NFL Week 3 grades: Patriots stumble to an 'F,' Commanders earn 'A'

The Ravens came alarmingly close to blowing a double digit lead for the second straight week, but Lamar Jackson saved the day with some late magic in Rio De Janeiro. The Ravens QB was absolutely clutch in this game: He only threw for 186 yards, but 72 of that came in the fourth quarter, including a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers that set up Tyler Loop's game-winning field goal. When Lamar goes into clutch mode, he's almost impossible to stop and the Cowboys found that out here. The Ravens defense certainly has some cracks, but this unit helped saved the win by holding the Cowboys out of the end zone in the final 20 seconds. This feels like the kind of win that can propel a team to greatness so it won't be surprising if we see the Ravens go on a run from here. The Cowboys played well enough to win this game, but a few bad coaching decisions might have cost them the win. After Brandon Aubrey's field goal tied the game with seven seconds left, the Cowboys decided to have Aubrey kick a touchback, which gave the Ravens enough time to pull out the miracle win. This was a roller coaster game for both sides of the ball. The defense started the fourth quarter with a goal-line stand, but then gave up a long pass to set up the game-winning field goal. Dak Prescott and the offense drove down to Baltimore's two-yard line in the final 30 seconds, but couldn't punch the ball in for a game-winning touchdown. This team just needed one player -- anyone -- to make one more play, but that didn't happen. The Cowboys will be kicking themselves for 10 straight hours on their flight home to Dallas after this loss. It doesn't matter who the starting QB is for the Vikings, this team always finds a way to win. The Vikings have now won eight games in a row dating back to last season, and most of those wins have come the same way: They dominate on defense, and they play great on special teams. Well, check and check. Kyle Van Noy racked up three of Minnesota's six sacks on Baker Mayfield. The Vikings' defense was so good that Minnesota won despite the fact that the offense didn't run a single play inside Tampa Bay's 20-yard line. In his return to the field, Kyler Murray wasn't overly impressive, but he did throw a key 41-yard TD pass to Jordan Addison. It's never pretty, but the Vikings keep winning, and that's all that matters in the NFL. The Buccaneers' offense has been bad this season, and their nightmare continued with another ugly performance here. The Bucs' offensive line got bullied by a Vikings pass-rush that sacked Baker Mayfield six times. If Tampa's offense had shown any signs of life, the Bucs might have won this game. To add insult to injury, the Bucs special teams also gave up a punt return touchdown, and that ended up being the difference in the game. The Bucs are the only winless team left in the NFC and it feels like they're definitely the worst team in their division. The Cardinals' defense looked strong in Week 1, but it appears that was just a desert mirage. They got steamrolled in Week 2 by the Seahawks and they didn't look much better in this game. The Cards opened the game by giving up two scoring drives of at least 80 yards, and things didn't get much better after that. The Cardinals just don't have enough talent on defense to slow down an offense like the one in San Francisco. An ice-cold start by Arizona's offense also didn't help things. The Cardinals might end up winning a few games this season, but there's a clear talent gap between them and the rest of the NFC West. When Kyle Shanahan has this offense rolling, it's nearly unstoppable, and he has this offense rolling. The fireworks started in the first quarter when he called for a hook-and-ladder on third-and-12 that ended up going for an 82-yard touchdown. That helped the Niners jump out to a 14-0 lead and they never looked back. The 49ers had four different players finish with at least 40 receiving yards, including Christian McCaffrey, who also rushed for 75 yards. Defensively, the loss of Nick Bosa certainly hurt, but San Francisco still looked impressive for the better part of three quarters before a solid fourth quarter by Jacoby Birssett. The bottom line is that the 49ers pick up another win and they might be the best team in the NFL right now. The Raiders might be for real. They started 2-0 without Brock Bowers in the lineup and their offense got a huge jolt with his return on Sunday. Kirk Cousins suddenly has a security blanket and used it early and often, with Bowers catching 10 passes for 116 yards and a TD. Through three weeks, Cousins has proven that