Game of the week
Buffalo at Kansas City
Here’s hoping this Sunday night’s game is better than last Sunday night’s Tampa Bay-New England snooze-fest. The Chiefs are a 2 1/2-point favorite and quarterback Patrick Mahomes already has 14 touchdown passes. He’ll throw two to win this AFC title game re-match.
Chiefs 24, Bills 20
Lock of the week
Philadelphia at Carolina
Too bad Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (leading rusher and 101.1 passer rating) can’t play QB. Philadelphia has allowed 83 points in the last two games and Carolina, a four-point favorite, will cruise to 4-1 with a convincing victory even if injured tailback Christian McCaffrey remains out.
Panthers 34, Eagles 14
Upset of the week
N.Y. Jets vs. Atlanta
The NFL returns to London for this Falcons “home” game. The Jets are a three-point underdog, but enter after last week’s overtime win over Tennessee. Receiver Corey Davis has proved to be an astute free-agent signing — he has three touchdowns and is averaging 16.1 yards per catch.
Jets 20, Falcons 17
Around the AFC: Measuring-stick game for Cincinnati against Green Bay
Reid makes history. Kansas City ended a rare two-game losing streak by throttling Philadelphia last week, allowing coach Andy Reid to make history. Reid, 63, became the first NFL coach to win 100 games with two franchises. He was 140-102-1 (including playoffs) with the Eagles from 1999-2012 (0-1 in Super Bowl) and is 100-45 with the Chiefs (1-1 in Super Bowl), who hired him in January 2013 shortly after he was fired by Philadelphia. Most impressive about Reid’s track record is his teams have had a losing record only three times (none in Kansas City) and have won 11 division titles.
Jaguars in disarray. It was a long week for embattled Jacksonville coach Urban Meyer and it had nothing to do with his team’s 0-4 record. After the Jaguars’ loss at Cincinnati, Meyer didn’t fly back with the team to Florida, opting to stay in Ohio to visit family. Owner Shad Khan should have fired Meyer for cause for turning his back on his players. Meyer said general manager Trent Baalke knew about him not flying back. If true, Baalke should also be fired. The Jaguars host Tennessee on Sunday, followed by a trip to London to host Miami.
Bengals’ measuring stick. Cincinnati is 3-1, but its wins have been over Minnesota (1-3), Pittsburgh (1-3) and Jacksonville (0-4). The Bengals host Green Bay on Sunday, a chance to show they should be considered an AFC wild-card contender. Quarterback Joe Burrow has been terrific so far, posting a 113.8 passer rating and he has picked up with rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who is averaging 17.5 yards per catch (tied for fourth) and has four touchdowns (tied for second).
Around the NFC: Justin Fields Era starts for Chicago against Las Vegas
Panthers aggressive. Carolina has traded for two first-round cornerbacks in the past month. The Panthers, after losing rookie Jaycee Horn (foot), acquired C.J. Henderson, a second-year player, from Jacksonville, and followed that by giving up a sixth-round pick to New England for Stephon Gilmore. The Panthers are going for it, either the NFC South title if Tampa Bay falters or a wild-card spot. Gilmore, who is from the region, is a free agent next March, but the Panthers could conceivably re-sign him because Horn and Henderson are on their affordable rookie contracts. Good job by general manager Scott Fitterer and coach Matt Rhule.
Cardinals flying. We keep waiting for Arizona to stub its collective big toe, but it hasn’t happened yet. The Cardinals are the NFL’s lone unbeaten at 4-0 (their best start in 47 years) and host San Francisco on Sunday. The Kliff Kingsbury-called/Kyler Murray-quarterbacked offense leads the league in yards (440.5) and points (35.0) per game. They have scored at least 30 points and gained at least 400 yards in their four games. Only Oakland (2002), New England (’07) and the Broncos (’13) achieved that. All lost in the Super Bowl.
Fields takes over. Chicago coach Matt Nagy stopped fiddling around and named rookie Justin Fields his starting quarterback. He was 11-of-17 passing for 209 yards (no touchdowns) in last week’s win over Detroit. Here’s hoping the Bears’ infrastructure is solid enough to keep Fields from getting battered. He has already been sacked 12 times. “Not just the last week or two, this whole entire time, we’ve seen incremental growth,” Nagy said. “This isn’t something that happened just right away. He’s earned it. He’s worked hard.” The Bears (2-2) play Sunday at Las Vegas (3-1).
