Thursday Night Opens Week 3: Falcons at Packers After Buffalo's Statement

By Derek Shaw

Week 3 starts Thursday. The Atlanta Falcons visit the Green Bay Packers at 8:15 p.m. ET at Lambeau Field. Prime Video has the window. The NFL posted that date on the schedule release: Thursday, Sept. 24, in Green Bay. This desk will not invent a Thursday score. The game has not been played.

What has been played is Buffalo's Thursday. The Bills beat the Lions 41-31 in the first regular-season game at Highmark Stadium. Josh Allen accounted for five touchdowns. That is the Week 2 statement this Wednesday file carries. What has been played is Green Bay's Sunday. The Packers beat the Jets 20-17 in overtime. What has been played is Atlanta's Sunday. The Falcons lost 34-3 at home to Carolina.

Gameday Signal is not rewriting Monday's full Week 2 board. That board is closed except for Monday night in Inglewood if you are reading this before the snap, and closed entirely if you are reading it after. This file needs three posted facts and one posted clock. Buffalo 41-31. Green Bay 20-17 in overtime. Atlanta 34-3 the other way. 8:15 p.m. ET in Green Bay is the next fact.

What Buffalo Posted on Thursday

Highmark Stadium now has a first regular-season final. Allen threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores. He was 20 of 31 for 248 yards. James Cook ran for 135 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Dalton Kincaid caught seven for 95 and a score. Joshua Palmer's 43-yard catch was one of the scoring throws. Dawson Knox caught the other.

Detroit still put 31 on the board. Jared Goff threw four touchdown passes. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught two of them and finished with nine receptions for 142 yards. The Lions scored 14 in the fourth quarter. They did not catch Buffalo. The Bills are 2-0. The Lions are 1-1.

That Thursday was the first Thursday Night Football of Week 2. This Thursday is the first Thursday Night Football of Week 3. The Signal keeps them on separate cards. Buffalo's statement is a posted score. Green Bay's Thursday is a posted time.

The Bills now wait until Sunday, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m. ET against the Chargers at Highmark. That is a long turn after a Thursday win. Atlanta and Green Bay get the short turn. Those are rest facts. They are not injury reports. This desk will not invent who is active on Thursday.

What Green Bay Posted on Sunday

The Packers needed extra time in East Rutherford. They trailed 17-7 in the fourth quarter. Jordan Love hit Christian Watson for a touchdown. Trey Smack kicked a 34-yard field goal after Skyy Moore's 63-yard punt return to tie it at 17 with 2:59 left. In overtime the Jets won the toss and lost 15 yards. Smack's 26-yard kick with 5:23 left in the extra period is the posted winner.

Love finished 16 of 29 for 145 yards and two scores. MarShawn Lloyd caught the first one from 6 yards. The Packers were listed at 199 total yards. They were also listed with 14 accepted penalties. Jayden Reed left with a neck injury on the opening drive. Zach Bako-Bewele left with a knee injury on the next play. Those are posted medical facts from the club's own recap. They are not a Thursday forecast.

Green Bay is 1-1. The club now hosts on a short week. Sunday in New Jersey to Thursday in Green Bay is a four-day turn and a flight home. The Signal will mark the turn. It will not invent how the turn feels.

What Atlanta Posted on Sunday

The Falcons' last number is 3. Carolina left Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 34-3 win. Bryce Young threw three touchdown passes. Two went to Darren Waller. Devin Lloyd returned an interception for a score. Cooper Rush started and finished 10 of 17 for 86 yards with two interceptions and a lost fumble. Nick Folk's 41-yard field goal was the home club's only score.

Atlanta is 0-2. The first loss was 20-13 at Pittsburgh. The second is 34-3 at home. Michael Penix Jr. was inactive. That is the posted quarterback fact from Sunday. This desk will not invent the Thursday starter if the club has not posted it as a final.

Thursday is the first time this 0-2 club meets a 1-1 club in prime time. It is also the first Thursday night in Green Bay this season. A short week after 34-3 is a travel week. Atlanta to Lambeau is a flight and a four-day practice window. Those are the rest facts.

The Building Is Old. The Clock Is New.

Lambeau Field is the site. The clock is 8:15 p.m. ET. Prime Video is the distributor. That is the posted path on the league's Week 3 schedule page. A famous building does not change the snap count. It changes the address.

