SEPTEMBER 28, 2026 | 7:14 AM ET
NFL—Week 3 delivered another Sunday filled with close finishes, historic performances and several players moving alongside — or past — some of the biggest names in NFL history.
With two games remaining on the Week 3 schedule, 12 of 14 games reached the fourth quarter within one score and 11 were ultimately decided by eight points or fewer.
Five teams produced a game-winning score during the final three minutes. Three erased deficits of at least 10 points.
But some of Sunday’s biggest numbers belonged to Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
GIBBS PUTS HIMSELF IN RARE COMPANY
Jahmyr Gibbs finished Detroit’s 31-24 victory over the New York Jets with 164 yards from scrimmage — 99 rushing and 65 receiving — and three touchdowns.
He scored twice on the ground and once through the air.
Through three games, Gibbs now has 463 scrimmage yards, including 307 rushing and 156 receiving, with six total touchdowns.
No player in NFL history had previously opened a season with at least 300 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 150 receiving yards and multiple receiving touchdowns through three games.
The performance also gave Gibbs four career games with multiple rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown. He is the first player in NFL history to accomplish that four times within his first four seasons—Gibbs is still under 25 years old.
He already has 13 games with at least two rushing touchdowns, tying Jim Brown, Todd Gurley and Clinton Portis for the most such games in NFL history before turning 25.
His combination of yardage and scoring is producing another historical comparison. Gibbs now has four career games with at least 150 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns during his first four seasons. Only Cloyce Box, Jim Brown and Larry Johnson previously accomplished that.
After Amon-Ra St. Brown added his fifth touchdown reception of the season against New York—the pair have now scored touchdowns in the same game 23 times. Now tied with Buffalo Hall of Famers Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed for fourth among running back-wide receiver teammate combinations.
Only Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin at 32, Lenny Moore and Raymond Berry at 31, and Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison at 25 have done it more often.
Can Gibbs and St. Brown do it 9 or more times in 2026 to tie or beat the record?
MAHOMES MATCHES BRADY
Patrick Mahomes made his 150th career start, including the postseason, and Kansas City left Miami with a 24-10 victory. Mahomes completed the day with 246 passing yards, two touchdowns and a 119.8 passer rating.
More importantly it was career victory No. 115. Historically, he now ties Tom Brady for the most quarterback wins through a player’s first 150 career starts, including the postseason.
Mahomes also recorded the 97th game of his career with multiple touchdown passes. That moved him past Peyton Manning’s 96 for second-most through a quarterback’s first 10 seasons, including postseason games.
Russell Wilson holds the record with 100.
Running back Kenneth Walker also produced a unique piece of history, scoring once rushing and once receiving. Walker became the first player in NFL history to record both a rushing and receiving touchdown in two of his first three games with a team.
ALLEN KEEPS RUNNING INTO HISTORY
Josh Allen isn’t merely one of Buffalo’s primary passing weapons. His production as a runner continues to create records that quarterbacks have never reached.
Allen scored two rushing touchdowns in Buffalo’s 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. It marked his third consecutive game with multiple rushing touchdowns — something no quarterback in NFL history had previously accomplished.
Allen already has six rushing touchdowns through three games.
He has now recorded at least six rushing touchdowns in nine consecutive seasons, joining Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson and Jim Brown as the only players in NFL history to reach that threshold in nine straight seasons.
Buffalo also received another two-sack performance from Greg Rousseau.
Rousseau has recorded at least two sacks in each of Buffalo’s first three games, making him only the third player since sacks became official in 1982 to begin a season that way.
Mark Gastineau did it in 1984 and Kevin Greene followed in 1998.
RODGERS CLIMBS TWO MORE LISTS
Aaron Rodgers threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns with a 101.6 passer rating as Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati, 30-27. The victory was the 165th regular-season win of Rodgers’ career.
That ties Ben Roethlisberger for fifth in NFL history behind Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.
