Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)
The Steelers earned their second win of the year last week with a seven-point victory over the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh’s defense bounced back in a big way after back-to-back uninspiring performances to begin the season. They forced the Patriots into multiple turnovers including recovering a fumble at their own goal line to prevent a touchdown.
Now, Aaron Rodgers and company are slated to kick off in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday morning against the Minnesota Vikings. While the Steelers are technically the home team in this matchup, it’s hard to decipher a true crowd advantage at a neutral site overseas. The Steelers are catching the Vikings on a high note after they thrashed the Cincinnati Bengals last week by 38 points.
Pittsburgh’s offensive line will be tested by the Vikings’ blitz-heavy defensive scheme. Brian Flores was previously the Steelers’ defensive coordinator in recent years, so that could give them a gameplan advantage since they’re familiar with his tendencies. The Steelers will need to run the ball efficiently, something they’ve struggled to do thus far, and avoid turnovers. Jaylen Warren continues to receive a lead back workload, but the Steelers haven’t moved the ball on the ground very effectively.
On the other side of the ball, the Steelers will be facing a Carson Wentz-led offense that looked much more effective in Week 3 than the two games prior. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Mason, T.J. Hockenson, and Jordan Addison form a solid group of playmakers in Kevin O’Connell’s attack that will give the Steelers a challenge.
Cleveland Browns (1-2)
The Browns pulled off the unthinkable last week, upsetting the Green Bay Packers at home with a last-second field goal to secure victory. It was a low-scoring, ugly 10-13 affair, which is exactly how the Browns are built to win games right now. Their offense has been uninspiring through three games but defensively, aside from roughly half of Week 2, has played well and made the team competitive.
Cleveland’s defensive front has been extremely disruptive. The defense’s fourth-quarter interception off Jordan Love last week helped flipped momentum in their favor, before the blocked field goal attempt that ultimately gave them the opportunity to win. The Browns will need a similarly strong defensive effort and possible heroics to win in Week 4, facing off against another red-hot NFC North opponent.
The Detroit Lions have scored 52 and 38 points in back-to-back weeks. They ran all over the Baltimore Ravens on the road last Monday night, rushing for 254 yards and three touchdowns. The Lions have a dynamic running back duo, but Jared Goff and the team’s passing game are efficient and potent as well.
The Browns have already been forced to play three of the better offenses in the NFL to begin the season, so this week’s contest is yet another tall task. Joe Flacco and the Browns desperately need to find some more juice on offense to take some pressure off the other side of the ball. The Browns have not scored more than 17 points in a game thus far.
Baltimore Ravens (1-2)
The Ravens have gotten off to a surprising 1-2 start following another high-scoring defeat against the Lions on Monday night. In that game, the Ravens could not keep pace late in the second half, as their defense struggled to stop the run and they failed to put together enough scoring drives. The absences of Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy on the defensive front were significant.
Baltimore’s run defense surrendered 254 ground yards including a 72-yard run in the second half. The Ravens’ pass rush, meanwhile, struggled to get impactful pressure and recorded zero sacks. The Ravens have only three sacks total in three games. Offensively, the Ravens were able to score 30 points for the third consecutive week, but Lamar Jackson was sacked seven times and the Ravens didn’t run the ball well enough themselves.
The Ravens will have to figure things out quickly now with the Kansas City Chiefs on the horizon in Week 4. Like the Ravens, the Chiefs are 1-2 and have been even more rocky to begin this season. The Chiefs’ offense has struggled to find consistency, but they’re set to get their No. 1 wide receiver back in the lineup for this game as Xavier Worthy is returning from injury.
Worthy, Travis Kelce, and Marquise “Hollywood Brown” are the key pass-catchers for the Ravens to key in on, but containing Patrick Mahomes in the pocket is the most prominent task. The Chiefs’ rushing attack is not nearly on the same level as the Lions, but they’ll undoubtedly try to test the Ravens’ undermanned front-seven nevertheless. The Ravens have still beaten the Chiefs only one time in the Jackson vs. Mahomes era.
Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)
Leading up last week, there was much talk about how the Bengals can stay afloat and remain a playoff contender in Joe Burrow’s absence. While it’s true the team went 4-3 with Jake Browning under center two years ago in place of Burrow, their performance in Week 3 was a stark reminder of how different this team is without their starting signal-caller under center.
The Bengals were walloped by the Vikings to the tune of 48-10 on the road. Browning threw two interceptions, his fifth already this season, and the Bengals fumbled five total times — losing three of them. They were blitzed out of the gate losing the first quarter by 14 points, which only compounded from there. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter where the Bengals finally cracked the end zone and scored a touchdown.
Things won’t get any easier for their offense in Week 4, as they’ll face arguably an even better all-around defensive unit in the Denver Broncos. Reigning defensive player of the year Pat Surtain is maybe the best possible matchup to cover Ja’Marr Chase, and that one-on-one battle will be key in this game. Chase, Tee Higgins, and the rest of the Bengals’ passing attack struggled to get anything going in Minnesota.
Even more concerning has been Cincinnati’s struggles to run the ball through three games. The Bengals have made a concentrated effort to feature Chase Brown on the ground, but his 47 rushing attempts have resulted in only 93 yards. For the Bengals to have a chance of finding more offensive success in this game, they badly need more productivity in the backfield.
