King Kaufman's Sports Daily
NFL Week 3: An early crossroads week, with division rivals matching up all over and the Falcons trying to make a field goal.
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Sept. 22, 2006 | In my music-obsessing days I used to think that the third album was the key to the rest of a good young band's career. The debut album was great, of course. It was why you liked a group in the first place. They'd had a whole lifetime to work on it, perfecting the songs through all those early years of rising through the club ranks.
Then came the spotty second album, thrown together in haste after a lot of touring, usually. Ill-conceived and poorly written, it invariably contained some pretentious attempt to prove that the band could stretch as musicians, an all-glockenspiel song, perhaps, or a Big Star cover in 9/13 time.
But No. 3, that was the one that would tell you how this band would go for the next decade or so, whether it could, once the early-career novelty and craziness had subsided, sit down and create something good from scratch.
The third game of the NFL season offers similar answers. We'll learn a lot about whether various 2-0 teams -- the Ravens, Vikings and Saints, among others -- are the real deal or paper tigers.
We'll find out if sundry 0-2 stumblers -- Washington, the Panthers, the Buccaneers and the Dolphins, for instance -- are really that bad. We'll learn a little something about which way some of those inscrutable 1-1 teams -- Giants, Eagles, Bills, Rams -- will go.
We prognosticators are not immune to such scrutiny in Week 3. This column's Panel o' Experts is off to a start as unexpected as those of the Saints and Dolphins. My son Buster, the coin flippinest 3-year-old in the English-speaking world, maintains his hold on first place with a 26-6 record. Porn star Adriana Sage is second at 25-7.
The closest person who makes his living by knowing a little something about the NFL is Merril Hoge, in third at 23-9. Can this continue?
And in last place, with a pathetic 16-16 record, is me. Not everything has been unexpected.
Here are the Week 3 picks, with winners in caps.
Jacksonville (2-0) at INDIANAPOLIS (2-0): Starting off with a big divisional matchup in the AFC South. This game is one of those that will tell us a lot. The Jags put themselves on the map with that Monday night shutout of Pittsburgh, and they're playing some serious defense.
But the Steelers' offense, with Ben Roethlisberger in his first game back after an appendectomy, wasn't exactly clicking, regardless of who was on the other side. And Jacksonville's offense isn't much better than Pittsburgh's was.
The Colts could be settling in as the NFL's Atlanta Braves -- regular season lions, playoff lambs. Or maybe they're about to be exposed by a possible Super Bowl contender. There is a third possibility, that this is their year to go all the way, but since I picked them to do that, well, 'tis to laugh, eh?
I'll stick with them for one more week, but if they could hold an opponent under three touchdowns, that'd be nice. Even this opponent.
Cincinnati (2-0) at PITTSBURGH (1-1): Another big divisional matchup between title contenders. Hey, I like this. They should have a bunch of divisional rivals playing each other in the same week.
The defending champs could easily be 0-2 if the Dolphins hadn't melted down on Opening Night, but the talent is here to make another run. In Monday's loss to the Jaguars, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looked like he was out of sync and still hurting. A wave of injuries on the Bengals defense should give him the space he needs to get comfortable.