How Brian Schottenheimer Cost The Cowboys; Seahawks Badly Miss Kenneth Walker III

The Baltimore Ravens are putting Lamar Jackson back into the MVP conversation. The Buffalo Bills are doing the same with Josh Allen. That’s all to be expected. But the San Francisco 49ers? They’re doing the same with Brock Purdy, who might be the best quarterback in the NFL through three weeks. Meanwhile, the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers fell to 1-2 — and both organizations seem to be in a free-fall. I thought Jordan Love and Drake Maye could be in the MVP mix. So far, I’ve been sorely mistaken. Those were the obvious items from Week 3. But you came here to sound smart. So let’s go below the surface. Let’s spin it forward, dive deeper, think outside the box and read between the lines. If I do my job, you’ll be fluent in the NFL’s Week 3 action. If you felt like dismissing the Cowboys hype — like QB Dak Prescott dubbing his unit the “greatest offense there is” or “GOTI” for short — then you might have been sweating in the fourth quarter of Dallas’ matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. Down 31-28 with 1:30 left, the Cowboys rapidly worked their way toward a win. And then, momentum shifted rapidly out of their control. More specifically, coach Brian Schottenheimer lost control. Completely. First, it was the timeout that he called. With 20 seconds left on second down, Prescott scrambled up the middle to escape a sack, and as the QB went to the ground at the 5-yard-line, Schottenheimer seemingly panicked, immediately calling a timeout. But there were only two plays left: a third down and a fourth down (reserved for the field goal kick). So there was no need to call a timeout with 14 seconds left. The Cowboys could have — and should have — drained more clock before calling the timeout. They didn’t need 14 seconds to run one play. But those seconds could (and did) cost Dallas, if it kicks the field goal and the Ravens try to score (which they did). More on that in a second. From the 5-yard line, the Cowboys had their third-down play. And the result was so befuddling that we might legitimately never know exactly what went wrong. But at face value, Prescott dropped back and looked right. There was receiver George Pickens, standing at the pylon with his hands up, ready to catch the touchdown that would’ve won it. The only problem was that Prescott had already thrown the ball 20 feet into the air. “I’m frustrated as hell. Embarrassed,” Prescott said after the game. “We get down to the 1-yard line and don’t put it in. It just sucks. Not a lot of words or full explanations of it.” If you take Schottenheimer at face value, Prescott’s pass was a throwaway. The coach said that he “overcoached” Prescott to keep the ball high and away from danger. So Prescott overcompensated and essentially threw an uncatchable ball, not giving the play a chance. The Cowboys were making sure they tied the game, rather than throwing a game-ending interception. “The coverage they were playing 99 times out of 100, they are supposed to cover GP [outside],” Prescott said when asked about what appeared on his pass to Pickens. “They’re supposed to have outside leverage and funnel inside. GP did a great job of winning regardless.” I spoke to a former NFL QB who thought there might have actually been a miscommunication, with Prescott throwing a fade — which Pickens didn’t run. If that was the case, then the quarterback and receiver were on different pages. That’s not a great look for the coaches. But it also would mean that one of the players is at fault. And if that is what happened, then Schottenheimer is taking the heat for his guys. “I need to call better plays to get it in,” Schottenheimer said. The good news was that the Cowboys made their field goal. They tied the game. It seemed like overtime was the most likely outcome. But then Ravens QB Lamar Jackson did something remarkable. He dropped a gorgeous pass to Zay Flowers downfield — and fittingly, as Flowers landed, the broadcast graphic for the kicker’s field goal range suddenly appeared underneath him. They’d dropped the ball in a perfect spot. The completion happened, in large part, because the Cowboys played man defense — rather than the more standard zone in that situation. It’s just too easy for an explosive like this to happen. It comes back to Schottenheimer, who let mistakes compound. And it culminated in everything going wrong. Ravens kicker Tyler Loop trotted onto the field to make the game-winning kick. And the Ravens took what the Cowboys gave them: a win. The Seahawks weren’t willing to match the open market for Kenneth Walker III in free agency. Seattle knew it — even before Walker began speaking to teams. The Seahawks weren’t