After the first two weeks of the season, we are starting to see which teams and players are potentially going to have a good season. For those who come into this week with an undefeated record, a win here would give them a massive boost for a spot in the playoffs.
Let’s look at what happened in Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season.
Baltimore loses it again
The Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens have emerged as contenders for the Super Bowl over the last few seasons. Unfortunately, they have never been able to make the game. This season, both teams have got off to a mixed start, and come into their Monday Night Football clash against each other with a 1-1 record. Who will be able to get the win here and potentially start what could be a deep playoff run?
The Lions had the first possession of the game and scored the opening points from it. Lions quarterback Jared Goff was able to drive the offense down to the Ravens’ one-yard line before star running back Jahmyr Gibbs would find the endzone for the rushing touchdown. In response to this score, the Ravens would be able to match it on their first drive. Derrick Henry found the endzone for a 28-yard rushing touchdown to level the scores quickly.
Detroit was able to retake the lead after a long drive in the second quarter. Starting from their two-yard line, it took the Lions 18 plays and over 10 minutes to make it down to the Ravens’ one-yard line. The journey was worth it, as David Montgomery found the endzone for the rushing touchdown to restore their lead. But, this lead would not last long. Taking advantage of a penalty against the Lions on a punt return, Baltimore had a significantly short field. It took them four plays before Ravens QB Lamar Jackson found Bateman for a three-yard touchdown pass.
The Lions had a chance to take the lead just before halftime. A 67-yard field goal for kicker Jake Bates was set up. However, this meant that at halftime the Lions and Ravens were level at 14 apiece.
This deadlock was broken on the first drive of the second half. From the Lions’ 14-yard line, Jackson found Mark Andrews for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Detroit then gave Baltimore a taste of their own medicine, as an 18-yard TD pass from Goff to Amon-Ra St Brown would again level the scores going into the fourth quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Lions would take the lead with a four-yard rushing touchdown from Gibbs. The Ravens were able to respond to this, but not in the way they had been for most of the game. Thanks to two consecutive sacks of Jackson on the edge of the Lions’ red zone, the Ravens were forced into a field goal. Luckily, Tyler Loop found the uprights from 41 yards out.
Then, the Ravens (who were now four points down) made things even worse for themselves. On the edge of their own red zone, Henry would fumble the ball. This would be recovered by the Lions’ defense, giving them a good opportunity to seal the win. Luckily for the Ravens, a large penalty against the Lions’ offense stalled the drive. But Bates made a 45-yard field goal to make it a seven-point lead.
This lead was extended to 14 points on the Lions’ next drive when Montgomery found the endzone to score a 31-yard rushing touchdown. With under two minutes left in the game, the Ravens need to act quickly to give themselves a chance to win the game.
On their next drive, Jackson found Andrews for a 27-yard touchdown pass. The Ravens then attempted a two-point conversion, which failed. Luckily, there was a penalty on the play, which gave Baltimore another chance. This also failed. Unfortunately for the Ravens, that drive took too long, leaving only 29 seconds left on the clock and the Lions in possession.
This meant that the Detroit Lions had defeated the Baltimore Ravens 38-30.
This is not the first time the Ravens have made a simple mistake that cost them the game this season, and it may not be the last. Jackson was sacked seven times in this game, which is definitely something that Baltimore will need to fix. With the win, the Lions improve to 2-1, while the Ravens fall to 1-2.
Next week, the Detroit Lions face the Cleveland Browns, while the Ravens have another test against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Last-second chaos gives the Eagles the win
The reigning Super Bowl champions have had a strong start to their title defense, with the Philadelphia Eagles easily beating the Dallas Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs. However, these games have not been entertaining affairs, with the Eagles just doing enough to win. This week, they faced the fellow undefeated team, the Los Angeles Rams. Who will lose their winning start to the season?
The Rams had the first possession of the game, and things did not start well for them. The Eagles intercepted Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s pass in Rams territory. This gave Philly a good opportunity to open the scoring, which is what they were able to do. The Eagles made their way down to the Rams’ one-yard line, and you can work out what happened next—a tush push touchdown. The NFL has announced that it will be inspecting these plays more closely after concerns were raised in the last few weeks. My suggestion is to ban it, and make everyone’s life easier.
