NFL Week 3 Winners & Losers: Upsets, Blowouts, Breakout Games

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 21: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears reacts during the first half against the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field on September 21, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season was pure chaos. Whether it were the shocking upsets, blowout wins, or numerous touchdowns from defensive and special teams units, this week turned into one of the wildest slates in recent memory.

Kansas City fought to avoid an 0-3 start, Minnesota and Washington relied on backup quarterbacks to climb above .500, and teams like Chicago, Carolina, Houston, both New York squads, and others were desperately trying to save a season quickly going off the rails.

From breakout performances to head-scratching decisions, here are the biggest winners and losers of NFL Week 3.

NFL Week 3 Winners

Daniel Jones and Jonathon Taylor

As said last week, until he proves otherwise, Daniel Jones will remain in the winners column. Jones put up another good performance for the Indianapolis Colts, with 228 yards and a touchdown. The numbers won’t wow you this week, but teams are starting to notice what Jones has been able to do. This has led to less stacking of the box, and more room for the Colts’s other main weapon, Jonathon Taylor, having room to run. Taylor finished Sunday against Tennessee with 102 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, putting him at 338 on the season, good for the top spot in the league.

The Colts are now 3-0 for the first time since 2009. They’ve accomplished a feat with Jones that not even Andrew Luck was able to do. The only blemish on the season so far is that the Colts finally had to punt for the first time all year in the second quarter. It was their only punt of the game, though.

Marcus Mariota

Coming in for a franchise quarterback is never easy, but Marcus Mariota, a former top pick himself, handled things as well as anyone could’ve hoped if you’re a Washington Commanders fan. He moved the ball downfield, took whatever the defense gave him, and, for the most part, didn’t try to do too much. The fumble on Washington’s second drive wasn’t ideal, but he settled down after that and helped the Commanders knock off the Raiders 41-24.

Mariota finished the game 15-of-21 for 207 yards and a touchdown while adding 40 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The passes he made were quick and decisive, and even when he was under pressure, he found open pockets to drop in passes to his receivers. If he has to play at any point the rest of the season, head coach Dan Quinn should feel comfortable with what he has in his backup.

Caleb Williams

You can’t wrap up the quarterback talk for the week without looking at Caleb Williams and the day he had. After two below average outings to open the year, Williams seemed to have himself a breakout game against the Dallas Cowboys. After an opening drive punt, Williams led the Bears on back-to-back touchdown drives, including a one-play drive that saw the Bears pull out a flea-flicker for a 65-yard score.

More often than not, Williams was able to pick apart a Dallas defense. He threw for 298 yards on 19 completions, and had no issue pushing the ball downfield. The Cowboys couldn’t get any sort of pressure on Williams—if only they had one of those elite pass rushers—, and on the rare occasion they did, he managed to get away and either pick up yards with his legs, or check it down to an open safety valve.

It’s not a game that will completely change the narrative many are forming about Williams, but it can definitely be the start of more people coming around on him. It just has to start happening more against defenses that aren’t don’t leave receivers more open than the Rub’ al Khali.

Isaiah Rodgers

While the Minnesota Vikings defense as a whole took care of the Cincinnati Bengals, it was Isaiah Rodgers’ big plays that not only set the tone for the game, but even put it away.

On the Bengals’ second drive of the game, they seemed to be primed to get on the scoreboard after the Vikings took an early 7-0 lead. On 2nd and 9 from the Minnesota 29, quarterback Jake Browning tried to hit Chase Brown on a forced pass. The ball was tipped by Harrison Smith and grabbed by Rodgers, who took it 87 yards for a score.

But he wasn’t done yet. Late in the second quarter with Cincinnati driving again, Rodgers stripped the ball from Noah Fant, picked it up, and ran it back 66 yards for another touchdown. That would make it 24-3, and Minnesota never let up.

Without J.J. McCarthy under center, backup Carson Wentz kept things moving while the defense handled business in a big way to push the Vikings to 2-1.

Special Teams

Blocked kicks, returns for touchdowns, and game-changing plays. That’s what the story of Week 3 was when it comes to NFL special teams. Let’s look at what happened on special teams, and how they impacted, or even changed, the results of a few games:

1. The Cleveland Browns pulled off an incredible upset of the Green Bay Packers thanks to a blocked field goal at the end that helped set the Browns up for a game-winning kick of their own.
2. The Philadelphia Eagles, after coming all the way back from 19 down in the second half, blocked a Los Angeles Rams field goal attempt on the last play of the game to move to 3-0.
3. The Commanders won by 17 over the Las Vegas Raiders, and special teams played a big part in that. Deebo Samuel returned to opening kick 67 yards to set up the Commanders at the Las Vegas 27 and Jaylin Lane’s 90 yard punt return for a touchdown ended up being the game-winning score.

NFL Week 3 Losers

Special Teams

Blocked kicks, returns for touchdowns, and game-changing plays. While they were great for the teams that produced them, they were downright awful for the teams they went against.

Although they still won the game, Tampa Bay almost gave the New York Jets their first win of the year after a blocked field goal with two minutes left was returned 50 yards for a touchdown. Luckily for them, Baker Mayfield drove the team downfield to set up a 36-yard field goal.

