NFL Week 3 winners, losers: Brock Bowers dominates in return, Drake Maye flops

Marcus Mariota, quarterback, Washington Commanders.  Mariota came off the bench after last week's injury to Jayden Daniels and  threw three touchdowns with no interceptions against the defending Super Bowl champions, leading the Commanders to a huge 33-31 win over the Seattle Seahawks. 

Brock Bowers, tight end,  Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders are 3-0, and absolutely nobody saw that coming. Even better for them? Their 35-27 win over the New Orleans Saints was the 2026 season debut for star tight end Brock Bowers. He made an immediate impact, catching 10 passes (on 13 targets) for 116 yards and a touchdown.

Tyler Loop, kicker,  Baltimore Ravens. Somehow, the Ravens found themselves in a position where Loop had a chance to kick a 56-yard, walk-off field goal despite starting a position with just seven seconds to play. He drilled it, lifting his team to a 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys. 

NFL Week 3 losers

Cincinnati Bengals special teams. Just an absolutely abysmal performance from this unit. They were guilty of a roughing the punter call that extended a Steelers drive, resulting in a touchdown. As if that was not bad enough, they also fumbled a punt (while protecting a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter) that gave the Steelers the ball inside the 15-yard line. The Steelers converted that for a field goal. That is a 10 point swing (at least) in a game the Bengals lost by three points. 

Drake Maye, quarterback, New England Patriots. It is time to be concerned. Very concerned. Maye has not looked good in at least six consecutive starts now, and Sunday may have been one of his worst performances in the NFL. He is regressing. Rapidly. The Patriots need him to figure it out. Fast. They are not going to have the luxury of an all-time bad schedule this season. It is going to come down to their young quarterback playing like the franchise quarterback he is supposed to be. 

Justin Herbert, quarterback, Los Angeles Chargers. Yeah, the team around him might stink as well, but Herbert makes too many mistakes like this that can't be blamed on anybody but him. The Chargers are now 0-3 this season after Sunday's 24-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Tom Brady was right to rip him.

Dallas Cowboys coaching staff. Everything about the final minute of this game was a coaching disaster. They seemed content to play for a tie and overtime, and then they never made it to overtime because they kicked a touchdown back with seven seconds to play instead of making Baltimore run time off the clock. Then they somehow allowed Lamar Jackson to complete a pass down the seam to get them into field goal range for the aforementioned Loop walk-off field goal. 

The NFC South. The NFL's worst division is at it again, with three teams at 1-2 (Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints) and one team ( Tampa Bay Buccaneers) at 0-3 through the first three games. Even worse for Tampa Bay, it is not facing the potential absence of starting quarterback Baker Mayfield due to a dislocated thumb.