The Falcons are the first visiting club through that door in the regular season this year. The Packers are the first home club on a Thursday. Both facts will still be true if the game is 3-0. Both facts will still be true if the game is 40-37. This desk will wait for the final.

Do not confuse the stadium story with the Sunday stories. Green Bay's story is a 26-yard kick after a 10-point hole. Atlanta's story is a 3-point afternoon. Thursday's story does not exist yet.

The Rest of Week 3 Is Already Posted Behind Thursday

The NFL's Week 3 schedule page already lists the rest of the board. Sunday, Sept. 27, opens at 1 p.m. ET with Titans at Giants. Jets at Lions sit in that same window. Chargers at Bills sit there too. Panthers at Browns and Chiefs at Dolphins are also posted at 1. The 4:05 p.m. window lists Cardinals at 49ers and Vikings at Buccaneers. The 4:25 p.m. window lists Ravens against Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro and Raiders at Saints. Sunday night is Rams at Broncos at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

Monday, Sept. 28, is Eagles at Bears at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN. That game sits just outside this pack week. A Friday file may point at it as scheduled. This Wednesday file only marks it as the last clock on the Week 3 card.

Thursday is the open. Sunday is the middle. Sunday night is the late middle. Monday night is the close. The Signal files them in that order. A reader who wants the whole week can wait. A reader who wants the first snap of Week 3 needs Thursday.

How the Two Sunday Facts Sit Next to Buffalo

Green Bay's Sunday was on the road. Atlanta's Sunday was at home. Green Bay needed extra time. Atlanta never led. Green Bay's last score was a 26-yard kick. Atlanta's last score was a 41-yard kick in a 34-3 loss. Those are parallel facts. They are not a prediction.

Buffalo's Thursday is the statement this headline is using. 41-31. Five Allen touchdowns. First final in a new building. That statement does not move the Lambeau clock. It only explains why this desk is not opening Week 3 with a full Sunday rewrite. The loud Week 2 Thursday already happened. The next Thursday is a different pair of clubs.

Love's 145 passing yards are the Packers' air fact from Week 2. Young's 287 passing yards are Carolina's air fact from the game Atlanta just lost. Rush's 86 yards are Atlanta's air fact from that same game. Bring those names to Thursday if you want the Sunday tape. Leave the Thursday names blank until they earn a final.

Sunday's Other Finals Do Not Change Thursday's Clock

Kansas City's 33-30 in overtime is still the loudest Sunday night number. It does not move Falcons at Packers. Philadelphia's 24-20 with 9 seconds left does not move it. Seattle's 31-7 does not move it. Thursday is its own file because the league put it on its own night.

The Rams visit the Broncos on Sunday night of Week 3. That game waits for Monday night in Inglewood to land first if you are still in Week 2. The Eagles visit the Bears on Monday of Week 3. Those are later clocks. They are not Thursday.

Buffalo 41-31 is one Week 2 fact this Thursday file needs. Green Bay 20-17 in overtime is the second. Atlanta 34-3 is the third. Allen's five scores. Smack's 26-yard kick. Young's three throws and Lloyd's pick-six the other way. Those numbers are already posted. Thursday's numbers are blank.

What This File Refuses

This file refuses a Thursday score. This file refuses a Monday night score from Week 2 if that game is still scheduled when you open it. This file refuses to rewrite Monday's full Sunday wrap. Carolina 34-3 is here because Atlanta plays Thursday. The rest of that board stays in Monday's file.

This file also refuses to treat Lambeau Field as a character. It is a site with a Thursday date. The date is Sept. 24. The time is 8:15 p.m. ET. The visiting club is Atlanta. The home club is Green Bay.

Gameday Signal's job on a Wednesday is to point at Thursday without inventing Thursday. The Bills are 2-0 because Allen scored five times. The Packers are 1-1 because a 26-yard kick landed. The Falcons are 0-2 because Sunday ended 34-3. Week 3 starts when those last two facts share a field.

If you want noise, there is a short week and a 0-2 visitor and a club that just won in overtime. If you want the signal, there is one clock. 8:15 p.m. ET. Falcons at Packers. After Buffalo's statement. That is the week.