Rodgers also produced his 81st career game with at least three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 100 or better. That moved him ahead of Brees for second all-time. Only Brady, with 91, has more.
HENRY PASSES MARCUS ALLEN
Baltimore and Dallas produced one of Sunday’s wildest finishes in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro.
The Ravens overcame a double-digit deficit and defeated the Cowboys 34-31 when Tyler Loop connected on a 56-yard field goal as time expired.
Derrick Henry scored two rushing touchdowns. Those scores gave Henry 135 rushing touchdowns across the regular season and postseason, moving him past Marcus Allen’s 134 for third-most in NFL history.
Only Emmitt Smith, with 183, and LaDainian Tomlinson, with 151, remain ahead of Henry.
CHASE REACHES 7,000 AT HISTORIC SPEED
Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes despite Cincinnati’s 30-27 loss to Pittsburgh. It was Burrow’s 30th career game with at least three touchdown passes, tying Brett Favre and Dak Prescott for fourth-most by a quarterback during his first seven seasons.
Ja’Marr Chase caught one of those touchdowns while reaching another major career benchmark. Chase surpassed 7,000 receiving yards in his 81st career game. Only Lance Alworth, Julio Jones and Justin Jefferson reached 7,000 faster.
Chase also increased his career total to 57 touchdown receptions, moving past Dez Bryant for fourth-most by a player before turning 27.
SMITH-NJIGBA’S START ENTERS ELITE TERRITORY
Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 10 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns against Washington. He now has six touchdown receptions through three games.
Only four players during the Super Bowl era have opened a season with six touchdown catches through three games: Smith-Njigba, Calvin Johnson, Marvin Harrison and Daryl Turner.
His overall production narrows the company even further.
Smith-Njigba is only the second player in NFL history to produce at least 25 receptions, 400 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns through the first three games of a season—Marvin Harrison in 1999 is the other.
Smith-Njigba has also recorded at least 120 receiving yards and a touchdown in all three games. The only other player to begin a season that way was Jerry Rice in 1989.
WEEK 3’S CLOSE-GAME CHAOS
The individual records came during another week in which games repeatedly reached the final minutes undecided.
Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh each scored the game-winning points during the final three minutes of the fourth quarter.
Baltimore, Buffalo and Las Vegas each overcame deficits of at least 10 points.
Buffalo, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minnesota and San Francisco moved to 3-0, while Atlanta, Indianapolis and Washington earned their first victories.
Washington’s 33-31 victory over defending Super Bowl champion Seattle carried its own historical distinction. The Commanders became the first 0-2 team since Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh in 1980 to beat the defending champion during Week 3.
One additional rarity came from New Orleans. Tight ends Noah Fant and Juwan Johnson each caught two touchdown passes, becoming only the second tight-end tandem in NFL history to record multiple touchdown receptions apiece in the same game.
Jeremy Brigham and Rickey Dudley accomplished it for Oakland on December 24, 2000.
ROCK’S READ
Three weeks into the season, the league is producing two things simultaneously: incredibly tight football and individual performances reaching historical territory.
The Lions have one of the players driving that history.
Gibbs isn’t reaching running-back milestones solely because of rushing production. The combination is what separates him. Detroit can create explosive plays with him as a runner, move him into the passing game and still use him as a high-volume touchdown producer near the goal line.
Through three games, nobody in NFL history had combined rushing production, receiving production and touchdowns quite the way Gibbs has.
And at 23 games in which Gibbs and St. Brown have both scored, Detroit’s two premier offensive weapons are already entering statistical territory occupied by some of the greatest running back-receiver combinations the league has seen.
About Will Rock
Will Rock Is The Founder Of Detroit Football Journal And DFJ Sports, Providing Independent NFL Coverage With Credentialed Access Since 2024. His Work Focuses On Detroit Lions News, NFL Draft Scouting, Roster Analysis And Film Study.