NFL Week 3 Predictions: Teams That Will Dominate Their Foes

It's one thing to defeat an opponent.

It's quite another when you embarrass said opponent.

There are a few teams primed to dominate in Week 3 of the 2012-2013 NFL season, while there are a few bottom-feeders who are probably seeing clouds form over their collective heads already.

When you match up a playoff contender against one of the worst teams in the league, a blowout should almost be expected.

Here's a look at the teams I see dominating in Week 3.

Detroit Lions (at Tennessee Titans)

The Lions simply ran into a better opponent in the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2. This team still has the talent in the passing game to score boatloads of points.

The Titans have allowed 36 points per game so far this season, including the 38-10 blowout at the hands of the San Diego Chargers last week.

The pass defense is allowing 8.3 yards per attempt (25th in the NFL) and has allowed five passing touchdowns in two games. Oh yeah, and opposing quarterbacks are completing 74.3 percent of their passes against them, the worst mark in the league. Titans fans are actually mourning the loss of Cortland Finnegan.

Did I mention Tennessee has averaged 11.5 points per game so far, worst in the NFL?

Home-field advantage or not, the Titans are going to get bombed by Matthew Stafford and Co. come Sunday.

San Francisco 49ers (at Minnesota Vikings)

The 49ers are the best team in the NFL right now and it's not even close.

They have the best defense in the league and the strides quarterback Alex Smith has made puts San Francisco in an awfully strong position right now.

Smith has now thrown 216 consecutive passes without an interception, a 49ers record. He averaged 7.3 yards per attempt while tossing two touchdowns against the Lions last week.

The 49ers defense just got done beating up Matthew Stafford and stifling the Detroit running game. Moreover, Michael Crabtree is actually starting to resemble a competent receiver who doesn't drop everything thrown his way.

The Vikings, on the other hand, beat the Jacksonville Jaguars by three points in overtime to start the season, then lost to the Indianapolis Colts.

Minnesota's young quarterback Christian Ponder had a decent game against the Colts, but he was also sacked four times and hit five times. Just imagine what's going to happen against the front seven of the 49ers.

You add the fact that Adrian Peterson averaged 3.8 yards per carry against the Colts last week and the Vikings have themselves a problem in Week 3.

Pittsburgh Steelers (at Oakland Raiders)

Oh, where to start?

The Steelers just bombed on the New York Jets and the Raiders just got crushed by the Miami Dolphins, 35-13. 

The Raiders defense as a whole is plain awful. Oakland has allowed 28.5 points per game so far and can't seem to stop the run or the pass.

Last week, Reggie Bush rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders and Brian Hartline caught nine balls for 111 yards. 

After losing both Nnamdi Asomugha and Stanford Routt since the 2010 season, the Raiders' "replacements" are now injured...which means they have to go to more replacements. It's no wonder why the secondary is having issues.

The Steelers defense isn't the same as it once was, but it's still one of the top defenses in the league. That's bad news for the Raiders when they have the turnover-prone Carson Palmer under center.

Ben Roethlisberger also just went 24-of-31 for 275 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets in the Steelers' 27-10 victory. The duo of Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace figures to be a handful for Oakland's secondary.

The Raiders could very well be the worst team in the NFL right now.