Super Bowl stock report for Week 3: Bengals are total package, Chargers' season over before it started

We assess the NFL title race after Week 2 and identify four upcoming games that could reshape the Super Bowl picture

Sep 23, 2026 at 6:00 am ET • 6 min read

Overreactions to Week 1 often regress back toward preseason expectations in Week 2. The NFL has a way of leveling itself out. But for a few teams, it is quickly becoming hard to ignore early-season results, for better or worse. The Cincinnati Bengals are off to an ideal start, for instance, while the Los Angeles Chargers look far worse than anyone could have imagined. Their second games of the year only confirmed what they put on display in their respective season openers.

Both teams had reasons to believe at the start of the season that they could make dark-horse pushes toward the Super Bowl. The Bengals are two steps closer to that goal. The Chargers took two giant leaps in the wrong direction.

Elsewhere across the league, a litany of quarterback injuries reshaped the early-season pecking order.

Here is a snapshot of the Super Bowl race heading into Week 3.

Super Bowl odds entering Week 3

Odds via DraftKings, +2000 or better

• Rams: +650
• Bills: +750
• Ravens: +950
• Seahawks: +1000
• 49ers: +1100
• Chiefs: +1200
• Eagles: +1700
• Bengals: +1700
• Lions: +2000
• Broncos: +2000

Stock up: Bengals are finally the total package

For too much of the Joe Burrow era in Cincinnati, the story has been that a leaky defense caps the ceiling of a high-octane offense. The first two weeks of 2026 squashed that narrative. The Bengals are now a complete team, and they look like a top-tier squad as a result.

The additions of Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe and Bryan Cook all paid dividends in the 2-0 start. Following a season opener in which the defense forced four turnovers, the unit held the Houston Texans out of the end zone and limited them to just 60 rushing yards. The Bengals proved in their first two games that they can win in different ways, first with a high-scoring effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and later with a grind-it-out 20-6 win over a Super Bowl hopeful.

None of this is at the expense of the offense, either. Ja'Marr Chase grabbed two touchdown catches against the Texans and hauled in an early contender for catch of the year. Joe Burrow is healthy and effective as usual, and the running game is in a good place with Chase Brown leading the charge.

This is the second consecutive year in which Cincinnati won its first two games, and things went off the rails in 2025. But there is reason to believe that this season will be different. If Burrow stays healthy, this team finally has all the pieces. The defensive personnel changes are difference makers -- ones that can help the Bengals get back to the Super Bowl.

Stock down: Chargers' season might already be over

The Chargers' stock was down considerably after Week 1. Now it is in the basement. Their Super Bowl odds are more than twice as long heading into Week 3 as they were after the season-opening loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Chargers could have made the excuse that the Cardinals' defeat was one of those fluky results that always seem to pop up somewhere in the first week of the season. But since they followed it up with a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the underperformance can no longer be categorized as a one-off.

Losing twice by the exact score of 26-14 to two bottom-dwelling teams is bad enough in a vacuum. To do so in advance of a brutal seven-game stretch amplifies the desperation Jim Harbaugh ought to already be feeling. Every team the Chargers will meet between now and the middle of November has Super Bowl aspirations and, at the very least, should reach the playoffs. How can Los Angeles be trusted to win any of those games after dropping two contests by double digits to the potential last-place teams in the NFC West and AFC West?

This is a nightmare scenario for a team that was supposed to finally reach the next level. The pairing of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and quarterback Justin Herbert has been a disaster. The defense regressed in its first two games without Jesse Minter at the helm. And in order to salvage the first month of the campaign, the Chargers have to right their wrongs on the road against the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks. That feels unachievable.

Long shot of the week: Saints (+8000)

Through the first 36 minutes of the season, the New Orleans Saints had zero points and appeared destined for a Week 1 blowout loss. They did end up losing that opener to the Detroit Lions, but from the third quarter of that game through the end of the Week 2 win over the Baltimore Ravens, this squad outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 54-27.

The Saints are a two-point conversion away from being 2-0 with road wins over the Lions and Ravens. That is as impressive a two-game résumé as any in the wide-open NFC South. It continues to seem like the hot streak the Saints rode in the second half of last season was legitimate, and that with Tyler Shough under center, this team has its franchise quarterback.

Shough is the NFL's passing leader through two games with 662 yards, and that comes with a 68.9% completion rate, four touchdowns and another score on the ground. He just lost his left tackle to a severe high ankle sprain, but the rest of the supporting cast commands a ton of respect. When Jordyn Tyson gets healthy and makes his NFL debut, the Saints might even boast one of the league's best collections of skill position talent.

The schedule ahead is favorable, and if the Saints take advantage, the division should be theirs to lose.

Week 3 games to watch

Rams at Broncos

Sunday, 8:15 p.m., NBC, stream on fubo

Both teams opened the year with clunkers but responded in Week 2. Now, one of them will fall below .500 for the second time this season. That is not where either was expected to be at the end of September, considering they are coming off playoff runs and hope to advance even further into the postseason this time around.

Ravens at Cowboys (Rio de Janeiro)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m., CBS, stream on Paramount+

Hopefully, the field conditions at Maracanã Stadium do not impact this game, because the matchup deserves better. Two electric offenses have a chance to put on a show in front of an international audience. It might come down to which defense can spring the most stops, and while neither is off to a perfect start to the year, the Baltimore Ravens' unit is the more promising unit. The loser will fall into a 1-2 hole and open the season in early danger of missing the playoffs again.

Patriots at Jaguars

Sunday, 1 p.m., CBS, stream on Paramount+

The New England Patriots' defense is off to a roaring start with just 16 points allowed in two games. The offense is still waiting for Drake Maye to wake up, though, and there is no guarantee that will happen until A.J. Brown returns from injured reserve. The Jacksonville Jaguars have lost consecutive games just once since 2024 and could put up a number New England cannot match in this contest between 1-1 squads.

Eagles at Bears

Monday, 8:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC, stream on fubo

The Chicago Bears' quarterback situation is bleak heading into "Monday Night Football." Caleb Williams is likely out with a hamstring issue, and with Tyson Bagent in concussion protocol, the Bears might have to turn to Case Keenum for a primetime showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles. That is an unenviable matchup for a third-string quarterback and a prime spot for the Eagles to improve to 3-0.