- The Browns delivered one of the most stunning outcomes of the early NFL season with an upset of the Packers.
- The Cowboys’ defense continues to be undone by coverage meltdowns and communication problems.
- The Buccaneers once again averted disaster in the final minute with a game-winning field goal to beat the Jets.
Forget finding midseason form. Three weeks into a fresh campaign, several teams have already reverted to scramble mode.
In a reflection of just how hard injuries have started to hit teams, five backup quarterbacks started on Sunday. But that wasn’t the only sign of entropy. A league that had been fairly straightforward through the first two weeks finally saw its first major upset with the Cleveland Browns’ takedown of the Green Bay Packers, and the early window featured a dizzying run of close calls, comebacks and collapses. And while the slate might have heavier on intrigue than quality play, the ‘Monday Night Football’ capper between the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens could give the league a boost on both fronts.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 3 in the NFL:
NFL Week 3 winners
Browns
In opening the season against six franchises with winning records in 2024, the Browns seemed destined to bottom out pretty quickly in what looked to be a trying campaign. Somehow, though, Cleveland pulled off a 13-10 upset of the previously unbeaten Packers that very well may go down as the most puzzling result of the entire regular season. For the overwhelming bulk of the contest, the offense appeared as putrid as the team’s all-brown ‘Alpha Dawg’ uniforms. But a smothering defense kept things tight, and Cleveland turned the game on its head with Shelby Harris’ block of a field goal try and Andre Szmyt’s 55-yard game-winning boot as the clock hit zero. Days like this probably won’t come often for Cleveland this season, so Kevin Stefanski and Co. can soak this one in for all it’s worth.
Isaiah Rodgers
A largely overlooked free agent signing, Rodgers figured to play a vital role in the Minnesota Vikings’ reworked secondary this year. But who could have foreseen the former sixth-round pick and longtime backup – who missed all of the 2023 season due to a suspension for gambling – making contributions this massive? In a 48-10 demolition of the Cincinnati Bengals, Rodgers etched his place in league history as the first player ever to return an interception for a touchdown, return a fumble for a touchdown and force two fumbles in a single game. And he checked off all of those accomplishments by halftime.
Jordan Davis
Lots of folks have been waiting a long time for the big defensive tackle (6-6, 336 pounds) to deliver big plays. He finally did so in the Philadelphia Eagles’ thrilling 33-26 win over the Los Angeles Rams, which he sealed by blocking a last-second field goal and returning it 61 yards for a score. It was quite the punctuation for a player who’s been heavily scrutinized for his weight since his arrival, as his bottom-line contributions in his first three seasons didn’t regularly measure up to his superlative athleticism. But Davis was plenty forceful throughout the day, corralling a sack and coming up with a key fourth-down run stop.
Kevin Patullo
The Eagles’ much-maligned first-year offensive coordinator saved himself from a talk radio maelstrom on Monday by finally opening up the passing offense, which helped Philadelphia claw out of a 26-7 hole early in the second half. All six catches and 109 yards from A.J. Brown came after halftime, and Jalen Hurts finally seemed to settle in once backup Fred Johnson stabilized things at right tackle after Matt Pryor had a rough go as Lane Johnson’s injury fill-in. No one should expect this team to budge from the offensive identity that helped it reach the Super Bowl summit, but a reminder of the attack’s capabilities was needed.
Caleb Williams
The takes aiming to pin the blame on Williams for the Bears’ 0-2 start were more off target than the quarterback was himself. At least the signal-caller’s third game under coach Ben Johnson provided a reprieve, with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft enjoying his most fruitful pro performance yet with 298 passing yards and a career-high four touchdowns in a 31-14 triumph against the Dallas Cowboys. As is the case with the losses, this didn’t all stem from Williams individually, as he received plenty of help from a receiving corps that got contributions from top rookies Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland. But Williams finally getting to showcase the marriage of precision and aggression that fans were eager to see from him in Johnson’s system should help relieve a lot of pent-up frustrations.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ resilience
After opening the season with two road wins that were too close for comfort, the Buccaneers seemed poised to enjoy a party in their home opener. Not only was Tampa Bay celebrating its 50th season by donning the all-white threads last worn by the franchise’s inaugural team, but the schedule also presented a seemingly favorable matchup against a New York Jets team being led by backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor. And while the Bucs pushed to a 23-6 lead, they came undone in the fourth quarter, when Will McDonald’s block and 50-yard return of a field-goal attempt gave Gang Green a 27-26 lead with less than two minutes remaining. But Baker Mayfield regrouped with chunk connections to rookie Emeka Egbuka and Sterling Shepard, and Chase McLaughlin’s 35-yard field goal delivered a 29-27 win. With that, the Buccaneers became the first team since 1966 with a game-winning score in the final minute of regulation in each of their first three games. That’s a pretty nifty escape for a team that had to completely reshuffle its offensive line amid injuries.
