There were plenty of surprises and entertaining games in Week 3, but there were also a handful of hideous performances.
The Vikings, Panthers and Seahawks won their respective games by at least 30 points. Four teams managed to score 40-plus points, while five were held to 10 or fewer.
It was an ugly, ugly day of football on Sunday. Honestly, this column could have just been filled with “losers,” but we can’t neglect the winners. We will ignore, however, the winless Giants, Titans and Saints because we already know they’re competing for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
I’ll try to be a little positive for the Week 3 winners and losers.
Winners
Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Jesse Minter
After the Chargers dismantled the Raiders on Monday Night Football, I wrote that they were the best team in the AFC West partly because they’re the only team in the league with a top-five quarterback and a top-five defense.
Six days later, I realized I had made a mistake after the Chargers rallied to defeat the Broncos for a 3–0 start. The Chargers are more than just AFC West frontrunners. They’re legitimate Super Bowl contenders because they have the best quarterback and best defense in the league right now. A strong emphasis on right now, and spare me your quarterback rankings and statistics.
Through three weeks, no quarterback is playing better than Justin Herbert. Yes, he’s been better than Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. Herbert is the early favorite for MVP, and he delivered the best touchdown throw of the young season when he curved the game-tying 20-yard pass around Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto to find wide receiver Keenan Allen in the end zone.
On the other side, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has his unit playing better than last year. Without edge rusher Khalil Mack, Los Angeles forced Bo Nix & Co. to punt four consecutive times to open the game and made them punt on three of their final four drives, allowing Herbert and his offense to complete the late comeback.
With coach Jim Harbaugh armed with the best quarterback and best defense in the league—right now—it’s looking like the Chargers will be in the mix when January rolls around.
Panthers’ rebuilding plans
Last week, I called out the Panthers for constantly settling for the role of The Little Engine That Could after falling to the Cardinals by one score. There haven’t been enough winning results for this organization since making the blockbuster trade with the Bears for the right to select Bryce Young No. 1 in the 2023 draft.
But Carolina (1–2) finally avoided ending a game with a moral victory or an ugly loss. There were signs of a real turnaround while the Panthers pummeled the Falcons to give coach Dave Canales a signature 30–0 victory.
Rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan appears to be the real deal, and the defense is playing vastly better than it did last year, especially in the secondary. Canales and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero deserve plenty of credit for improving many areas of the roster since taking over a few years ago, but the wins haven’t been there.
Now the slowest rebuild in the league can start stacking real wins and not just gold stars for keeping games close. Obviously, that all depends on the development of Young, who played clean football against the Falcons, but blowing out a talented divisional rival can kickstart this organization in the right direction.
Vikings QB Carson Wentz
The video of Carson Wentz saying he would trade places with Nick Foles during the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl run resurfaced on social media before his starting debut with the Vikings.
It was an honest response from Wentz and a reminder that football can be a cruel sport. However, it’s all about being in the right place at the right time.
Maybe the Vikings’ balanced roster can offer Wentz a career revival and help him find peace with his lost 2017 season when he emerged as an MVP candidate before a season-ending injury paved the way for Foles’s legendary status in Philadelphia. I’m not saying Wentz will guide the Vikings to the Super Bowl, although they looked pretty good beating up the Bengals for a 38-point victory.
Wentz (14-of-20, 173 yards, 2 TDs) made the most of his opportunity and could give coach Kevin O’Connell something to think about if Minnesota (2–1) keeps winning with the 2018 No. 2 pick before J.J. McCarthy is cleared from his ankle injury. The Vikings play the Steelers (in Dublin) and the Browns (in London) in the next two weeks.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski
Kevin Stefanski nearly lost it on the sideline after hearing the officials rule that Packers running back Josh Jacobs didn’t fumble in the fourth quarter.
Stefanski’s six-year coaching stint in Cleveland has been filled with several miscues of a different magnitude, many of which would have doomed most coaches. To compare, Stefanski’s predecessors, Rob Chudzinski, Mike Pettine, Hue Jackson, Gregg Williams (interim) and Freddie Kitchens lasted a combined seven seasons.
Despite all the chaos, especially with the decisions made at quarterback from the front office, Stefanski has kept the Browns competitive on most Sundays.
Stefanski was finally on the right side after the Browns (1–2) rallied late to upset the Packers. Cleveland blocked a field goal and Joe Flacco executed a game-winning drive in the final 30 seconds to set up the walk-off 55-yard field goal from kicker Andre Szmyt.
Expect the Browns to deliver a few more upsets this season, not only because of a savvy veteran quarterback and a dominant defense, but because Stefanski usually has his team ready to compete.
Eagles DT Jordan Davis
Jordan Davis has had many highs and lows since the Eagles drafted him in the first round of the 2022 draft. Luckily for Davis, he landed with a team that didn’t need him to make an immediate impact.
The Eagles knew there would be a time when they would need Davis to be a full-time player and rolled the dice on the 330-pound defensive tackle with the hopes that he’d be ready. That moment came when Milton Williams left to join the Patriots, leaving a massive void next to Jalen Carter.
