Matt Verderame’s Notes: Patrick Mahomes’s Resurgence Among Best Storylines for NFL Week 3

Last season was a fever dream in the NFL. The games on Championship Sunday were quarterbacked by Sam Darnold, Drake Maye, Jarrett Stidham and Matthew Stafford, a likely Hall of Famer with an MVP and title to his credit. Maye earned second-team All-Pro honors but endured a nightmarish postseason. Darnold is a journeyman. Stidham was there because Bo Nix was injured.

Typically, the more teams are eliminated, the more top quarterbacks are highlighted. That was not the case in 2025, with Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson missing the playoffs in large part due to injuries, while Josh Allen suffered four turnovers in a divisional loss to Denver.

Yet two weeks into the 2026 season, it appears nature is healing, and order has been restored. Allen has been masterful, earning early MVP talk with nine total touchdowns and 675 yards without a turnover. Buffalo is 2–0, like Kansas City, which has seen Mahomes get off to a fast start coming off ACL surgery. Through two weeks, Mahomes has thrown for five touchdowns, rushed for another and is leading the league’s top offense, racking up 457.5 yards per game.

So what’s different for Mahomes? Why is Allen so unstoppable? We dive into that and more in this week’s notebook.

Patrick Mahomes and his rapid resurgence

Patrick Mahomes is built differently. Mentally different.

Nine months ago, Mahomes tore his left ACL and LCL against the Chargers. The next day, he underwent successful surgery. From there, Mahomes began an all-out assault on a grueling recovery to play in Week 1.

According to a team source, that plan entailed Mahomes giving up his offseason to be in Kansas City while rehabbing with the Chiefs’ staff. On weekends when Mahomes got away to spend time with family, a team trainer flew to Texas with Mahomes to continue his rehabilitation. As spring turned to summer, it became apparent to Mahomes that he would not only be ready for the regular season, but would participate fully in training camp.

In rehab, Kansas City supported Mahomes. Now, the team is doing the same thing on the field. Throughout the offseason, the Chiefs felt it was vital to provide Mahomes with a running game. Throughout his eight previous years as a starter, Mahomes has never enjoyed a 1,000-yard back. Over the past two seasons, Kansas City’s backfield combined for three explosive rushes.

Enter Kenneth Walker III. Walker, signed to a three-year deal on the opening day of free agency, has been a godsend. He leads the league with 290 rushing yards and 29 forced missed tackles. Walker also has 170 yards after contact, 23 more than the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson, who is second in that category.

Between rehab and Walker’s addition, Mahomes has come out firing. After a lackluster first half against the Broncos in the season opener in which he went 2-of-10 for 14 yards, Mahomes has been blazing. He finished 13-of-17 for 170 yards against Denver in a 31–10 win before crushing the Colts with 382 passing yards and three touchdowns. All told, Kansas City has the league’s top-ranked offense, leading the league with 457.5 yards per game, 30 more than anybody else.

With the winless Dolphins up next, expect more of the run game from Walker and fifth-round rookie Emmett Johnson while Mahomes continues settling in.

And perhaps that’s the scariest thought for the rest of the NFL. Kansas City is humming, and Mahomes is only getting his feet beneath him.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen — Bills quarterback Josh Allen has rushed 20 times for 92 yards and four touchdowns. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Josh Allen’s legs are a big differentiator thus far

Allen has always run. In recent years, though, he’s been running early and often.

Through two games, Allen has rushed 20 times for 92 yards and four touchdowns. Last year at this point, he also had 20 carries. Before 2025, Allen never rushed that frequently in the first two contests, totaling less than 15 carries every year since the ’21 season.

Interestingly, though, the carries slowed as last year progressed, with Allen averaging 6.1 rushes per game starting in Week 3. Whether that happens under new coach Joe Brady is unknown, but the added dimension of Allen’s legs has been vital for the league’s highest-scoring team. Of Allen’s 20 runs, eight have been either first downs or touchdowns (with four others being kneeldowns).

Speaking to a veteran defensive coordinator who called Allen one of the league’s best, there’s no good way to deal with the multiple ways he can beat you. However, he felt the best solution was to force Allen left, something his team did by bringing 90% of his pressure packages from Allen’s right. On four-man rushes, it’s vital to use a two-gap rush plan, keeping him from scrambling through a crease in the pocket.

The risk is overpursuing on blitzes or failing to get home, leaving Allen to take off into vacated space or finding a pass catcher in the open field against man coverage.

So far, nothing has worked. Buffalo has torched the Texans and Lions to the tune of 38.5 points per game while scoring on 13-of-18 drives (excluding kneeldowns). In those games, Allen has an EPA of +0.66 per dropback when not being blitzed, down to +0.26 when extra pressure is brought.

As Buffalo continues to notch points and wins, expect teams to keep going to school on Brady’s new-fangled approach. Buffalo is playing three tight ends on 33.8% of snaps, second-most in football, after utilizing 13-personnel on 4.62% of its plays last year to rank 17th. And if the Bills keep rolling, opponents might be more aggressive and take their chances, hoping Allen makes a mistake he’s yet to make this season.

