The Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers will enter this Week 3 contested headed in diametrically opposed directions, which can often spawn a rather silly assumption.
That we are sure of something in the NFL, especially in September.
Now, should the Bills have confidence going into this game? Yes. Plenty of it. And, I’ll never blame for a team for, internally, feeling good about their chances against a team spiraling as opposed to an opponent firing on all cylinders.
But we can’t simply assume this
game is over before it begins.
There’s too much parity in today’s NFL.
And many times, right when we collectively feel like we have a team or teams figured out, the unexpected strikes.
Justin Herbert defenders are going through it to begin the 2026 season. He’s completed 59.3% of his throws, with two touchdowns and three interceptions and has been sacked six times in this 0-2 start. That comes after another dud of a playoff game last January.
Mike McDaniels’ widely regarded reputation as an offensive genius is continuing to lose luster, fast, and it’s fair to start to wonder if Jim Harbaugh, at this age, can be a Super Bowl-caliber coach.
But Herbert has insane big-time throw ability in him. McDaniels did coach a Dolphins team that, with plenty of talent, saw Tua Tagovailoa lead the NFL in passer rating. Derwin James has been a first or second team All-Pro six times. And Harbaugh has won everywhere he’s coached, from FCS football to Stanford to Michigan to the 49ers.
Heck, McDaniels’ rather hapless Dolphins trounced the Bills 30-13 in November last season.
And, for the Bills, the Patriots are coming to town in Week 4. This Sunday could be referred to as a “trap game.” Buffalo can’t get caught looking ahead. Because for as much as the Chargers may very well be already into a season-long implosion with some polarizing yet previously successful characters at the top of their organization, the bounce-back tendency of the NFL cannot be forgotten before this Week 3 game.
It’s very real. Sure, favorites can cruise. But more often than we initially believe, two teams playing each other one week do not resemble what we’ve previously seen from them.
However, I’ll end with this — if Buffalo can get out to a sizable lead in the first half, this does feel like a Chargers team that won’t have nearly as much fight in it as the Lions showed in Week 2.
