NFL Week 3 Lessons: Why Seven Seconds Could Define Cowboys’ Season

Week 3 in the NFL confirmed some things we already knew.

For instance, the Raiders are very good under new coach Klint Kubiak and can now be discussed as a playoff contender with less laughter from doubters after beating the Saints, 35–27, to improve to 3–0. Las Vegas has already matched its win total from last season.

The Buccaneers might still be punting after running into Brian Flores’s Vikings defense. Baker Mayfield, who sustained a dislocated right thumb in the 23–16 loss, was just the latest quarterback to be stifled by Flores’s unit. The undefeated Vikings appear to be the real deal with their ferocious defense, while the winless Buccaneers might be looking ahead to the 2027 NFL draft.

As for other things we already knew, the 0–3 Chargers aren’t going anywhere with the Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel partnership. The undefeated Bills might be the best team in football, but they turned the ball over five times in their 24–16 victory over the Chargers.

As for a new development, can we say the Browns are good, too? Deshaun Watson guided Cleveland to its second consecutive victory, beating the Panthers, 21–18. But let’s wait a week before confirming whether the Browns are actually a good team.

Here’s what else we learned in a wild Week 3.

Cowboys, Ravens could be headed in opposite directions

It was setting up to be a turning point for the Cowboys’ season. The defense stepped up with a crucial goal-line stand against Derrick Henry. Dak Prescott’s offense outproduced Lamar Jackson’s unit and reminded the football public of what his team is capable of with receivers George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb.

It was shaping up to be the night that the Cowboys got their groove back in Rio. The kind of game you spend 10 minutes on during a season wrap-up documentary. A victory in Brazil would have forced coach Brian Schottenheimer to tell more stories about Pickens’s legendary training camp.

Now, after blowing it in seven seconds to fall to the Ravens, 34–31, it seems silly for Schottenheimer to tell more TV crews about why Pickens had the best camp he has ever seen from a wide receiver.

The Cowboys are again not playing up to the hype. Let the eye rolls continue whenever someone attempts to talk about Jerry Jones’s team. Dallas (1–2) appears bound for another season of mediocrity despite the star power it possesses on offense.

As for the Ravens (2–1), the good vibes are through the roof after kicker Tyler Loop made the game-winning 56-yard field goal as time expired. Loop can finally move on from the missed kick against the Steelers in Week 18 last year that kept the Ravens out of the postseason. What happened in the final seconds in Rio seems to be a turning point for Jesse Minter’s Ravens.

There seems to be a ceiling—again—on the 49ers’ season

It felt inevitable that Brock Purdy and George Kittle were going to find a way to hold off the Cardinals’ furious late rally.

With those two guys around, the 49ers are usually going to have a chance to win the game. However, this San Francisco season seems predictable because of the guys who may not be around for a while.

The 49ers held on to defeat the Cardinals, 36–30, to improve to 3–0, but receiver Mike Evans (ribs) and tackle Trent Williams (stinger) left the game early due to injuries. Earlier in the week, the 49ers lost edge rusher Nick Bosa, who injured his calf in practice. Additionally, reports say the team was unsure about putting Bosa on injured reserve because they’re running low on spots. Alfred Collins, Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk, Jake Tonges, De’Zhaun Stribling, Nate Hobbs and Nick Martin are other key players currently on IR.

This is like last season, when the 49ers kept winning games despite a massive wave of injuries. While it was impressive that coach Kyle Shanahan got his team to win 12 games in 2025, there always seemed to be a ceiling on how far the short-handed 49ers could go—the Seahawks crushed them in the divisional round.

It’s great that Purdy is playing like an MVP and that Kittle and Christian McCaffrey continue to play at an elite level, but the 49ers need Bosa, Evans and Williams to stay healthy. They need all their top guys available to have a legitimate shot to win the Super Bowl.

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota — Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota passed for three touchdowns in Washington's win over Seattle on Sunday. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Marcus Mariota needs a pay raise after giving the Commanders new life

Mariota should take a page out of Jacoby Brissett’s playbook and ask for a pay raise based on how much he has played in the past year.

In the offseason, Brissett, who was initially brought in to be Kyle Murray’s backup in Arizona, asked for more money after it became clear that the team was expecting him to start several games for a second consecutive season. After some lengthy discussions, Brissett eventually got a $10.6 million pay bump.

Now, I know the situation with Mariota and Washington isn’t the same, but Mariota has also played a lot when he was supposed to be the backup for Jayden Daniels. On Sunday, Mariota, who is on a one-year, $7 million deal, bailed out the Commanders in their 33–31 upset victory over the Seahawks and gave the organization new life after a rough start to the season. Washington fans seemed to have enjoyed every second of Mariota (19-of-31, 183 yards, three TDs) turning back the clock as the Commanders (1–2) recorded their first win of the season.

With Daniels not opting to have elbow surgery, there’s a chance the star quarterback comes back sooner rather than later (perhaps after the Week 4 matchup in London against the Colts). Still, Mariota should ask for a pay raise with how much he has stepped up for the team since Daniels’s injury-riddled 2025 season. Mariota appeared in 11 games, starting eight last season. And it’s not a given that Daniels can stay healthy if he does return soon.

Also, me pretending to be Mariota’s agent is my way of apologizing after dropping Mariota to No. 17 on my backup quarterback rankings. That’s partly because he had some rough starts last season, but he was sensational against the reigning Super Bowl champions. There’s a reason why the Commanders keep bringing him back.

We might have crowned Drake Maye too soon

It’s time to discuss Maye’s status among the best quarterbacks in the league.

Heading into the playoffs last season, there were fierce debates about who should win MVP between Maye and Matthew Stafford. The race was so tight that a surprising first-place vote for Justin Herbert played a large role in Stafford claiming the prestigious award over Maye.

Maye fell short, but being the MVP runner-up after a breakout second season was enough for many to view Maye as a top-10 quarterback. Even after his rough postseason performances, there was chatter about how much better Maye could be with A.J. Brown as his top weapon in 2026.

However, Maye hasn’t been able to build off his stellar 2025 regular season, and it’s now getting to the point where we might have crowned the New England signal-caller too soon. Maye hasn’t come close to playing like a top-10 quarterback for quite a while now, especially in the Patriots’ ugly 35–6 loss to the Jaguars. Maye has seven total turnovers through three games, including three on Sunday and three interceptions in the season-opening loss to the Seahawks, who also had Maye’s number in the Super Bowl. Moving forward, the schedule will only get harder for the Patriots (1–2), who travel to Buffalo next week.

Perhaps we should cut Maye some slack because Brown hasn’t been available most of the season due to an ankle injury sustained in Seattle in the opener. Still, MVP candidates should elevate others and guide teammates through adversity. It’s become clear that the right QB won MVP last season, and Maye is still searching for his footing against top competition.

Add us as a preferred source on Google