NFL Week 3 Leaves the Champions Beaten and the Raiders Unbeaten

Five NFL teams are 3-0 and five are 0-3 after 14 Sunday games in Week 3. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are not in the first group. The Las Vegas Raiders, who won three games all of last season, are.

Tyler Loop’s 56-yard kick as time expired in Rio de Janeiro gave the Baltimore Ravens a 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the league’s first game in that city. Backup quarterbacks won in Landover and East Rutherford. Denver climbed out of a 16-0 hole on Sunday night. The Philadelphia Eagles still have to finish the week on Monday night in Chicago.

Five Teams Sit at 3-0, Five at 0-3

The unbeaten list after Sunday is the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers. Philadelphia is 2-0 and can join them at Soldier Field. The winless list is the Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, five clubs still without a win on the league table.

Only seven teams in league history have started 0-3 and still reached the playoffs. Houston did it in 2025 and in 2018. No club has done it in successive seasons. The Texans are 0-3 again.

THE UNBEATEN AND THE WINLESS

San Francisco’s +48 point differential leads the league. Miami has been outscored by 50 points and has not finished inside 14 points of a win. The entire AFC North sits at 2-1, a four-way tie that Sunday did not break. Jacksonville is 2-1 after a 35-6 home win over New England and has allowed 36 points in three games.

The Champs Lost to Washington Without Jayden Daniels

Washington beat Seattle 33-31 at Northwest Stadium and snapped a 12-game winning streak that ran through last season’s title run. It was Seattle’s first loss since November. The Commanders were 0-2, without quarterback Jayden Daniels (dislocated left elbow), and missing several other starters.

Marcus Mariota went 19 of 31 for 183 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Sam Darnold, back from a Week 1 glute injury, went 31 of 45 for 379 yards and four scores with two interceptions. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 10 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle outgained Washington 437 yards to about 260 and still lost because it turned the ball over three times and Washington turned none of those gifts back.

HOW THE CHAMPS GAVE IT AWAY

• First quarter: Rookie running back Jadarian Price fumbled, and Mariota hit R. White from 6 yards for a 7-0 lead.
• The pick-six: Kain Medrano returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown with 3:57 left, making it 33-24 after Drew Stevens missed the extra point that a celebration penalty had pushed back.
• The last stop: Darnold found Cooper Kupp from 7 yards in 66 seconds to make it 33-31, then Mariota ran for a first down on third-and-7 and sat on the win.

Washington scored 21 points off those turnovers. Mariota is 3-0 as a starter against Seattle, and he has done it with the Titans, the Falcons, and now the Commanders. Seattle failed to become the third Super Bowl champion in a row to open a title defense 3-0. The champs are 2-1. Washington is 1-2 and has a pulse.

Tyler Loop Walked Off the First Game in Rio

The Ravens and Cowboys played the league’s first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro, at Maracana Stadium, in front of an announced crowd of 72,792. It was the NFL’s third game in Brazil after two in Sao Paulo, and it sits on a 2026 slate of nine international games. The league counts more than 36 million NFL fans in Brazil and has committed to at least three Rio games over five years.

Dallas tied it at 31 on Brandon Aubrey’s 23-yard field goal with 7 seconds left, after a pass-interference call had put the Cowboys at the 2 and a false start had pushed them back to the 7. The kickoff went into the end zone. Lamar Jackson then hit Zay Flowers for 27 yards, called timeout with 1 second on the clock, and Loop drilled a 56-yard field goal as time expired. The whole drive took 7 seconds.

RIO, IN FOUR NUMBERS

• The kick: Loop from 56 yards at 0:00, 34-31 Baltimore.
• The setup: Jackson 15 of 20 for 186 yards and two touchdowns, plus 50 yards on the ground.
• The crowd: 72,792 announced at Maracana, the first NFL game in the city.
• The record: Ravens 2-1, Cowboys 1-2, Jesse Minter’s first season as Baltimore’s coach.

Loop missed a 44-yard kick in last season’s finale against Pittsburgh, the play that kept Baltimore out of the playoffs. After this one he copied Cristiano Ronaldo’s celebration in a stadium built for soccer, and teammates put him on their shoulders. Jackson told him his legacy started now.

We’ve talked a lot this season about being the best when your best is needed.

Tyler Loop, Ravens kicker, after the win in Rio

That clip is the one that moved. A kicker who had already lived the other ending did the Ronaldo jump in a soccer cathedral, and the league’s Brazil night had its picture. Dallas had appeared in the fewest international games of any NFL team before Sunday. The Cowboys flew home 1-2. Baltimore hosts the 0-3 Titans next Sunday. Dallas visits the 0-3 Texans.

TYLER LOOP WINS IT FOR THE RAVENS pic.twitter.com/fqMQ09xGYI

— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026

Last Year’s 3-Win Raiders Are Unbeaten

Las Vegas went to the Superdome and beat the New Orleans Saints 35-27. That is already as many wins as the Raiders had in 2025, the season that gave them the first pick in the 2026 draft. They used it on Fernando Mendoza, the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner. They have not needed him.

Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes in all three wins, including 248 yards, three scores, and no interceptions on Sunday. Tight end Brock Bowers, back from a meniscus trim, caught 10 balls for 116 yards and a touchdown in his 2026 debut. New Orleans had outscored teams 25-3 in the fourth quarter through two weeks. Las Vegas won the fourth 13-0. Saints quarterback Tyler Shough threw four touchdown passes and turned it over three times.

WHAT 3-0 LOOKS LIKE IN LAS VEGAS

• The veteran: Cousins has three touchdown passes in each of the first three games, with Klint Kubiak calling the offense.
• The pick: Mendoza, taken first overall after a 3-win 2025, has watched the start from the sideline.
• The return: Bowers’ 10 catches and 116 yards were the first time Las Vegas had its best offensive player on the field this season.

Call the start lucky if you want. The AFC West now has two unbeaten teams, Kansas City and Las Vegas, and a Chargers club that is 0-3 after a 16-24 loss in Buffalo in which it forced turnovers and still could not score enough. The Chiefs beat Miami 24-10 and are 3-0 without looking pretty. The Raiders are 3-0 and look like they planned it.

How Jaylen Warren Beat Cincinnati’s Front

Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 30-27 at Acrisure Stadium. Jaylen Warren, working without Rico Dowdle (toe), ran 17 times for 127 yards and caught three passes for 49, a career-best 176 yards from scrimmage. He averaged 7.5 yards a carry. An 87-yard run came back on a holding call against DK Metcalf. The Steelers still rushed for 230 yards as a team.

I don’t even really be making moves. People just bounce off of me. It’s been like that since I was eight years old.

Jaylen Warren, Steelers running back, after the Bengals game

Aaron Rodgers went 19 of 34 for 292 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, his first 290-yard, multi-touchdown game as a Steeler. Both clubs are 2-1, same as Cleveland and Baltimore. The North is a knot. Warren is the reason Pittsburgh is in it after Sunday.

In the other early window, Jameis Winston made his first start for the New York Giants with Jaxson Dart out after left-knee surgery that will cost him the rest of the regular season. Winston went 14 of 22 for 118 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions in a nor’easter. The Giants beat Tennessee 12-7 on four Dominic Zvada field goals from 39, 27, 39, and 30 yards. Jevon Holland intercepted Cam Ward with 17 seconds left. Coach John Harbaugh said Winston did what was required. Winston said he would rather win than throw for 500 yards and lose. The Titans are 0-3. The Giants are 2-1 and lost pass rusher Brian Burns to a right-knee injury that needs an MRI.

Denver Erased a 16-0 Halftime Deficit

The Los Angeles Rams led 16-0 at Empower Field at Mile High and had 506 yards by the end. They still lost 30-26. Denver scored 30 points in the second half. Bo Nix went 17 of 34 for 186 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, then leaped over the pile from the 1 with 47 seconds left. Sean Payton called it a gutsy win.

THE LAST FIVE MINUTES IN DENVER

1. 4:49 left: Safety Talanoa Hufanga jumps a throw intended for Kyren Williams and returns it 66 yards for a touchdown. Denver leads 23-19.
2. Four plays later: Matthew Stafford hits Konata Mumpfield for 48 yards after Riley Moss falls down. Los Angeles leads 26-23.
3. 47 seconds left: Nix finishes a 65-yard drive, helped by three defensive penalties, with a keeper. Wil Lutz’s extra point makes it 30-26.
4. 0:02 left: Stafford spikes at the Denver 14. A false start moves the Rams to the 19. Hufanga intercepts in the end zone.

Stafford finished 30 of 55 for 390 yards, two scores, and two interceptions. Davante Adams had seven catches for 137 yards. Kyren Williams had 158 yards from scrimmage. Puka Nacua was inactive. The Rams are 1-2. Their eight-game winning streak against AFC teams is over. Denver is 2-1 and has now beaten NFC teams in 10 straight.

Monday Night Still Belongs to the Eagles

Thursday already put Atlanta over Green Bay 35-14 at Lambeau Field. The Packers are 1-2 and have been outscored 91-56. Minnesota is 3-0 after 23-16 at Tampa Bay, where Baker Mayfield left with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand and the Vikings defense had six sacks. The 49ers beat Arizona 36-30 and are 3-0. Detroit beat the Jets 31-24. Indianapolis snapped a nine-game losing streak, 19-17 over Houston. Cleveland beat Carolina 21-18.

Week 3 is not closed. The Eagles (2-0) play the Bears (1-1) on Monday night at Soldier Field, 8:15 p.m. ET. Chicago is expected to start Case Keenum with Caleb Williams hurt. A Philadelphia win would make six unbeaten teams. A Chicago win would leave the 3-0 club at five and put a dent in the NFC East race the Eagles have had to themselves.

The picture Sunday left is already sharp enough. The Super Bowl champions needed a backup on the other sideline to remind them the streak is over. The franchise that won three games last year is unbeaten with a 37-year-old quarterback while the Heisman winner waits. A kicker who missed the kick that ended 2025 made the kick that opened Brazil’s Rio chapter. And five teams are 0-3, with a century of league history telling them how that usually ends.