As I was making my final preparations for what turned out to be a wild Week 3 across the NFL, I stumbled upon a quote from Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who said: "The most important thing is finding a way to win."
It was not that pretty for the defending Super Bowl champion's attack in the first two games of the season. And it was downright awful in the first half of Sunday's huge NFC clash with the Los Angeles Rams. The Eagles had -2 net passing yards and Jalen Hurts had thrown for just 17 yards.
There was no stretching of the field, none of the chunk plays that head coach Nick Sirianni had called for and it didn't look like Hurts was seeing the field all that well. Saquon Barkley was also held in check and was not dominating the Rams as he did twice in 2024. As the Eagles ran down the tunnel, the boo birds were out in force in Philadelphia.
And then the Eagles did what great champions do – they dug deep, turned to their stars, found themselves and emerged with a 33-26 win. In a classic example of players not plays, Hurts, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and Barkley stepped up to make big plays. Hurts opened things up way more and threw three touchdown passes - his first scoring strikes of this season – after the break.
As good as the Eagles were in the second half, the Rams will have flown back to California knowing they let their opponent off the hook. Davante Adams dropped a would-be touchdown in the endzone and Joshua Karty had a field goal attempt blocked by defensive tackle Jalen Carter.
But that was not even the most dramatic moment in the fourth quarter. After some late heroics from Matthew Stafford, the Rams were lining up for Karty's game-winning 44-yard field goal with three seconds remaining. Defensive lineman Jordan Davis burst through the line, blocked the kick and picked up the ball before sprinting downfield – all 336 pounds of him – for the walk-off touchdown as time expired.
The scoreboard read 33-26 in favour of the Eagles. If these teams meet again in January, we will be in for a real treat.
The Rams will be a good team this season and will feature in those NFC playoffs, in my opinion. But the Eagles have total belief that they will "find a way" and they did just that while LA squandered their chances. That's the difference between these contenders at a moment and such belief is one of the reasons why these Eagles have now won 19 of their last 20 contests and remain perfect on the season.
They are not perfect by any means, but they are very hard to beat.
Who's Hot…
Daniel Jones… As improbable as it seems, Daniel Jones remains in the MVP conversation after guiding the Indianapolis Colts to a 41-20 win over the Tennessee Titans. This could have been a trap game for a Colts team that had opened with two victories at home. But they took care of business and Jones – who was thrown on the scrapheap by the New York Giants last November and who stopped for a cup of coffee with the Minnesota Vikings at the end of the year – continues to play flawless football. And he is brimming with confidence, as evidenced by an adventurous 17-yard run on third down. Jones is well supported, particularly by the NFL's leading rusher in Jonathan Taylor; who went over 100 yards on the ground and found the endzone three times. The Colts are sitting pretty on top of the AFC South at 3-0 and Jones' quarterback redemption story is one of the headlines of this NFL season to date.
Isaiah Rodgers… Is a Carson Wentz redemption story going to develop in Minnesota (his sixth NFL team in six seasons)? He was rock solid during Minnesota's 48-10 thrashing of the Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals, throwing for 173 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. But proving that this needs to be a team game more than ever when the starting quarterback goes down, Isaiah Rodgers was the star of the show. Minnesota's cornerback became the first player in NFL history to score on an interception return (87 yards), a fumble return (66 yards) and force two fumbles in the same game. The Vikings are heading on their European adventures in Dublin and London with a 2-1 record. As for the Bengals, life without Burrow resulted in the largest defeat in team history.
Caleb Williams… Chicago's second-year quarterback had started strong in the first two games of the season before fading away in losses to Minnesota and Detroit. But with rookie head coach Ben Johnson dialling up some great plays, it all came together for Williams and the Bears in a 31-14 victory over a Dallas Cowboys side that has too many front-runners and nowhere near enough fight for my liking. Williams showed all of his physical prowess, attacking all areas of the field, in the best game I've seen him play since Tottenham last October. The strong-armed and athletic star threw four touchdown passes and wowed throughout. It was a very promising sign for the Bears as they picked up their first win of the year.