willing to pay what Walker was going to get, which turned out to be a three-year, $43.05 million deal from the Chiefs. If they could go back and rethink the way they handled that situation, I’d bet the Seahawks wish they’d done it differently — especially after their Week 3 loss to the Washington Commanders. Their most efficient runner was QB Sam Darnold at 5 yards per carry. Their running backs averaged 2.29 yards per carry. I’ll admit it. I thought the Seahawks’ decision to let Walker walk was shrewd. The Super Bowl MVP seemed like a product of their offense — and the elite offensive line. I figured the Seahawks would and could find another running back. They’d plug in that guy and hit play. The song would sound the same. But rookie running back Jadarian Price isn’t cutting it. He fumbled in back-to-back weeks, which led coach Mike Macdonald to bench Price for roughly a quarter in Week 3. The Seahawks don’t seem to trust him in the red zone. They don’t seem to trust him … period. The whole backfield is a hodgepodge of mediocrity, from Price to Emanuel Wilson to George Holani. It’s crazy to think folks can’t wait for the return of Zach Charbonnet from his torn ACL. Last year, Charbonnet was — frankly — the NFL’s most boring running back. It’s also not like the Commanders were stacking the box. And against a light box (6 or fewer), the Seahawks RBs had four carries for nine yards. (That’s brutal!) Against the Commanders, the Seahawks couldn’t lean on the run game to move the sticks, let alone generate explosive plays. That put the pressure on Darnold, who clearly felt like he had to be the hero. He was 31-of-45 for 379 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. This wasn’t a meltdown game for Darnold, but his final pick was the one that really welcomed Washington back into the game. It’s hard not to think this game goes differently with Walker, who has been the NFL’s most elusive runner through three weeks — by far. He has 38 forced missed tackles, with 12 or more in every appearance this year. No other player has forced more than 10 in one game. Vikings: We haven’t really discussed coach Kevin O’Connell and his quarterbacks, because DC Brian Flores has his defense playing so well (14 sacks to lead the NFL). 49ers: Quarterback Brock Purdy is the NFL MVP through three weeks. Raiders: Raiders coach Klint Kubiak is ripping apart lesser opponents by playing smart — and sometimes boring — football. Bills: Josh Allen has an offensive coach in Joe Brady who isn’t afraid to stand up to him. Chiefs: Kenneth Walker III is the best running back in the NFL, and Patrick Mahomes is playing like an MVP front-runner (again). This used to be the type of game where you could actually beat the Bills. Josh Allen threw two interceptions and zero passing touchdowns. Buffalo lost three fumbles, by Allen, running back James Cook and tight end Dalton Kincaid — the Bills’ three most consistent playmakers in 2026. Buffalo should’ve been gettable in this game, particularly for a Chargers team that seemed to have (at least going into Week 1) a playoff-caliber roster. It’s not saying much, but in the first half, L.A. looked as dangerous as it has all season. The Bills got their act together — just enough — in a 24-16 win over the Chargers. It speaks to Bills coach Joe Brady’s steady playcalling and game management. And it also confirmed the smart hire of defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. Despite falling into a 10-0 hole against L.A., Buffalo stuck with Cook. The Bills never panicked. Brady never gave in to the urge to air it out — not even with the world’s best quarterback. That has always been the case with Brady, who has incredible impulse control and a keen commitment to the run. When the game ended, the Bills had run it 33 times and thrown it just 26 times — almost like they’d had the lead the whole time. Brady’s playcalling style is reminiscent of what Alabama did to teams during the Nick Saban dynasty. The Crimson Tide would put teams away with Derrick Henry (and Mark Ingram and Josh Jacobs) in the second half, even if they entered the third quarter without the lead. It’s easy to do that with the best running back in college football — and, often, a solid but not sensational quarterback. Try doing it with superstar Allen, like Brady has done for years now. But the defense was just as important in this game. That side of the ball was former Bills coach Sean McDermott’s area of expertise. But Leonhard has maximized many of the guys who were drafted for McDermott. In some cases, Leonhard has gotten more out of those guys. Edge Gregory Rousseau, for example, is the first player in NFL history to have two sacks in each of the first three games of the year. This is the Bills’ first