The 2021-22 NFL season is now in its third week, but it’s still looking too early to start drawing conclusions about teams and their prospects.
After a week of upsets, the Week 3 schedule features just one game between teams with 2-0 records. Through the first two weeks, a remarkable 18 NFL teams sit at 1-1 with plenty of questions still to be answered.
Seven teams have kept a perfect record while another seven are hoping to get their first win this weekend.
Here are previews of two games of NFL Week 3 - and the betting odds and predictions to go with them. Get the insight and then use our bookmakers to place your bets!
Tennessee Titans vs Indianapolis Colts
Date: Sunday, September 26, 2021
Time: 6 PM ET
Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
The Colts are off to a rough start to the 2021 season despite playing two hard-fought contests and Indianapolis find themselves staring down the barrel of a 0-2 record right now.
Meanwhile, the Titans are riding high after bouncing back in Week 2 following a brutal Week 1 blowout loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Tennessee overcame a 14-point deficit on the road in the fourth quarter versus the Seattle Seahawks and ultimately secured an overtime victory with a field goal from Randy Bullock.
The Titans needed a tie-breaker victory over the Colts to win their division in 2020, and Indianapolis remains the biggest threat to Tennessee’s division crown.
After spraining both ankles in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams, it remains unclear whether Carson Wentz will be a part of the Colt’s Week 3 lineup. If he can’t go, 2020 fourth-round pick Jacob Eason will get the nod under center for what would be his first career start and a clear downgrade for Indy.
Titans’ Rodger Saffold is dealing with a shoulder injury that limited him to 34 snaps, and Taylor Lewan tweaked his knee in pregame warm-ups, leaving his status for Week 3 questionable.
The Colts hold an all-time 35-18 advantage over the Titans and have stamped their authority over this match-up in recent years, winning 13 of 18 games played in the Titans' home stadium since 1999 and dominating this series first with Peyton Manning and then with Andrew Luck. Now it's Philip Rivers' turn, and he's 7-2 against Tennessee.
In 2020, the division rivals split their two games, with the road team winning one each.
Tennessee Titans vs Indianapolis Colts betting odds
Spread: Titans -5 / Colts +5
Moneyline: Titans 1.39 / Colts 3.1
Over/Under: 48
Picks: Titans -5 / Titans Moneyline/ Over
San Francisco 49ers vs Green Bay Packers
Date: Sunday, September 26, 2021
Time: 8:20 PM ET
Location: Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco, California
The San Francisco 49ers are slight favorites against the visiting Green Bay Packers in Week 3 on Sunday night football, in what will be the 49ers’ home opener of 2021-22.
The 49ers have overcome a challenging start to their 2021-22 regular-season campaign, going on the road and beating both the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles to start the season 2-0.
Returning home, Kyle Shanahan’s squad has to face off against the 1-1 Green Bay Packers. That will definitely be a much tougher matchup than their first two games, as the Packers proved with their rebound to a solid 35-17 win over the Detroit Lions to close out Week 2.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers bounced back in a big way while under the spotlight and he’ll look to do more of the same when these two teams square off on Sunday Night.
Last year, a banged-up 49ers squad fell to Green Bay 34-17, in a season when the Niners endured more injuries than any other team in the NFL. That was a reversal of what happened when these two teams met two seasons ago, when a healthy San Francisco squad demolished Rodgers and the Packers in both games.
San Francisco is already dealing with some notable injuries this season, with running back Raheem Mostert and cornerback Jason Verrett both out for the year with knee injuries.
Yet the duo of Nick Bosa and Dee Ford will look to make life difficult for Rodgers again, just as they did during those 2019 season matchups.
If those two have a huge night, and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo does enough to not cost his team in a major way, the 49ers are favorites to win this and go 3-0 in the season.
These two teams averaged a combined 55.3 points per game a season ago, almost five more points than the total of 50.5 set for this matchup.
San Francisco 49ers vs Green Bay Packers betting odds
Spread: 49ers -3 / Packers +3
Moneyline: 49ers 1.54 / Packers 2.55
Over/Under: 50.5
Pick: 49ers -3 / 49ers Moneyline / Over
