Another Tom Brady comeback came up just short as his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers 14-12.
Although two of the NFL’s greatest ever quarterbacks were the headline act, the two defences dominated in what could be the last ever meeting between Brady and Rodgers.
The other big game of the day saw the Miami Dolphins outlast the Buffalo Bills in the heat of Florida to move to 3-0 for the season.
In another exciting Sunday of NFL action, the Philadelphia Eagles also moved to 3-0, the Chicago Bears won with the last kick of the game and the Las Vegas Raiders became the only team to slip to 0-3.
Rodgers wins battle of the legends
In what could be the last ever meeting of two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Brady and Rodgers were overshadowed by two excellent defensive performances against two players with eight Super Bowl titles and seven MVPs between them.
Rodgers had a hot start and threw two touchdowns and the Packers bottled up Brady, who with two minutes left in the game had more Super Bowl wins than points on the board as the Bucs trailed 14-6.
Nobody has managed more fourth-quarter comebacks since the NFL merger in 1970 than Brady, and he led an 89-yard drive before hitting Russell Gage Jr for a touchdown with just 14 seconds left on the clock.
A two-point conversion was needed to force overtime, but Brady was just unable to find his man and Rodgers could celebrate his second win in five games against his fellow QB legend.
Miami too hot for the Buffalo Bills
The big game of a busy early Sunday schedule saw the Super Bowl favourite Buffalo Bills wilt in the extreme heat of South Florida to lose to the Miami Dolphins 21-19 in the battle of two unbeaten teams.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw for 400 yards as the league’s top scorers dominated the ball, running 90 plays to Miami’s 39 and having twice as much possession – but failed to turn that into enough points.
Miami’s defence stood firm, and their QB Tua Tagovailoa returned after leaving the game with a suspected concussion to drag them into a fourth-quarter lead, which Buffalo’s weary defence couldn’t respond to.
Buffalo tried everything to negate the heat at Hard Rock Stadium, where the visiting sideline is bathed in steaming sunshine for the entire game while the Dolphins bench benefits from being in the shade, with the Bills even bringing their own air-cooled benches with them.
Several players left the game with designated “heat illness” while plenty of others went down with cramp, and even when Miami comically gave away two points when their punter booted the ball against his own man in the end zone, even MVP candidate Allen didn’t have the energy to win it late on.
While Miami are flying at 3-0, suddenly the Bills have issues with a host of defensive injuries to deal with and a wider worry that they’ve now lost the last seven close games they’ve played in that have been won by eight points or less – that needs to change if they’re to deliver the ultimate prize.
Among the fallout from the game, Bills assistant coach Ken Dorsey became a social media sensation for his angry reaction to the end of the game, as he trashed his notes, computer and almost all of the booth.
More upsets as Colts stun Chiefs and Jags win again
You never really know where the upset is coming in the NFL, but there’s usually a big one each week and this time it was in Indianapolis as the Colts stunned the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs 20-17.
The Colts had previously drawn with Houston and lost 24-0 to Jacksonville, but capitalised on a number of errors by the Chiefs as veteran QB Matt Ryan threw the winning touchdown pass with just 24 seconds left on the clock.
The Chiefs muffed a punt, messed up a fake field goal, missed another easy field goal and Patrick Mahomes threw his first interception of the season as they gave a stuttering Colts attack enough help to secure a huge win.
The Jacksonville Jaguars also produced a big upset as they emphatically beat the well-fancied Chargers 38-10 in Los Angeles to move to a promising 2-1 and show signs that the rebuilding process is heading in the right direction.
Second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence won successive games for the first time, but the way the Jaguars defence handled Justin Herbert, even though he was playing with fractured rib cartilage, will be the biggest plus for Jacksonville.
Are the 3-0 Eagles and Jalen Hurts the real deal?
The Philadelphia Eagles are 3-0 after a dominant display against the Washington Commanders where they sacked former QB Carson Wentz nine times and hit him 17 times – he’ll feel that on Monday.
New Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is the toast of Philadelphia as the threw another three touchdowns and did not even need to use his considerable running ability, while receiver DeVonta Smith produced a one-man highlight reel of a performance.
Philly look to have their best squad since their Super Bowl success five seasons ago, but just a word of caution that their early schedule has been kind – the jury will be out until they get that statement win.
We know the Cincinnati Bengals can be the real deal, and they finally got a win on the board this season with a comfortable 27-12 victory over the New York Jets behind three more Joe Burrow touchdown throws.
