A week ago, Andy Dalton was a 36-year-old backup quarterback for the worst team in football tasked with mentoring last year’s top pick while Bryce Young slogged through a disastrous start to his second season.
Dalton had bounced between five teams in five years. He had 163 NFL starts to his name. He seriously doubted if he’d see a 164th.
Then came Monday morning, and everything changed. Panthers coach Dave Canales pulled Dalton aside. Young was heading to the bench, Canales told him, and he was heading into the huddle.
“It’s a tough situation,” Dalton said a few days later, admitting he’d grown close to Young over the last year and a half. “I’ve been on both sides of it, and it’s hard on everybody.”
Then, on Sunday, Dalton did what no quarterback in the league has done all year: throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a game. He flung it all over the field, and the Panthers suddenly looked reborn. The result was a 36-22 rout of the Raiders in Las Vegas.
“They’re not all going to go like this,” Dalton said after the win, “but when they do, you’ve got to enjoy that.”
GO DEEPER
NFL Week 3 takeaways: Do Cowboys have a fundamental flaw? Are Vikings a Super Bowl contender?
Indeed. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Saints came back to earth after a scorching two-game start, and the Eagles’ one-two punch of Saquon Barkley (156 total yards and two touchdowns) and Dallas Goedert (10 catches for 170 yards) pulled Philadelphia out of its first-half funk and to a 15-12 victory in New Orleans. Still, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni rightly cautioned, “this is not sustainable.”
In Cleveland, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones found out just how special a talent Malik Nabers is, and Nabers’ two touchdowns helped New York earn its first win of the season. The Broncos pulled off an upset in Tampa, routing the Bucs 26-7. The Lions took care of the Cardinals, 20-13.
In Los Angeles, the Rams scored the game’s final 13 points to stun the 49ers, 27-24. Suddenly, San Francisco’s Week 1 rout of the Jets feels like ancient history: Kyle Shanahan’s bruised team — the 49ers were without Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle on Sunday — has dropped two straight and are 1-2 on the season.
After an easy win over the Dolphins, first-year coach Mike Macdonald remains unbeaten in Seattle. Dating back to 2000, he’s now the fifth head coach under the age of 40 to win his first three games, joining Mike McDaniel (2022), Matt LeFleur (2019), Josh McDaniels (2009) and Mike Tomlin (2007). In addition to the Seahawks, four more teams remain undefeated: the Vikings, Steelers, Chiefs and Bills. Buffalo (2-0) hosts the Jaguars on Monday night.
The Titans are the league’s only 0-3 team, while the Jaguars and Bengals — Cincinnati hosts Washington Monday night — are also still searching for their first wins at 0-2.
Here’s what we learned in Week 3 of the NFL season:
What happened to the Dallas defense?
All seemed right with America’s Team after the first Sunday of the season. After signing star wideout CeeDee Lamb to a deal late in the preseason, the Cowboys locked up franchise quarterback Dak Prescott on a four-year extension that morning, then celebrated with a 33-17 thrashing of the Browns. One of the most consistent regular-season teams of the last few years once again resembled NFC contenders.
They’ve looked nothing of the sort ever since.
Dallas’ defense has been humiliated in consecutive weeks, allowing 888 total yards and 72 points in a pair of home losses to the Saints and Ravens. The final score Sunday — a 28-25 Baltimore win — is a bit misleading, because this one was never all that close. The Ravens led 28-6 at the start of the fourth quarter, giving Prescott no real shot at a late-game rally.
The Cowboys gave up 190 rushing yards to the Saints last week, then backed up that lousy performance with an even worse one, allowing 274 to the Ravens. Dating back to last year’s playoff loss, that makes three straight embarrassing performances for that unit at home.
“You can’t in any way sugarcoat the fact that we got beat,” owner Jerry Jones told reporters after the loss. “And there were parts of the way we got beat that were really areas we’ve got to get a lot better in.”
Star pass rusher Micah Parson was heated during the game, and he wasn’t the only one.
“We’ve got the guys to do it, so that ain’t the problem,” said defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. “It’s just all about (expletive) doing it. We’ll get it done.”
New defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has his work cut out for him. This unit is underperforming at a stunning rate so far. Four of the Cowboys’ next five games are on the road. Maybe that’s not a bad thing.
Chiefs pull out another close one
Kansas City escaped in Week 1 after the toe of Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely was ruled out of bounds on the last play of the game. They beat the Bengals in Week 2 after a pass interference on 4th-and-16 on their final drive gave them new life. They moved to 3-0 Sunday in Atlanta after linebacker Nick Bolton stuffed a Bijan Robinson run on 4th-and-game.
Three wins, all decided in the closing seconds.
This one, a 22-17 victory over the Falcons, wasn’t pretty, but very little of last season was pretty for a team that ultimately repeated as Super Bowl champions. The refs missed a potential pass interference with 4:12 left when Atlanta QB Kirk Cousins targeted tight end Kyle Pitts for a touchdown that would have put the Falcons in front. The play was broken up by Chiefs safety Bryan Cook, who arrived too early and never turned his head. But no flags fell, and the Falcons failed to convert on fourth down.
The Chiefs registered 10 hits on Falcons QB Kirk Cousins in Sunday night’s victory in Atlanta. (Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Atlanta got another chance with 2:26 left, but Robinson was stopped well short of the sticks on 4th-and-1 from the Kansas City 13-yard-line. Bolton sniffed out the run and made the play, tackling Robinson for a 3-yard loss.