Saints are putting it all together on both sides of the ball

Every once in a while, you can recognize a turning point in real time. That appears to be the case for the Saints, who on Sunday rallied from a 14–3 deficit to beat the Ravens in Baltimore, 24–17.

After storming back from a 21–0 deficit in Detroit only to lose on the final play of overtime (a failed two-point conversion attempt), New Orleans went to Baltimore as more than a touchdown underdog and looked the part early. Yet after allowing 14 first-half points, the Saints surrendered only three over the final 30 minutes, limiting the Ravens to 3.5 yards per play and 91 yards total.

Speaking to an NFC defensive assistant, the defense was more aggressive as the game went on, forcing three negative plays, including two sacks and an offensive holding call. Between varying the pass-rush looks and coverage schemes, quarterback Lamar Jackson struggled after the break, going 8-of-15 for 64 yards with an interception.

Moving forward, this could be a springboard for New Orleans. The Saints have an upcoming three-game homestand and, over their next six weeks, are scheduled to face Kirk Cousins, Michael Penix Jr., Kyler Murray, Jameis Winston, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson. All are far less daunting than Jackson, a two-time MVP and the greatest dual-threat quarterback ever to play.

Lastly, keep an eye on corner Kool-Aid McKinstry. Part of a burgeoning secondary, the third-year corner has played every snap, shown up in run support (just ask Derrick Henry), and limited quarterbacks to an 84.7 rating, the lowest of his career.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden — Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden needs to step up in the wake of Jayden Reed's injury. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Matthew Golden was a star this summer, now he’s under the spotlight

Despite winning in overtime against the Jets in Week 2 for their first win, things aren’t good in Titletown.

Packers running back Josh Jacobs is on the commissioner’s exempt list. Receiver Jayden Reed (neck) had to be backboarded off the field at MetLife Stadium and will miss significant time, while right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele is lost for the season due to a torn patellar tendon.

With the offense in disarray, Green Bay needs its 2025 first-round receiver, Golden, to step into a far larger role, something coaches believed he was ready for entering the season.

Speaking to a team source, Golden’s development has been pronounced. In his second year, the former Texas star is showing more confidence as he better understands NFL defensive schemes, allowing him to play faster within a system he now has experience.

With Reed out for the majority of Week 2, Golden was targeted six times, catching four passes for 58 yards, joining fellow wideout Christian Watson as the only Green Bay players with at least four targets on the afternoon. The week before, Golden had six catches for 95 yards while being targeted a team-high 12 times. Moving forward, Golden will become increasingly important, with Jacobs and now Reed both sidelined, and while tight end Tucker Kraft rounds into form after sustaining a torn ACL last season.

Through two weeks, Golden has posted 10 catches and 153 yards, the latter representing 42.3% of his output for his entire rookie season. Golden is seeing the field better presnap and becoming more elusive with the ball, as shown by four forced missed tackles compared to nine as a rookie.

Against the Falcons on Thursday night, expect quarterback Jordan Love to look his way early and often as Golden continues to establish himself as a consistent threat in coach Matt LaFleur’s offense.

What’s the deal with tight end Colston Loveland?

Few second-year players were expected to have a bigger impact on their team than Loveland. After notching 58 catches, 713 yards and six touchdowns as a first-round rookie from Michigan, the leap to stardom appeared imminent.

So far, that hasn’t been the case. The Bears are 1–1, and despite scoring 59 points in their Week 1 win over the Panthers, Loveland has five targets, one catch and three yards while playing 87% of the offensive snaps through two weeks.

Speaking to a former NFL tight end, the problems might not run as deep as the stats indicate. Last week, the Vikings blitzed more than 80% of the time in their 9–3 win, holding Chicago to 163 passing yards on 5.5 yards per attempt. While Loveland was only asked to chip or block on 4-of-18 snaps on blitzed passing plays, the timing was consistently off. Ultimately, he ran routes on only 71.8% of his snaps, the lowest figure since Week 15 of last year against the Browns.

The source also pointed to Minnesota coordinator Brian Flores’s blitz package creating chaos up front, forcing all but four of quarterback Caleb Williams’s 26 pass attempts to be under 10 air yards. Williams was sacked three times while the Vikings recorded 10 quarterback hits. With the rain coming down at Soldier Field, the Bears scored only three points while committing eight penalties, one of which wiped out a 14-yard gain for Loveland, setting Chicago up in the red zone.

In Week 1, Loveland had opportunities slip away. In the third quarter, he was wide open, but Williams threw behind him on an in-breaking route, believing Loveland would sit down in zone coverage. If they connected, it would have easily been at least a 15-yard gain. Then, in the final period, Loveland was isolated on the backside of a three-by-one set with corner Mike Jackson at Carolina’s 11-yard line. The second-year man ran a slant, but Williams missed the diving Loveland in the end zone.

The numbers aren’t there yet. And with Williams potentially missing Week 3 against the Eagles due to a hamstring injury, they could be limited this week as well. But the chances have been there, which suggests production is coming soon.

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