Fans expect a great deal of excitement during a Sunday afternoon of football, but there was absolute bedlam in the Week 3 slate of action. A stunning seven NFL games featured a game-winning score in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter, which is the highest single-day total since the 1970 merger, the ESPN Insights X account posted.
Five of those wild endings occurred during the final hour of the first window of action, also known as the “Witching Hour.” Those who tune in for “NFL RedZone” every Sunday hear host Scott Hanson use the term once the clock hits 3 p.m. ET, emphasizing the supernatural-like happenings that can take shape throughout the league during the final quarter of competition. Brent Musburger, Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder and Mike Francesa applied the term to football when they worked on “The NFL Today,” and Hanson has helped it become a popular and celebrated piece of sports lingo.
It was certainly appropriate on this day, as fans witnessed a unique agent of chaos run rampant in stadiums across the country. And it came in the form of special teams.
The NFL goes bonkers in Witching Hour
The Philadelphia Eagles blocked two field goals versus the Los Angles Rams, including one by Jordan Davis that ended the game and secured a dramatic 33-26 home victory. The Cleveland Browns also rejected a kick in a crucial situation, ultimately stunning the Green Bay Packers with a 55-yard FG in the closing seconds. Not to be excluded, the New York Jets joined the fourth-quarter field goal block party in their showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Will McDonald IV denied Chase McLaughlin and brought the ball all the way back to the opposite end zone for a go-ahead score. But Baker Mayfield responded with a game-ending field goal drive, leaving Gang Green with yet another nauseating defeat.
Besides the frenetic kick-related activities, there were other wacky goings-on that strongly suggested the football gods were in some kind of a mood on Sept. 21. The New England Patriots committed four fumbles in a gut-wrenching 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, showing just how far away they still are from being relevant. The Jacksonville Jaguars delivered a serious blow to their AFC South rival, sending the Houston Texans to a troubling 0-3 start to the season with a 17-10 win.
The madness from the “Witching Hour” festered and carried over into the late afternoon window. The Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers both saw their kickers boost them to big divisional triumphs and 3-0 records, as the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals stumbled in key spots.
The unexplainable permeated the NFL, leaving teams and fans with an array of emotions to process and recover from heading into Week 4. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's sponsors surely hope the same will transpire again and again this season. But one must not tempt the gods.
