Week 3 of the NFL season was full of exciting wins — some big-time comebacks, teams’ first win of the season and more.
There were plenty of storylines to watch out for on Sunday. Can Sean McVay get the better of his nemesis, Kyle Shanahan? Which team of cowboys will show up? What will happen in a battle of undefeated teams in Minnesota? What would the Panthers look like without Bryce Young?
Here are the teams with the biggest wins of the week.
Panthers win with Andy Dalton
The Carolina Panthers justified their decision to switch from former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young to veteran Andy Dalton as they opened with a 36-22 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Dalton was good. He completed 26 of 37 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Deonte Johnson had eight catches for 122 yards and a score. And Chuba Hubbard was a threat, rushing for 114 yards and making 55 more catches.
It was a confusing home performance a week after the Raiders upset the Ravens. Las Vegas scored 15 runs in the fourth, making the game closer than it really was.
Dalton’s performance didn’t just save the season for Carolina; That raises even more questions about how poor Young’s performance has been in the first two weeks. Is Young really incapable of leading an NFL offense? Or is Dalton’s performance a week-long Philip?
The Rams are coming back against the 49ers
No Cooper Cup, no Puga Nagua, no problem. The Los Angeles Rams came from behind to beat the San Francisco 49ers 27-24 on Sunday.
The Rams trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter before scoring the final 13 points of the game. Quarterback Matthew Stafford led two big drives late — a touchdown after a missed Jake Moody field goal and a three-play, 50-yard drive for the winning kick.
Stafford finished with 221 yards passing, while Kyron Williams rushed for 89 yards and two scores.
Niners signal-caller Brock Purdy had an impressive stat line — 22 of 30 for 292 yards and three scores — but couldn’t get any stops late in the game.
Both the teams are currently tied at 1-2.
The Vikings are undefeated
The Minnesota Vikings keep rolling.
Sam Darnold threw four touchdowns in a dominant 34-7 win over the Texans. The Vikings went 3-0 with quarterback J.J. McCarthy was out before the season with an injury. Darnold only threw for 181 yards, but Aaron Jones and his 102 yards on the ground.
The story of this game was the Minnesota defense, which stifled CJ Stroud. The Texans quarterback threw for 215 yards, was sacked twice and was sacked four times. Houston was inefficient on third down and couldn’t run the ball at all.
The Vikings have found a winning formula. Darnold takes advantage of the team’s weapons and plays relatively clean football, throwing well in big moments. And a serious unit on defense, the Texans were shut out a week after flummoxing the 49ers.
The Ravens are holding on for their first win of the year
The Baltimore Ravens can breathe a sigh of relief after their 28-25 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
It looked like it was going to be a blowout for most of the game. The Ravens jumped out to a 28-3 lead, largely due to a dominant rushing performance. Baltimore ran for 276 yards on 45 carries and scored three times on the ground.
But Dallas struggled in the second half and went on a 22-7 run to cut the game to 3 in the fourth. The Cowboys offense finally came alive, and special teams recovered the onside kick. But a late push made up for an inefficient start on both sides of the ball. The defense was pushed around, and the offense couldn’t sustain drives.
This is the second straight week the Cowboys’ defense has been hammered. Just one more example, it would be fair to start questioning what was one of the most feared divisions in football heading into the season.
The Ravens showed seriousness for this win. They are now 1-2 after their first win of the year.
