Green Bay Packers rookie Christian Watson was the star of the show in his side's 31-28 comeback win in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
With no career receiving touchdowns coming into the contest, the second-round draft pick got one on the board in the first quarter, reeling in a deep ball for a 58-yard touchdown in response to CeeDee Lamb's opening score.
A 12-yard rush from Aaron Jones would give the Packers a lead, before Dalton Schultz tied things up with the fourth touchdown of the first frame.
Second-quarter scores to Cowboys running back Tony Pollard and a second for Lamb gave their side a 28-14 lead at halftime, but Dallas would not score the rest of the way.
Watson brought it back to a one-possession game with his second touchdown to begin the fourth quarter, and he struck again with 2:29 remaining in regulation to tie the game and force overtime.
After the Cowboys failed to convert a fourth down in the extra period, the Packers marched downfield and set-up a game-winning 28-yard field goal for Mason Crosby.
With Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers desperate for a new go-to option, Watson was targeting on eight of his 20 passes for a whopping 40 per cent target share. For reference, Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams leads the league with a 31.7 per cent target share entering Week 10.
Watson caught four of his eight targets for 107 yards and three touchdowns, while to all other receivers Rodgers completed 10 passes for 117 yards and no scores.
Saturday gets his first Sunday win
In his first game as a head coach above the high school level, Indianapolis Colts legend Jeff Saturday led his team to a 25-20 road win against the Las Vegas Raiders.
In a surprising move that was not announced pre-game, interim coach Saturday opted to return the starting quarterback role to veteran Matt Ryan, pivoting away from second-year youngster Sam Ehlinger.
Ryan was serviceable, completing 21 of 28 passes for 222 yards and no turnovers, but they relied on their running game to get the job done.
Star running back Jonathan Taylor was the Colts' workhorse, carrying 22 times for 147 yards and two scores, highlighted by a 66-yard touchdown run to take the lead in the third quarter.
Philadelphia Eagles turn up the Hurts on Tampa Bay to remain unbeaten
The Philadelphia Eagles maintained their perfect start to the season, proving too strong for previously unbeaten Tampa Bay.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts led his team to a 25-11 win as he masterminded a game-deciding drive that lasted nine minutes.
Hurts threw for 277 yards and scored a touchdown while running back D’Andre Swift racked up 130 yards on 16 carries.
The Eagles are 3-0 for the second successive season and join Miami and San Francisco as the only unbeaten sides.
Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow shook off a calf injury to throwing for 259 yards to beat the Los Angeles Rams 19-16 for the Bengals’ first win of the season.
Burrow, who picked up the injury in pre-season and aggravated it against Baltimore last week, only returned to training on Thursday.
Running back Joe Mixon’s 14-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the AFC North champions their first lead of the season.
Logan Wilson intercepted Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford twice and he was sacked six times.
Chargers wide receiver Williams out for season with torn ACL
The Los Angeles Chargers will be without star wide receiver Mike Williams for the remainder of the 2023 season after an MRI confirmed he tore his ACL in Week 3, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday.
Williams went down in the third quarter of the Chargers’ 28-24 road win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday after recording seven catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.
Williams entered Monday’s action ranked 12th in the league in receiving yards (249), tied for 12th in targets (26) and tied for 13th in catches (19).
Since being selected seventh overall by the Chargers in the 2017 NFL Draft, Williams has 309 receptions for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Los Angeles lost its first two games by a combined five points before defeating Minnesota.
The Chargers went 10-7 last season and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2018. They led by 10 points after three quarters in the wild-card round at Jacksonville before the Jaguars rallied for a 31-30 victory.
Miami Dolphins turn down record bid in rout of hapless Denver Broncos
The Miami Dolphins rattled up the highest points total in the NFL since 1966 as they overwhelmed the winless Denver Broncos 70-20.
Rookie De’Von Achane ran for 203 yards, two touchdowns and collected a touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa – who completed his first 17 passes – while fellow running back Raheen Mostert ran for three touchdowns and caught another.
Coach Mike McDaniel opted against a last-ditch field-goal attempt which would have broken the record of 72 points set by Washington against the Giants 57 years ago.
AFC East rivals Buffalo Bills also had a commanding victory as they routed the Washington Commanders 37-3.
Josh Allen threw for one touchdown and ran for another as the Bills defence sacked home quarterback Sam Howell nine times.
Howell threw four interceptions, once of which was returned for a touchdown by AJ Epenesa – as the Commanders went scoreless until a field goal with 46 seconds left on the clock.
Elsewhere in the AFC East, the New England Patriots won 15-10 to beat the New York Jets for a 15th successive game and avoid a first 0-3 start since 2000.
Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdown passes, two to Jerick McKinnon, but had to take second billing to a watching Taylor Swift as Kansas City Chiefs ease passed the winless Chicago Bears 41-10.
Swift cheered on from a suite at the invitation of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, with whom she has been romantically linked and who also grabbed a touchdown pass from Mahomes.
Reigning MVP Mahomes threw for 272 yards, Isiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire adding touchdown runs as the Bears fell to a 13th straight defeat ahead of a clash with the Broncos next week.
Kenny Pickett passed for 235 yards with two touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Steelers held off a fourth quarter comeback from the Las Vegas Raiders to win 23-18.
The Raiders, who trailed 23-7 going into the final quarter, cut the deficit to eight points but opted to take a field goal on fourth and four in the closing moments.
Dallas Cowboys’ impressive start to the season hit came to an abrupt end as they lost 28-16 at Arizona Cardinals, Joshua Dobbs throwing for a touchdown and 189 yards to secure his first win as a starting quarterback in his seventh NFL season.
Quarterback Derek Carr was forced off with a shoulder injury as the New Orleans Saints coughed up a 17-0 lead to lose 18-7 to the Green Bay Packers while Kenneth Walker II rushed for a pair of touchdowns as the Seattle Seahawks won 37-27 over the winless Carolina Panthers.
The Minnesota Vikings are also 0-3 after they went down 28-24 to the Los Angeles Chargers, Justin Herbert completing 40 of 47 passes – a franchise record 18 of them to Keenan Allen – for 405 yards and three touchdowns.
Andrew Beck returned a kick-off 85 yards for a touchdown and CJ Stroud threw for two more as the Houston Texans beat the faltering Jacksonville Jaguars 37-17.
Matt Gay kicked four field goals from more than 50 yards, including the game winner in overtime from 53 yards, as the Indianapolis Colts won 22-19 to inflict a first defeat of the season on the Baltimore Ravens.
The Tennessee Titans totalled just 94 yards in offence as they went down 27-3 at the Cleveland Browns, while the Atlanta Falcons went down 20-6 at the Detroit Lions.
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