Week 3 gave the NFC East the kind of chaos that keeps this division in the spotlight. The four teams split their games 2-2, but the story was less about balance and more about how wildly different those outcomes looked. Washington pulled off one of the better wins of the young season, Dallas handed away a game it had in reach, the Giants scraped together a survival win, and Philadelphia got flattened in a way that will sting for a while.
Washington’s turnaround started with Marcus Mariota, who was pressed into duty after Jayden Daniels went down with an elbow injury in last week’s loss to the Cowboys. Facing the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, Mariota walked into a spot where the Commanders could have easily fallen into an 0-3 hole.
Instead, he helped guide them to a 33-31 win from start to finish and ended Seattle’s 12-game winning streak that stretched back to last season. Mariota went 19 of 31 for 183 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, giving Washington a lift in one of the season’s most impressive early wins given everything around it.
Dallas, meanwhile, came apart in the kind of finish teams replay in their heads all week. The Cowboys defense did enough in stretches to keep them alive, stacking up several strong short-yardage stops and somehow making the game feel salvageable late.
But the offense and Brian Schottenheimer were also part of the problem, and the final sequence at the goal line turned into a mess of coaching decisions that helped sink the whole thing. The mistakes piled up: going away from Javonte Williams on the first drive, not telling Brandon Aubrey to force Baltimore to return the last-season kickoff, and then the most glaring one of all - coaching Dak Prescott to throw the ball away at the goal instead of getting it to George Pickens at the front pylon.
Dallas had plenty of issues a year ago, but this one landed differently, and Schottenheimer is the one who will wear it.
The Giants didn’t exactly light anything up, but they got the result they needed after a rough Week 2. Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury had already forced the team into another quarterback reset, and Jameis Winston had not handled the switch well on Monday Night Football.
A week later, he was much steadier against the Tennessee Titans at home. Winston led four field-goal drives, and New York’s defense finished the job with an interception in the end zone on Tennessee’s final possession to lock down a 12-7 win.
There’s still uncertainty around the Giants’ quarterback situation, especially with J.J. McCarthy now in the building after a trade with the Minnesota Vikings, but Winston may have helped himself enough to stay in the conversation if head coach John Harbaugh names him the starter.
Philadelphia’s night ended with a little bit of style and a lot of disappointment. The Eagles closed the first half against the Chicago Bears with a buzzer-beating touchdown on a tush-push from Jalen Hurts, but that was about as good as it got.
Chicago, with 38-year-old Case Keenum stepping in as the third-string quarterback after Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent were injured, rolled to a 27-7 win. Keenum carved up the Eagles all night, finishing 24 of 34 for 247 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while also adding a rushing score.
The numbers were strong, but the performance looked even better than that, with Keenum hitting tough throw after tough throw. For Philadelphia, the embarrassment wasn’t just losing - it was losing that badly to an aging quarterback who had only a week to prepare for the job.
In Other News...
Eagles Loss Exposed A Bigger Problem Than One Bad Night
The Eagles 27-7 loss to the Bears on Monday Night Football looked bad on the surface, and the details only made it harder to dismiss. Philadelphia gave away the ball three times, drew 10 penalties and spent much of the night chasing Chicagos passing game, with the Bears finding steady answers through the air. For a team trying to stay on track, it was the kind of performance that turns one rough result into a much bigger conversation.
A few individual efforts still stood out, with DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley providing some of the few bright spots on an otherwise frustrating night. But the struggles of players such as Marcus Epps and Andy Dalton only added to the sense that this was more than an off game, especially for a defense that could not settle in against Case Keenums rhythm. The loss left the Eagles looking for answers in a hurry, because the issues exposed here went well beyond one bad evening. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Hurts Gave Eagles Fans A Major Scare On One Brutal Hit
Jalen Hurts gave Eagles fans a jolt on Monday night when he took a heavy hit from Bears linebacker DMarco Jackson and went down near the sideline during the game in Chicago. The moment briefly shifted the focus away from the scoreboard and onto Philadelphias quarterback, with Hurts heading to the medical tent for a concussion evaluation before the Eagles could fully exhale.
Hurts was eventually cleared and returned to the game, easing the immediate concern for a team that could ill afford to lose its starter in a prime-time matchup. Chicago had already grabbed an early lead on Case Keenums touchdown pass, so the sequence only added to an uneasy start for Philadelphia, which had to keep playing while its most important player was being checked out. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Siriannis Sideline Outburst Started With One Alarming Eagles Moment
The moment that set off Nick Siriannis sideline reaction came in the middle of a rough night for the Eagles on Monday Night Football, when Jalen Hurts took a hit that sent him into a concussion evaluation. Cameras caught Sirianni yelling at Bears linebacker DMarco Jackson in the aftermath, a flashpoint that stood out even more in a lopsided 27-7 loss for Philadelphia.
Sirianni later apologized for his language and said he regretted the way he handled himself, a notable admission from a coach whose sideline intensity has long been part of the package. For the Eagles, the bigger concern remains the health of Hurts and the larger fallout from a game that went sideways quickly, but the sideline scene added another layer to an already frustrating night. [Read more 🡒]