NFL Sunday Rewind: Dolphins, Eagles lone 3-0 teams; Colts, Jaguars pull off upsets

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It was another wild week around the NFL in Week 3, with a whopping eight underdogs winning their games outright on Sunday.

That included the Dolphins taking down the Bills, the Titans defeating the Raiders, the Colts upsetting the Chiefs, the Panthers getting their first win of the year over the Saints, the Jaguars dominating the Chargers in L.A., the Falcons defeating the Seahawks, the Packers defeating the Bucs and the Broncos winning on Sunday night against the 49ers. 

The Dolphins and Eagles come out of Sunday as the only teams to remain undefeated. The Giants have a chance to be the third 3-0 team after Week 3 on Monday night as they face the Dallas Cowboys at home.

Let’s check out some of the top storylines from Sunday’s NFL action.

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It was almost a disaster for the Miami Dolphins on Sunday as they led the Bills 21-17 when a punt in their own end zone resulted in a safety for Buffalo as Thomas Morstead hit his punt into the backside of the “personal protector” in punt formation.

Miami overcame what was quickly dubbed the “butt punt” by shutting down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills twice in the final minutes, improving to 3-0 with a 21-19 victory that ended with Allen desperately trying to spike the football on the edge of field goal range.

“I don’t like these shock endings,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “But I’m just really, really happy for the team because this much I do know: Teams win football games, and if you are going to have success over the long haul, you have to have confidence that whatever phase can win a football game for you, can go ahead and do that.”

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa briefly left the game in the second quarter, returning after halftime despite appearing to be disoriented by a head injury — the team clarified later that actually, he had an issue with his back. He finished with 186 yards and a touchdown pass to River Cracraft.

The Dolphins’ defense did just enough to stall Josh Allen twice in the fourth quarter, the first effort a goal-line stand that followed a go-ahead rushing touchdown by Miami’s Chase Edmonds.

Allen threw incomplete on fourth down from the 2-yard line, ending a 17-play, eight-minute drive — and seemingly Buffalo’s chances for a comeback win.

The Bills were without several defensive starters, including starting safety Micah Hyde, who on Saturday went on injured reserve with a neck injury, and cornerback Dane Jackson, who suffered a neck injury against the Titans last week. The Dolphins’ 21 points was the most Buffalo has allowed all season. 

The Dolphins are now 3-0 for the first time since 2018 and just one of two 3-0 teams along with the Philadelphia Eagles following Sunday’s action.

Miami is off to a good start as they’re trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

We finally got some life out of the Indianapolis Colts as they were able to defeat the previously 2-0 Kansas City Chiefs at home 20-17 on Sunday, thanks to a go-ahead touchdown from Matt Ryan to Jelani Woods with just 29 seconds left in the game.

The truth was there were plenty of head-scratching moments Sunday as the Indianapolis Colts rallied for the go-ahead touchdown with 24 seconds left to steal a 20-17 victory in their home opener.

“It (stinks), man,” Chiefs DT Chris Jones said when asked about the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he drew on Indy’s final drive. “It was third down, we got off the field, defense fought hard and I kind of put us in a situation to get back on the field. And then we got scored on, and that sums up the game. So, I’ll take that one. It was my fault. It was definitely my fault.”

Jones thought he was simply having a conversation with Colts quarterback Matt Ryan and didn’t know what drew the flag. Ryan said he wasn’t sure, either.

According to a postgame pool report, referee Shawn Smith explained the call was for abusive language toward an opponent and additional details would be included in the crew’s game report. Either way, the result was the same — an extended drive that led to the loss.

But it wasn’t just Jones.

From Skyy Moore’s muffed punt at his own 4-yard line to another misplayed punt that resulted in Kansas City being pinned inside the 1-yard line, Sunday’s game was full of missed opportunities.

Yes, the Chiefs converted a 2-point pass just before halftime to erase Matt Ammendola’s missed extra point. But they couldn’t overcome Ammendola missing a 34-yard field goal to the left, setting up the Colts’ final drive.

Or the fake field goal Reid called for on Kansas City’s previous possession. Instead of potentially extending the lead to 20-13 with a 42-yarder, Tommy Townsend’s pass fell incomplete.

“That’s one I probably shouldn’t have called,” Reid said. “In this league, the parity is crazy so any mistake is magnified. But we thought we could get it.”

Mahomes wasn’t happy, either, when the Chiefs (2-1) decided to run out the clock before halftime instead of trying to score again. It resulted in a brief shouting match between the quarterback and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy before Reid broke it up.

The Colts did just enough Sunday to move to 1-1-1 on the year and save themselves from a disastrous three-week start to the Matt Ryan era.

Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars not only snapped an 18-game road losing streak, they made a statement with a dominant second half that showed they might be shedding their tag as one of the league’s worst franchises.

Lawrence threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns Sunday in a 38-10 blowout of ailing Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers.

The 28-point win was Jacksonville’s largest on the road since a 33-3 rout of Minnesota in 2001, when Lawrence was 2 years old.

“I think the way we played you can’t deny that we’re that we’re a really good team. But at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what it says about us. We know who we are,” said Lawrence, who completed 28 of 39 passes. “We played a complete game and to stack two weeks is big for us.”

James Robinson rushed for 100 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown in the third quarter that proved to be the knockout punch. It was the first of three straight scoring drives by the Jaguars (2-1).

Jacksonville’s road skid was tied for the eighth-longest in league history. The Jags won in the Pacific time zone for the fourth time in 19 trips and beat the Bolts on the road for the first time in six tries.

“It’s everything for this team, and that’s exactly what the guys who have been here a while are talking about,” coach Doug Pederson said. “It’s good to get a road win and to travel across the country like this. Hopefully it’s the start of things to come.”

The Jags now sit atop the AFC South at 2-1 ahead of the 1-1-1 Colts, 1-2 Titans and 0-2-1 Texans.