win with a minus-4 or worse turnover margin since 1997 against the Colts, per FOX Sports Research. It’s easy to say that’s actually a Chargers stat — that it’s more about their collapse than about the Bills’ win. I think it goes both ways, in part because of the ways Brady navigated this game adeptly — despite the players struggling with turnovers. Ugly games happen. Brady made sure this one didn’t bite the Bills. It remains to be seen whether Brady has what it takes to get the Bills over their playoff hump. We’ll only know when/if we know. But it speaks to his competency and resiliency that Buffalo could pull out a win in a game like this. I’m a little worried about Ashton Jeanty. It’s not just that Raiders fourth-round rookie running back Mike Washington looks like a genuine challenger — a guy who deserves more opportunities. It’s also that Jeanty looks like he might deserve fewer. While the Raiders have won their first three games, they’ve done it in spite of their star running back, whom the team selected sixth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. The excitement around this impressive Las Vegas team has masked some of the weaker points — and, frankly, the startling struggles of Jeanty in new head coach Klint Kubiak’s offense. Through three weeks, Jeanty has a 31.7% success rate (23rd among 23 carries with over 20 carries), per Next Gen Stats. And he’s contributed a minus-20.4 rush EPA. Jeanty finished the Raiders’ 35-27 win over the Saints with 19 carries for 56 yards. He has just four successful runs (21.1%) with four stuffs (21.1%) and he finished with 15 rush yards under expected, per NGS. He was perhaps more abysmal in Week 2, with 21 carries for 48 yards with five successful runs and 14 rush yards under expected. The only time Jeanty has looked remotely explosive this year was in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins — which barely counts. They are the NFL’s worst team, by far. Washington’s sample size is much smaller, but in Week 3, when Jeanty couldn’t move the ball, Washington broke off a 36-yard touchdown run on one of his five carries. It was proof that the rookie is deserving of the touches he gets — and that maybe Kubiak should get him some more, in part because of Jeanty’s ineffectiveness. Washington’s success rate is at 40%. His rush EPA is 1.3 points. He’s averaging 6.8 yards per carry. And he has 33 rush yards over expected. It’s all boosted by the big touchdown run. But it’s all better than what Jeanty has done. If I told you — before the season started — that the Raiders would be 3-0, you probably would’ve guessed that Jeanty was the best running back in the NFL. And that was how Vegas was holding up its offense, with Kirk Cousins starting at QB. But for the most part, Jeanty is detracting value. He needs to change that, because Washington is lurking. It’s Los Angeles that’s known for its actors, but it was Denver that produced the best theatrical work on Sunday night. With 1:15 left in the game from the 11-yard line, Broncos receiver Pat Bryant looked like he was playing the town drunk as Rams cornerback Josh Wallace fought (legally) to get his hands on the ball for what would’ve been a game-sealing interception. But Bryant flopped to the ground, and it wiped away the turnover, instead giving life to the Broncos’ comeback win. They went on to score — and win, 30-26. It was the wrong call. It was a bad call. And it probably should’ve been a Rams win. You’re waiting for the “but” … and here it is: But the Rams should’ve won this game without this call. They got complacent. This game was more proof of what has been becoming evident this season: Only the Rams can beat themselves. They did it in Week 1 with mind-bogglingly bad logistical decisions about when to travel to Australia. They did it in Week 3, blowing their 16-0 halftime lead. Then blowing a 26-23 fourth-quarter lead. And blowing their final drive, which ended on the 19-yard line with an interception as time expired. The Rams were clearly the better team. I know the final score says otherwise. But that first half showed what the Rams were capable of doing, if they didn’t lose focus. And you could see that coach Sean McVay felt they lost focus. He pulled the offense aside and told them to lock back in during the second half, per NBC’s sideline reporter Melissa Stark. McVay was clearly unimpressed. I’m unimpressed. The Rams have had to manage the early weeks without superstars Myles Garrett or Puka Nacua. That’s tough. But what we’re seeing is that they actually have enough talent to overcome those injuries. They just need to stop taking naps for extended periods during their performances. Because they’re better than this. We saw that in Week 2. We saw that all of last year.