Week 3 kicks off tonight (gotta love year-long Thursday Night Football). Here are my five games to watch this weekend, along with my picks:

Giants vs. Panthers - Tonight’s game is probably one of the better matchups this week. Both teams are coming off big wins, with the Giants making a furious comeback to beat out Tampa Bay and the Panthers putting it on the Saints. The key here is going to be injuries: The Giants are thin at receiver and in the secondary. Watch the Panthers double up Victor Cruz, forcing Peyton Manning to use some of the younger receivers. Cam Newton will be facing a formidable Giants defensive front, but his elusiveness should give him enough time to move the ball downfield. Should be a good one, but I’m giving the edge to Carolina. Panthers 27 Giants 20

Rams vs. Bears – This didn’t seem like that great of a matchup in the preseason but it’s actually an intriguing game. Jeff Fisher has the Rams playing pretty well to start the season, giving the Lions all they can handle in Week 1 and outlasting the RG3 show last week in St. Louis. Meanwhile, the Bears are coming off a terrible offensive showing in Green Bay and all week the focus in Chicago has been on Jay Cutler yelling at teamates, bumping offensive linemen, and being a general ass. The Rams are looking primed for an upset and will try to exploit the Bears’ weaknesses on the O-Line. However the Bears want to prove that all the hype surrounding their improvements on offense is legit. Matt Forte will be out for this one, so look for Jay Cutler to come out firing early and often. I think the Bears squeak this one out on the lakefront. Bears 23 Rams 21

Jets vs. Dolphins - The Tim Tebow Show goes to Miami and I get the feeling Jets Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano is gonna “wild out” on his former team. Look for more wildcat formations from the Jets, particularly with Tebow who saw very limited action last week against the Steelers. The Jets typically don’t play well in Miami but this is a game they need to win considering how tough their schedule looks in the coming weeks. Jets 20 Dolphins 10

Ravens vs. Patriots – These two always put on an entertaining show and the Ravens are looking for some payback after getting bounced by the Pats in last year’s AFC Championship Game. Both teams are coming off somewhat surprising losses, particularly New England. Look for the Ravens to run Ray Rice early and often, with some big play-action pass plays mixed in. The Ravens usually stout defense has actually been giving up a ton of yardage this season, ranking them towards the bottom of the league in total defense. I think this will turn out to be a bit of a high scoring affair, with Baltimore edging out New England at home. Ravens 31 Patriots 27

**Lock of the Week** Kansas City vs. New Orleans – I’m not going to spend too much time here making fun of the owner of this blog picking the Chiefs to go the Super Bowl. Kansas City has gotten shredded the first two weeks of this year. Things won’t get easier this week, when they head down to N’Awlins to face what I can imagine is a pissed off 0-2 Saints team. The Saints started the season with the decks stacked against them a bit, what with the whole “head coach being suspended for the whole year” thing. Still most experts and observers (including me) figured Drew Brees and Co. had enough talent to overcome these issues. Well the Saints need to right the ship like right the fuck now if they have any hopes of keeping up with the loaded NFC this year. Look for them to go big this week against the defensively inept Chiefs. Saints 38 Chiefs 21