I love blocked field goals. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the sudden influx of excitement from what should be a routine and process-driven exercise descending into madness. Invariably, the play is brought on by a feat of outstanding athleticism. Sometimes, when you’re really lucky, you might get a classic dose of “BIG MAN WITH FOOTBALL” on a return.

Week 3 was my platonic ideal of football. Five (count them… five!) blocked field goals, come from behind offense and some truly catastrophic quarterback play makes for the perfect mix of winners, losers and on-field excitement that makes writing this round-up a pleasure.

WEEK 3 SCORES
(excl. Monday 22nd September)

Thursday

Miami Dolphins 21 @ Buffalo Bills 31

Sunday

Cincinnati Bengals 10 @ Minnesota Vikings 48

Houston Texans 10 @ Jacksonville Jaguars 17

Indianapolis Colts 41 @ Tennessee Titans 20

Las Vegas Raiders 24 @ Washington Commanders 41

Los Angeles Rams 26 @ Philadelphia Eagles 33

Atlanta Falcons 0 @ Carolina Panthers 30

Pittsburgh Steelers 21 @ New England Patriots 14

Green Bay Packers 10 @ Cleveland Browns 13

New York Jets 27 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29

Denver Broncos 20 @ Los Angeles Chargers 23

New Orleans Saints 13 @ Seattle Seahawks 44

Dallas Cowboys 13 @ Chicago Bears 31

Arizona Cardinals 15 @ San Francisco 49ers 16

Kansas City Chiefs 22 @ New York Giants 9

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GAME OF THE WEEK

Los Angeles Rams 26 @ Philadelphia Eagles 33

This rematch of last year’s Divisional Round promised plenty but, for the best part of a half, it appeared only the Los Angeles Rams had come to play in the City of Brotherly Love.

Much was made of Saquon Barkley’s explosive performances against the Rams last term. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year burst three touchdowns of more than 60 yards against a defense that excelled in getting after the passer but was less happy against the run. Jared Verse, Braden Fiske et al understood the assignment, attacking the Eagles rushing game, bottling Saquon up for just 46 yards on 18 carries. Apart from an opening drive tush push score by Jalen Hurts, the first half was dominated by the Rams. The Eagles completed just four passes in the opening two quarters and, at the break, the pass attack had netted -1 yards. Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay’s offense was firing. The veteran quarterback routinely found Puka Nacua, while Kyren WIlliams and Blake Corum were picking up chunks on the ground, setting L.A. up for four Joshua Karty field goals and a deep Davante Adams touchdown for a 19-7 lead at the half.

When the second half opened with a Williams 10-yard touchdown after a Hurts fumble, it seemed the Eagles were completely out of it. Instead, Kevin Patullo remembered the forward pass is, in fact, legal in gridiron football, taking the shackles off Hurts and letting the Super Bowl MVP push the ball downfield. In the second half, Hurts finished with 221 total yards, and three passing touchdowns to his primary weapons Dallas Goedert, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The pass to Smith that gave the Eagles a one-point lead came after Karty had a field goal blocked by a number of Eagles.

That proved to be a spoiler, as Karty’s attempted gamewinner was also blocked and returned for a touchdown by Jordan Davis with no time left on the clock. A frantic ending to a playoff calibre match-up. The Rams will take pleasure from putting the defending champions’ backs against the wall, but know they let a statement win slip through their fingers.

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MVP OF THE WEEK

Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)

The Los Angeles Chargers are 3-0 for the first time in 23 years. Their 23-20 win over Denver came off the back of a clutch 43-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker. The idea that three sides saw late kicks blocked (more on that later) and none of them were the Chargers is genuinely baffling to long-time viewers of this snake-bitten franchise.

It looked for a while that the Bolts were on track for another back-breaking loss. Their offensive line was under a constant barrage thanks in part to the loss of Mekhi Becton to a concussion, their run game was underpowered due to Najee Harris’ Achilles injury, and the offense in general looked disjointed as their division rivals took the lead despite their own sputtering gameplan.

With 2:37 left on the clock and the Chargers down by seven, Herbert took control of the narrative; both in this game and his career. So often maligned for his undoubted talents waning in the most crucial moments, Herbert produced one of the most jaw-dropping plays you will likely see from a quarterback this term. Stepping up into the pocket to avoid the rush, he stiff arms Zach Allen, leaks out to his left, throwing across his body to find Keenan Allen along the back of the endzone. When Denver’s ensuing drive stalled, it was inevitable that Herbert and the Chargers would take this win. It’s a testament to the work of Jim Harbaugh and his staff, general manager Joe Hortiz and Herbert that this feels like a different proposition in L.A.