Ricky Pearsall
The San Francisco 49ers’ 3-0 start hasn’t been accompanied by the typical offensive flair that a normal Kyle Shanahan production entails, but the story of the team’s early season has been merely finding a way to win, with each victory coming by less than one score. Sunday’s 16-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals seemed the most tenuous of all the early outcomes, with things looking dire until Mac Jones led a 10-play, 63-yard drive to position Eddy Piñeiro for a game-winning 35-yard field goal as time expired. Though Pearsall didn’t record a reception on that final possession, San Francisco surely wouldn’t have had a chance for a comeback without its second-year pass catcher, who paced the attack with eight grabs for 117 yards on a day when the ground game couldn’t get going. Pearsall’s steady hands and ability to win in tight quarters have been major boons for Jones, as all of the wideout’s receptions came with a defender within 3 yards, according to Next Gen Stats. Even when Brock Purdy returns, that edge could be significant for a San Francisco offense that might have to do things the hard way more often than it’s accustomed to.
Tory Horton
It’s fair to chalk this up as a product of facing a New Orleans Saints team that quickly revealed itself to be overwhelmed. But the Seattle Seahawks found their stride early in a 44-13 walk, and the fifth-round rookie receiver played a leading role in that. In the first quarter, Horton took a punt return 95 yards for a score, giving him the longest runback by a rookie since Tyreek Hill’s 95-yarder in 2017. By the time he snagged a 14-yard touchdown from Sam Darnold early in the second quarter, the rout was on. With explosive plays serving as one of the cornerstones of an overhauled Seahawks offense, Horton is making himself a vital figure in the early going.
NFL Week 3 losers
Packers’ hype train
It’s too late for me to hide my conductor hat, as I last week placed Green Bay atop my ranking of 2-0 teams. But after left tackle Rasheed Walker said last week that he believed his team could go undefeated, this locomotive looked bound to derail at some point. A volatile Packers offense that had been operating without many challenges finally encountered some turbulence in the form of a road tilt against Jim Schwartz’s defense, which forced hyperaggressive Jordan Love into keeping all but one of his 25 throws under 10 yards downfield. But Love’s overconfidence reared its head at a terribly inopportune time with his late fourth-quarter interception that set up a 1-yard Quinshon Judkins touchdown to tie the game. These are the kind of stumbles that come with fielding the NFL’s youngest roster yet again, but even a team with as many deficiencies as Cleveland is capable of pouncing on crucial mistakes if Green Bay commits them in crucial spots.
Atlanta Falcons
In 2024, the NFL’s first shutout didn’t come until Week 16, when a New Orleans Saints team rolling with an interim coach and backup quarterback was blanked by the Green Bay Packers. With a 40-0 belly flop of a loss against the Carolina Panthers, the Falcons earned the unwanted distinction of becoming the first team to come up empty on the scoreboard this season – and they did so facing a defense that in 2024 gave up the most points in NFL history. Problems only compounded as they piled up, but the breaking point might have come when Michael Penix Jr. lofted a pass that Chau Smith-Wade easily nabbed for a pick-six. Said Smith-Wade after: ‘We knew going into this week he could potentially make some reckless throws.’ Atlanta won’t make a change at quarterback, with Raheem Morris saying Kirk Cousins’ entrance late in the game was merely a matter of protecting Penix in a blowout. But while the signal-caller’s struggles can be categorized as merely a second-year passer working through some hiccups, Atlanta’s larger offensive shortcomings shouldn’t be so easily dismissed for a franchise that requires plenty of firepower if it is to end a seven-year playoff drought.
