NFL, Week 3: The big Darnold show and error king Levis

Quarterback Sam Darnold continued to surprise with the perfectly started Minnesota Vikings (3-0).
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Darnold's four-pack against overrun Texans

Sam Darnold is currently one of the best and most successful quarterbacks in the NFL!

Even the most daring Vikings fan probably didn't expect this headline beforehand. But the 27-year-old third overall pick of the 2018 draft, who has already been written off several times in his career, is making people forget more and more about the departure of Kirk Cousins ​​​​(now Atlanta Falcons), who was successful for years. After the two opening victories, when Darnold had already completed 72 percent of his passes for 476 yards and four touchdowns (two interceptions), the former Jets, Panthers and 49ers professional followed up with a brilliant performance.

Darnold threw four touchdown passes (181 yards, no mistakes) in the duel between the two strong 2-0 teams with the Houston Texans and bagged a clear 34:7 victory with his colleagues. This was also because the Vikes defense, which had already been considered strong beforehand, made life extremely difficult for the Texans and Houston's playmaker CJ Stroud (215 yards, one TD) alone missed two picks and four sacks.

Linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who came from the Texans in the offseason, achieved three of these sacks against his former teammate alone.

Barkley leads the Eagles to victory

The fact that the headlines at the start of this Week 3 Sunday were mainly about the franchise from Minneapolis was also due to the New Orleans Saints. After a 2-0 start with an incredible 93 offensive points, the team from “The Big Easy” ended up with an unpleasant 12:15 defeat against the guests from Philadelphia.

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The Saints were particularly uncertain because they made mistakes in a matchup that was largely dominated by the defensive lines (after three quarters, New Orleans were leading 3-0). Above all, Eages' new signing Saquon Barkley let himself be marched on in the last quarter. The running back ran into the end zone twice, 65 and four yards respectively, and ran a total of 147 yards. With 48 seconds left in the game, Derek Carr, who was largely pale this time, had initially set up receiver Chris Olave's 12-7 lead with his touchdown pass 2:03 minutes before the end, but made the final nail in the coffin in the form of an interception against Philadelphia's safety Reed Blankenship.

Fields conquers fans in “Steel City”

While the Saints also missed out on a possible 3-0 start, the typically uncomfortable Pittsburgh Steelers managed this feat with a well-deserved 20:10 win against the Los Angeles Chargers, who arrived with a 2-0 lead. Many factors played a role in this – above all the performance of Steelers playmaker Justin Fields, who also replaced the injured Russell Wilson in the third game. The 25-year-old did allow one interception, but also reeled off 245 passing yards and two total touchdowns – including a 55-yard play to receiver Calvin Austin III. Running back Najee Harris helped with a good 70 yards.

Led the Steelers to their first 3-0 start since 2020: new quarterback Justin Fields (ex-Bear).
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On the other hand, Pittsburgh's defense (five sacks) once again came out on top. Especially against Chargers playmaker Justin Herbert, who had already started the game with an injury to his right ankle and, after completing only twelve of 18 passes for 125 yards (one touchdown), gave up and limped off the field in the third quarter. Former Falcon Taylor Heinicke kicked – to no avail.

Willis against the ex

Was the war going on anywhere else? The Green Bay Packers, for example, won their second victory in a row with a confident 30:14 victory in Nashville (Tennessee), improving to 2-1. Head coach Matt LaFleur did not take the risk of using Jordan Love, who was already back in training. Instead, Malik Willis, who was brought in from Tennessee in the offseason, was in charge for the second time in a row – and he delivered reliably, just as he did in the 16:10 win against the Indianapolis Colts a week ago. And he did it against his former teammates.

Willis put up 202 passing yards including a passing touchdown and, with 73 rushing yards plus a score, became the Cheese City team's most successful runner on the day. The attentive defense took care of the rest, once again taking advantage of fatal errors by the Titans around quarterback Will Levis (260 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, fumble), who now has eight turnovers. Top cornerback Jaire Alexander recorded his very first “pick-6,” while the entire defense recorded an impressive eight sacks.

Tampa Bay loses for the first time – Colts overrun Bears

The Denver Broncos pulled off a surprise on this match day, beating the previously unscathed Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-7 and thus achieving their first taste of success. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix, who was lethal on the first two match days (no touchdowns, four interceptions), ran for a score to make it 7-0. Kicker Wil Lutz took care of the rest with four field goals, while the Bucs, including the recently impressive Baker Mayfield (163 yards, touchdown pass to Chris Godwin, one interception), had very little to offer.

For the first time, the Chicago Bears' offense, led by first overall pick Caleb Williams, scored more, combining his two interceptions (four in total) with 363 passing yards and two touchdown passes. His best NFL game to date by far. But it's not that big a deal in the 16:21 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, because the Chicago defense allowed three rushing touchdowns.

More on Week 3 in the NFL: Strong home comeback from Rodgers: Jets clearly defeat Patriots