The playoff picture and some individual award races are starting to take shape after Week 3 of the NFL season, and a couple of Week 3 games went a long way toward forming some of those narratives for those awards a month into the season.
While teams like the Ravens, Patriots and Falcons struggled in Week 3, others like the Lions, Bears and Chargers surged. Did they crack the list of winners around the league? Let's find out.
Ben Johnson gets on the board, Caleb Williams crushes Matt Eberflus
The sky was falling in Chicago after an 0-2 start in the first year of the Ben Johnson era, but it turns out the Dallas Cowboys defense can be an antidote for any struggling offense. Caleb Williams had shown flashes during an uneven couple of weeks to open the season, but he had the best game of his career against his old head coach and current Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus on Sunday to get the Bears in the win column.
Williams finished the day 19-for-28 with 298 yards and four touchdowns, including the throw of the day to Luther Burden III on a flea-flicker for one of those four scores. His 0.59 EPA per dropback was the second-best mark of Week 3, trailing only Sam Darnold in what was essentially a glorified scrimmage against the dismal Saints.
Williams has been better than the box score seems in the first two weeks, and that finally resulted in some points and a win against a Cowboys defense that is really struggling. This Bears offense was always going to take a bit of time in its first season in Johnson's unique system, but maybe it is starting to find its stride.
The Dan Campbell machine is still rolling
A blowout loss to the Packers in Week 1 had questions flying about Dan Campbell. Did he need his old coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, to be successful? What would this Lions team look like without them? Could Campbell still maintain a Super Bowl contender even with the brain drain of the offseason?
After a road win on Monday Night Football against the Ravens, the answer looks like a resounding yes. For two weeks now, the Lions have looked like the Lions of old. They go for it on fourth down, pull out trick plays that work in the biggest spots and get timely stops on defense.
Aidan Hutchinson is off to a great start in his return from a broken leg, Jameson Williams is a bigger part of the offense, and the stars are still the stars. Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs all have been excellent in the last two weeks, and it looks like the Lions are an NFC contender once again as a result.
Justin Herbert's MVP campaign gains steam
Justin Herbert has always been elite, ever since the first game he stepped on an NFL field. Now, he may have the team and the narrative to earn some individual awards to go with it.
After destroying the Chiefs in prime time in Week 1, Herbert put together a solid performance against the Raiders in Week 2. On Sunday, he was phenomenal against an elite Broncos defense to help the Chargers get to 3-0 on the season with a 23-20 victory.
The box score doesn't tell the whole story for Herbert. He finished the game 28-for-47 with 300 yards, one touchdown and one interception, making one of the plays of the day in the process to tie the game at 20 in the fourth quarter.
Herbert was pressured on nearly 55% of his dropbacks against a Broncos defense that can really get after the passer, but he still got the ball downfield consistently and allowed the Chargers to have success. With some of the other usual MVP candidates around the league struggling a little bit and the Chargers sitting at 3-0, Herbert should be right in the MVP discussion throughout the season.
The Browns defense is a nightmare to play against
The Green Bay Packers were 2-0 and had just crushed two NFC contenders, so surely they would have no trouble against the lowly Browns, right? Wrong. The Browns shut down the Packers' explosive offense all day and the defense created a pair of critical plays — an interception deep in Packers territory and a blocked field goal late — to come away with a shocking 13-10 win.
The Packers couldn't get much going all day on the ground or through the air, and Myles Garrett feasted all game long after Zach Tom went out with an injury on the first play of the game. This looked a lot more like the Browns of 2023 than the Browns of 2024 on the defensive side, which is a good sign for Cleveland and a bad sign for everyone on its schedule.
Cleveland also mucked things up for the Bengals with Joe Burrow in the lineup and stopped the Ravens and Derrick Henry from running the ball well, so this looks like a trend in the young season.
