Week 3 of the 2018 NFL regular season is here. You might be entering the weekend with your own preferences regarding which games to focus on, and which to place on the backburner.
Most of you have your favorite teams and fantasy players to track. But in case you’re completely neutral or need help breaking ties regarding what to watch, we’ve ranked all 16 games on the schedule from most appealing to least enticing.
1. Chargers at Rams (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, CBS): The battle for L.A. should be a lot of fun because both teams are playoff-caliber squads. Hopefully the Bolts don’t lay an egg, because this could get dramatic.
2. Steelers at Buccaneers (Monday night, ESPN): The Bucs are the talk of the NFC, while the Steelers are a bit of a mess early on. Those dynamics should make this interesting in Tampa. And it could be a shootout, too.
3. Patriots at Lions (Sunday night, NBC): You know Matt Patricia wants (needs!) this game. Can’t start 0-3 with two home losses, one of which comes against your former mentor. Plus there’s the whole Josh Gordon thing.
4. Jets at Browns (Thursday night, NFL Network): This would be better if the Browns were starting Baker Mayfield against Sam Darnold, but it wouldn’t be as good if the Browns had beaten the Steelers or Saints. This just might be their first win in nearly two years, which makes it fun. (Update: It ended up being pretty entertaining after all.)
5. Saints at Falcons (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX): Huge early-season divisional battle between two teams that have struggled. With Tampa Bay looking strong, it would be bad if either New Orleans or Atlanta fell to 1-2. Besides, this is always a good quarterback matchup.
6. Giants at Texans (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX): Wait, why is a game between two winless teams ranked so high? That’s what makes this so good — both the Giants and Texans were supposed to be so much better this season, but one will be 0-3.
7. 49ers at Chiefs (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX): Anything Patrick Mahomes touches is worth your time right now, and San Francisco is intriguing as well. There is, however, a blowout risk here.
8. Colts at Eagles (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): Neither team has dazzled this season, but we’re still talking Andrew Luck and Carson Wentz, and it’ll be interesting to see how Wentz looks in his return from major knee surgery.
9. Broncos at Ravens (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): Denver is off to a strong start, but this’ll be a third consecutive big challenge for a team that has barely survived the first two weeks. Baltimore has more intrigue this season.
10. Bengals at Panthers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): Both teams are good, not great, but this should be a close game and an interesting quarterback battle between early 2011 draft picks.
11. Cowboys at Seahawks (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, FOX): The Seahawks are a mess, but at least they’re desperate at home and this should be a relatively close game.
12. Titans at Jaguars (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): Tennessee ordinarily plays well against the more talented Jags, but the Titans are just a bore right now and we could have a correction here.
13. Packers at Redskins (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX): The Redskins have 8-8 written all over them, so this is only worth checking out if they push the Packers at home.
14. Raiders at Dolphins (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): The desperation/train-wreck factor makes Oakland fascinating right now, but that’s not enough to move the needle significantly against the boring Dolphins.
15. Bears at Cardinals (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, FOX): As interesting as the Bears are right now, this hardly matters and the Cardinals are a waste of everyone’s time.
16. Bills at Vikings (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): The blowout potential is large here, as Minnesota is the biggest Vegas favorite of the season thus far. No reason to tune in unless Buffalo is hanging around down the stretch.
