Two teams that started the season undefeated tumbled, as the Seattle Seahawks snapped a league-leading 12-game winning streak with a loss to the Washington Commanders, and the Cincinnati Bengals also fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with a defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Buffalo Bills almost joined the list, but they overcame three Josh Allen turnovers in a come-from-behind victory over the hapless Los Angeles Chargers. The Las Vegas Raiders joined the Bills in the undefeated club, also picking up a comeback win over the New Orleans Saints.
Some teams continue to surprise, like the 2-1 Cleveland Browns and New York Giants, while Super Bowl-contending teams like the 0-3 Houston Texans and the 1-2 New England Patriots are searching for answers again. Here are my overreactions for Week 3. The Chargers had their best defensive output of the season under new coordinator Chris O’Leary.
Entering Sunday’s contest, Josh Allen hadn’t thrown an interception in his last 190 regular-season pass attempts, the longest active streak in the NFL. But the Chargers ended the streak by forcing two Allen interceptions, both secured by rookie defensive back Genesis Smith. Add in three Buffalo fumbles (one by Allen) and the Chargers totaled five takeaways.
But the Chargers scored just 10 points off those miscues. Buffalo had lost 16 straight when committing at least five turnovers, with the last win coming in 1997 against Indianapolis. Playing quarterback for the Colts that day?
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers finished 1-for-4 in the red zone and managed just 13 points on offense. Since taking over the Bolts in 2024, Harbaugh-led teams are 20-2 when they score at least 20 points.
But they’ve been unable to reach that mark in three games led by Mike McDaniel, considered one of the best offensive coordinators in the league. In fact, the Chargers have now scored fewer than 20 points in six straight games dating back to last season (regular and playoffs) — their longest streak since 1998. Herbert is playing his worst football since joining the Chargers in 2020, with career lows in completion percentage (59.3%), passer rating (71.6) and average passing yards per game (200.5).
Conclusion: Not An Overreaction You can’t lose a game when the defense forces five turnovers. In one of the most critical moments of the game, Herbert once again fell short when his team needed a winning play. With his team in control of the game and driving to score up 13-10, Herbert tried to force a ball into double coverage to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the back of the end zone.
Instead, the ball was picked off by veteran defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who returned it close to midfield. Herbert was picked off once but could have thrown as many as three interceptions.
Allen drove the Bills and scored the go-ahead touchdown, allowing Buffalo to escape with a victory even though he acknowledged afterward they did not deserve it. The play was a microcosm of Herbert’s time with the Chargers. He has fallen short in those situations more times than expected, including a 0-3 playoff record.
The Chargers played well defensively, ran the ball for 131 yards on the road against one of the best teams in football. They just needed Herbert to play efficient, mistake-free football on offense. Instead, they turned the ball over, had another handful of head-scratching pre-snap penalties, dropped passes and a missed field goal by kicker Cameron Dicker, his second of the year.
The Chargers don’t need heroics from their star quarterback — just competent play that leads to winning games. A strong consideration to win the league’s MVP award last year, Drake Maye has looked like a shell of himself so far this season. It started with a three-interception performance in the fourth quarter against the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks to start the year.
However, that has proven to not be a blip on the radar, but a trend that continued through the first quarter of the season. Maye finished with two interceptions and a lost fumble in an embarrassing 35-6 road loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Maye has thrown a league-high six interceptions and just one touchdown through three games.
Maye threw eight interceptions all last year. Maye’s 58.6 passer rating is the worst among qualifying passers this season. The second-worst?
Herbert (73.4) Conclusion: Overreaction Maye certainly could benefit from better pass protection from a banged-up offensive line, but sometimes it helps young quarterbacks by giving them a breather so they can watch the game from the sidelines. Bryce Young certainly benefited from that approach from head coach Dave Canales with the Carolina Panthers a few years ago, and the Alabama product is now playing at a Pro Bowl level. The Patriots also had Maye start out his rookie season watching Jacoby Brissett play before putting him in the starting lineup in 2024.
New England’s backup is Tommy DeVito, who’s 3-5 as a starter and would give the Patriots a chance to win if placed in the lineup. But Maye is the team’s franchise quarterback for a reason, and he needs to figure out how to work through this adversity at the start of his career. He has a better chance of breaking out while playing on the field instead of watching from the sideline.
Also, Maye is missing his best receiver, A.J. Brown (ankle) out. Every year, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones cranks up the hype train, tricking us into believing his team has a chance to compete for a Super Bowl after a three-decade absence.
And every year the season starts and we realize that we’ve been hoodwinked again. This year, the Cowboys were supposed to have a much-improved defense to along with one of the best offenses in the league – a group infused with young talent and enthusiasm led by a new energetic defensive coordinator in Christian Parker. But through three games, consistent tackling has evaded the Dallas defense and (stop me if you’ve heard this before) the Cowboys can’t figure out how to stop the run.6 Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens hired defensive guru Jesse Minter to turn that side of the ball around.
