NFL Week 3 Bullet Points: 3 must-know stats previewing every game

Travis Durkee

NFL Week 3 Bullet Points: 3 must-know stats previewing every game image

We may only be entering the third week of the NFL season, but that’s plenty of time for the best players in the world to compile some incredible numbers to chew on.

Here’s a look at NFL Week 3’s Bullet Points from Omnisport’s data-driven Stats Perform colleagues. (If you like what's served up see here, check out @StatsbySTATS each Sunday on Twitter. It’s the official feed for our STATS-driven — and dare we say tasty — NFL coverage.)

THURSDAY
(All Times Eastern)

Titans (1-1) at Jaguars (0-2), 8:20 p.m. (NFL)

  • The Jags have been held under 100 yards rushing in four consecutive losses to the Titans, while Derrick Henry rushed for a career-high 238 yards and four touchdowns last time these teams met.

  • Gardner Minshew II has thrown for 249 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but he’s thrown for 239 yards and no touchdowns in the first three quarters. 

  • Henry ran for 81 yards last week, and his six-game streak of at least 80 rushing yards (dating to the last game against the Jaguars) is the longest in the NFL. His 750 rushing yards in that span lead the NFL (Saquon Barkley is second, 580) and his nine rushing TDs are three more than any other player.

SUNDAY

Dolphins (0-2) at Cowboys (2-0), 1 p.m. (Fox)

  • Five different Cowboys have caught a touchdown pass in 2019, and Michael Gallup (who leads the team in receptions and receiving yards) is not one of them. The Ravens (six) are the only team with as many.

  • The Cowboys are gaining 7.62 yards per play in 2019, best in the NFL; the Dolphins are gaining 3.56 yards per play, worst in the NFL. the Cowboys are averaging 10.72 yards per pass play, best in the NFL – the Cowboys and Chiefs (10.14) are the only teams averaging over 10 yards per pass play in 2019.

  • Dak Prescott has made 50 career starts and has completed 66.8 percent of his passes. Since the merger in 1970, this completion percentage is the second-highest mark by any quarterback through his first 50 career starts (min. 750 attempts), trailing only Kurt Warner (66.83 percent).

Broncos (0-2) at Packers (2-0), 1 p.m. (Fox)

  • The Packers are 2-0 despite gaining fewer yards than their opponent in each game. This is the franchise’s first 2-0 start since 2015, when the team went 6-0 before its first loss (to the Broncos in Denver).

  • In the first half of games, Aaron Rodgers has a 69.0 completion percentage, 288 passing yards and three touchdowns. However, after halftime his completion percentage is 50.0, and he has 124 yards passing and no TDs. Only the two Dolphins QBs have lower completion percentages after halftime this season.

  • The Broncos’ 30 points through two games are the fewest for the franchise since scoring 19 in its first two games of 2006.

Ravens (2-0) at Chiefs (2-0), 1 p.m. (CBS)

  • Baltimore has outgained its opponents 1,083-549, the biggest yardage differential by any team through two games since the 1961 Oilers (+597).

  • Kansas City had its streak of 22 straight games scoring in the first quarter come to an end last week in Oakland, but the Chiefs responded with 28 points in the second quarter.

  • Patrick Mahomes’ 13 straight games with multiple touchdown passes are tied for the second-longest streak all-time behind Peyton Manning’s 15 straight from 2013-14.

Raiders (1-1) at Vikings (1-1), 1 p.m. (Fox)

  • The Vikings have run the ball 59.6 percent of the time this season, highest in the NFL. The team’s 370 rushing yards are tied for second-most in the NFL behind the Ravens (447)

  • In Derek Carr’s 80 career starts, he has 1,804 completions – since the merger in 1970, only three QBs have had more completions through 80 career starts: Matthew Stafford (1930), Andrew Luck (1839) and Sam Bradford (1805).

  • Kirk Cousins has completed 52.4 percent of his passes this season, second-lowest in the NFL ahead of only Ryan Fitzpatrick (min. 25 attempts).

Bengals (0-2) at Bills (2-0), 1 p.m. (CBS)

  • From 1989-2010, Buffalo went 10-0 against Cincinnati. However, since 2011, the Bengals have gone 4-1 in this series.

  • The Bills have scored a touchdown on nine consecutive red-zone drives, comfortably the longest active streak in the NFL (Titans, five).

  • Cincinnati has 59 rushing yards through its first two games – only one team since 1950 has had fewer rushing yards in its first two games (2012 Titans, 58).

Falcons (1-1) at Colts (1-1), 1 p.m. (CBS)

  • The Colts are 14-2 all-time against the Falcons, the best record by any active franchise against a single opponent (minimum 15 games played).

  • The Falcons are one of seven teams without a rushing touchdown this season and their 130 rushing yards are the fourth-fewest through two games in franchise history.

  • The Falcons have lost 10 of their last 11 games against AFC teams, including their Super Bowl 51 collapse against the Patriots.

Jets (0-2) at Patriots (2-0), 1 p.m. (CBS)

  • The Jets have lost 10 consecutive games at New England, the longest road losing streak in Jets’ history. Overall, the Patriots are 14-2 against the Jets since 2011, the best record by any team in any divisional matchup.

