NFL Blowout Alert 2014: Week 3 games that could get ugly

We have already seen a game get very out of hand during Week 3 of the 2014 NFL season, as the Atlanta Falcons thoroughly embarrassed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 56-14, on Thursday Night Football. Will there be another game like that Sunday?

Believe it or not, that is possible.

Coming into Week 3, the NFL had five games decided by 20 points or more. That is up from three last season but down from an incredible nine in the first two weeks of 2012.

Here is something you don’t see often: The Minnesota Vikings are responsible for two of the top three blowout games so far in 2014—one on the winning side, and one on the losing side. Their Week 1 matchup is at No. 2 going into Week 3, as they took care of the St. Louis Rams by four touchdowns, 34-6.

Then last week, the Adrian Peterson-less Vikings hosted Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and were lambasted, 30-7. That 23-point loss is No. 3 on the list of greatest points-differentials of the season.

After sifting through this week’s matchups, we’ve come up with three likely blowouts you have to check out. One is a bit obvious to predict, but the other two may not be in the eyes of some—certainly not to the fans of the teams we predict will be blown out.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots

Sure, there are times we wish the bad team that has to go on the road to face a perennial Super Bowl contender could just skip the game and move on to the next. We all know they’re going to lose by a million; they know it, too.

But most times, we love watching the carnage of an NFL blowout unfold. It’s gruesome, it’s obscene and, most times, it lets us know our team has it a whole lot better than other teams.

Unless, of course, we are fans of the team being bludgeoned on the field. Then we just want to crawl into a hole for a week and let theshellacking pass over. The questions we hear and the tormenting we face in the week after our team gets its rear end handed to it are just too much to bear sometimes. Remember when the Cleveland Brownswere stomped by the Houston Texans in Nov. 2011? No?

The sports world was given The Factory of Sadness because of that blowout. That’s how bad it gets sometimes for NFL fans.

The Patriots lost their season opener to the division-rival Miami Dolphins in an improbable outcome not many predicted. Brady and Co. rebounded to say the least, going on the road to hand Minnesota its 23-point loss last week.

This week, the poor Oakland Raiders have to travel to play New England at Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots are 11-1 in home openers with Brady as their starter. The average score of those games was roughly 26-18.

With rookie quarterback Derek Carr, the Raiders have been sluggish on offense, as per their usual. To go with Brady and the offense, New England has shown fantastic defense early this season—it ranks No. 2 in yards allowed per play, at a miniscule 4.37 yards.

Brady has not been sharp this season. He has completed only 55.8 percent of his passes and has thrown only two touchdowns in two games.

But both games were on the road. At home in the friendly confines of Foxborough, a renewed Brady will emerge with fire in his eyes and laser-guided footballs coming off his fingertips.

If this one is within 10 at halftime, you should be very surprised.

Prediction: Patriots 45, Raiders 13

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints

Like the Patriots, the New Orleans Saints opened their 2014 season with two road games. And the surprising 0-2 start for Drew Brees and the Saints says more about Rob Ryan’s defense than it does Brees and the offense.

Through two games, New Orleans has been among the worst defensive teams in the NFL, allowing 446 yards and 31.5 points per game. To say the defense is the reason the team is 0-2 is like saying water is wet or the sky is blue—it’s just a given.

With how New Orleans’ offense has fared early this season, there is no reason it should be one of seven NFL teams without a win after two weeks. Brees has the offense running like an American muscle car in its prime.

The Saints are sixth in passing yards (556), fifth in rushing yards (313), third in total yards (869), third in points (58) and first in third-down conversion percentage (57.7 percent).

Again, there is no reason other than the defense why the Saints are 0-2.

That leads us to Week 3 and the incoming Vikings, who will once again be without Peterson and who mustered just six points without its star in the offensive backfield against the Patriots last week.

Minnesota is reeling, the Saints are foaming at the mouth to get a win and it’s a perfect recipe for a hurricane-sized blowout in the bayou. Like the game above, expect this one to be over by halftime.

Prediction: Saints 37, Vikings 14

Chicago Bears vs. New York Jets

The Chicago Bears went into Levi’s Stadium last week and ruined the San Francisco 49ers stadium opener. The stage was set for the 49ers to join the Arizona Cardinals atop the NFC West standings as they entered the fourth quarter with a 20-7 lead.

But then Jay Cutler and the Bears showed up.

Cutler became just the seventh quarterback since 1960 to throw for fewer than 200 yards while throwing at least four touchdown passes and zero interceptions in a road game—including Chicago’s win last week, those quarterbacks are 7-0 in those games.

The veteran quarterback found his top target, receiver Brandon Marshall, on three of his four scores. Tight endMartellus Bennett caught the other, which ended up being the go-ahead touchdown following a ColinKaepernick interception.

This week, the Bears travel to the Meadowlands to take on the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. Rex Ryan’s squad beat the Raiders to open the season but then went to Green Bay, where Aaron Rodgers and the Packers denied them a second straight victory.

New York’s defensive stats are deceiving because of the Raiders game. This unit is not as good as the numbers suggest, and they will be torched by Cutler, Marshall and young receiver Alshon Jeffery. Late defensive breakdowns against the Packers exposed the Jets for who they really are, and the Bears will nibble on that exposure all night.

Chicago’s defense is that of the “bend-but-don’t-break” variety early this season. They have allowed a bunch of rushing yards, but they were very opportunistic last week in beating the 49ers on the road, causing Kaepernick to turn the ball over four times (three interceptions, one fumble), leading to 14 points.

Despite the Jets’ No. 1-ranked rush offense and the Bears’ struggling run defense, this game will hinge on the right arm of Cutler and the ball-hawking Chicago secondary. Though it could be close throughout the first half, expect the Bears to throttle-up in the second half.

Prediction: Bears 31, Jets 10

All stats gathered from Pro-Football-Reference.com

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