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Winner: Field Goal blocking units

We briefly mentioned the crazy end to proceedings in Philadelphia, but it’s time to look at Davis’ spectacular afternoon in more detail. Not only did the Georgia alum ice the game with his block, scoop and score, he also recorded the fastest ball carrier speed for any player weighing more than 330 pounds, according to Next Gen Stats. The defensive tackle not only scored a touchdown, but also recorded a tackle for loss, a sack and five tackles.

His stellar play across special teams and defense was the standout solo performance in a bumper week for special teams units around the NFL. Cleveland blocked Brandon McManus’ would-be game-sealer with just 23 seconds on the clock, leaving just enough time for Joe Flacco to set up Andre Szmyt for a 55-yarder and an upset win. Shortly after, the Bucs were lining up for a 43-yard attempt that would essentially ice their match-up against the Jets with the score at 26-20. Will McDonald’s block and return was eventually for naught, however, as Baker Mayfield again led a game-winning drive which was capped by Chase McLaughlin’s 36-yard effort.

With all three blocks happening in around five minutes of real time (as well as the earlier block by Philadelphia and one from the Indianapolis Colts) the early window provided plenty of special teams drama.

Loser: Jake Browning

The Bengals’ chastening 48-10 loss against Minnesota revealed a deep issue within the current make-up of Cincinnati’s roster. We all knew they were top heavy; that the decision to invest heavily in Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins left them short on the offensive line and Trey Hendrickson was the lone true star on the defensive side of the ball. However, just how poorly the Bengals fared without Burrow was genuinely staggering.

Jake Browning has thrown 59 passes since stepping into the line-up halfway through Week 2. He leads the league in interceptions. He’s dead last in EPA-per-play at the quarterback position, and is fifth from bottom in success rate. As poor as he was, Browning was not one of the five Bengals to put the ball on the floor in the beatdown, nor was he responsible for the leaky pass protection in front of him.

Brian Flores’ defense should also garner some of the credit. One of last season’s premier units, the Vikings defenders smelled blood in the water, hunting for the ball at any given opportunity. Isaiah Rodgers logged a pick-six early in proceedings, before scooping up a fumble return score, blowing the doors off the visitors’ gameplan. Rodgers finished the game with a perfect 99.9 grade from PFF, the highest mark ever given out by the site.

Winner: Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson needed to make a statement this week. A drubbing by his former employers, a public questioning of his young stars’ attitude on the training field and media narratives that he had chosen the wrong spot when he had the pick of any job in the NFL meant the pursuit of his first win as a head coach became even more important.

Lucky for Johnson, the schedule makers gave them the perfect match-up. The Cowboys defense again looked incapable of stopping the pass, with Caleb Williams finishing with 19 of 28 for 298 passing yards and four scores. All of those scoring passes travelled more than ten yards through the air, as Johnson took advantage of his signal-caller’s supreme arm talent and Dallas’ defensive woes. WIlliams failed to maximise on the match-up, as NFL Next Gen Stats reported a 78% expected completion rate on the game. That said, he now ranks in the top ten for yards and EPA per dropback through three weeks. He currently leads all second-year signal-callers in PFF’s passing grade. There is still room for improvement, but Johnson appears to have tweaked his offense to match Williams’ highly-touted skillset.

Loser: Michael Penix Jr

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris refused to be drawn into a quarterback controversy after his side were shut out by the Carolina Panthers, despite pulling a struggling Michael Penix in the fourth quarter of the 30-0 defeat. Penix completed 18 of his 36 passes for 172 yards and two picks — numbers that don’t quite display how poor the second-year player fared in Charlotte.

Just ten points behind at the start of the third quarter, Penix threw a baffling pick-six when trying to find Bijan Robinson in the flat, despite the Panthers defender clearly lurking on the route and having a wide-open Ray-Ray McCloud downfield. Penix has been inaccurate, looked uncomfortable in relatively clean pockets on Sunday, and wilted under the fire of Flores’ defense in Week 2. Over the past two weeks, he’s completed just 54% of his passes, and his success rate of 32.3% is good for 29th in the league. If the Falcons feel they can mount a genuine playoff push with more steady quarterback play, they have 27.5 million reasons to insert Kirk Cousins back into the starting line-up.

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STATS OF THE WEEK

• This is the first week this season someone other than Daniel Jones has been named as our MVP, but we had to mention Ol’ Dimes at least once. The Colts lead the NFL with 103 points through three weeks. That’s a higher tally than any Peyton Manning-led Colts side through the first three games of a season. 
• The Colts have punted just once this campaign, the fewest of any team through three games in the Super Bowl era. The only other franchise to start 3-0 while punting less than five times in the same timeframe? The 2007 New England Patriots. 
• Seattle rookie Tory Horton set a franchise record with his 95-yard punt return for a touchdown. He eclipses Nate Burleson and Charlie Rogers’ shared mark of 94 yards for a score. Horton is the only player to notch multiple receiving touchdowns a punt return for a score in their first three games in the league.

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