NFL Week 3: Who Plays on Sunday Night Football?
Which two teams will be playing on Sunday Night Football for Week 3 of the NFL season?
The third edition of NFL Sunday Night Football on NBC will feature the Chicago Bears facing the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. The Bears are looking for the first win of the season while the Cowboys enter the game at 1-1. Both the Cowboys and the Bears are big national draws in terms of viewership with their fan bases. More than that, both teams are still looking to gain the momentum to really be competitors this season.
Next: Cowboys: Week 2 Takeaways
The Bears are coming off a 29-14 loss on Monday Night Football to the Philadelphia Eagles. However the Cowboys managed to gain their first win of the season this past Sunday. Dallas defeated their rivals in the Washington Redskins, 27-23.
Neither team is playing their best football right now. Heading into the Week 3 matchup, though, it seems like the Cowboys are running a little smoother than the Bears. Chicago has struggled offensively the first two games of this season, to say the least.
As of Tuesday, the Cowboys are a four-point favorite over the Bears, and that might be due to the fact Bears starting quarterback Jay Cutler was injured on Monday night. Cutler has an injured right thumb and left the game at the end of third quarter. He was replaced by Brian Hoyer. When he left the game, Cutler was 12-of-17 for 157 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Hoyer finished 9-of-12 for 78 yards.
The Bears are still looking to gain some semblance of a rushing game, too. Monday proved to be a tough fight with Jeremy Langford being the leader with only 11 carries for 28 yards and one touchdown. The Bears’ leading receiver through two games is Alshon Jeffery with nine receptions for 201 yards. Meanwhile, Chicago’s defense allowed no touchdowns in the first half (three field goals). They imploded in the final two quarters against the Eagles, giving up three touchdowns that contributed heavily to the loss.
For the Cowboys, they did manage to win this in Week 2, but it wasn’t easy or pretty. Their running game is better than the Bears’, and it showed an improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. Even still, there is still a lot to be worked on with their offense.
Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott has played well this season as he has 75 pass attempts thus far with no interceptions and no fumbles. The Cowboys quarterback has no touchdown passes, but does have a touchdown run.
Also with Prescott, he has completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 519 yards, with his longest pass of the year going for 29 yards. Of those 519 yards, the leading receiver for Prescott has been Cole Beasley with 13 receptions for 140 yards. Tight end Jason Witten is next with 12 receptions for 117 yards. There is also Dez Bryant wth eight receptions for 110 yards.
Dallas’ defense still needs a lot of work. Late in the fourth quarter against Washington, though, they showed up against Washington and did enough to help the Cowboys seal the win.
Looking at both the Cowboys and the Bears headed into the Sunday night game, the Cowboys seem to hold the advantage with the more well-rounded team. The Cowboys have yet to play to the best of their abilities (especially on the offensive side of the ball), and the Bears seem to be in a bit of a limbo as they are preparing for future seasons.
Next: Picks and Predictions for Each Week 3 Game
This still should be a game to watch with both teams having some very talented players. But the question remains: which team will be the one who puts those talented players in the best position to win?
Sunday Night Football will kick off at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.