NFL Week 3 Picks: Predicting the Winner and Score for All Upcoming Matchups

Several of the NFL's top teams face critical Week 3 matchups, as some will travel to hostile environments with unproven quarterbacks, while others need a win to avoid troubling 1-2 starts.

The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots have proved themselves to be contenders in the AFC, but each must overcome different challenges to stay undefeated in this young NFL season. Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks all experienced some struggles so far, and each needs a victory to move above .500.

With that in mind, check out the matchups and schedule for the teams above and the rest of the league for Week 3, along with picks for each game and a breakdown of two of the week's most notable contests.

Thursday, Sept. 22
Sunday, Sept. 25
Monday, Sept. 26
Matchup	Time (ET)	Network	Prediction
Houston Texans at New England Patriots	8:25 p.m.	CBS	Texans win 16-9
Matchup	Time (ET)	Network	Prediction
Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills	1 p.m.	Fox	Cardinals win 27-21
Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans	1 p.m.	CBS	Raiders win 34-20
Washington Redskins at New York Giants	1 p.m.	Fox	Giants win 21-17
Cleveland Browns at Miami Dolphins	1 p.m.	CBS	Dolphins win 20-6
Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville Jaguars	1 p.m.	CBS	Jaguars win 24-17
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers	1 p.m.	Fox	Packers win 27-20
Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals	1 p.m.	CBS	Bengals win 13-10
Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers	1 p.m.	Fox	Panthers win 24-13
Los Angeles Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4:05 p.m.	Fox	Buccaneers win 31-14
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks	4:05 p.m.	Fox	Seahawks win 17-7
New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs	4:25 p.m.	CBS	Jets win 20-17
San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts	4:25 p.m.	CBS	Chargers win 24-21
Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles	4:25 p.m.	CBS	Steelers win 34-14
Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys	8:30 p.m.	NBC	Cowboys win 20-13
Matchup	Time (ET)	Network	Prediction
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Saints win 34-31

Houston at New England

The Patriots were already in a bit of a hole at quarterback with Tom Brady's four-game suspension, and that hole became much deeper Sunday. Jimmy Garoppolo is unlikely to play in Week 3 after suffering a sprained AC joint during his terrific performance against the Miami Dolphins, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

This leaves rookie Jacoby Brissett as the man set to lead New England against Houston. However, he will not have the luxury of a full week of practice and preparation, as the Patriots will kick off on Thursday night. 

Brissett looked sharp in the preseason, and he managed the offense well after taking over at the end of the second quarter against Miami, finishing 6-of-9 for 92 yards. Per Phil Perry of CSNNE.com, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels feels Brissett has tremendous composure, which should help the quarterback in his first career start:

"

He was a rookie that doesn't have any game experience, yet when he went into the game, I think he had good poise and composure and managed the situation well initially. And then he had an opportunity to talk at halftime about some things we wanted to do in the second half. I thought he took advantage of his opportunities. Like every quarterback as a young player, you're going to learn things as you play and perform in regular-season games that you've never had the opportunity to experience.

"

This should give the Patriots some optimism on offense, but the team was still outscored 24-7 by the Dolphins with Brissett at quarterback. Houston has also feasted on rookie signal-callers as of late. Per ESPN Stats & Info, the team is 6-0 with an average margin of victory of 14 points in those games. J.J. Watt also racked up 10 sacks.

Houston will undoubtedly sell out to stop the run on Thursday, as Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal noted that this was the Patriots' best asset with Brissett in the game:

If the Texans can hold up against the run, they should be in great shape to rattle Brissett on 3rd-and-long situations. 

New England will surely put together a strong defensive effort. Yet, Houston, which has looked sluggish at times, still has enough firepower on offense with Will Fuller, DeAndre Hopkins and Lamar Miller to give its defense a solid lead. This will be a low-scoring affair, but do not expect the Patriots to pull out a win with so many circumstances working against their favor.

Denver at Cincinnati

Despite following in the shoes of one of the game's greatest quarterbacks ever, Trevor Siemian has looked more than capable of leading the Denver offense.

Thanks to his poise and smart decision-making skills, Siemian has the Broncos at 2-0 while averaging over 20 points per game on offense, which seems to be enough to win with the team's vaunted defense. Yet, the youngster will have to pass a new test on Sunday.

He makes his first road start against a desperate Cincinnati team that is coming off a tough 24-16 road loss to Pittsburgh. With the Ravens and the Steelers sitting at 2-0, the Bengals (1-1) could definitely use a win to keep up in the AFC North race.

This game also figures to be a defensive struggle. Denver is already established as arguably the league's top defense, and Cincinnati opened up the season with two strong performances against two of the better offenses in football in the New York Jets and the Steelers. The Bengals are averaging 23 points and 357 yards allowed, albeit against units much more explosive than Denver.

The turnover battle will be the deciding factor.

While Siemian's overall decision-making has been solid with a 67.8 percent completion rate, he has committed untimely errors in both of his starts, as ESPN's Trey Wingo noted:

Siemian threw two picks against a tough Carolina defense, but he also tossed a near-pick-six last week that could have drastically changed the game had Darius Butler not went down with an injury on the return.

This could come back to haunt Siemian against a stingy Cincinnati secondary that has three picks so far this season, including two last week against Ben Roethlisberger while holding Antonio Brown to just 39 receiving yards.

Cincinnati should have the edge in this game given these circumstances against a quarterback making his first-ever road start. The Bengals put up the 10th-most yards in the NFL on offense through two games, so this unit is getting production. The touchdowns will start to pile up for the team soon, and it should have just enough offense to squeak out a win Sunday.

Statistics are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.