One of Green Day's most famous songs is titled "Wake Me Up When September Ends." It's time for football fans to fully awaken as September comes to an end and begin to appreciate how dramatic this season could end up being. The presumptive Super Bowl favorites, the Los Angeles Rams, ended September 1-2 and have a chance of seeing their season spiral out of control as the Eagles and Bills are next up on their schedules. Six teams are hoping to scare the 1972 Dolphins and pursue perfection, while closing time could be coming up quickly for the five 0-5 teams, including three potential postseason contenders in the Chargers, Buccaneers and Texans.
Week 3 was certainly an exciting one for football fans so let's dive deep into what you need to know after the latest round of NFL action. As we do every week, let's start off with the big skinny, which spotlights how tight the action was around the league on Sunday.
The Big Skinny: Parity is back and better than ever
The beginning and end of Week 3 saw blowouts, but the drama football fans got to experience on Sunday was unparalleled. 11 of the 14 games on the Sunday slate finished within one possession, including the Ravens' walk-off winner in Rio against the Cowboys and a back-and-forth Rams-Broncos affair on Sunday night.
While the Dolphins have a strong claim to be the worst team in the league, it has been refreshing to see some teams who weren't well-regarded entering the year show their stuff. The Titans had a chance to beat the Giants on Sunday if Cam Ward didn't throw an interception in the end zone in the final minute while the Browns improved to 2-1 and the Raiders got to 3-0.
Even the teams we perceive as the best right now, Buffalo and San Francisco, have clear flaws in the form of suspect units or injuries. There is a long way to go in this season but the smaller degree of separation between the top and bottom of the league can only be a good thing for parity purposes.
The NFL's biggest risers after Week 3
Denver Broncos
The season was flashing before the eyes of the Broncos, who were not moving the ball well offensively on Sunday night and saw star cornerback Pat Surtain II repeatedly lose his battles with Davante Adams. The game turned on a big pick six from Talanoa Hufonga, who also snagged the clincher in the end zone as Matthew Stafford was trying to drive Los Angeles for a win.
Denver has had a very difficult stretch to begin the year as they faced off with the resurgent Chiefs, reigning AFC South champion Jaguars and the preseason Super Bowl favorites in the Rams. Going 2-1 over that stretch with a defense gaining more confidence by the week has set them up to continue building momentum ahead of a Nov. 1 rematch with Kansas City.
The AFC North
Most viewed the NFC North as the league's toughest division but their AFC cousins appear to have early bragging rights in that department. The AFC North is the only division in the league where all of its members are above .500 thanks to a 3-1 showing in Week 3, with the lone defeat coming from the Bengals getting beaten by the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
Even if the odds of the Browns maintaining a winning record sans Myles Garrett are slim the North's strong showing increases the odds the division can send three teams to the postseason. Only Pittsburgh represented the North in January, getting run off the field by the Texans' defense, but better health from Cincinnati and Baltimore could give them an argument to be the new Kings of the North.
The NFL's Biggest Fallers After Week 3
The Officials
It was a rough look for the stripes on Sunday as they blew a few key calls that helped swing games. The most maligned decisions came in Miami, where a brutal roughing the passer call on Chop Robinson against Patrick Mahomes cost the Dolphins dearly, and in Denver, where a blown pass interference call negated a key interception for the Rams.
Dear Football Fans, this is a safe space.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) September 27, 2026
Do you think this is roughing the passer? pic.twitter.com/h0T39nnJWz
NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay did not believe Rams CB Josh Wallace should have been flagged for pass interference, in what may have otherwise been an interception.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 28, 2026
The Broncos went on to score what would serve as the game-winning TD. pic.twitter.com/A0YDJ8ZmZl
Another under-reported miss came late in the Jets-Lions contest, when receiver Garrett Wilson was both interfered with and hit with helmet-to-helmet contact that the officials in the contest missed. The late hit sent Wilson into concussion protocol and burned the Jets' last timeout, setting up an all out blitz from Detroit that resulted in a game-icing strip sack instead of 1st-and-goal inside the Lions' 10.
Garrett Wilson got SANDWICHED between two defenders and stayed down after the hit.
— Aggregate (@AggregateSports) September 27, 2026
Brutal contact from both sides. Hopefully he’s alright. pic.twitter.com/4nMr5or7FY
These kinds of mistakes from the officials can swing games and can be the difference between teams making and missing the postseason in the long run. Hopefully the referees can put a better product on tape in Week 4.