Cincinnati Bengals
When it comes to ignominious achievements, the Bengals have delved into depths of darkness that few other organizations have seen. It was all the more alarming, then, that the 48-10 loss to the Vikings goes down as the worst in franchise history by margin of defeat. Believing that Cincinnati could press forward with Jake Browning entailed embracing the ‘delusional’ mentality that the backup cited as the fuel behind last week’s rally to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. But reality came crashing down in the team’s first full game this year without Joe Burrow, as the Bengals mustered just 171 total yards. Limiting turnovers – Cincinnati had two interceptions and three lost fumbles against Minnesota – can help keep the team somewhat competitive against lower- and mid-tier competition. But with the engine behind the Bengals’ success now in the shop for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t appear that there’s a realistic way for this team to get where it wants to be: back in the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
Brian Callahan
In Year 1, you could forgive the Tennessee Titans coach for overseeing a group that couldn’t escape self-inflicted setbacks. Those mistakes, however, still seem to be pervasive with this season’s crew, particularly in the Indianapolis Colts’ 41-20 rout of his team. One week after his dazzling cross-body touchdown throw, rookie quarterback Cam Ward got a tough lesson on living dangerously on the opening drive, when his late throw to the flats became an easy pick-six for Kenny Moore II. Later, the defense repeatedly put on what-not-to-do clinics on arm tackling Jonathan Taylor, with the lowlight coming on a 46-yard touchdown jaunt by the back. With the reworked offensive line still looking abysmal in pass protection, there are few reasons for encouragement outside of Ward. And it’s clear who fans attribute these problems to, as chants of ‘fire Callahan’ rained down in Nashville just before halftime when a botched clock management led to a missed 62-yard field goal.
Matt Eberflus
Maybe bossman Jerry Jones is satisfied with the Cowboys surrendering merely 87 yards on 29 carries to the Bears. After all, the owner insisted after the Micah Parsons trade that getting more formidable against the ground game would be the key to Dallas’ defensive salvation. For everyone else, however, an undeniable truth has emerged: The Cowboys’ defense is badly overmatched and mismanaged. When Williams connected with Burden for a 65-yard flea flicker touchdown in the first quarter, it felt as though the Bears knew they could try almost anything without fear of being punished or even pushed off track. Coverage busts and communication breakdowns have become a way of life on the back end for Dallas, which allowed Cole Kmet to go uncovered for an easy 10-yard touchdown catch. Eberflus can’t make up for the lack of horsepower in the pass rush, but a humiliating showing against his former team – which managed to patch up some of its own cracks on defense – should spark some urgency in the coordinator to repair the big-play problem.
Rhamondre Stevenson
Fumbles plagued the New England Patriots’ lead back last season, with the ball carrier coughing it up seven times in 15 games. Despite the arrival of second-round back TreVeyon Henderson, however, Stevenson was still given the chance to pace the ground game for Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels. But patience with his miscues might be wearing thin after the fifth-year pro fumbled twice in a 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, including one at the goal line that robbed the team of a potentially game-tying score. Backup Antonio Gibson also fumbled and Drake Maye added two turnovers, but Stevenson didn’t spread the blame around, saying after the game, “If I can’t hold the ball, then they don’t need me.” It’s to be determined if the Patriots’ coaching staff agrees, but things aren’t trending well for a player already due to be pushed by the more explosive Henderson.
Bo Nix’s deep ball
The Denver Broncos’ second-year quarterback can no longer be waved off as the checkdown merchant some labeled him as out of college and early in his pro career. But that doesn’t mean that the deep game always comes easy for him and the Broncos’ receiving corps. In a 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Nix missed on three deep shots on which receivers freed themselves up. He did, however, find a wide-open Courtland Sutton for a 52-yard touchdown before halftime to close the gap. Sean Payton was unmoved by this passer’s misfires, saying afterward, ‘There’s no conversation. Keep slinging it.’