Through three weeks of the 2026 NFL season, the league has already delivered its share of surprises - and not all of them are the good kind. Injuries are stacking up, and that kind of attrition can wreck a season before it ever really gets rolling. But alongside the chaos, a few teams have clearly come out swinging and exceeded expectations.
That’s where this look at the six most impressive teams so far comes in. The records aren’t always pretty, but the play has been worth noticing.
At No. 6, the New York Jets sit at 1-2, yet they’ve shown enough to earn a spot anyway. Their last two games ended in losses, but both were competitive in different ways: the Green Bay Packers needed overtime to get past them, and the Detroit Lions had to work to keep New York in the game.
The record says one thing, but the on-field product suggests a team that can hang around. The Jets may not be headed for the playoffs, but they look capable of staying competitive and even spoiling someone’s plans along the way.
Arizona checks in at No. 5, also at 1-2, and they’ve made a stronger impression than that record might suggest. The Cardinals opened with an upset of the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, then brought plenty of resistance against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3.
They still don’t have a winning team or a long-term quarterback answer, but they do look spirited under first-year head coach Mike LaFleur. More than that, they’ve been a fun offense to watch, which counts for something this early in the season.
They may not be in a position to contend right now, but Arizona has already shown it is far from the pushover many expected it to be.
In Other News...
Cardinals Fans Got An Awkward Viral Officiating Moment They Cant Ignore
The Cardinals Week 3 loss to the 49ers already had enough attention attached to it, but one strange sidelight from Levis Stadium is now living on its own. In a game San Francisco won 36-30, a viral photo captured an NFL official making awkward contact with an Arizona player while spotting the ball, turning an otherwise routine sequence into the kind of clip fans cant stop replaying.
The image quickly spread across social media, where the moment drew far more conversation than the play itself. The player involved was never identified, leaving the scene as an unresolved and uncomfortable footnote to a tight divisional game, one Cardinals fans are likely to remember for reasons that have nothing to do with the final score. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Showed Just Enough Fight To Change The Mike LaFleur Debate
The loss to the 49ers left Arizona at 1-2 and kept the divisional skid going at eight straight, but there was still enough visible fight to make the bigger conversation around Mike LaFleur a little more complicated. In a rebuilding season, the Cardinals are still learning how to compete snap to snap, and the early returns under a first-year head coach have been shaped as much by the process as by the results.
LaFleur pointed to the effort he saw Sunday while also stressing the need for patience and improvement, which is where this team now lives: somewhere between encouraging signs and the hard reality of a long climb back. The record is still the record, and the losses in the division keep piling up, but Arizona at least showed enough against San Francisco to suggest the conversation about this coaching staff is not as simple as the standings say. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Let Upset Bid Slip Away For One Frustrating Reason
The Cardinals had a real shot to turn Sunday into one of those early-season wins that can change the tone of a locker room, but their trip to San Francisco slipped away in a game defined by self-inflicted damage. Arizona fell 36-30 to the 49ers in Week 3, and the frustrating part was how often the Cardinals helped make life harder on themselves with penalties and missed tackles at key moments.
Jacoby Brissett gave Arizona enough to stay in the fight, finishing 38 of 52 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, even if the offense took too long to get rolling. There were positive signs, too, including Simi Fehokos recovery of a muffed punt, but those flashes were drowned out by 10 penalties for 86 yards and the kind of tackling breakdowns that can erase a strong stretch in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]