But through three games, the Ravens are allowing 26 points a contest. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction The Ravens needed a last-second 26-yard pass to Zay Flowers to set up a game-winning 56-yard field goal for a 34-31 win over the Cowboys in Brazil. It’s a tough way for Dallas to lose and once again shows the youth and injuries affecting the secondary for the Cowboys.
The Dallas defense did have an impressive goal-line stand led by rookie linebacker Jayshawn Barham, but the Cowboys still struggled to stop the run, allowing the Ravens to rush for 192 yards on the ground. The Ravens didn’t fare much better in this shootout, giving up 415 total yards, including 148 on the ground against an explosive Cowboys offense. If both teams want to legitimately compete for a postseason berth later in the year, they need improved play from their defenses.
With the Bills squeaking past the hopeless Chargers at home and the Seahawks and Bengals all falling on the road, the Chiefs have a claim to the title of best team in football. Yes, Kansas City struggled on the road against the worst team in football, the Miami Dolphins. But good teams find ways to win games when they aren’t playing their best.
Kenneth Walker III continues to play well, finishing with 73 scrimmage yards and two scores. And Kansas City’s defense is holding opponents to 252.5 total yards per game, which is the third-best mark in the NFL. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction The Chiefs have rebounded from a disappointing 6-11 campaign last season by starting the year undefeated.
Kansas City has benefited from an easier schedule, with back-to-back AFC West games against the Chargers and Raiders over the next two weeks. But the No. 1 reason the Chiefs are back has been the play of Patrick Mahomes, who has been efficient and is playing at an MVP level just nine months from returning from a season-ending ACL knee injury that required surgery.
Davis Webb was promoted to offensive coordinator this offseason, taking over playcalling duties for head coach Sean Payton. Through three games, it’s been an up-and-down experience for quarterback Bo Nix and Denver’s offense. The Broncos did not score a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams until midway through the third quarter.
Webb’s inability to consistently move the football put pressure on Denver’s defense, considered one of the best in the league. However, the Broncos' offense got into a rhythm in the second half, scoring 23 points and earning a comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams. Conclusion: Overreaction Payton has served as one of the best offensive play-callers for most of his NFL coaching career.
It’s one of the reasons he was hired as head coach of the Broncos, and something that has given him an edge in years past. While the second-half performance against one of the better defenses in the league generated confidence for Nix and the offense, it will be tough for Payton to not at least consider taking back play-calling duties because of the success he’s had with quarterbacks like Drew Brees in years past. So, Webb needs to string together another solid offensive performance for the return of Payton as the team’s play caller to go away as a talking point nationally.
Aaron Rodgers looked like a four-time MVP winner in his team’s 30-27 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Bengals. Rodgers threw for 292 yards, with three touchdown passes. His only blemish was an interception by Bengals safety Jordan Battle.
Specifically, head coach Mike McCarthy and Rodgers finally figured out a way to push the ball down the field and loosen up an improved Cincinnati defense, finishing with five passing plays of at least 20 yards. Pittsburgh also got the running game going, with Jaylen Warren totaling 127 yards rushing on 17 carries. The reigning AFC North champs, the Steelers, now sit tied atop the division with the Browns at 2-1.
Pittsburgh is traveling to Cleveland next week. Conclusion: Overreaction While the improved numbers are certainly a good sign for McCarthy and Rodgers, we need to see more. With the relationship between the head coach and veteran quarterback, though, it makes sense that Rodgers would figure out a way to make it work.
Rodgers completed passes to nine different receivers. But the most important connection was a 6-yard touchdown to DK Metcalf, his first of the season. If the Steelers are going to consistently create explosive plays, Rodgers must figure out how to regularly get Metcalf the football.
After victories over winless teams to start the year against the Dolphins and Chargers, the Raiders earned their most impressive triumph this season with a 35-27 road win over the New Orleans Saints. With the win, the Raiders are one of six undefeated teams to start the year. The decision to start veteran Kirk Cousins over Fernando Mendoza has proven the correct one for Las Vegas, as the Michigan State product has been surgical in his execution of head coach Klint Kubiak’s offense.
Cousins threw for 248 yards and three scores; he has nine touchdowns on the year. The Raiders snapped a 39-game streak without reaching 30 points by scoring 35 against the Saints, per FOX Sports Research. Conclusion: Not An Overreaction The Raiders have not reached the playoffs since the 2021 season, the last time Las Vegas started the season 3-0.
And they have a legitimate chance to compete for a spot in the postseason if they can continue at this pace. Las Vegas entered Week 3 with the second-most takeaways in the NFL (5) and added four more on Sunday. They also have one of the best defensive closers in edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who has 14 quarterback pressures and 1.5 sacks through three games.
But the reason for success in the desert has been the change in culture by Kubiak off the field, creating a belief that Las Vegas can compete with anybody in the NFL.