Los Angeles was able to get their first points of the game on their next drive, as kicker Josh Karty made a 51-yard field goal attempt. On their next drive, the Rams would surprisingly be able to take the lead when Stafford found Davante Adams for a 44-yard touchdown pass.
This lead would be extended on the next three drives. They all ended in the same way, with a Karty field goal. In response to these kicks, the Eagles’ offense could not get anything going and very much struggled in the first half.
This meant that at halftime, the Rams had a 19-7 lead over the Eagles.
Things went from bad to worse for Philly on the first drive of the second half. On the second play of the drive, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was sacked and then fumbled the ball. This was recovered by the Rams’ defense deep in the Eagles’ red zone. Then, on the next play, Stafford found Kyren Williams for a 10-yard touchdown pass to further extend the Rams’ lead.
The lead was heavily reduced on the next two drives from the Eagles. First, Hurts would find Dallas Goedert for a 33-yard touchdown pass, and this was followed by a nine-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown on the following drive. These two scores meant that the Rams had a five-point lead going into the final quarter.
The quarter did not start well for either side, with both offenses turning the ball over on downs. Then, the Rams were able to get some momentum going and move down to the Eagles’ 18-yard line. The drive stalled here, setting up a 36-yard field goal attempt.
Here, things get weird. Karty’s field goal was blocked. He would recover the ball and then attempt to move the ball the two yards needed to make the first down. This weak pass immediately found the turf, handing possession to the Eagles.
On the next drive, Hurts and company would slowly move down the field from their nine-yard line to the Rams’ 4-yard line. Here, Hurts found DeVonta Smith for the touchdown pass. The Eagles then attempted a two-point conversion, which failed. This meant that with under two minutes to play, all the Rams needed to do was make a field goal to win the game.
Stafford and company were able to bring the ball down to the 26-yard line for Karty to attempt a game-winning 44-yard field goal. The Eagles also blocked this kick, and they recovered the ball. In the scramble, Jordan Davis ran 61 yards into the endzone for the game-winning touchdown for the Eagles.
This meant that the Philadelphia Eagles had defeated the Los Angeles Rams with the final play of the game to record a 33-26 win.
This comeback will likely enter the Eagles’ lore in the years to come. After a dismal performance for most of the game, when they needed to perform well, they did. And in typical Eagles fashion, the plays were unconventional. For the Rams, this is a game that they should have won, and for most of it, looked like the stronger team. They fall to 2-1, while the Eagles improve to 3-0.
Next week, the Eagles face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while the Rams face the Indianapolis Colts.
Browns play defense, and win
The Green Bay Packers have had a good start to the season, convincingly winning their first two games. Their opponents this week were the winless Cleveland Browns, who were heavily beaten by the Baltimore Ravens last week. These kinds of matchups often result in two types of games: a blowout or an extremely close affair. What kind of game would we get here?
Nothing much happened in the first quarter of the game, with all three drives ending in punts. The Packers would be able to break the monotony early in the second quarter. Jordan Love was able to bring the Packers’ offense down to the edge of the Browns’ red zone before the drive stalled. This set up Brandon McManus with a 59-yard field goal attempt, which he would make.
Near the end of the first half, the Browns would attempt to get something going on offense, with Joe Flacco being able to move the ball into Packers territory. Then, Flacco attempted a deep pass that would be intercepted by the Packers’ defense, ending any hopes of a score.
This meant that after a highly defensive first half, the Packers had a 3-0 lead over the Browns.
The second half continued this show of defense, with the first two drives of the half ending in punts. We would then finally see a strong offensive performance. Starting from their 29-yard line, the Packers’ offense was slowly able to make it down to the Browns’ 3-yard line. Here, Love found John FitzPatrick for the touchdown pass to give the team a 10-point lead.
We would then have another period where the game ended in punts. Then, midway through the fourth quarter, the Browns’ offense would finally show some life. Flacco would take the team down to the Packers’ 17-yard line, where the drive would stall. This set up a 35-yard field goal attempt from Andre Szmyt, which was successful. This made it a one-possession game with under four minutes left to play.
