Jack Andrade and the NFL Media Research team put together the best stats and records from Sunday's slate of games. Here are the most notable research notes from Week 3:
- Russell Wilson had 5 passing touchdowns as the Seahawks beat the Cowboys and started 3-0 for the first time since their Super Bowl-winning season in 2013. Wilson is the first player in NFL history with at least 4 pass touchdowns in each of his team's first 3 games of a season. Wilson's 14 pass touchdowns this season are the most in NFL history by any player in his team's first 3 games of a season.
- Dak Prescott had 450 passing yards last week against the Falcons, then had 472 passing yards in Week 3 against the Seahawks. Prescott is the first player in Cowboys history with back-to-back games with at least 400 passing yards, and he joined Jameis Winston (Weeks 14 & 15, 2019) as the only players in NFL history with at least 450 passing yards in consecutive games.
- The Packers are 3-0 and Aaron Rodgers looks like his MVP self again. Rodgers is the first QB in NFL history to have at least 9 pass touchdowns, zero interceptions, and be sacked 2 or fewer times in his team's first 3 games of a season.
- Alvin Kamara has scored 2+ touchdowns in each of his last 5 games — the longest such streak by any player since HOF LaDainian Tomlinson had 8 consecutive multi-TD games on his way to winning NFL MVP and setting the single-season touchdown record (31) in 2006.
- Drew Brees threw 3 touchdown passes on Sunday Night despite losing to the Packers. It was Brees' 94th career game with at least 3 pass touchdowns, breaking a tie with Peyton Manning for the most such games in NFL history.
- The Rams stormed back from a 28-3 deficit to take a 32-28 lead over the Bills in the 4th quarter in Week 3. Had Los Angeles held on to win, it would have been the largest comeback win in franchise history. Bills QB Josh Allen had other ideas, engineering his 7th game-winning drive since the beginning of the 2019 season -- the most by any QB in the NFL in that span.
- Allen has 1,038 passing yards and 10 pass touchdowns over the first 3 games, leading the Bills to a 3-0 start. Allen is the 4th QB in NFL history to win each of his team's first 3 games of a season and have at least 1,000 pass yards and at least 10 pass touchdowns over those 3 games. Each of the previous 3 -- Jim Kelly with the Bills in 1991, Manning with the Broncos in 2013, and Patrick Mahomes with the Chiefs in 2019 — went on to play in the Super Bowl that season.
- One week after blowing a 15-point 4th quarter lead to the Cowboys, the Falcons blew a 16-point lead in the 4th quarter in Week 3 vs the Bears. Atlanta is the first team in NFL history to blow a 4th quarter lead of at least 15 points in consecutive games. Conversely, the Bears are the first team in NFL history to win multiple games in the same season after trailing by at least 16 points in the 4th quarter, having also overcome a 16-point 4th quarter deficit in Week 1 against the Lions.
- The Patriots had 250 rushing yards in their Week 3 win over the Raiders. Sony Michel had 117 rush yards on just 9 carries, the most rushing yards in team history by a player that had fewer than 10 carries in a game. Rex Burkhead added 2 rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown, the first Patriots player with at least 2 rush TD and at least 1 receiving TD in a single game since James White in Super Bowl LI vs the Falcons.
- According to Next Gen Stats, the Patriots aligned with the QB under center on 81.6 percent (31/38) of their carries in Week 3, amassing 245 rushing yards and 7.9 yards per carry on those runs. In Weeks 1 & 2, the Patriots aligned the QB under center on just 44.8 percent of carries and averaged 4.4 yards per carry on those runs.
- Tom Brady threw 3 touchdown passes and finally looked like his old self as the Buccaneers coasted to a win over the Broncos. Speaking of old, Brady is the oldest player in NFL history with 3 pass touchdowns in a game -- at 43 years and 55 days old, he is 17 days older than George Blanda was when he had 3 pass touchdowns for the Raiders vs. the Steelers in 1970.
- The Steelers racked up 169 rushing yards in their Week 3 win over the Texans. Houston dropped to 0-3 on the season and has allowed at least 160 rushing yards in all 3 games. The last team to allow at least 160 rushing yards in each of the first 3 games of a season was the 2009 Texans. That team started 1-2, then finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.
- Dalvin Cook set a career high with 181 rushing yards and Justin Jefferson's 175 receiving yards were the most in a game by a Vikings rookie since Randy Moss (190 in Week 5, 1998 vs the Packers). The Vikings became the first team in NFL history to have an individual with at least 175 rush yards and an individual with at least 175 receiving yards in the same game. But Minnesota lost 31-30 to Tennessee, dropping to 0-3 for the first time since 2013 (the season prior to hiring Mike Zimmer as head coach). Kirk Cousins has 6 interceptions through the first 3 games, matching his total from the entire 2019 season.
- Sam Darnold threw a pair of pick-sixes in in Week 3, following in the footsteps of a Jets legend. Prior to Darnold, the last player to throw multiple pick-sixes in a game against the Colts was Hall of Famer Joe Namath nearly 50 years ago (Week 5, 1970).
- Justin Herbert had 311 passing yards in his NFL debut last week and followed it up with 330 passing yards vs the Panthers in Week 3. He joins Cam Newton (2011) and Kyler Murray (2019) as the only QBs in NFL history with at least 300 passing yards in each of his first 2 career games.
- Murray and the Cardinals suffered their first loss of the season in Week 3, but Murray had his 3rd consecutive game with at least 1 pass touchdown (2) and at least 1 rush touchdown (1). He is the 2nd player in NFL history with at least 1 pass touchdown and at least 1 rush touchdown in each of his team's first 3 games of a season, joining Jack Kemp of the Bills in 1965 (the Bills won the AFL Championship that season).
