Three-way race for NFL MVP, former No. 1 pick finding his footing, promising rookie class in Cleveland? NFL Week 3 takeaways
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — While some teams continued to find their identity, others put down a marker for what could lie ahead as Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season rolled around.
There were breakout performances from established stars and promising rookies. But on the other side, the injury bug caught up with some franchises – the San Francisco 49ers lost star pass rusher Nick Bosa to a season-ending torn ACL, while Arizona Cardinals running back James Connor suffered a foot injury which rules him out for the remainer of 2025.
Here are the three main takeaways from Week 3.
Three-way race for NFL MVP?
Three weeks into the NFL season is typically too early to make grand proclamations about who the favorites are to win the NFL Most Valuable Player award.
But we’re going to do it anyway.
Quarterbacks are often the front-runners to win the award and this year looks no different with three stellar candidates leading the race so far.
Two are previous winners – Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen – and one is a newcomer to this stage – Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Jackson, a two-time winner of the award, has continued to show why he’s one of the most difficult players to game-plan against for opposing defenses, with his running ability making him almost impossible to catch and his throwing accuracy consistently improving.
While Jackson entered the NFL as a raw prospect with obvious physical gifts, the 28-year-old has developed into one of the most accomplished pocket passers and once again looks set for another monster season.
2024 NFL MVP Allen has also begun the season well, leading the Bills to a 3-0 start behind some almost perfect performances.
Allen has thrown five passing touchdowns, run in two more and has had zero giveaways through the first three weeks. He’s benefited from a thriving running game too, with Buffalo back James Cook wracking up 284 yards on the ground and four scores.
But Allen and Jackson will have to go against Chargers quarterback Herbert if they want to add another MVP trophy to their list of accolades.
The sixth-year quarterback is thriving during head coach Jim Harbaugh’s second season in Los Angeles and, despite many thinking the team would become a run-orientated outfit, the opposite has in fact happened.
The Chargers are relying on Herbert’s ability with the ball in his hands, and the quarterback has already thrown for 860 yards and six touchdowns across the team’s three season-opening wins.
And from the eye test, Herbert looks the real deal too.
He once again showed why he’s a unique talent late in the Week 3 victory against the Denver Broncos. The 27-year-old somehow escaped a sack, scrambled to his left and – with a defender in his face – managed to produce a brilliant throw to find Keenan Allen in the endzone to tie the game. On the next possession, he orchestrated a time-sapping drive to set up the Chargers’ game-winning field goal.
Harbaugh’s empowering of his quarterback is clearly having the desired effect, and Herbert’s success through the first three weeks has him in a strong position to challenge for his first MVP award, should it continue.
Caleb Williams shows he’s the real deal … finally
Caleb Williams’ rookie year with the Chicago Bears was a rough one, punctuated with an almost record level of sacks, offensive woes and a head coach firing.
And his second year, now with first-year head coach Ben Johnson at the helm, didn’t start much better with two tough outings to open the season.
But in Week 3, the 2024 No. 1 overall pick out of USC showed why he’s long been touted as a star in the league.
Williams threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns, including a beautiful 65-yard bomb down the left sideline to Luther Burden, in a big win over the Dallas Cowboys and his former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, now the defensive coordinator of the Cowboys.
That pass to Burden was the exclamation point on arguably the best performances of Williams’ young NFL career, and one which left NFL legend Tom Brady – who was covering the game for Fox – in awe.
“OH. MY. GOD!” Brady exclaimed, before adding: “Caleb, man in his face and absolutely unleashes a dot all the way downfield. Incredible.”
The addition of Johnson as head coach of the Bears was meant to galvanize Williams and the Chicago offense after years of success in Detroit as the Lions’ offensive coordinator.
But through the first two weeks, that offensive transformation has yet to be seen, with Williams and his cohort of offensive weapons struggling to get on track.
That changed on Sunday, though, when it all came together perfectly, largely because of an almost perfect game from Williams.
Next crop of stars in Cleveland?
Arguably the result of Week 3 came in Cleveland, where the Browns scored 10 points in the final three minutes to defeat the previously-unbeaten Green Bay Packers 13-10.
It was the Browns’ first win of the season and came courtesy of the promising set of rookies they selected in April’s NFL Draft.
While the passing offense struggled against a loaded Packers defense, Cleveland’s running game performed admirably, mainly through rookie Quinshon Judkins, who was drafted in second round out of Ohio State.
In just his second appearance in the NFL, Judkins ran for 94 yards on 18 attempts, including a touchdown, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
For a team who let veteran Nick Chubb leave in the offseason, Judkins’ emergence comes at a timely moment. And with fellow rookie Dylan Sampson at the position, it could offer production at running back going forward.
Elsewhere on offense, first-year tight end Harold Fannin Jr. continued to display why he is rated so highly. Fannin Jr. had three catches for 25 yards and offers a perfect foil for fellow tight end David Njoku.
And Cleveland’s rookies on defense also showed up against Green Bay.
Linebacker Carson Schwesinger – drafted in the second round out of UCLA – continued his monster start to life in the NFL, flying round the field and popping up wherever the Packers tried to move the ball.
Schwesinger finished with nine tackles and one sack.
Mason Graham, the no. 5 overall pick in the 2025 Draft, also had an impact, with the defensive tackle wracking up three tackles and 0.5 sacks. Undrafted defensive end Adin Huntington also had half a sack.
Even with all those rookies playing a part, the Browns could have more to come as the season develops from the quarterback position having drafted Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in the third and fifth rounds respectively.
For a team predicted to be one of the worst in the league this season, the Browns’ crop of first-year players will offer signs of optimism for the rest of the year.
Full Week 3 scores
(Home vs. away, winners in bold)
Buffalo Bills 31-21 Miami Dolphins
Carolina Panthers 30-0 Atlanta Falcons
Cleveland Browns 13-10 Green Bay Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars 17-10 Houston Texans
Minnesota Vikings 48-10 Cincinnati Bengals
New England Patriots 14-21 Pittsburgh Steelers
Philadelphia Eagles 33-26 Los Angeles Rams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-27 New York Jets
Tennessee Titans 20-41 Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders 41-24 Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers 23-20 Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks 44-13 New Orleans Saints
Chicago Bears 31-14 Dallas Cowboys
San Francisco 49ers 16-15 Arizona Cardinals
New York Giants 9-22 Kansas City Chiefs
Baltimore Ravens 30-38 Detroit Lions
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