NFL 2023 Week 3: Most Humiliating Losses

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the New York Giants in Week 3 of the NFL season on Thursday night.

On Sunday, the Miami Dolphins won by 50 points, the Green Bay Packers rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win, the Buffalo Bills’ defense dominated the Washington Commanders, and the Indianapolis Colts kicked a late field goal to force overtime and then another to defeat the Baltimore Ravens.

Later, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Chicago Bears in front of Taylor Swift, the Steelers fought off a Raiders revival, and the Dallas Cowboys were defeated by… the Arizona Cardinals!

Hopefully, this goes well for Swift and (mainly) Kelce… though a repeat of Super Bowl 57 may be tricky given Swift’s Pennsylvania roots and Eagles fandom. It may be a “You Belong With Me” “Love Story” for the time being, but might it end in “Bad Blood”?

Being a one-percenter is a pipe dream for most people, but not in the NFL. As of Sunday, only one of the 100 teams who started 0-3 since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002 – the 2018 Houston Texans – has rebounded to make the playoffs.

That means the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, and maybe the Cincinnati Bengals (0-2), who visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night, have a 1% chance. Cincy (last year) is the only club to rescue a postseason berth out of the 32 teams who have even started 0-2 since 2019.

NFL 2023 Week 3: Most Humiliating Losses

There are far too many contenders for the worst loss:

  • The Dallas Cowboys and the NFL’s strongest defense (at least in Weeks 1 and 2) were thrashed 28-16 in Arizona. The chances of a last-minute comeback were dashed by Dak Prescott’s end zone interception late in the fourth quarter, but the game was almost lost when Arizona ran for 222 yards and Dallas committed 13 penalties.
  • The Chicago Bears and quarterback Justin Fields were thrashed 41-10 in Kansas City, putting an exclamation point on a terrible week. Chicago converted only four third-down opportunities. Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs completed three touchdown passes.

  • The New Orleans Saints lost 18-17 at Lambeau Field when rookie Blake Grupe missed a 46-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining. At the very least, it wasn’t more expensive, since initial indications indicate that Derek Carr’s right shoulder problem will not be resolved.
  • The reigning AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars were defeated at home for the second week in a row. A week after losing to the defending Super Bowl champions, Jacksonville was exposed by rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, who led the Houston Texans to their first victory, 37-17. Worse, the Jaguars let the upback, fullback Andrew Beck, return a short kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.

  • The Washington Commanders were averaging 27.5 points per game when they arrived at FedEx Field. They were defeated 37-3 by the Buffalo Bills, with Sam Howell throwing four interceptions.
  • The Baltimore Ravens were defeated at home by a backup quarterback (Garner Minshew) and the Indianapolis Colts. Justin Tucker is usually the best kicker on the field. Indy’s Matt Gay was the hero this time, nailing three 53-yard field goals and a 54-yarder – all in the second half or overtime – in the 22-19 win.
  • Tennessee was thrashed 27-3 in Cleveland, with Ryan Tannehill being sacked five times.

  • Miami annihilated the Denver Broncos on Sunday, scoring 70 points, the second-most in NFL history, in a rout. The Dolphins had a chance to break the league record, but McDaniel chose to kneel deep in Denver territory on their last drive. Tagovailoa has thrown for 309 yards and four touchdowns this season and is averaging 0.58 anticipated points added per dropback. That’s nearly double what Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes averaged during his MVP year in 2022.

NFL Week 3: Sunday’s scores

Here are the results for all of Sunday’s NFL action.

 

FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE- 

Who In the Cowboys Is To Blame For The Humiliating Loss To Cardinals?