2026 NFL Week 3 Picks Straight Up, Odds & Spreads For All 16 Games

Welcome to our 2026 NFL Week 3 Picks Straight Up! Injuries, man. It is brutal to see so many injuries ALREADY in a young 2026 NFL season. While we still did fairly well on our picks last week, it hurts to see some of these superstar players go down (looking at you, Caleb Williams). That being said, this is a great slate to get some wins in the book!

So, without further ado, it is time to bring you our expert 2026 NFL Week 3 Picks Straight Up. Below, you will find my picks, some highlighted matchups, and the odds and spreads for every game this week.

2026 NFL Week 3 Picks Straight Up for All 16 Games

With Week 3 here, we have some great matchups on paper between all 32 NFL teams to get NFL Week 3 rolling! In the following section, you will find my predictions, with the teams I anticipate coming away with a victory highlighted in bold. Odds are courtesy of BetMGM:

NFL Week 3 Picks Straight Up: Minnesota Vikings ML (-120 at Fanatics Sportsbook)

Coming into the year, I was fairly high on the Minnesota Vikings. The run game was being adjusted, I believe in Kyler Murray and the weapons around him in the passing game, and I have always believed in a Brian Flores-led defense. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of Kyler in his Minnesota debut, but now hopefully we will against a Buccaneers team that has been struggling with consistency so far this season. 

I was also high on the Bucs coming into the 2026 season, but I can’t let my past takes blind me when we are getting such a good line on this team. This Vikings team just held the Bears (who dropped 59 POINTS the week prior) to just three points. Sure, it was in the rain, and Caleb Williams got hurt towards the end of the game, but the swing in points is still astronomical.

On the flip side, this Buccaneers defense just made Deshaun Watson look elite for the first time since he was in a Texans uniform. On top of that, Bucky Irving seems to be the only reliable member of the offense. 

Bucs offense that can’t get anything going against an elite defensive unit led by an elite defensive mind, plus a (hopefully) improved Vikings offensive unit with elite outside weapons versus an underwhelming Buccaneers defensive unit. Yeah, I know what side I am picking.

NFL Week 3 Picks Straight Up: Las Vegas Raiders (+160 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

UPSET ALERT! I know how fun and impressive the New Orleans Saints have been so far this year. I loved Tyler Shough in the draft back in 2025 and loved how the team handled their offseason to improve things around him. That being said, the Raiders have been LIGHTS OUT to start 2026… and that has been without their best offensive player, who should be making his season debut this week. 

Klint Kubiak’s offense last season helped unlock Jaxon Smith-Njigba en route to an Offensive Player of the Year nod and a Super Bowl victory. Two weeks into the season, he has Kirk Cousins playing efficient football, an improved ground game with Ashton Jeanty, and has just helped Tre Tucker finish last week with 119 yards on five receptions. Now, Brock Bowers is expected to return. Last year, with only eight games started, Bowers still finished the season with just under 700 yards and 7 touchdowns. In his rookie season, he was just under 1,200 yards. While everyone was discussing which receiver in this offense would be this year’s JSN, I knew it would actually be the tight end, Brock Bowers. The Saints defense just allowed Mark Andrews to reel in six of his seven targets last week, so I love Bowers odds to destroy those numbers.

I haven’t even mentioned the Raiders defense, which has stifled both of their opponents thus far. Sure, that was just the Miami Dolphins (who we expected to be bad) and the Los Angeles Chargers (who are really struggling so far this year), but let’s not forget, the Chargers have one of the most elite tackle duos in the NFL, with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, and boy, they struggled against this Raiders pass rush. 

Everyone knows Maxx Crosby is elite. So far this year, he has been double-teamed at the highest rate, but is still one of the top defenders in the league in pressure percentage.

While Crosby is being double-teamed, things have opened up for Kwity Paye and other defenders to provide pressure, which has resulted in EIGHT sacks through two games. Like I said, I am high on Tyler Shough, but pressure gets to everyone eventually. With the combination of improvements on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, I like the Raiders as underdogs in this spot. 

2026 NFL Week 3 Odds & Spreads For All 16 Games

We just unveiled our 2026 NFL Week 3 picks, and below are the spread odds for each matchup, provided by BetMGM Sportsbook:

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