Five Surprise Wins from NFL Week 3 and Bold Predictions

Photo From Getty Images 

Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season is officially in the books. What I love about watching football early in the season is the unpredictability. While surprises happen throughout the year, the early weeks are different. With limited games, there isn't a large enough sample size to make solid judgments about teams or players, so unexpected outcomes happen way more often than one would think.

With that said, I'll be listing my five biggest surprise victories from Week 3, along with my boldest future take based on these games.

1.Washington Commanders 38, Cincinnati Bengals 33

Why this was a surprise victory: The Bengals struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone against a weak Commanders defense. The Commanders currently rank 29th in yards allowed per game and in total points allowed per game; they also rank 30th in sacks. Commanders rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, who had shown small flashes of what could be in weeks 1 and 2, absolutely dominated on Monday night. His stat line was almost flawless; he completed 21 of 23 pass attempts, throwing for 254 yards and throwing a pair of touchdowns. Daniels was also dangerous on the ground, rushing for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Bold Take: Jayden Daniels will continue to build off this excellent performance throughout the season and will easily win Rookie of the Year.

2. Carolina Panthers 36, Las Vegas Raiders 22

Why this was a surprise victory: Anytime the Panthers win, it is a surprise. This marks their first victory since December 17, 2023. What made headlines was who was under center for the victory. Earlier this week, the Panthers benched Bryce Young, the quarterback they selected first overall in the 2023 draft. Young was replaced by seasoned veteran Andy Dalton. Dalton came in and had the best quarterback performance of week 3, completing 26 of his 37 pass attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns. While the Raiders are not a great team by any means, they were 5.5-point favorites entering this contest.

Bold Take: The Panthers will shop the market for Bryce Young and trade him before the end of the 2024 season.

3. Minnesota Vikings 34, Houston Texans 7

Why this was a surprise victory: The Vikings beating the Texans was not the surprise; the surprise was the fashion in which the Vikings absolutely annihilated the Texans. The Vikings were already up 21-0 with 10:22 seconds left to go in the second quarter. Sam Darnold may have found a permanent home in Minnesota with a third consecutive week of high quarterback play, tossing four touchdowns in this contest. While the Vikings offense was clicking on all cylinders, the Texans were struggling. CJ Stroud was getting pressured constantly by the Vikings front seven, which sacked Stroud on four separate occasions and picked him off twice. Stroud finished the game with a passer rating of 68.6, which is a far cry from his average passer rating of 99.6.

Bold Take: Sam Darnold will win Most Improved Player of the Year this season.

4. Denver Broncos 26, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7

Why this was a surprise victory: It’s very simple; the Broncos looked terrible the first two weeks of this season, and the Buccaneers looked like a team ready to contend for the Super Bowl. The sportsbooks agreed with this notion, which is why they had the Buccaneers as six-point favorites coming into this game. The Broncos scored the same amount of points against the Bucs as they did in their two previous games combined. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix had the best game of his career, throwing for 216 yards on a 69.4% completion rate and rushing for 47 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, for the first time this season, the Bucs looked lost on offense. Mayfield was pressured all day and sacked seven times. Tampa could not get the long ball going either; Mayfield’s longest completion only went for 13 yards.

Bold Take: The Buccaneers will finish 3rd in the NFC South behind the Falcons and Saints.

5. New York Giants 21, Cleveland Browns 15

Why this was a surprise victory: Daniel Jones looked competent against a legitimate defense. Jones has not looked like a starting quarterback in this league since 2022, and that’s concerning, considering the Giants signed him to a four-year, $160 million contract before the 2023 season. In the six games he played before getting hurt last year, Jones had a QBR of 37.1; the league average is 50. To his credit, Jones played well against the Browns, completing 24 of his 34 passing attempts for 234 yards and threw for two touchdowns. The only quarterback with a worse contract than Daniel Jones was playing opposite of him on Sunday, Deshuan Watson. Watson signed a five-year, $230 million contract back in 2022. Watson has been terrible ever since he put on the Browns uniforms. Some hopeful fans thought this might be his opportunity to turn the tide against a Giants secondary that has a ton of issues; Watson only managed to complete 56% of his passes and threw for under 200 yards.

Bold Take: The Cleveland Browns will do everything in their power to remove Deshaun Watson from their roster before the end of the 2024 season.

What outcome shocked you the most in week 3? Comment below.