  • Le’Veon Bell’s 54 scrimmage touches (38 rushes, 16 receptions) are seven more than any other NFL player this season. Bell has accounted for 45.6 percent of the Jets’ total net yards this season, the highest such percentage in the NFL.

  • Since Week 15 of the 2006 season, Tom Brady is an incredible 64-2 in regular-season home games against AFC opponents

Lions (1-0-1) at Eagles (1-1), 1 p.m. (Fox)

  • The Lions are 3-1 against the Eagles with Matthew Stafford under center, including wins in the last two meetings as he threw for eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

  • Zach Ertz is 47 receiving yards from 5,000 entering the 94th game of his NFL career. The only five tight ends in NFL history to reach 5,000 receiving yards in fewer than 95 games are Kellen Winslow (69), Rob Gronkowski (72), Travis Kelce (77), Jimmy Graham (84) and Antonio Gates (92).

  • Carson Wentz is 24 completions from 1,000 for his career entering his 43rd NFL game. The only active player to reach that plateau in fewer than 45 games is Matthew Stafford, who did it in his 41st career game in 2012.

Panthers (0-2) at Cardinals (0-1-1), 4:05 p.m. (Fox)

  • Carolina is trying to avoid its first 0-3 start since 2010, the year before Cam Newton was drafted.

  • Kyler Murray has joined Newton and Kirk Cousins as the only active QBs to throw for 300+ yards in each of his first two NFL starts. No quarterback in the Super Bowl era has thrown for 300+ yards in each of his first three career starts.

  • Greg Olsen is 7 yards shy of becoming the fifth tight end in NFL history to have 8000 receiving yards; the others are Tony Gonzalez (15,127), Jason Witten (12,488), Antonio Gates (11,841) and Shannon Sharpe (10,060).

Texans (1-1) at Chargers (1-1), 4:25 p.m. (CBS)

  • Sunday’s game would be Philip Rivers’ 211th consecutive start, passing Eli Manning’s streak from 2004 to 2017 for the second-longest all-time behind only Brett Favre’s streak of 297

  • The Texans have allowed just six points in the first half this season, tied for the second-fewest points allowed in the NFL (Patriots – 0).

  • Since 2017, the Chargers have had eight players attempt a field goal or extra point, three more than any other team over that span, and their team field-goal percentage is 73.0, lowest in the NFL.

Saints (1-1) at Seahawks (2-2), 4:25 p.m. (CBS)

  • The Seahawks are 2-0 for the first time since 2013, when they won their first four games en route to a victory in Super Bowl 48.

  • Alvin Kamara was limited to 60 scrimmage yards on 14 touches in last week’s road loss to the Rams; it was Kamara’s second-lowest yardage total in any career game he’s had at least 10 touches.

  • Since the start of the 2012 season, Seattle’s defense allows the fewest total yards per game, 305.5. During that same stretch, the New Orleans offense averages the most yards per contest at 402.7.

Steelers (0-2) at 49ers (2-0), 4:25 p.m. (CBS)

  • The 49ers have not started 3-0 since the 1998 season. The only team that has gone longer since its last 3-0 start is the Browns (last in 1993).

  • The Steelers have allowed 890 total yards through two games, the most they have allowed in the first two games of a season since 1988 (929).

  • Last week, Mason Rudolph became the fourth player in Steelers history to throw multiple touchdown passes in his NFL debut, along with Terry Hanratty (1969), Ben Roethlisberger (2004) and Landry Jones (2015).

Giants (0-2) at Buccaneers (1-1), 4:05 p.m. (Fox)

  • With rookie Daniel Jones being elevated to starter for this game, the Giants will start a QB other than Eli Manning for just the second time since the start of the 2005 season.

  • The Buccaneers haven’t allowed a rushing TD in their first two games for the first time since 2013, the season they opened 0-8 and went on to a 4-12 finish.

  • Tampa Bay’s Shaquil Barrett ranks second in the NFL with four sacks after he had three in 13 games last season with Denver.

Rams (2-0) at Browns (1-1), 8:20 p.m. (NBC)

  • Cleveland has won three straight prime-time games but is 1-9 in games played on Sunday night, losing the last four.

  • Odell Beckham Jr. has 232 yards receiving — the highest total by any Browns player after two games in the Super Bowl era.

  • Brandin Cooks is one of only four active players entering 2019 with four or more consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards receiving. Cooks has reached that total each of the last four years to join Julio Jones (5), Mike Evans (5) and Antonio Brown (6). Cooks ranks sixth in the NFL with 30 receiving TDs since the start of 2015.

MONDAY

Bears (1-1) at Redskins (0-2), 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)

  • The Redskins have won seven straight and 13 of the last 15 meetings with the Bears. Washington’s last loss in the series was a 27-24 defeat at Chicago on Dec. 21, 2003. These teams have never met on Monday night.

  • Through the first two weeks, Mitchell Trubisky ranks 28th in passing yards (348), 27th in completion percentage (58.3) and 32nd in yards per attempt (4.83). Trubisky, Cam Newton and Ben Roethlisberger are the only QBs this season without a touchdown pass and more than 50 attempts.

  • The 63 points the Redskins have allowed through two games is tied with the Giants for second-most in the league, better than only Miami (102).

Travis Durkee