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NFL Week 3 Sunday review: Vikings solidify Super Bowl credentials, Ravens send Cowboys into crisis mode, flagging Panthers earn first win

Vaseline September 24, 2024

CNN
—

The theme for week 3 was teams getting their first win of the season.

Six franchises began their two-game losing streak on Sunday to start the new season, but that all changed this week as only the Tennessee Titans remain winless after three games played — though the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars could join them after Monday night.

Several Super Bowl contenders also performed impressively and achieved victories, cementing their reputations as title contenders.

Below you will find the main storylines from Sunday’s events.

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Two wins to open the NFL season might seem like a fluke. But the Minnesota Vikings put an end to any fears that they were a one-hit wonder with a dominant 34-7 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Any doubts that Minnesota had caught lightning in a bottle in the early weeks of the season were dispelled when Sam Darnold – the backup in the preseason before first-round rookie JJ McCarthy was cut for the season – once again led the offense superbly.

Darnold completed 17 of 28 passes for 181 yards and four touchdowns against a stout Texans defense, one each for Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones, Jalen Nailor and Johnny Mundt.

The 27-year-old is enjoying a new lease on life with the Vikings under head coach Kevin O’Connell. Sunday’s multi-touchdown outing marked the first time in Darnold’s career that he’s done so in three consecutive games.

In his 66 games with the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers, Darnold threw for four touchdowns in one game, but now he has accomplished the feat in just his third game for Minnesota.

Darnold threw four touchdowns in the win over the Texans.

According to the NFL, Darnold became the fourth quarterback in Vikings history to start a season 3-0, joining Hall of Famers Fran Tarkenton and Brett Favre, as well as Daunte Culpepper.

O’Connell later called Darnold’s performance against the Texans “very, very good.”

“Smart, really decisive, good at keeping the ball, accurate,” he said.

On the other hand, the Texans’ previously explosive offense was thwarted by Minnesota’s defense, led by coordinator Brian Flores.

Flores’ play-calling seemed to confuse sophomore passer C.J. Stroud, as Houston opened the game with an interception. He would throw another in a disappointing afternoon for last season’s Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard was a frequent game-changer against his former team, finishing the game with three sacks.

“It’s in your best interest not to (mess with me),” Greenard said afterward. “I’m glad I’m here in Minnesota because they clearly respect me. If somebody else wants to do that, they can try it.”

The loss was so painful that Stroud was benched midway through the fourth quarter to prevent costly injuries, and the Texans suffered their first defeat of the season.

Stroud was tackled three times by Greenard in Sunday's Week 3 game.

Both the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys entered Sunday’s Week 3 game in Arlington, Texas in desperate need of a win after disappointing Week 2 games.

Sunday’s game was a close one, but the Ravens still managed to get off to a good start this season, sending “America’s Team” into crisis mode with their 28-25 victory.

Baltimore jumped out to a big lead, thanks in large part to a stellar game from midseason acquisition Derrick Henry.

The running back had two rushing touchdowns and quarterback Lamar Jackson added a passing and running score, giving the Ravens a 28-6 lead in the fourth quarter.

Henry finished with 151 yards on 25 attempts on the ground and Jackson collected 87 rushing yards as the duo attacked Dallas with their legs.

According to the NFL, Sunday’s game was Henry’s 12th career game with 150-plus rushing yards and two or more rushing touchdowns, which ranks him second in NFL history, tied with LaDainian Tomlinson and trailing Jim Brown.

Henry had a great game after signing with the Baltimore Ravens in the offseason and winning over the Dallas Cowboys.

Although the offense struggled in the final minutes and the defense allowed three straight touchdowns, Baltimore managed to hold on and finally get its first win of the season.

After starting the season 0-2, Jackson spoke after the win about the importance of realizing their goals for the season.

“Honestly, every game is a big game for us because we want to get somewhere,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to win these games to make the playoffs, man, and win these playoff games to make the Super Bowl. But it starts with the game in front of us.”

It is the third home defeat in a row for Dallas and alarm bells are ringing for Mike McCarthy’s team.

After Dallas was eliminated by the New Orleans Saints in Week 2, he was expected to bounce back against the Ravens and turn things around.

But the team now falls to 1-2 as the pressure on McCarthy’s shoulders continues to mount. With just a four-day break before they play the New York Giants again on Thursday night, the Cowboys head coach says he’d rather focus on the team’s late comeback against Baltimore.

“It’s something that’s not in the playbook, in the scheme. The heart and soul of your football team and the ability to grow emotionally and have that experience,” McCarthy told reporters. “It’s a great fourth quarter for our freshmen players.

“It’s the connection that we don’t have at the level that we’re capable of. So this is the emotional area that we have to be much better at. They have the work ethic, it’s a very good locker room. There’s talent. The mental part of it, we have to have stepped up a bit more than last week. Last week was definitely not good enough. The emotional part is where the real gold is. This end of the game can also serve.”

McCarthy's Dallas team now sits at 1-2 through three weeks of the 2024 season.

The Panthers have been the most disappointing team in the NFL over the past two weeks, after two convincing losses to the Saints and Los Angeles Chargers.

First-year head coach Dave Canales made the big decision before Week 3 to bench 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young and replace him with veteran Andy Dalton.

And that decision immediately paid off, as the Panthers seemed to perform much better after their 36-22 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Dalton went 26-of-37 for 319 yards and three touchdowns, while Carolina looked like a completely different team with the 36-year-old at the helm, scoring more points (21) in the first half of Sunday’s game than they had in the previous two weeks combined (13).

His connection with wide receiver Diontae Johnson was crucial, with the former Pittsburgh Steeler having a career day with 122 receiving yards on eight catches and a touchdown. The duo’s success through the air opened up the running game, with Chuba Hubbard adding 117 yards on the ground on 21 carries.

After the win, Dalton said it had been a “tough week” within the organization following the benching of Young, but he also spoke about how special the performance against the Raiders was for him.

“I mean, it felt great. Obviously, I got the opportunity to be there and it went the way it did, I couldn’t have imagined it any better,” Dalton told reporters. “I thought our guys had the right attitude and mentality from the start and we never slowed down.

Dalton threw three touchdowns against the Las Vegas Raiders.

“That was the fun part. We didn’t just put one drive together. We were able to keep it going the whole game. We played complementary football and the boys had a lot of fun, and that’s how it should be.”

It was a disappointing game for the Raiders, who surprisingly beat the Ravens in Week 2.

Las Vegas scored just seven points in the first three quarters of Sunday’s game and the team was booed off the Allegiant Stadium field after the loss.

After the home loss, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce expressed anger over his team’s performance, saying some of his players made “business decisions” during Sunday’s game.

“We took a beating,” Pierce told reporters. “We got to put on pads, I don’t know, we got to go on the sled. Same group coming back, for the most part, and same technique, same coaches, it’s not a different scheme, so we’ve got to coach better, obviously, and be tough on guys, and guys have to take some rough coaching, because we just didn’t see that on both sides of the ball.

“We had the chance to run the ball and we didn’t. We didn’t at all. We tried and tried and tried, and I would have booed us too. Offensively, defensively, we didn’t do well enough up front, not good enough.”