No, not the Super Bowl. That will not happen until the middle of February.
The New England Patriots will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night and that game will mark the return of quarterback Tom Brady to face his former team. Brady, along with Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, helped lead the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles in nine trips over a 20-year period between the 2000 to 2019 seasons.
The Buccaneers (2-1) are the defending Super Bowl champions and Brady now has seven rings with six of those coming from the days with the Patriots. However, the Bucs were humbled last week in Los Angeles as the Rams beat them, 34-24 with the defense sacking Brady three times. The Patriots have been smarting without Brady, having gone 7-9 last season and are off to a 1-2 start this year.
Tampa Bay should win this game, but do not discount Belichick and the New England coaching staff to put together a game plan to perhaps slow down Brady and company on offense. The Buccaneers defense should run rough shod on the Patriots (so far) anemic offense. The Patriots average just 18 points per game this season to this point.
All in all, it should be a fun time for all the fans at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night as the national television audience watches the action. The memories are many for the two most common faces of the New England Patriots franchise.
Another "prime time" game to see will be the Monday Night Football game between the Las Vegas Raiders (3-0) and the host Los Angeles Chargers (2-1) at SoFi Stadium. The Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 30-24 last week while the Raiders outlasted the Miami Dolphins, 31-28 in overtime in Vegas.
These two teams have a long rivalry going back to the old AFL days and the Chargers helped to keep Las Vegas out of the post-season last year with a late season win against the Raiders. Chargers QB Justin Herbert and Raiders QB Derek Carr are both off to hot starts in the 2021 season. Carr has thrown for 1,203 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions in the first three games. Meanwhile, Herbert has six TD passes as well and three interceptions along with 956 passing yards to date.
This game should be a shoot out with the game going down to the wire and the team with the last possession likely to win the game.
The Baltimore Ravens (2-1) face the host Denver Broncos (3-0) in what could be a defensive struggle. The Ravens struggled, but finally won against Detroit on the road, 19-17 last weekend when kicker Justin Tucker made a record setting 66-yard field goal as time ran out. The Broncos are unbeaten, but many point to the fact they have fattened up on three winless opponents so far this season.
Another game that could be an exciting one is the Arizona Cardinals (3-0) at the Los Angeles Rams (3-0) on Sunday afternoon in a battle for first place in the NFC West, which looks to be the best division in the NFL this season.
The Rams roughed up the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-24 last week while the Cardinals got it going in the second half in a 31-19 win at Jacksonville. Cards QB Kyler Murray has been brilliant so far this season, passing for 1,005 yards with seven TD and four interceptions while also rushing for three touchdowns.
The Rams offense has been tearing it up as well with QB Matthew Stafford passing for 942 yards with nine touchdowns and just one interception. Both teams can also get after opposing quarterbacks and have amassed nine sacks through the first three games. In addition, the Rams and Cardinals have three interceptions on defense.
The rest of the NFL action is featured in the capsule style format with the Heftyinfo picks for all the games following.
Washington (1-2) at Atlanta (1-2) - This game could feature no touchdowns, but don't bet on that happening. Toss up.
Houston (1-2) at Buffalo (2-1) - Take the Bills.
Detroit (0-3) at Chicago (1-2) - A battle between two snake bitten teams. Toss up.
Carolina (3-0) at Dallas (2-1) - The Cowboys should humble the unbeaten Panthers in this one.
Indianapolis (0-3) at Miami (1-2) - Both of these teams have struggled big time so far this year. Something has to give in this one.
Cleveland (2-1) at Minnesota (1-2) - The Vikings could very easily be 3-0 heading into this game, so the Browns better be ready.
New York Giants (0-3) at New Orleans (2-1) - Which Saints team will show up this week? The Giants have been awful so far, so it might not matter.
Tennessee (2-1) at New York Jets (0-3) - The Titans should roll in this game, but their defense has been really bad so far this season.
Kansas City (1-2) at Philadelphia (1-2) - The Chiefs cannot possibly lose three games in a row, can they?
Seattle (1-2) at San Francisco (2-1) - The Seahawks are in a bad spot playing on the road against an angry 49ers team. This game will probably go down to the final minutes.
Pittsburgh (1-2) at Green Bay (2-1) - Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will likely be too much for the Steelers to handle.
The Heftyinfo picks for Week Four . . . . . . . . . . (Home teams are listed in bold; Lock of the Week is listed in BOLD CAPS)
Cincinnati over Jacksonville
Washington over Atlanta
BUFFALO over Houston
Chicago over Detroit
Dallas over Carolina
Miami over Indianapolis
Minnesota over Cleveland
New Orleans over N.Y. Giants
Tennessee over N.Y. Jets
Kansas City over Philadelphia
L.A. Rams over Arizona
San Francisco over Seattle
Baltimore over Denver
Green Bay over Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay over New England
L.A. Chargers over Las Vegas
Last Week's Record - 11-5
SEASON RECORD - 30-18
Lock of the Week Record - 3-0
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