The Chiefs exhaled. Three wins by a combined 13 points.
Entering the season, Justin Fields’ stock was low. Some would argue very low. All the Bears could net for him in a trade last spring with Pittsburgh was a conditional sixth-rounder — this for a player who went 11th in the draft just three years ago. Then, at the end of training camp, the Steelers tapped Russell Wilson over Fields as their starting quarterback.
A month later, Wilson — still fighting a nagging calf injury — hasn’t taken a snap in the regular season. And he might’ve already lost his starting job.
Fields’ career revival is officially underway in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are 3-0 after a 20-10 win over the Chargers on Sunday. Make no mistake: this team is driven by one of the best defenses in the league. After trailing 10-7 at halftime, Pittsburgh shut out Jim Harbaugh’s squad the rest of the way, piling up five sacks and allowing minus-5 yards across the game’s final 30 minutes. Dominant stuff.
“There’s a nakedness in this business,” coach Mike Tomlin said of his team’s second-half response, referring to the Chargers’ success running the football early this season. “When you got a challenge like that walking into your venue, you better fight.”
His team did. The Chargers finished with 168 total yards and just 61 on the ground.
And Fields — who’s looking more comfortable and confident with each passing week — played his best game of the season, finishing with just seven incompletions on his way to 245 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. (On the other side, Chargers QB Justin Herbert aggravated his ankle injury and left the game in the second half; he was later seen in a walking boot.)
In a crowded AFC North race, the Steelers have established themselves as contenders, perhaps even the favorite. And at this rate, Fields might not let Wilson ever see the field.
O’Connell, LaFleur keep Vikings, Packers rolling
Staying on the topic of career revivals, Sam Darnold added another chapter to his own story Sunday, carving up the previously unbeaten Texans in a 34-7 beatdown. How exactly is Darnold — on his fourth team in four years — doing this? And where did this Vikings team come from?
“It’s different than anything I’ve ever been a part of,” running back Aaron Jones said. “I can’t put my finger on what it is that’s different, because I’ve been a part of good teams. But this is a special team.”
For starters, it’s more than just the quarterback. Brian Flores’ defense is allowing just 10 points a game, and that includes easy victories over two of the most dangerous offenses in the league in San Francisco and Houston. The Vikings are the third team since 1990 with at least five sacks in each of their first three games, joining the 2001 Saints and 2000 Bucs.
Jones, in his first year in Minnesota after seven seasons with the Packers, has given the run game new life. And Kevin O’Connell has done a masterful job scheming to Darnold’s strengths.
Beyond O’Connell, who’s in the early running for Coach of the Year honors, another NFC North coach is quietly shining in the month of September. Most figured the Packers’ season would crumble after Jordan Love’s knee injury in Week 1. Instead, Matt LaFleur’s team is 2-0 since. And while the Colts and Titans don’t exactly look like playoff teams, nobody in this league is going to apologize for winning games with a backup QB.
LaFleur has done an excellent job tweaking his offense with Malik Willis under center, especially considering Willis has been in Green Bay for less than a month. First-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley deserves plenty of kudos, as well. Sunday’s 30-14 victory in Tennessee — where Titans QB Will Levis added to his league-leading total of eight turnovers — sets up a juicy one next week at Lambeau Field, where the 2-1 Packers will host the 3-0 Vikings. Love could return for that one.
About that Bears offense
No matter the talent, it’s rare when a rookie quarterback shines early in his career — C.J. Stroud, Justin Herbert and Andrew Luck being a few notable exceptions. Caleb Williams was supposed to walk into Chicago with about as good of a supporting cast as any No. 1 pick could hope for: a stout defense, playmakers all over the offense, a franchise and a city fully behind him, desperate for him to succeed.
Still, growing pains were going to happen. It’s the nature of this league and the quarterback position. And let’s remember: Williams is only three starts into what figures to be a long career.
But was it supposed to look this bad?
As a passer, Williams has been wildly inaccurate, and the Bears’ offense has been downright unwatchable for long stretches. A big reason is a wretched offensive line that’s been manhandled two weeks in a row — Williams has been sacked 14 times already. Collectively, the unit as a whole has been terrible: Chicago has just two passing touchdowns on 34 drives this season, and Williams is missing far too many throws, especially when his receivers earn separation down the field.
So far, the Bears’ offense has managed six field goals and three touchdowns in three games.
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Williams did an admirable job Sunday of keeping the Bears in the game late — they eventually lost to the Colts 21-16 — and he finished with 363 passing yards and two second-half touchdowns, both career highs.
“The offensive identity … I think it is brewing,” Williams said. “I think it is a lot closer than it was the week before, or weeks before.”
But coach Matt Eberflus, who’s built one of the stingiest defenses in the league, might soon come under fire if things don’t change, and change quickly. The only reason the Bears aren’t 0-3 is because their defense won them a sloppy opener in Tennessee. New offensive coordinator Shane Waldron hasn’t found a way to get Williams comfortable, and that might be what’s most concerning. They had an entire training camp and preseason to iron things out. And yet there are so many miscommunications, misreads and missed throws. (It’s worth noting the Colts’ Anthony Richardson, making his seventh career start, wasn’t any better.)
Again, Williams is a rookie, not a month into his career. Things change fast in this league. But, so far, it’s hard to find anything promising about this Bears’ offense.
(Photo of Derrick Henry: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)