You can even go back to Thursday night’s game for a major special teams blunder. With Miami set to get the ball back in a tie game with 10 minutes to go, Miami defensive tackle Zach Sieler roughed punter Cameron Johnston, giving the Bills a fresh set of downs. The Bills would use that penalty to drive down the field and score the final touchdown of the night just three minutes later.

New England Ball Security

Mike Vrabel needs to have everyone on the New England Patriots carrying a football around 24 hours a day from now on. What happened during New England’s 21-14 loss to Pittsburgh is enough to give any coach an aneurysm.

The Patriots turned the ball over five times, four of them being fumbles. Rhamondre Stevenson had two himself while Antonio Gibson and Drake Maye both contributed to the fumble fest. It was so bad that there was a stretch of play where the Patriots lost three fumbles in a six-play span.

What makes it worse is that New England still had every chance to win this game.Two of their turnovers happened at the Pittsburgh two-yard line; two of the other three happened inside Pittsburgh territory. They lost by seven to a Pittsburgh team that looks like it doesn’t really know how to put games away right now.

But, there’s that old saying about “ifs”. And if New England wants to be a playoff team this year, they have to protect the football.

Michael Penix Jr.

The most interesting stat that came out over the weekend was the fact that Michael Penix Jr. is now 0-4 as a starter when his opponent scores more than seven points. It’s such an outlandish stat that it had to be double checked. And, sure enough, it’s true. In his six games as a starter, Penix Jr.’s two wins came in a 34-7 victory over the New York Giants last season and the 22-6 win over Minnesota in Week 2.

Again, it’s only been six career starts, but after an opening week that saw people proclaiming online that Atlanta might have its quarterback of the future, Penix Jr. has struggled the last two outings.

Against Minnesota, he completed 61.9% of his passes for just 135 yards and no scores. Against the Carolina Panthers, he threw for more yards (172) but everything else seemed to go off the rails, with two interceptions on just 50% passing.

Looking beyond the numbers, Penix Jr. looked shaken against Carolina. Throws were high and off target. Even his decision making was questionable with the biggest one being the pick six early in the third quarter. Despite not being under too much pressure in the pocket, Penix Jr. seemed to rush through his reads and check down to Bijan Robinson without seeing the Panthers corner lurker to jump the route. That pass ended up in the endzone, putting Carolina up by three scores.

Dating back to Week 18 last year, Penix Jr.’s numbers have continued to drop, leading to concern that he might not actually be the player Atlanta fans were hoping he’d be.

Brian Daboll and Russell Wilson

Let’s be honest, Russell Wilson should never start for the New York Giants again. After a big game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, the Wilson everyone saw in Week 1 showed up against Kansas City.

It’s hard to explain just how bad Wilson was throughout the game. Really, you can just look at the final goal-to-go sequence for the Giants to see just where he’s at this stage. Four plays to get the ball to the endzone, and Wilson didn’t throw a single pass that gave his players a chance. On 1st and Goal from the four, Wilson threw the ball out of the back of the endzone for Intentional Grounding, setting them back even further. The next play? A four-yard run by Wilson that kept the clock running.

Wilson is now the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for less than 200 yards with zero touchdowns in one week, follow that up with 450 yards the next start, and then throw for under 200 yards and zero touchdowns again in the following week. It’s such a niche stat, but it’s still one worth mentioning because of how ridiculous it sounds.

But don’t think this is all on Wilson. Head coach Brian Daboll deserves a lot of the blame, too. At multiple times during the game, the chants in the crowd for rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart were loud enough to hear on the broadcast. When he was brought in for certain plays, the crowd cheered. When Wilson reentered, the crowd booed.

Daboll is a coach who’s clearly coaching for his job this season. If he wants any chance of saving it, it’s time to see what the first-round pick out of Ole Miss can do. Heck, put in Jameis Winston if they feel Dart just isn’t ready yet. Do something to show the rest of the team that winning is still the goal.

If not, Daboll might as well get his resume ready.

NFL Week 3 Results

If you don’t know how Week 3 played out, here are all the results from this week’s action. Team records are followed in parentheses.

Thursday, September 18

Miami Dolphins 21 (0-3), Buffalo Bills 31 (3-0)

Sunday, September 21

Indianapolis Colts 41 (3-0), Tennessee Titans 20 (0-3)
Pittsburgh Steelers 21 (2-1), New England Patriots 14 (1-2)
New York Jets 27 (0-3), Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29 (3-0)
Las Vegas Raiders 24 (1-2), Washington Commanders 41 (2-1)
Los Angeles Rams 26 (2-1), Philadelphia Eagles 33 (3-0)
Atlanta Falcons 0 (1-2), Carolina Panthers 30 (1-2)
Cincinnati Bengals 10 (2-1), Minnesota Vikings 48 (2-1)
Houston Texans 10 (0-3), Jacksonville Jaguars 17 (2-1)
Green Bay Packers 10 (2-1), Cleveland Browns 13 (1-2)
Denver Broncos 20 (1-2), Los Angeles Chargers 23 (3-0)
New Orleans Saints 13 (0-3), Seattle Seahawks 44 (2-1)
Arizona Cardinals 15 (2-1), San Francisco 49ers 16 (3-0)
Dallas Cowboys 14 (1-2), Chicago Bears 31 (1-2)
Kansas City Chiefs 22 (1-2), New York Giants 9 (0-3)

Monday, September 22

Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens