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Jets dominate Patriots ... yes, you read that right! Plus, NFL Week 3 preview stuff 🏈

Jim Reineking   Paste BN

This is the Paste BN Sports' NFL newsletter, 4th and Monday. If you're not already receiving this football-themed newsletter, click here to subscribe.

➤ About last night: New York Jets 24, New England Patriots 3 — The Jets dominated the Patriots. That's not something that's said all too often … remember, the Jets finally ended a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots during Week 18 last season. Thursday's 21-point victory was the largest for the Jets in the rivalry since 1998. Aaron Rodgers had his best game so far with the Jets (granted, small sample size!), throwing for 281 yards and two touchdowns.

➤ Game of the week: Baltimore Ravens at Dallas Cowboys — The Ravens are one of nine 0-2 teams desperately attempting to avoid an even bigger hole in Week 3. Though, both of Baltimore's losses have come down to the wire, so there's that. The Cowboys are coming off a humiliation at home at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, which came on the heels of a very impressive Week 1 win in Cleveland. There are going to be some real "what's wrong with the _____?" questions being asked of the loser of this matchup by the football talking heads next week. Also, since this is FOX Sports' "America's Game of the Week," the broadcast will feature Tom Brady, whose TV analyst career enters its third week.

➤ Sneaky-good game of the week: Los Angeles Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers — In Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz's breakdown of the NFL's 2-0 teams, both the Chargers and Steelers showed up in a category labeled "More to prove." So, here we are. Show us something, Chargers and/or Steelers. The Chargers have been a force so far under new coach Jim Harbaugh, who was expected to turn things around in Los Angeles, but perhaps not this quickly. The Steelers have won their first two games with Justin Fields as the starter, filling in for expected starter Russell Wilson.

➤ If NFL power rankings were like college football rankings game of the week: Houston Texans at Minnesota Vikings — This showdown pits two top-10 teams against each other, the No. 3-ranked Texans vs. No. 7 Vikings (according to Nate Davis' latest power rankings). In five all-time meetings, the Texans have never defeated the Vikings (the only other team that the Texans have never beaten is the Philadelphia Eagles). Quarterback C.J. Stroud might be without his top two running backs, with Joe Mixon (ankle) and Dameon Pierce (hamstring) being held out of practice. Instead, it could be the Cam Akers revenge game, with the backup playing against one of his former teams. The Vikings, meanwhile, are 2-0 thanks in large part to the hot start of vagabond quarterback Sam Darnold.

➤ Game I'm mildly interested in, and not just because I have Brock Bowers on my fantasy team: Carolina Panthers at Las Vegas Raiders — Let's briefly discuss the now-horrendous trade the Panthers made for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the possibly career-damaging aftermath for Bryce Young and how he's been benched in favor of veteran Andy Dalton, who probably gives Carolina a better chance to win, which is not really that great long-term if you're the Panthers.

Young seems destined to be brought up as one of the many cautionary tales of the perils of trading away valuable draft picks (and in the Panthers' case, valuable veteran receiver DJ Moore as well). The Panthers could have had ascending superstar quarterback C.J. Stroud (the player picked right after Young in the 2023 draft). They could have had Caleb Williams in the 2024 draft, but that pick went to the Chicago Bears as part of the 2023 trade for Young. And next year's quarterback draft class — the Panthers, at the very least, will kick the tires on picking another quarterback — doesn't seem as promising, but who's to say?

Thankfully, there's still time for Young to avoid Ryan Leaf/JaMarcus Russell-level bust recognition. However, it almost feels like Young will need to get the heck out of Carolina in order to procure a much-needed career reboot. The bottom line is that the Panthers are a mess ... they seem to be playing Hungry Hungry Hippos while the rest of the league is playing chess.

🚨 Public service announcement 🚨 If you're still alive in Paste BN Sports' survivor pool (lucky you!), please make sure to make your Week 3 pick!

📸: PHOTOS: Fans, mascots, cheerleaders and celebrities at NFL games

NFL Week 3: Pigskin prognostications, betting tips, rankings

NFL news, notes and analysis

Fantasy football: How healthy is your team?

It's very possible your fantasy football team has been impacted profoundly by the number of injuries to key players. It was an especially painful Week 2, with Cooper Kupp, Deebo Samuel, Isiah Pacheco and Tua Tagovailoa all suffering injuries. And, let's not forget all of the players — Justin Herbert, Joe Mixon, Kenneth Walker III, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, David Njoku, among others — who you'll need to monitor for Week 3 playing status updates (as well as those fantasy football roster alternates it could impact). Look at all those big names! We're here to help you navigate through this.

Week 3 NFL schedule

(All times Eastern)

Thursday

Sunday

Monday

📅 Complete 2024 NFL schedule

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