The last Sunday of September also marked our first fall Sunday with football with 26 teams taking the field to try and improve their records. After nine teams left Week 2 with 0-2 records, there was a lot of pressure on the likes of Houston, the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis to get into the win column to maintain some semblence of a season.
Quarterback injuries from the prior week also made a huge impact on Week 3 as Washington and New York turned to their backups to pick up wins. Who were the big winners and losers from the latest round of NFL action.
Biggest winners in NFL Week 3
Marcus Mariota
Even though Washington got relatively good news on Jayden Daniels, the odds were stacked against the Commanders, with the reigning Super Bowl champs heading to town with starter Sam Darnold back in the saddle. No one told that to Marcus Mariota, who turned back the clock to lead an inspired effort as the Commanders upset the Seahawks 33-31 to potentially save Washington's season.
Mariota, who was one of the big question marks of Week 3, was efficient as he threw for 183 yards and three touchdowns while dismantling the Dark Side defense more effectively than anyone has in a long time. An international game in London awaits Washington in Week 4 against a vulnerable Colts' team, giving the Commanders a chance to stabilize themselves to buy time for Daniels to get back thanks to the heroics of Mariota.
James Cook
The desperate Chargers stepped up to make Josh Allen look mortal on Sunday, but they forgot to account for James Cook. The Bills relied on the running game to overcome an early 10-0 hole as Cook put the team on his back, rushing for 154 yards and a score on 24 huge carries to help Buffalo improve to 3-0 on the year.
On a day when the Bills had little else working, it was imperative for Cook to show his value to Buffalo's offense. Fantasy players who started Cook had a great chance to end up in the win column, as the Bills now will look to create some early separation from the rest of the AFC East, which is a combined 2-7 through three weeks.
Jacksonville's Defense
Smothering feels like an understatement for what the Jaguars did to the Patriots on Sunday afternoon. In a critical game featuring a pair of 2025 postseason teams, Jacksonville's defense was by far the best unit on the field, making Drake Maye look completely lost in a 35-6 beatdown in Duval County.
The Jaguars' defense sacked Maye three times, forced three turnovers and limited the Patriots to just 4-of-12 on third-down attempts. New England also went 0-for-3 in the red zone as the Jaguars nearly pitched a perfect defensive game to maintain their AFC South lead.
The Witching Hour
Red Zone afficionados are very familiar with the concept of the "witching hour," where the ends of games often lead to a slew of crazy moments happening near-simultaneously. Scott Hanson had a veritable feast on his hands in Week 3, as both the early and late windows had witching hours, with at least three games having high-stakes drama occurring at once, showcasing why the NFL is the best reality show on the planet.
The highlight came around 4:15 p.m. ET in the early window, as Hanson had a triple box where we saw the Titans throw an interception while driving for a lead against the Giants, the Steelers force a game-icing fumble against Cincinnati and the Browns score a go-ahead touchdown within 10 seconds of each other. The drama was also plenty spicy later in the day, making this a 1-of-1 witching hour for Red Zone fans.
Las Vegas Raiders
It feels like we get a new worst-to-first story every year and the Raiders are this year's top candidate. The return of Brock Bowers proved fortuitous for Las Vegas, which survived a stiff road test in New Orleans to win 35-27 to improve to 3-0 on the season to remain tied with the Kansas City Chiefs atop the AFC West.
While Kirk Cousins continued his incredible start to the year with three more touchdowns, the key to the win was actually the Raiders' defense. New Orleans turned the football over four times, including a trio of key fumbles late in the game as the Saints were trying to come back, showcasing a complete effort from the Raiders as they are now in excellent position to be a factor in the playoff race all year long.
The NFL International Series
There were a lot of headlines heading into the NFL's Rio showcase, but most of them were for the wrong reasons. The NFLPA expressed legitimate concerns about the playing surface at Maracana Stadium, which wasn't helped by suspect social media postings from eyewitnesses to the surface, but the game went off without any major injuries.
The game itself was also a thriller that saw Baltimore and Dallas deliver the shootout that was promised as the Ravens got a walk-off winner from Tyler Loop's 56-yard field goal at the gun. It is fitting that a long boot was the final coda in soccer-crazed Brazil and capped a memorable contest in style.
