We dive into week 3 of the NFL Season. There are some great games this week. Here are my top 5 games with a little something about each one and my always correct, rock solid predictions.

Lemonade game: Texans @ Vikings on CBS at 11 AM mountain time

2 years ago, the Texans were a disaster. In fact, they were so bad that they were in the running for the number 1 pick. But instead, the won one too many games. So they ended up with the number 2 pick. With a disaster of a team things looked bleak but with that second pick along with a new coach they made lemonade out of lemons. Stroud has been solid. Nico Collins has been exceptional and their defense has done a nice job. They head back on the road to face a Minnesota Vikings team that I and many others thought would be a mess and at the bottom of their division. Instead they are in first place being led by Sam Darnold. Apparently Kevin O’Connell is some sort of quarterback whisper. Sam Darnold has been a disaster everywhere he has been. He is most famous for saying that he was seeing ghosts during a game. He’s bounced around the league everywhere. And arrived in Minnesota after Kirk Cousins left. It’s only been 2 weeks but Darnold has been excellent and even beat the 49ers this past weekend. Sure he has Justin Jefferson. But name another healthy receiver for the Vikings. I’ll wait. So with not a ton of talent, Darnold is leading this team well and playing great. And Kevin O’Connell has truly made something sweet out of a true lemon in Darnold. They face another test this week. The Texans may be without Joe Mixon which has been an important part of their success. I think the Texans are the better team and will end up having a more successful season. But I think the Vikings pull another upset at home.

Vikings 27 Texans 24

The Saints go marching in: Eagles @ Saints on Fox at 11 AM mountain time

The Saints have been outstanding the first two weeks of the season. They have been so ridiculously good that they literally haven’t punted. They have scored a field goal or a touchdown on every offensive drive. That’s just crazy. Derek Carr has had a resurgence after being terrible last year. Alvin Kamara stopped beating up people with his buddies and instead is beating up on opposing defenses. Dude had 4 tds last week alone. Olave and Shaeed have both been great. Their defense has been very solid so far. They look like a legitimate force to be reckoned with. The Eagles on the other hand are 1-1 and have been up and down in both games. Hurts seems a little out of sorts in this offense. But he is mobile and makes a lot of great plays as well. He also makes some mistakes. Barkley has been great minus one important drop pass last week. Meanwhile, the Eagles will likely be without AJ Brown again and when Brown is out, Hurts seems to only want to throw to Devontae Smith. Their bigger issue though seems to be their defense that gave up a ton of points and yards to the Packers and gave the Falcons offense new life. I am not sure the Saints can sustain this sort of level of success but for now they go marching on.

Saints 34 Eagles 24 but the Saints do punt for the first time.

Must win game?: Ravens @ Cowboys on Fox at 2:25 PM mountain time

I know it is only week 3 but this sort of feels like a must win game for both of these teams. The Ravens were supposed to be Super Bowl contenders but look more like pretenders after starting the season 0-2. They barely lost both games but these losses can build up. More concerning is their lack of identity. In the past they have been dominant on defense and running the football. Now their defense has not been consistently good and while they are doing okay running the ball, they are still working too hard to make Lamar a good passer and not hard enough to win games. Also, it is very obvious of what they are going to do based upon their personnel. If Henry is in, they are likely going to run. If Justice Hill is in, they are definitely passing. 98% of teams who have started 0-3, have missed the playoffs. On the flip side, the Cowboys just got annihilated at home. Similarly, the same thing happened to them last year in the playoffs. They seem to fold when they get behind and seem to lack urgency. They literally didn’t stop the Saints once last week. Falling to 1-2 would be a brutal blow. They were supposed to be a team trying to get over the hump and make it to at least the NFC championship game. If they lose this game, they will become a team that is just trying to make the playoffs. I think both teams have issues that will keep them from winning anything significant. But someone has to win this particular game. I think the Cowboys flaws will be less obvious on Sunday.

Cowboys 27 Ravens 20

The Shake it Goff game: Lions @ Cardinals on Fox at 2:25 PM Mountain time

This is the Lions 3rd time in my 5 for Friday and I am yet to predict them correctly. Jared Goff has been on the struggle bus throwing some bad interceptions and making bad decisions. To make matters worse, both games were at home and inside where Goff is typically significantly better. This is his first time on the road. The Lions are also making some odd decisions including having Goff throw the ball over 50 times last week. It is one thing to throw the ball 50 times, it’s another to do so while having Gibbs and Montgomery at running back. Dan Campbell in true Dan Campbell fashion took the blame for last week’s loss. Well at least I think that is what he was doing. He said the head coach let the team down. He is the head coach and I think he knows that, but I am not 100% sure. On the other side, the Cardinals played the Bills tough and then annihilated what is left of the Rams. They played great and are looking to go 2-0 at home. It really comes down to whether Jared Goff can shake it Goff or will he continue to struggle. Goff is on one of my fantasy teams and I actually face Kyler Murray in two of my four leagues. Since I am apparently terrible at predicting the Lions and could really use Murray to have a lower scoring game, I’ll predict the opposite. Goff continues to struggle and Murray tears it up.

Cardinals 31 Lions 24

Hotlanta leads to hot offense: Chiefs @ Falcons on NBC at 6:20 PM mountain time

The Chiefs head on the road for the first time in their second prime time game of the year. All the talk has been about the penalty and the refs helping the Chiefs. And it is starting to feel like we only play in extremely close games. The Chiefs seem to have issues with bad tackle play, Kelce looking like he is washed and Pat making some terrible decisions. And now to add to the issues Pacheco is out for a few months. On the other side, the Falcons had their get right game last week against the Eagles. They won a nail biter with a rare Kirk Cousins prime time victory. They have a lot of talent and are starting to put it together. The Chiefs have been just awful defending against tight ends. Kyle Pitts is a tight end on two of my fantasy teams. This is all lined up for my fantasy team to finally get a boost from Pitts. So I can only assume this is the week Spags figures out how to stop the tight end. Pat always seems to play well on Sunday night. In other ridiculous statistics, Mahomes is 12-0 in domes. I think with Pacheco out he steps up his game and the offense starts to get hot. Kelce looks like himself again instead of me out there. Rice continues to do his thing and Carson Steele fills in admirably for Pacheco. Kirk plays well but makes a couple of key mistakes and Pat throws 4 touchdowns and finally goes a game without throwing a terrible interception. I’m going to keep predicting that the Chiefs win without it being that close because that has to happen eventually. Hopefully it happens Sunday night.

Chiefs 38 Falcons 24

Be on the look out on Monday for a new segment I am bringing to Fifth-Down and of course my ever important rankings on Tuesday.