Nobody is going to shed any tears for guys who make tens of millions of dollars a year to throw a football, but it's tough to be a quarterback. No position in all of sports faces more scrutiny or more pressure to succeed.
Opinions on quarterbacks can vary wildly from week to week. Look at Russell Wilson, who threw for 450 yards in Week 2 only to follow that up with a stinker on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs that led to the MetLife Stadium crowd chanting, "We want Dart" as they booed him off the field.
For all but the elite of the elite quarterbacks, success is often fleeting, and so we need to celebrate it when we can. Week 3 featured three quarterbacks who led their teams to statement wins, and each of them did so against a tidal wave of doubt. We're not talking about the universally beloved Baker Mayfield or the reigning MVP Josh Allen here. These are guys who have had to hear it from the local and national media and their own fanbases, so you just know it felt extra good to go out and perform the way they did.
Mac Jones came up clutch to keep the 49ers undefeated
To say that very few people believe in Mac Jones in the year 2025 is an understatement. The former 15th overall pick washed out of New England after a promising rookie season, regressing as he did so. I'll bet most people don't even remember that he filled in for Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville last year after Lawrence had season-ending shoulder surgery, but now he's in San Francisco, and he once again is getting a chance to prove himself.
Jones has started the past two weeks in place of the injured Brock Purdy. When he threw for 279 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in New Orleans last week, most people chalked it up to the Saints being no better than a Sun Belt team, but after what he just did against the Cardinals, it may be time to believe in a Mac-aissance.
The Niners only scored 16 points on the day, but don't blame Jones, because he threw for 284 yards while completing just under two-thirds of his passes. Most impressively, he led the Niners to two fourth-quarter scores while gutting it out after aggravating a PCL strain he first suffered this summer, including a game-winning drive for a walk-off field goal from Eddie Pineiro to steal a key one-point divisional win.
Early in the fourth, Jones hit Ricky Pearsall for 34 yards on 4th and 2, then found Kyle Juszczyk for a one-yard score two plays later. Though he was intercepted the next time the Niners had the ball and lost it again when the Niners were called for holding in the end zone for a safety the time after that, he calmly led them down the field by hitting five of seven passes in under two minutes to get the win.
Jones has more than kept the seat warm for Purdy — he's kept the Niners atop what looks to be a hyper-competitive NFC West by throwing for 281.5 yards per game. Sam Darnold was able to rehabilitate his career after a stint in the Kyle Shanahan rehabilitation machine. Is Jones next?
Caleb Williams sliced up the Cowboys to get Ben Johnson his first win
I'm not sure anybody had a better day on Sunday than Caleb Williams. I'm also sure nobody needed a better day as badly. Caleb has been the number one person of interest in the NFL's hot take culture, with many unfairly declaring him a bust when he's done little to warrant it.
Caleb hasn't been perfect, but even last year when he was stuck with Matt Eberflus and offensive vampire Shane Waldron (just look at what Jaxson Smith-Njigba and Brian Thomas Jr. have done with and without Waldron coaching them), he did a lot right.
Ben Johnson kept the spoiler on Caleb in Week 1, and on the few chances he had to make something happen, he was inaccurate. Last week against the Lions, he played well but was no match for a Detroit offense hell-bent on showing Johnson that they didn't need him. The mismatch between the Lions O and the Bears D made Caleb's performance forgettable by comparison.
Nobody is going to forget what Caleb did against the Cowboys on Sunday, because he put together a personal highlight reel that doubled as a rebuke on everyone who has torn his game apart since he entered the league. He did it all as he got revenge on Eberflus, who is now the defensive coordinator in Dallas.
Caleb connected with Rome Odunze for a touchdown on the Bears' first drive, the third straight game he's thrown or ran for an opening drive touchdown and the fourth time he's connected with his fellow sophomore for a score already this year. He then launched a flea-flicker to Luther Burden III that traveled 58 yards in the air and hit the rookie in stride, a play made more impressive by the fact that he had the poise to gather a high floater of a toss from D'Andre Swift and still make a perfect throw.
Caleb ended up throwing for four touchdowns on the day, and he spread the wealth by hitting Cole Kmet right before halftime and then scrambling and finding DJ Moore in the back of the end zone with a perfect bullet on a 4th down play.
The final stat line was super impressive — Caleb finished with more than 10 yards per attempt and didn't turn the ball over — but it still didn't do justice to just how good this performance was. Caleb threw on time, showing off both his cannon arm and his feathery touch when warranted. He scrambled when he needed to, and as much as the offensive line deserves credit for keeping him upright all game, Caleb deserves his share too for the first sackless game of his career.
With Micah Parsons gone to Green Bay, the Cowboys are going to be generous to opposing quarterbacks all year. Caleb is going to have to build off of this game against an upcoming schedule that features duels with Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson, but he showed here that he has the tools to become the franchise savior that Bears fans have tried so fervently to wish into existence.
Jalen Hurts just keeps winning, and this time he used his arm
The Eagles won their first two games of the season, but they didn't do it in an especially aesthetically pleasing way. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles' passing game was practically invisible, a fact made worse that one of those games came against the Cowboys, who have now been established to be extremely susceptible through the air.
Hurts only had 253 yards and zero passing touchdowns through two weeks. AJ Brown had 35 receiving yards, total. What was up with the defending champs?
Hurts was named Super Bowl MVP in February for his all-around efficiency, as he averaged 10 yards per throw while completing 77 percent of his passes and running for 72 yards. Even then, he didn't get the respect he deserves, as some viewed him as a replaceable part that rode Saquon Barkley, a dominant offensive line and an opportunistic defense to a title.
Chiefs Pro Bowl defensive lineman Chris Jones had the gall to talk trash to Hurts when he lined up in victory formation last week, but Hurts shut him down (NSFW) by pointing out the only thing that matters: the Eagles won the game. He also could have hit him with the Angel Reese "Put a ring on it" celebration to remind Jones of last year's Super Bowl, but chose not to.
The Eagles and Hurts have proven they know what it takes to win, but this week against the Rams, they needed his arm to come back from 19 down in the second half. It should surprise nobody to know that Hurts stepped up to lead three touchdown drives that totaled a ridiculous 257 yards in Philly's last four possessions to give them a late lead, a fact that will be forgotten about after Jordan Davis' wild field goal block and return to seal the deal.
Hurts hit Dallas Goedert for a pretty 33-yard touchdown early in the game, and he finally got his top two receivers involved, as AJ Brown and Devonta Smith ended the day with 14 combined catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Now that the Eagles are 3-0 and Hurts again came up big, I wonder what the haters will find to complain about going forward.