he can still sling it, which makes this a dangerous team. At the rate things are going, Fernando Mendoza might not start a game all year. It might be a surprise that this team is 3-0, but they've certainly earned it, especially on defense. That side of the ball clinched this win by forcing FOUR turnovers in the fourth quarter. Just win, baby. Tyler Shough is going to have to start doing a better job of protecting the football. At one point in the third quarter, the Saints were leading 27-16 and Tyler Shough had four TD passes, but then the wheels fell off the wagon. New Orleans turned the ball over FOUR times in the fourth quarter and three of those came from Shough. The Saints QB has certainly looked like a budding star this season, but this is a game he'll have to learn from. This loss will serve as a tough lesson for a Saints team that let the win get away from them. The Bills tried to give this game away in the first half, but the Chargers just wouldn't take it. The Chargers' defense forced three turnovers on Buffalo's first four possessions, but that still wasn't enough. This loss epitomized everything that's wrong with this team this year: Justin Herbert struggled with his accuracy, his receivers dropped a few passes and the defense couldn't get a stop in the fourth quarter when L.A. needed it most. Even Cameron Dicker is missing kicks. At 0-3, it feels like the Chargers season is all but over. This might go down as the sloppiest win of the season by any team. The Bills turned the ball over five times, including three from Josh Allen, but not even a sloppy game can slow down Buffalo. The passing game looked out of sync for most of the game, but the Bills got around that by feeding James Cook, who finished with 154 yards on the ground. Of course, most of the credit for this win goes to a Bills defense that came up with big play after big play. The defense only surrendered 10 points after the five turnovers, which allowed Buffalo to stay in the game. The defense was also especially good in the red zone, with the Chargers only scoring a TD on one of their four trips. This marked the first time since 1997 that the Bills won a game with a turnover differential of -4 or worse. The Bills proved that they can still win games even when they're at their worst. The Patriots offense looks broken, and that's mostly because of Drake Maye. The Pats' QB threw two interceptions while also losing a fumble, and those three turnovers led to 14 points for Jacksonville. Not to mention, one of the picks came on a third-and-goal play from Jacksonville's two-yard line. It was a costly mistake that you simply can't make. The Patriots had plenty of issues on Sunday, but their biggest problem is that the Drake Maye who led the Patriots to the Super Bowl last year is nowhere to be found this year. The Jaguars made a statement with this win: They might be one of the best players in the AFC. After a heartbreaking loss to the Broncos in Week 2, the Jags bounced back by playing a nearly perfect game against the Patriots. You want offense? The Jags had that. Bayshul Tuten averaged nearly five yards per carry on a day when the Jags topped 130 yards in rushing. In the passing game, Trevor Lawrence excelled in the red zone, with all three of his TD passes coming in that part of the field. You want defense? The Jags sacked Drake Maye three times while also forcing three turnovers. The Patriots are struggling after their surprise 2025 season, but the Jags are proving that their division title last year was no fluke. The Bengals had one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year, and it looked like that defense was on the field in Pittsburgh. The Bengals couldn't stop the run, and they got gashed up by a Steelers' passing attack that had struggled through the first two weeks. Special teams was also a huge problem for Cincinnati. Not only did Ke'Shawn Williams lose a muffed punt, but the Bengals also got called for roughing the punter on a fourth-and-6 play in the third quarter that gave Pittsburgh a first down. Both of those errors eventually led to touchdowns for Pittsburgh. Despite all of that, Joe Burrow still had a chance to lead a game-winning drive, but he fumbled the game away in the final minute. The Bengals let this game slip through their hands. It took two weeks, but the Steelers offense finally came alive on Sunday. The biggest surprise might have been Jaylen Warren, who averaged 7.5 yards per carry on a day where he ran through the Bengals defense for 127 yards. And this came from a Steelers offense that averaged just 74.5 yards per game on the ground through the first two weeks. The passing game was also