The Cleveland Browns pulled off one of the most surprising trades in recent NFL history this week after dealing the third pick in the 2012 draft in Trent Richardson to the Colts and now the team will play its first game without him in a matchup of 0-2 clubs as they travel to Minnesota to play the Vikings in Week 3 and both teams will be looking to get the win.
Losing Richardson is a big blow for the team and now the Browns will have Brian Hoyer starting at quarterback after Brandon Weeden went down with an injury and everyone thinks they are tanking. The Vikings are 0-2 and Adrian Peterson said the team knows it needs to take care of business on Sunday to get the season back on track.
Check here for the Browns and Vikings live stream from the NFL and for coverage of Week 3 from Sports World Report.
The Week 3 schedule has a number of good games on the schedule and the Texans are playing the San Diego Chargers on Sunday after a big game last weekend. The Houston Texans are 2-0 again this season after making comebacks against the San Diego Chargers in the opening game and the Tennessee Titans in Week 2 and one of the biggest reasons for the win on Sunday was the play of rookie wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who made the final score of the game to seal the victory in overtime.
The Texans are looked at as one of the best teams in the AFC this season and after coming back from 21 points down to beat the Chargers on Monday night football in Week 1, the team had to do it again for their second win with an eight points comeback over the Titans, who almost made it to a surprising 2-0 after defeating the Steelers top open the season last week. Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson had to leave the game and that left an opening for Hopkins to step up.
The Texans have been looking for a number two receiver to play opposite Johnson for a number of years and now it appears they have a bonafide playmaker in Hopkins, who racked up plenty of yardage when he played at Clemson. Hopkins suffered a concussion in the preseason, but he appeared fully healthy in Week 2 and the Texans may need it depending on how shaken up Johnson was after he was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter.
The Houston defense was good when it needed to be and JJ Watt had a nice game with two sacks and the real test came late when Johnson was out and Hopkins was able to step up big time. Matt Schaub finished the game with 298 yards and three touchdowns and the Titans could not recover from the late game push by the Texans in overtime. Houston was able to send it into overtime after Arian Foster scored a touchdown and the Texans needed to add a two point conversion just to survive. Schaub was coming off of a great game against the Chargers after throwing for 346 yards and now the team will be 2-0 heading into a very anticipated matchup with the Baltimore Ravens that will be the first home game for the Super Bowl champions.
Hopkins now has the chance to be a huge sleeper heading into Week 3, especially if Johnson misses any period of time after getting concussed. Hopkins made five catches for 66 yards in his debut game and he bested that with seven catches for 117 yards and the winning touchdown and the plays he made were just fantastic. Hopkins averaged over 16 yards per catch and after being targeted 13 times against Tennessee, he could be a great second option for the Texans for the rest of the season.
Click here for the Cleveland and the Minnesota live stream coverage.
Chris Johnson fantasy owners were pleased on Sunday despite him not scoring a touchdown after rushing for 96 yards, but the scoring output has to be troubling this early in the season. He has only made one reception out of the backfield and after failing to get over 100 yards in either of the two games, fantasy owners have to be hoping things will turn around quickly with a breakout game. A. Johnson had a huge game for the Texans last week and his injury will be one to keep an eye on going forward.