NFL Predicitons Week 3: 2 Offenses Due for Monster Outings

Through two weeks of the 2011 NFL season, we've seen some big-time surprises.

The Buffalo Bills are 2-0, the Kansas City Chiefs look like the worst team in football and the Houston Texans lead the league in total defense. Meanwhile, a few offenses haven't exploded quite like I expected them to.

Two of them will get the chance this Sunday.

The San Diego Chargers are currently 1-1, and while they have put 438.5 yards per game (third in the NFL), they are only averaging 22.5 points (17th).

One could argue that the offense has shown itself to be potent, but I've always maintained that unless you're scoring points, your offense is failing.

This weekend, the Chargers welcome the Kansas City Chiefs to Qualcomm Stadium, and Philip Rivers and his offense should be eagerly anticipating the matchup.

The Chiefs lost their first two games by a combined score of 89-10. They are allowing 44.5 points per game, which is last in the NFL by far.

Kansas City is also giving up 387.5 yards per game (24th in the NFL), 261.5 passing yards (20th) and 126 rushing yards (25th). With safety Eric Berry out and the offense showing no signs of life, the Chiefs defense could get even worse.

Rivers and the Chargers were stymied by self-inflicted mistakes (four turnovers) in a 35-21 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 2. Their Week 3 matchup with the Chiefs will be a chance for them to right those wrongs, get the running game going (averaging just 87.5 yards per game thus far) and clean up the mistakes that cost them the game against the Patriots.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were horrendous in Week 1 in a 35-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. They righted the ship with a 24-0 win over the Seattle Seahawks but still have not been as good offensively as we are used to seeing.

This Sunday night, the Steelers have a gift placed in front of them in the form of the struggling Indianapolis Colts.

The Peyton Manning-less Colts are currently 16th in the NFL in yards allowed per game (343.5) but are giving up 136.5 rushing yards per contest (29th in the NFL). The Steelers—whose offense always works best when starting with the run—should be licking their chops at the prospect.

The Steelers have gained just 95 yards per game on the ground, and that simply needs to get better.

Rashard Mendenhall has gained just 111 yards on 31 rushes, and his 3.6 yards-per-carry average is just unacceptable. The fourth-year man out of Illinois needs to get it going this week, or teams will continue to focus on stopping—and hitting—quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Both the Chargers and Steelers need to step up their offensive game. In Week 3 both teams are set up perfectly against struggling teams and should do just that.