on point for Pittsburgh, with Aaron Rodgers finally connecting on the long ball. After completing zero passes of 20 air yards or more through the first two weeks, he completed two of those for touchdowns in the first quarter against the Bengals. The Steelers defense won't be bragging about this performance, except for maybe Derrick Harmon, who won the game by forcing a Joe Burrow fumble. Don't sleep on this Steelers team. In Sam Darnold's first game back from injury, he looked a little rusty. The Seahawks only totaled 25 yards on their first three drives combined. They never really got the running game going, and that put things in the hands of Darnold, who threw two second-half interceptions, including a disastrous pick-six with under four minutes left to play. Darnold also threw three straight incompletions from Washington's two-yard line on a first-half possession that ended with zero points for Seattle. One thing that hurt the Seahawks was their non-existent running game. They totaled just 44 yards on the ground, and if that wasn't bad enough, Jadarian Price lost a fumble. The Seahawks will be fine, but this loss is probably going to sting for a few days. The desperate Commanders went into this game with their backup QB and somehow pulled off the upset. With Jayden Daniels out, Marcus Mariota took over, and he came up with several clutch plays: Not only did he throw three TD passes, but he also iced the game with a first-down run on third-and-7 late in the fourth quarter. The Commanders' defense struggled at times, but the unit came up with big plays when it had to. Not only was there a goal-line stand in the first half, but Kain Medrano scored what proved to be the game-winning points on a pick-six in the fourth quarter. It would have been easy to write off the Commanders at 0-3, but instead, they're going to have plenty of confidence after knocking off the reigning champs. The Texans might officially be in trouble. With Nico Collins out for the second straight week, the offense struggled to move the ball. C.J. Stroud isn't making enough big plays, and it doesn't help that the Texans have a non-existent rushing attack (they totaled just 70 yards on the ground against the Colts). The defense did its job by forcing three turnovers, but the offense was only able to capitalize with one score. At 0-3, no one in this locker room is going to panic because the Texans made the playoffs after an 0-3 start last season, but this is a team that could be in trouble. In the NFL, sometimes you just need to be great on defense and special teams, and that's enough to win. That's exactly what the Colts got in this battle of 0-2 teams. The defense came up with several big plays, including a fourth-and-1 stop in the first quarter that seemed to set the tone for the game. Spencer Shrader, who almost didn't play due to a groin injury, hit four field goals, including a 53-yarder that put the Colts up with under 20 seconds left to play. The Colts offense did get beat up by Houston, but Josh Downs and Keenan Allen both came up big for a team that needed a receiver or two to step up now that Alec Pierce is out. The Chiefs struggled to shake the pesky Dolphins, but finally did thanks to an impressive fourth quarter. Patrick Mahomes completed 20 of 24 passes, which included going 6-of-7 for 93 yards and a TD in the fourth quarter. The defense came up with a huge stop on fourth down when the Dolphins were driving to tie the game in the final 15 minutes. Sometimes, the NFL is just about surviving, and that's exactly what Kansas City did here.The Dolphins have arguably the worst roster in the NFL, and somehow, they still managed to go toe-to-toe with the Chiefs for the better part of 3.5 quarters. This was a one-score game going into the fourth quarter, but then the Dolphins imploded with a failed fourth down and a Malik Willis interception. Overall, the Dolphins offense just made too many mistakes to pull off this upset. They failed on two different fourth-down plays, and Willis had a fumble in Chiefs' territory in the first half to go along with his fourth-quarter interception. It's not often you can call a two-touchdown loss a moral victory in the NFL, but you could make the case that's what the Dolphins got here. The Titans might have a Cam Ward problem. Tennessee had a chance to win this game, but Ward threw an interception from New York's seven-yard line with under 30 seconds left to play. It was a bad decision by a QB who's been plagued by bad decisions. On a rainy day at MetLife, the Titans defense played well enough to win, but the offense is clearly still a work in progress. In their first game without Jaxson Dart, the