Davis, who lost about 30 pounds in the offseason, stepped up when it mattered most in Sunday’s 33–26 comeback victory against the Rams. Davis recorded a sack, the game-saving field goal block and the improbable big man touchdown return, one that won plenty of money for those who had the Eagles covering as -3.5-point favorites against the Rams.
Davis went from playing less than 50% of the defensive snaps in his first three seasons to now being on the field for 70% of the defensive snaps. The giant defensive tackle is now well on his way to being the next draft hit for GM Howie Roseman.
Losers
Texans’ inability to help a stacked defense
The Texans underestimated the consequences of not having a ton of experience on offense.
First-time play-caller Nick Caley is relying heavily on rookie receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, and he has rookie Aireontae Ersery starting at left tackle to protect C.J. Stroud’s blindside.
All this has led to a 0–3 record, with losses against the Rams, Buccaneers and Jaguars, leaving a dominant defense with little to show for its efforts besides impressive statistics.
Houston’s defense is allowing only 17 points per game, while the offense is averaging a league-worst 12.7 points per game. Stroud needs to do more to help his defense out, but his job became harder with all the inexperience on offense.
Changes were needed to the offensive line, and the team needed to invest in a wide receiver during the draft. But the thought process for improving those areas led to head-scratching decisions. The Texans could have used left tackle Josh Simmons, who was selected at No. 32 by the Chiefs. Instead, Houston traded its No. 25 pick to the Giants and made its first draft pick at No. 34 to take Higgins.
After a winless start, it’s safe to say the Texans had poor execution this offseason to improve the offense, and in the process, possibly wasted a prime season for a stacked defense.
Raiders’ bad offensive line
Bad offensive lines were on display in Week 3, but not many were as bad as the Raiders were against a Commanders defense lacking star edge rushers.
The ageless Bobby Wagner generated two of Washington’s five sacks against Geno Smith, who was hit eight times in the blowout loss. It’s tough to assess Chip Kelly’s offense in Las Vegas because of the offensive line, but the poor execution falls on him and the rest of the Raiders’ coaching staff.
Maybe the Raiders (1–2) should not have used a top-10 pick on a running back, knowing that the offensive line had a laundry list of issues. On the positive side, Ashton Jeanty made the most of a bad situation by breaking tackles and rushing for 63 yards on 17 carries.
After a rough two games in six days, it’s starting to look like this Raiders’ offense won’t be taking off anytime soon.
Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.
Penix is coming off the worst performance of his young career, completing only 18 of his 36 passing attempts during the Falcons’ loss to the Panthers. Overall, Penix is only completing 58.6% of his passes and has only one touchdown pass and two interceptions this season.
Outside of a lunging go-ahead touchdown run in Week 1 against the Buccaneers, there haven’t been enough positive moments for Penix in his second season. It’s been the opposite of his three starts last year as a rookie.
He’s no longer catching defenses by surprise, and it’s time for Penix and the Falcons’ coaching staff to make their adjustments to how teams are playing them. They’re desperately hoping that offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s move away from the coaches’ booth could lead to better results on the field.
Just when we thought the Falcons (1–2) were ready to surge with intriguing pieces on both sides of the ball, they laid an egg against the Panthers for an upset loss.
Cardinals’ stagnant offense
Kyler Murray hasn’t played as poorly as Penix, Stroud and Smith have this season, but his special moments have become a distant memory.
Murray is making too much money to produce subpar performances, and has had somewhat of an identity crisis playing under offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. There aren’t enough explosive plays for the Cardinals (2–1), which is not entirely Murray’s fault.
But Murray had the ball in his hands with a two-point lead in the final minutes against the 49ers on Sunday and failed to capitalize. San Francisco backup Mac Jones did what Murray hasn’t done in a long time: delivered in the clutch.
Every week, the Cardinals’ offense seems content with playing not to lose and hoping that the defense bails them out. Arizona’s defense tried its best to help with the late interception of Jones and a safety, but that still wasn’t enough.
It’s time for coach Jonathan Gannon to step in and force fundamental changes to ignite this offense, especially after the season-ending injury to running back James Conner.
Rams’ offseason moves
The Rams’ 19-point collapse in Philadelphia could have lasting consequences.
In the offseason, the Rams (2–1) ignored the back end of their defense and a suspect offensive line, opting to continue improving their strengths by splurging for wide receiver Davante Adams and defensive tackle Poona Ford.
For two-plus quarters, the Rams’ offseason blueprint seemed to be working against a team that has had its number in recent seasons, but that was merely an illusion. The Eagles’ depth and versatility paved the way for second-half adjustments, as Jalen Hurts began to pick apart a secondary in desperate need of talent.
Most teams aren’t as deep as the Eagles, but the Lions, Buccaneers, Packers and the rest of the NFC contenders are undoubtedly capable of exposing the roster holes the Rams neglected in the offseason. Los Angeles will likely find its way into the playoffs because of the surplus of its skill players and pass rushers.
However, the Rams will need their strengths to be in elite form once the postseason arrives to have any shot against NFC contenders.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why the Chargers Are Legitimate Super Bowl Contenders After a 3–0 Start.