Two seconds remained in regulation in Denver. One final play to decide the game.
Could one of the wildest Sundays in NFL history have ended any other way?
When Denver safety Talanoa Hufanga intercepted Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford in the end zone as time expired to seal a 30-26 comeback win on “Sunday Night Football,” it also capped a day that will be remembered for producing one thriller after another.
Call it the Sunday of slim margins. Of the day’s 14-game slate in Week 3, 12 finished as one-score games, the most in any Sunday in NFL history. Thirteen games were within eight points during the fourth quarter. Six teams won after go-ahead scores within the final three minutes.
“It’s tough,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “But this is sports.”
After watching two weeks of offensive struggles under Denver’s new playcaller, Broncos fans booed their team as they ran off the field after trailing the Rams, 16-0, at halftime. Then Denver scored 16 unanswered points, setting up a fourth quarter where the teams traded momentum swings. Hufanga intercepted Stafford and ran it back for a touchdown to lead, 23-19. When a Broncos defensive back fell down on the next possession, Stafford found an open receiver for an easy, go-ahead touchdown to lead, 26-23. Denver came back and moved the ball down the field after a succession of penalties, eventually taking a 30-26 lead and leaving the preseason Super Bowl favorite Rams only 47 seconds with which to try their own rally.
It fell short by only a few yards, with no time left to spare — and it might not have even been Sunday’s wildest finish, either.
In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Baltimore got the ball back with 7 seconds to play in regulation after Dallas had tied the score. Somehow, that was enough time for the Ravens to launch perhaps the latest comeback drive ever — at least since one database began tracking such figures — ending in Baltimore’s walk-off field goal from 56 yards. It was the first game since the 1970 merger to feature two teams that each made a field goal in the final 10 seconds.
Improbable? It wasn’t the only game that fit the description.
Previously winless, Washington couldn’t run the ball or convert third downs against Seattle yet knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion anyway, behind backup quarterback Marcus Mariota’s three touchdowns and three Seahawks turnovers. It ended the Seahawks’ 12-game winning streak and temporarily halted their historic run as the NFL’s best road team.
In New Orleans, the Las Vegas Raiders improved to 3-0 after a 35-27 victory that saw the franchise match last season’s entire win total. They are now only the seventh team since the 1970 merger to open 3-0 after finishing the previous season with the league’s worst record, according to NBC Sports research.
The Raiders pulled it off after trailing by 11 points in the second half. A controversial fumble call on Saints quarterback Tyler Shough helped the Raiders set up their go-ahead touchdown, but it was just one of four consecutive Saints turnovers forced by the Raiders in the second half.
“In those big moments, there’s no panic,” Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby said. “We went down 11 and got together on the sideline and talked about not panicking.”
Neither did Buffalo (3-0). Like Baltimore and Las Vegas, the Bills overcame a deficit of at least 10 points, eventually beating the Chargers, 24-16. It was the first time the Bills won a game despite committing at least five turnovers since 1997. Bills quarterback Josh Allen hadn’t committed a single turnover through two weeks, only to be intercepted twice and lose a fumble against Los Angeles (0-3).
If Allen’s poor play was unexpected considering how good he had looked in MVP-level performances to begin the season, then what happened in Cleveland was the opposite. After ranking among the least-efficient quarterbacks in the league for much of his tenure in Cleveland, Deshaun Watson has suddenly looked competent — and the Browns are now 2-1, after a 21-18 win. Watson threw two touchdowns, including a go-ahead score with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter. An interception of Carolina’s Bryce Young with seconds remaining clinched Watson’s 10th fourth-quarter comeback.
Indianapolis (1-2) earned its first win since last November after Spencer Shrader kicked a 43-yard field goal with 16 seconds left for a 19-17 victory that dumps Houston, a preseason Super Bowl candidate, to 0-3. The Texans made the playoffs last year after starting 0-3, too, becoming only the seventh team in NFL history to do so. Another hard road to the playoffs awaits.
In whipping rain and wind in New Jersey, the Giants held on for a 12-7 win in their first game since quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury. Sack artist Brian Burns injured his knee in the fourth quarter, and with 24 seconds left in regulation, Tennessee moved within seven yards of a go-ahead touchdown. Instead, the Giants (2-1) survived after Jevon Holland intercepted Titans quarterback Cam Ward.
In Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers played in their franchise-record ninth consecutive one-score game, but Minnesota (3-0) held on, 23-16, after batting down a desperate Hail Mary heave as time expired. For Tampa, what was even more dispiriting than falling to 0-3 was that quarterback Baker Mayfield left with a dislocated thumb that puts his active league-high streak of 54 consecutive starts in jeopardy.
When Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow fumbled late in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh exhaled with a 30-27 win over a division rival. It also breathed a sigh of relief for a different reason. Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the NFL’s oldest active player, was showing his age. He entered Sunday having gone seven consecutive starts without throwing multiple touchdown passes. He responded with touchdown passes to three different receivers and led Pittsburgh (2-1) on a game-winning drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal with 2:15 remaining. Burrow’s fumble occurred just before the Bengals (2-1) could reach field-goal range of their own.
With one game remaining in Week 3, six teams remain undefeated after San Francisco edged out a 36-30 win over Arizona. Can the 49ers keep it up, though? A franchise known for suffering a rash of injuries got more bad news Sunday when receiver Mike Evans (ribs) and left tackle Trent Williams (stinger) left the game.
That left the Broncos and Rams to play a vital primetime game — the two Super Bowl contenders each hoping to avoid a second loss within their first three weeks. A pair of controversial defensive pass interference penalties on Denver’s go-ahead drive in the final minute rankled the Rams after the game, but comebacks have become something of a Broncos specialty.
Last season, the Broncos’ 12 comeback wins set an NFL record. Last week, Denver overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Jacksonville. Sunday’s latest rally was the 50th fourth-quarter comeback of coach Sean Payton’s career to move past Mike Tomlin for fourth-most in NFL history. It relied on the 20th touchdown of quarterback Bo Nix’s career when trailing by one score — the most in the league since 2025, when Nix entered the NFL — and resulted in Nix’s seventh career fourth-quarter comeback.
“Just a couple plays short that we left out there,” Rams receiver Konata Mumpfield said.
On a day of wild finishes and tight margins, it was a sentiment shared across the league.
About the Author