Biggest losers in NFL Week 3
Drake Maye
The concerns over Drake Maye's ability to beat winning teams were most certainly not eased in Week 3. The Jaguars, as mentioned above, made Maye look like a rookie, as he was sacked three times, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in a humiliating loss.
Mike Vrabel benched Maye late in the game, allowing Tommy DeVito to finish things out in a tough love moment for the MVP runner-up. It's getting awfully late early for the Patriots, who go to Buffalo and host the resurgent Raiders in the next two weeks, and Maye is going to have to find a way to get at least one win there without A.J. Brown, who must miss at least those games after landing on IR following Week 1.
The Referees In Chiefs/Dolphins
The Chiefs' struggles in 2025 allowed football fans to forget the narrative that they received preferential treatment from the officials throughout their dynastic run. Those conspiracy theories are back with a vengeance after a very generous roughing the passer call went in Kansas City's favor during their win over the Miami Dolphins.
"You want him to try to twist, not put his full bodyweight on the quarterback. You see the hands come out, but there's still full force driving him into the ground."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 27, 2026
CBS' Gene Steratore breaks down Miami getting called for roughing on Patrick Mahomes 🏈 📺 pic.twitter.com/Qn7dQ5cwys
Despite Gene Steratore's attempt to defend the officials on CBS, it was clear that Chop Robinson got hosed in this situation. Robinson's hit was properly timed and got Mahomes in the chest, but the idea that he deserved a flag for not adjusting his body weight mid flight is absurd and will not do anything to disprove the theories that the Chiefs are the league's golden children.
Injuries
This is the second week in a row that we've had to discuss the impact injuries are having on the season and it isn't a good thing. The wealth was spread across several positions in Week 3 as De'Von Achane, Breece Hall, Justin Jefferson and Baker Mayfield all departed their games early due to injuries.
The biggest worry appears to be for Achane, who was quickly ruled out with a knee injury, but the others all have a chance to miss time. Football is a hard enough game to play when everyone is healthy and it looks like four teams will need to dig deep to replace the production of injured stars for at least a few weeks.
John Harbaugh
It may seem counterintuitive to see Harbaugh, whose team won on Sunday, listed among the losers. The problem is the way that the Giants approached their game with the 0-2 Titans, essentially trying to play without a quarterback as they rode Cam Skattebo and the running game hard in miserable conditions.
That approach almost backfired, as Tennessee had the football deep in Giants' territory before Cam Ward threw an ill-advised pick to Jevon Holland to ruin the comeback attempt. Harbaugh needs to show more trust in backup Jameis Winston, as a very feisty Cardinals team is set to visit MetLife Stadium next Sunday.
Houston Texans
Few can argue that the Texans and Chargers have been the most disappointing teams in the league this season, as Houston is off to an 0-3 start for the second straight year. While the defense got itself in order after two rough weeks, the offense let DeMeco Ryans down again as the running game averaged just 3.3 yards per carry and C.J. Stroud threw for only 167 yards while getting sacked three times.
0-3 is familiar territory for the Texans, who have overcome that deficit to reach the postseason twice in the past eight years, which is highly unusual. Having to do that repeatedly is not a path to success, especially in an AFC where eight teams already have at least two victories.
Dallas Cowboys
It looked as if Dallas had set up overtime against Baltimore, thanks in part to a blown pass interference call that went in their favor to set up a game-tying field goal from Brandon Aubrey. What happened next can almost be described as the football gods making one up to the Ravens, who took a shot down the field to Zay Flowers after the ensuing kick-off that connected with just one second left on the clock, allowing Lamar Jackson to call a timeout to set up Loop's 56-yard game winner.
The big loser here is the Cowboys' much-maligned defense, which lacked situational awareness that the Ravens had a timeout left and could take a shot down the middle of the field to set up a potential field goal attempt. Flowers flew down the seam basically unguarded and set up a layup throw for Jackson, turning what should at least have been overtime into a crushing defeat ahead of a 10-hour flight back to the United States.
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