38 yards and a 2.8-yard average, and last weekend they stifled Bijan Robinson of the Falcons, limiting him to just 31 yards at 1.9 per rush.

That said, Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson rushed for 112 yards in the first game of the season, but it’s very difficult to scheme against his improvisation, so the Kansas City run defense can be excused. Therefore, the objective for the Chargers on Sunday must be for lead running back JK Dobbins to have a blockbuster afternoon. Dobbins is currently the NFL’s third-leading rusher with 310 yards and tops the league with 7.4 yards per carry. Is he the one to unlock the title holder’s run defence? Are you ready for some football?

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Super Bowl LIX Champion–February 9, 2025

Team Odds

Kansas City Chiefs 5.40

San Francisco 49ers 7.80

Buffalo Bills 8.80

Philadelphia Eagles 12.00

Detroit Lions 13.00

Baltimore Ravens 14.00

Houston Texans 14.00

New York Jets 16.00

Green Bay Packers 20.00

Dallas Cowboys 24.00

*Only Top 10 odds are shown (see website for full list)

Note: Odds are subject to change