Week 3 review – All killer, no filler
By Paul Gould
Week 3 was a thing of beauty, wasn’t it? The action was breathless, with lead changes coming thick and fast. 12 of the 16 games played were decided by one-score margins and nine underdog teams won. And if all that were not enough, the first significant in-season trade took place with JJ McCarthy moving to fill the quarterback void at the New York Giants.
Lots to chew over, so let’s dive in…
London calling...
NFL action returns to London in October. Five teams are preparing to make the trip over the next three weeks, some in better spirits than others. The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders will cross the pond both buoyed by securing their first wins of the season and hoping that they can kick on from here.
Of all the upset wins in Week 3, the Commanders 33-31 victory over the Seahawks was the biggest shock. With the injury-plagued Jayden Daniels sidelined for the foreseeable future, Washington fans were perhaps fearing the worst with the reigning Super Bowl champions coming to town. But, in Daniels’ absence, Marcus Mariota put together an impressive performance, throwing three TD passes and sealing the win with a beautifully designed run for a first down late in the game as the Seahawks threatened a late comeback.
But the big play that swung the game in the Commanders’ favour came on defense. Protecting a slender 3-point lead with four minutes remaining, and with Seattle marching ominously downfield, rookie linebacker Kain Medrano intercepted an errant Darnold pass at midfield and ran it in for a crucial pick-six. Medrano was only in the game due to a frightening neck injury sustained by LB Leo Chanal in the first half.
Fellow rookie LB Sonny Styles already looks like a piece that Washington can build its defense around and he produced another eye-catching performance in this game.
The Colts, meanwhile, sneaked their first win of the campaign with a last-gasp field goal that ended a tense battle with the Houston Texans. Having been easily beaten by the Ravens in their season opener, the Colts showed signs of life in Week 2 by taking the Chiefs to the wire with a promising display. That uptick in form continued against Houston, with the defense showing their teeth. After a shaky start to 2026, they stifled the Texans, allowing just 223 total yards in the 19-17 win.
The Week 4 matchup between the Commanders and Colts at Tottenham promises to be as tightly contested as their Week 3 games. Whoever wins it will move to 2-2 and, with momentum building, be in position to compete in winnable divisions.
Following them up in Week 5 will be the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles. After Week 3, both teams hold a 2-1 record, but there are signs that they may be moving in opposite directions.
The Jags dominated the Patriots in an emphatic 35-6 romp on Sunday. Now in his sixth year in the NFL, quarterback Trevor Lawrence is finally operating in a stable environment under Liam Coen. The offense is built to complement his strengths, and the results are starting to show more consistently. Parker Washington (the second Washington to have an excellent weekend) continues to emerge as a real talent at receiver. Following a strong finish to last season, the Penn State product has picked up where he left off with 19 catches for 347 yards and a pair of touchdowns so far. If he can maintain this trajectory, Washington has the potential to become a WR1.
On the other side of the ball, Travis Hunter collected his first NFL interception against the Patriots, picking off a beleaguered Drake Maye in the endzone during the win over New England. Drafted with much fanfare as a dual threat WR/CB, it appears that Jacksonville will deploy Hunter almost exclusively on defense this season.
Often going under the radar, the Jaguars roar may be hard to ignore in 2026. It’s still early, but they look to be firmly among the strongest contenders in the AFC.
The same might not be true of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC. Although 2-1, they barely scraped past the Commanders and the Titans, and their 27-7 defeat in Chicago on Monday night against a third-string quarterback was humbling.
The offense under new coordinator Sean Mannion is yet to spark into life and at times has suffered from the same dysfunction that blighted it in 2025 with Kevin Patullo in charge. And the failings on offense are beginning to pile pressure onto the defense. Mistakes and penalties are creeping in that an under-performing team can ill afford.
And the fifth and final team to make an appearance in London this autumn, the winless Houston Texans, may be in the most precarious position of all those making the trip. It’s been a tough opening trio of games for Houston. They were pipped by a red-hot Bills team in a Week 1 shootout, struggled to get out of first gear against the resurgent Bengals and then couldn’t put away the Colts on Sunday.
Frustrations among the Texans fanbase are building. The offensive line continues to struggle to create holes for the running game or plug them to protect CJ Stroud. Until that issue is fixed, it’s hard to see how Houston can progress to the next level.
HC Demeco Ryans and OC Nick Caley are also facing criticism for predictable play-calling and poor clock management. The concern is that the Texans’ elite defense is being wasted by deficiencies elsewhere on the roster and in the coaching department.
All that said, the Texans began 0-3 last year and still made the postseason. They will be desperately hoping to pick up wins against the Cowboys or Titans before their Wembley game against the Jaguars in Week 6. If they don’t their playoff dreams may already be over.
And then there were five...
Only five teams remain unbeaten through three weeks – the Bills, the Chiefs, the Raiders, the Vikings and the 49ers.
The Bills have achieved that feat for the third year in a row. They almost managed to get in their own way against the Chargers in Week 3, committing five turnovers. But overall, they have been perhaps the most impressive team in the league thus far and already have a two-game lead in the AFC East.
The list of unbeaten teams will reduce by at least one after Week 4 as the Raiders host the Chiefs on Sunday. The Chiefs appear to have put last season’s woes behind them and the revamped offense has hit the ground running (literally, in the case of Kenneth Walker).
The Raiders are currently the biggest surprise package in the entire NFL, already matching the number of wins they managed in the 2025 campaign. New HC Klint Kubiak has instilled a belief and spirit sorely lacking in recent years. The opportunistic defense, packed with new additions, leads the league in takeaways and is reminiscent of the Bears unit last season that did the same.
On offense, Kirk Cousins appears to be enjoying the twilight of his career in Vegas and now he has his biggest weapon available with the return of Brock Bowers to the line-up. Despite the best efforts of Kool-Aid McKinstry to cover him, Bowers achieved another 100-yard game and a touchdown against the Saints. And by the way, rookie RB Mike Washington rounded off an incredible weekend for NFL teams and players with Washington in their name by galloping for a 36-yard touchdown that helped seal the win.
Over in the NFC, the Vikings have their dominating defense to thank for an unblemished record. A relentless commitment to blitzing has had opposing quarterbacks running for their lives and offensive coordinators scratching their heads to find a way to stop the purple wave.
To extend their perfect start, Minnesota now requires the offense to catch up a little. Kyler Murray’s concussion sustained early in their Week 1 win against the Packers has meant the quarterback position has been in flux. Murray returned against Tampa Bay in Week 3 and flashed on a couple of deep passes. He now needs to cement an understanding with his receivers to achieve more consistency.
The 49ers complete the ranks of the unbeaten. Brock Purdy has looked terrific in the opening weeks of the season and leads the league in passer rating by some distance with an average of 133.2.
The team is clearly loaded with talent but many of their stars are aging, and the roster has been snake-bitten with injuries for some time now. However, the resilience San Francisco has shown in overcoming adversity is commendable. If they can get everyone healthy, the Niners are capable of holding off the Seahawks and Rams in the brutal NFC West. Next up, a big test against the Broncos.
PAUL GOULD
NFL ANALYST
A freelance writer and editor based in Cambridgeshire, Paul has avidly followed the NFL since the late 1980’s and spends much of his spare time wondering if he’ll ever see the Raiders play in a Super Bowl again.