Things got better for the Browns on the next drive, when Love’s pass was intercepted, with the Browns returning the ball near the endzone. A penalty would push them to the one-yard line, where Quinshon Judkins would find the endzone for the touchdown to tie the game with three minutes left to play.
The Packers needed to put points on the board on their next drive, and put themselves in a good opportunity to do so when McManus was given a 43-yard field goal attempt. However, this attempt was blocked, denying them points and giving Cleveland one chance to win the game.
On their drive, Flacco and company were able to bring the ball down to the Packers’ 37-yard line, setting up Szmyt with a 55-yard field goal attempt to win the game. This was a successful outcome, as the Cleveland Browns defeated the Green Bay Packers 13-10.
This game did not really start until the fourth quarter, and a surprise victory was seen. Questions should still be asked about the future of Joe Flacco, as his performance, while sufficient for the win, was not enough to ensure the long-term stability of the team. The win means that Cleveland improves to a 1-2 record, while the Packers fall to 2-1 for the season.
Next week, the Browns face the Detroit Lions, while the Packers play the Dallas Cowboys.
What happened in the other games?
The Buffalo Bulls continued their strong start to the season with a convincing win over the Miami Dolphins. Josh Allen threw for three touchdowns in their 31-21 victory.
Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts again had a dominant performance, this time against the Tennessee Titans. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor scored three touchdowns in the Colts’ 41-20 win. Things will get harder for the Colts in the coming weeks, and then we will see if they can remain competitive.
In the battle of backup quarterbacks, the Minnesota Vikings (with Carson Wentz) faced off against the Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals. This was a disappointing performance for Cincinnati, which will likely struggle without its star quarterback unless changes are made. Ultimately, the Vikings defeated the Bengals 48-10.
The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to winning ways this week against the New England Patriots. Two touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers helped them to a 21-14 win over the Pats.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced the New York Jets in what was a very close game. This was the first time this season that we have seen the Jets play well throughout the game, with a late blocked kick touchdown from the team keeping them in contention for the win. However, a last-second field goal from Chase McLaughlin gave the Buccs a 29-27 win.
The Washington Commanders came into this game with their backup quarterback, Marcus Mariota. This was due to an injury sustained by Jayden Daniels in the previous game. The former Titans QB showed his experience and led the team to a 41-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Atlanta Falcons had a bad day at the office (or Bank of America Stadium) as they were shut out by the Carolina Panthers 30-0.
A late touchdown from Travis Etienne was enough to give the Jacksonville Jaguars a 17-10 win over the now 0-3 Houston Texans.
In the battle of former Oregon Ducks quarterbacks, Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos faced off against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers. This was a very close game between two top young quarterbacks. In the end, a late comeback from the Chargers, with a last-second field goal from Cameron Dicker (the Chargers’ kicker) gave them a 23-20 win over the Broncos.
The Seattle Seahawks continued to pile more misery onto the New Orleans Saints this week. The Seahawks defeated the Saints 44-13 in a game that included a 95-yard punt return touchdown from Tony Horton.
Caleb Williams played one of the best games of his young NFL career this week, in the Chicago Bears game against the Dallas Cowboys. Williams threw for four touchdowns and nearly 300 yards in the Bears’ 31-14 win.
The San Francisco 49ers left it late to beat the Arizona Cardinals. A last-second field goal from Eddy Pineiro gave Mac Jones another win, this time with the 16-15 scoreline.
And finally, the New York Giants returned home after their overtime defeat to the Dallas Cowboys last week to face the struggling Kansas City Chiefs in what is Patrick Mahomes’ first-ever trip to MetLife Stadium. Any hope that Russell Wilson would be able to replicate his performance from the previous week was dashed when he struggled throughout the entire game. The only bright spot for the team was rookie quarterback Cam Skattebo, who scored the Giants’ lone touchdown in their 22-9 defeat to the Chiefs. This is likely to be the last game of Russell Wilson’s short time with the Giants, as Jaxson Dart (who the fans were chanting throughout the game) will start next week.
So that was week three. Next week, the NFL makes its debut in Ireland as the Vikings face the Steelers, the Ravens face the Chiefs, and Jaxson Dart makes his much-anticipated debut.
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