The NFL is filled with maybe as much young talent at the quarterback position that the game has possibly ever seen. There is a large amount of great older quarterbacks still in the league, such as: Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Russell Wilson. For as many great quarterbacks who have put their heart and soul into this league, there may be more potential talent in the younger generation of quarterbacks currently in the league.
Out of the 32 teams in the league 17 teams have a starting quarterback that was drafted in 2016 or later (including Gardner Minshew II, and Mason Rudolph who is taking over for the injured Nick Foles and Ben Roethlisberger). We have witnessed great matchups already between these quarterbacks in the league and we will for years to come.
Week 3 of the 2019 season will bring us two more top tier matchup between these quarterbacks, Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes vs. Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson and Los Angeles Rams Jared Goff vs. Cleveland Browns Baker Mayfield. Mayfield vs. Goff will be the more viewed matchup because they have the Sunday night game in primetime. However, the matchup between Jackson and Mahomes will be more intriguing because they are fighting for conference supremacy.
The Sunday night matchup will feature two teams who were projected to be near the top of their respective conferences. The Rams go into Cleveland boasting a 2-0 record, beating the Panthers and the Saints in the early part of their season. The Browns have underwhelmed thus far, holding a 1-1 record after getting blindsided by the Titans in week 1 and bouncing back with a Monday night win against the Jets in week 2.
After leading his team to an NFC championship game win last season and a Super Bowl appearance Goff hasn’t looked great in either game this season, but it has been enough to lead the Rams to two wins. In two games Goff has a 62.7 completion percentage with 469 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Mayfield hasn’t been much to write home about either, he had a poor game against the Titans where he threw for 285 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He bounced back a little bit against the Jets where he threw for 325 yards with one touchdown and one interception. That means that Mayfield has thrown for 610 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions on the season with a 60.3 completion percentage.
Both quarterbacks will face pressure from the opposing line. Myles Garrett of the Browns leads the league in sacks through two games with 5.0 and is looking to set a single season record for sacks. On the other side you have Aaron Donald, two-time defensive player of the year, who is off to a slow start this season, but is always a disruptive force.
The Browns are in more of a need to get a win in this game because they sit at 1-1 on the season so far. The Ravens sit atop the AFC North at 2-0 and if the Browns lose this game, they have a chance to fall two games behind the Ravens in the standings, assuming the Ravens win this week. Baker Mayfield is the future of the Cleveland Browns and he is going through a sophomore slump, which is understandable because he burst onto the scene last year in a heartbeat.
Mayfield had a great season last year and needs to turn things around quickly, it won’t be easy against this Rams defense, but for one of the best young quarterbacks in the league he can turn it around.
Goff on the other hand needs to have a better game than he has had so far this season, this is not a must-win game for the Rams, but if they are going to win, they need better play from the young quarterback. Goff is helped by the fact that he has one of the best running backs in the league in Todd Gurley. This gives Goff a little more room for error in the passing game, but he was a number one pick for a reason. Goff has had sub-par production ever since last December; this needs to change if the Rams want another shot to return to the Super Bowl this season.
This is a matchup between two of the best young quarterbacks in the league, but this is also a matchup of two young quarterbacks who need to play better to live up to their potential. This game has a chance to be an offensive shootout because both of these players are gunslingers with the ball. The Rams come into this game as road favorites but expect the Browns to sneak away with this game 27-24, mainly because they need it. The Browns can’t fall to 1-2 in the early goings of this season, even with the news that Ben Roethlisberger will be out for the remainder of the season for the Steelers.
Now we get to the best matchup in my opinion for this week, Ravens vs. Chiefs. This is the matchup between last seasons MVP Patrick Mahomes and up and comer Lamar Jackson. This will be the premiere matchup of the week specifically because of Lamar Jackson.
No one other than players in the Ravens organization expected Jackson to be as dangerous as he has been in the passing game this season. Jackson is off to an MVP-caliber start this season in the air, posting 596 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions and a 71.9 completion percentage. On the ground he has added 126 yards on 19 attempts.
The reigning MVP Mahomes is off to another great start this season and is right up there with Jackson for early MVP discussions. Mahomes has 821 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions with a 71.4 completion percentage so far this season. Mahomes is not nearly as big a threat on the ground as Jackson, but he is quite possibly the most dangerous through the air.
Jackson on the other hand has surprised people greatly this season, after last season many people saw Jackson as a running quarterback who is a below average passer. That has changed this season, Jackson is now a quarterback who looks to throw first and always has a secret weapon in his legs. Jackson is slowly making his way into the best dual threat quarterback in the league who will be a nightmare for opposing defenses to plan against.
In fact, both of these quarterbacks are nightmares to plan against. As of right now the Ravens and the Chiefs are two of the best teams in the AFC, and this matchup could be a prediction of a future game in the playoffs.
Mahomes is already on the right track to be one of the best quarterbacks the game has ever seen, and Jackson is slowly working his way to be one of the most dangerous weapons the league has ever seen. Last season Jackson’s only regular season loss came at the hands of Mahomes and the Chiefs. This was when Jackson was not the passer that he is this season, he was still a huge threat on the ground, but not a threat in the air.
That will change in this game, Jackson has progressed very well to start this season and only looks like he is getting better as he gets more confidence. With the Chiefs defense not being that great the Ravens offense could light it up against the Chiefs.
On the other hand, the Ravens have one of the best defenses in the league. This does not matter when it comes to Mahomes and the Chiefs offense, Mahomes will put up numbers no matter who they are playing against. Plus, the Ravens defense showed some obvious holes last week against the Cardinals in the pass game. Kyler Murray was able to read the defense well for most of the game and broke down the Ravens secondary.
That was against the Cardinals, against the Chiefs that will not be able to slide, the Ravens secondary will need to play a much better game to have a chance against the young stud in Mahomes.
This game not only has the potential to be one of the best games in week 3 of the season, but has the potential to be one of the best games over the course of the entire season if both of these quarterbacks live up to what they have done so far this season. Both teams are already in good position no matter who loses this week, but this would mean much more for the Ravens if they can get a win.
It will be revenge for a loss that probably shouldn’t have happened last season and it will make the road in the AFC North much tougher for the Browns. Both teams are 2-0 and in a great position coming into the week. Even though the Ravens are looking for revenge, the Chiefs look great this season and it all starts with the play of Mahomes, Chiefs win in an offensive show 35-31.