Giants offense didn't wow anyone, but New York came away with a win, and that's all that matters. The weather was bad, and when the weather's bad, it helps if you can run the ball. The Giants were able to do that. Cam Skattebo (60 yards) and Najee Harris (52) helped keep the offense moving. The most impressive player in this game might have been Dominic Zvada, who hit four field goals in a driving rain. The Giants still have to figure out what they're going to do at the quarterback position, but it's much easier to think about that when you're coming off a win. After watching Bryce Young thrive through the first two weeks, Dave Canales decided to uncork him in this game. The Panthers QB threw 48 passes, which was the second-highest total of his career, and for the most part, he played well. Though he'll probably be regretting two bad decisions from the fourth quarter. First, he checked down on a failed fourth-and-16, and after the Panthers' defense got him the ball back, he responded by throwing an interception on Carolina's final possession. Through three weeks, the Panthers might be the most unpredictable team in the NFL. They got blown out in Week 1, they blew out the Falcons in Week 2, and now, they lost a close one here. This is the type of game that this team needs to win if they want to get back to the playoffs for the second straight year. The Browns might be for real. I repeat, the Browns might be for real. Todd Monken has figured out a winning formula in Cleveland, and it starts with playing great defense. Not only did the Browns shut down Carolina in the red zone, but they also held the Panthers to a 4-of-18 showing on third/fourth down attempts. The Browns don't have Myles Garrett, but they do have Mason Graham, and the former first-round pick racked up two sacks as he continues to impress. And Monken deserves credit for sticking with Deshaun Watson. The QB didn't play at an MVP level, but he did come up with several clutch throws, including a fourth-quarter TD pass to Harold Fannin. The big news here is that the Browns are tied for first place in the AFC North after three weeks. For the second straight week, the Jets had an NFC North team on the ropes, and for the second straight week, they lost. The Jets offense exploded in this game, especially in the fourth quarter. Garrett Wilson and Kenyon Sadiq both topped 100 yards, and that's because Geno Smith caught fire. If there was any question about whether he had anything left in the tank, Smith answered it with a performance that saw him throw for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone (he threw for 321 and three touchdowns overall). Aaron Glenn's return to Detroit almost certainly felt like a nightmare since his defense could stop the Lions' best player (Jahmyr Gibbs). The Jets are doing a good job of keeping these games close, but now they need to start winning them. If we've learned one thing about the Lions through three weeks, it's that they're only going to go as far as Jahmyr Gibbs can take them. Gibbs had another huge game with 164 total yards and three touchdowns, including two that came on the ground. Every time the Lions were in trouble, they made sure the ball ended up in Gibbs' hands, and he almost always responded. It's nice to have a weapon like that in the NFL. One bright spot on defense was a pass-rush that sacked Geno Smith five times, including a game-winning strip-sack by Chuck Clark in the final minute. The Lions defense did struggle for most of the second half, but Detroit ended up holding a team under 30 points for the first time this season, so that feels like a small victory for the guys on that side of the ball. We finally got a chance to see what the Falcons offense would look like at full strength, and it looked unstoppable. Through the first two weeks of the season, the offense was held back by Cooper Rush, who turned the ball over five times. With Rush out and Michael Penix Jr. in, the Falcons looked like a totally different team. The passing game actually clicked, and Drake London was the biggest beneficiary of that, catching nine passes for 194 yards. And let's not forget about Bijan Robinson, who single-handedly kept the Falcons offense rolling while Penix was working off some rust. Robinson ran for 111 of his 194 yards in the first half. With that total, the Falcons became just the third team in NFL history to have a set of teammates top 175 receiving yards and 175 rushing yards. It's too early to say if the Falcons are for real, but with another performance like this in Week 4, they might suddenly become the favorite in the NFC South.

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