Green Bay Packers
Packers' fans are widely regarded for their strong support of their team, so it was jarring to see Green Bay get loudly booed in Thursday's humiliating loss to Atlanta, which had looked completely hapless in their first two games. Injuries have decimated Green Bay's offensive line and the defense has been routinely shredded as they await the return of Micah Parsons from a torn ACL.
The NFC North is also starting to get away from the Packers, who are in the cellar of the division and were proper clock management from Jets' coach Aaron Glenn away from a 0-3 start. Failing to take advantage of an 0-3 Bucs team down Baker Mayfield this week could spell disaster for Matt LaFleur's squad.
The Fantasy Football Corner
It was a good week to have one of the top two picks in the fantasy draft as both Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs carried their squads to victory. Robinson racked up 194 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Gibbs stacked up over 150 scrimmage yards and three total touchdowns to lead the week with over 41 fantasy points in half-PPR leagues.
We also saw a couple of receivers step up in big ways in Week 3 as Jaxon Smith-Njigba continued to stake his claim as WR1 in the fantasy streets, catching 10 passes for 128 yards and two scores. Jets' receiver Garrett Wilson also made some beautiful music with Geno Smith, catching 10 balls for 107 yards and a score, while Brock Bowers made his return to the stage with a 10-116-1 line for the 3-0 Raiders.
Injuries continued to wreak havoc on the fantasy landscape as De'Von Achane was lost for the year with a torn ACL while Mike Evans, Breece Hall and Justin Jefferson are all in jeopardy of missing time. While Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon figure to be the top fill-ins for Achane, Braelon Allen has a more clear path to RB1 status with the Jets while tight end Kenyon Sadiq may be the top pickup of the week after racking up seven catches for 105 yards and a score in his third game as a pro.
The FanSided fantasy league also saw another victory for yours truly, which took down Cody Williams by 32 points thanks to a well-balanced effort from Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Chris Olave and Christian Watson, all of whom had at least 19.7 fantasy points. The win helped 4th Quarter Mike (again, name isn't changing while the squad is undefeated) improve to 3-0 and maintain first place, while the closest contest saw Brad Berreman beat Zach Rothman by 10.5 points to send Zach to 0-3.
This week's showdown sees my squad take on Chris Landers, who is off to a tough 0-3 start as his team has been torpedoed by Drake Maye's complete regression thus far. Time will tell if 4th Quarter Mike avoids a letdown in a trap game to get to 4-0.
NFL Week 3 MVP And LVP
MVP: Jahmyr Gibbs
We just covered Gibbs' fantasy impact above but there is no question that the Lions could have lost to a very feisty Jets' team without Gibbs' performance. Even though Gibbs didn't rip off the kind of electrifying chunk runs that make highlight reels, he was unquestionably the best player on the field and opened up the entire Detroit offense to help Jared Goff and company get to 2-1.
LVP: Drake Maye
It has been downright shocking to see how bad Maye has been for New England, which looks nothing like the team that went to the Super Bowl a year ago. The loss of A.J. Brown, compounded by a late camp trade of Kayshon Boutte, has deprived Maye of critical weapons and he is trying to force balls into tight windows to make things happen. Perhaps offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can try and rely more on the running game to help Maye re-build his confidence with easier throws off of play action.
Games To Watch In NFL Week 4
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)
The quarterback matchup between Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow is worth the price of admission between two AFC contenders. With a slew of skill position talent supporting the elite quarterbacks we could be staring at a shootout in the Queen City in the early window.
Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) at Las Vegas Raiders (3-0)
Anyone who claimed this game would feature two teams with a combined six wins and first place in the AFC West on the line when the schedule came out in May should go play Powerball right now. This is a very interesting spot for Las Vegas, which has a chance to make a major statement by taking down the Chiefs to get the top spot in the division all by themselves for a bit with a victory in front of their hometown fans.
Denver Broncos (2-1) at San Francisco 49ers (3-0)
The early gauntlet continues for the Broncos, who head out to Santa Clara to take on perhaps the league's most impressive team so far in the 49ers. The positive for Denver is that San Francisco is starting to stack injuries, particularly at receiver, that could make them ripe to get picked off in this spot.
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