Who's Not…
CJ Stroud… The Houston Texans dropped to 0-3 on Sunday with a 17-10 loss at Jacksonville. The reigning AFC South champs are now three games back from the Colts and have scored just 38 points on the season, making them the NFL's worst scoring attack. This needed to be a big bounce-back year for CJ Stroud, but he looks so out of sorts as the Texans break in a new offensive coordinator in Nick Caley. Stroud has now failed to throw for 300 yards in 17 straight games dating back to last season. And Houston have not reached 300 yards of total offense in any contest this season. They're way off the pace and it's not all on Stroud. They have failed the talented passer by giving him a below-average offensive line and running game and average passing game targets. It feels like there is much to be fixed in Houston right now.
The Atlanta Falcons… Hands up if you saw this one coming! A week after impressing with a Sunday Night Football road win at the Minnesota Vikings, the Falcons laid a massive egg against the Carolina Panthers, falling to a 30-0 defeat. There were all kinds of mistakes – punt returners were getting laid out by teammates, the defense failed to clamp down on an opposing attack that had some injuries and Michael Penix Jr. threw two costly interceptions, one of which was returned for a Carolina touchdown. Despite outgaining the Panthers by more than 100 yards, the Falcons were never in this contest. And that was pretty incredible to witness.
The Fast Five…
- The 6pm games were incredible on Sunday, offering up five blocked field goals with four coming in the final quarter of contests in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Tennessee. You could go weeks, if not months, without seeing a blocked field goal and then five come along on the same evening. And there was also a blocked extra point attempt in the Giants-Chiefs game. Further proof that you never know what you're going to witness on an NFL Sunday.
- Cleveland really make hard work of moving the football on offense, but the Browns have one of the better defenses in the league and it allows them to hang around in games against superior opposition. That was the case on Sunday night. The Brownies trailed Green Bay 10-0 but came up with an interception of Jordan Love that sparked a comeback. After blocking Brandon McManus' game-winning field goal attempt, Cleveland won it on Andre Szmyt's 55-yarder at the buzzer. It was one of the more surprising scorelines of the weekend as the Packers fell in a classic trap game.
- Baker Mayfield and the Bucs love themselves some late drama. Could Tampa Bay be the Liverpool FC of the NFL? Their wins this season have been secured with 59 seconds remaining, with six seconds left on the clock and as time expired on Sunday in a 29-27 win over the New York Jets, who had just moved ahead on a blocked field goal return touchdown from Will McDonald IV. Baker would not be denied and has become one of the NFL's best performers with games on the line.
- Like Carson Wentz in Minnesota, Marcus Mariota had some help from his friends as Washington produced big play after big play in recording a 41-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Mariota threw for more than 200 yards, rushed for 40 more and accounted for two offensive touchdowns in his first start since 2022. His playing style is similar to the injured Jayden Daniels and I believe that helped Washington from a play-calling point of view.
- Finally, the Kansas City Chiefs got off the mark but winning 22-9 against a New York Giants team with a toothless attack (Russell Wilson will be back under pressure this week) is not a sign that all is well in the Kingdom. KC kicked more field goals (3) than they did score touchdowns (2). And there was friction on the sideline, again, between head coach Andy Reid and tight end Travis Kelce. But a win was all that really mattered here and the AFC champs are off and running at least.
Fact of the Week
The Buccaneers are 3-0 for the first time since 2005. And Baker Mayfield is the fourth quarterback since 2000 with three game-winning drives in his team's first three games of the season. The others are Nick Foles (Philadelphia 2014), Matt Ryan (Atlanta 2015) and Ryan Tannehill (Tennessee 2020).
Final Thought…
Week 4 is next up during what promises to be an historic NFL season. And now we begin a four-week run of games in Dublin, Ireland; and London, England. Those will be followed by firsts in Berlin, Germany; and Madrid, Spain, in November. It's still a pinch-myself moment every time I ponder six regular season games being played in Europe in 2025. There were times when it would have seemed impossible to dream about having even one such contest. I'll be in Dublin for a few days from Thursday, soaking up the atmosphere ahead of the meeting between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings. If you see me, either in Ireland or in London, definitely stop me for a photo or a quick chat… and I'll probably bore the trousers off you about how far the NFL has come internationally over the years. And how far they can still and will go in the future.
