Top 5 Rushing Matchups
Las Vegas at Chicago
Ashton Jeanty has struggled over the first three weeks, accumulating just 144 yards while averaging 3.1 yards per carry. It's not all the rookie's fault, however, as his offensive line has been among the worst in the NFL. Jeanty has 101% of his yards after contact, indicating that he's getting hit in the backfield on almost every play and still able to break tackles or drag defenders for some positive yardage. The guards Jackson Powers-Johnson and Dylan Parham have been among the worst guard duos in the NFL, which has created a lot of the up-the-middle pressure for Jeanty. Even still, he's a player whose yardage totals have improved every week, as he ran for 63 yards on 17 carries last week against Washington.
The Bears' defense through the first three weeks has primarily faced committee backfields, as no running back has had more than 15 carries against them. However, their run defense has struggled, as they've allowed 121 rushing yards to the running back position, which is the second-most in the NFL this season, while averaging 5.3 yards per carry. The Bears brought in Grady Jarrett this offseason, hoping he would solidify the interior of their defensive line; so far, that has not happened. At age 32, relying on the former All-Pro to correct his five-year slide in terms of play was likely overly hopeful. Alongside Jarrett is third-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. Dexter is more of an interior pass rusher and has struggled against the run, often being overly aggressive. The Bears need safety Kevin Byard III to return to his elite form, as he has been a liability through the first three weeks, showing a severe decline at age 32. He's someone that they frequently rely upon to come down into the box to provide an additional run-stopper. If he's unable to improve, they will struggle for most of the year, given their interior defensive line issues.
Minnesota at Pittsburgh
Jordan Mason exceeded expectations in his first week as the Vikings' starter, as he had 116 yards and two touchdowns last week. We saw what Mason could do in San Francisco, where he topped 100 yards in four of his first five games last season after Christian McCaffrey went down with an injury. Mason could make a strong case to take hold of this position and not look back. Even as Aaron Jones Sr. returns from IR, as if he can sustain his career average of 5.3 yards per carry, it will make it difficult to return to Jones, who was already conceding touches to Mason before the injury. The Vikings will be without first-round rookie guard Donovan Jackson this week as he suffered a wrist injury that will keep him out until Week 7. This will hurt the offensive line, as they'll replace him with Blake Brandel, who has been with the Vikings since 2020 and is a player who can slide in at either guard or tackle to be serviceable, but not a difference maker for the team.
Pittsburgh rebounded nicely after a poor first two weeks of the season. In their first two games, Ken Walker III and Breece Hall both ran for over 100 yards against Pittsburgh. While Week 3 was against one of the league's worst rushing offenses in New England, the Steelers held the Patriots to 74 yards, including two fumbles by Rhamondre Stevenson. This is a defense that is likely to continue improving, as they started the year with some major health concerns. They should get Deshon Elliott back this week, and Jabrill Peppers made his debut last week, playing 43 snaps. The issues at linebacker still exist as the team is without Alex Highsmith this week, and Malik Harrison is on IR. This puts a lot of pressure on the interior defensive line, which Pittsburgh is relying on some very inexperienced players who need to improve quickly. Fifth-round rookie Yahya Black and third-year defensive tackle Keeanu Benton both have struggled against the run, which puts a lot of pressure on Patrick Queen, who struggles as someone who can shed blocks, as he is undersized at just 230 pounds. Being able to drop Peppers or Elliott into the box to help support the linebackers on obvious running downs will help. Still, ultimately, they will need the defensive tackles to start playing better for this defense to be completely fixed.
Houston vs Tennessee
At 0-3, this is shaping up to be a lost season for the Texans, despite their playoff appearances in each of the last two seasons. With Joe Mixon on IR, this has greatly limited the Texans' ability to run the ball consistently. Nick Chubb was brought in this offseason and has been serviceable, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. He's not the volume player that he once was, and no longer has the burst that made him a threat any time he touched the ball. Chubb's only run longer than 15 yards was an end-of-game 25-yard touchdown against Tampa Bay, in which it appeared they let him score to get the ball back for their offense. As the season continues to spiral, we could see more Woody Marks over the next several weeks. Marks was the team's fourth-round rookie, and he saw 48% of snaps last week, nearly doubling his snap counts every week as he went from 11% to 27% to 48% from Week 1 to 3. If the Texans fall behind or fall out of contention, they will likely see what they have in the rookie and then make a decision on whether Mixon comes back this season. The Texans' offensive line is also a mess. Left tackle Cam Robinson was benched after Week 2 as the Texans went with Aireontae Ersery, who was their second-round rookie pick in the 2025 draft. We could also see Juice Scruggs take over for struggling left guard Laken Tomlinson, who was benched during the Week 3 game, and it appears that he will rotate with Scruggs for this upcoming week.
The Titans suffered a surprise this week as defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat was placed on IR. Sweat was a limited participant in practice last week, before being placed on IR on Sunday. Without Sweat, this defense is going to struggle to stop the run, as at 370 pounds, he's the space eater up the middle that hides some of their linebacker and safety issues. Without Sweat, they're relying on veterans Shy Tuttle and Sebastian Joseph-Day, who are more journeymen than a player around whom you build your defense. While the safeties are elite in pass coverage, they sacrifice a lot in their run-stopping ability, as Amani Hooker and Xavier Woods are primarily focused on covering up the struggles that the Titans have at cornerback. This can lead to some big performances, as we saw last week with Jonathan Taylor, who had 102 yards and three rushing touchdowns against this defense.