Sports
Eight Unbeaten Teams Chase 3-0 Starts
The NFL season moves into Week 3 with eight teams still holding perfect 2-0 records and a packed schedule featuring major milestones, record pursuits and several intriguing match-ups.
Four unbeaten teams remain in each conference, with Buffalo, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Las Vegas leading the way in the AFC, while Seattle, Minnesota, San Francisco and Philadelphia are all 2-0 in the NFC.
Bills and Allen chasing NFL history
Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) at Buffalo Bills (2-0) – Sunday, 6pm Irish time
Buffalo have made an explosive start and can become just the fourth team in NFL history to score at least 35 points while producing 400 or more yards of offence in each of their opening three games.
The previous teams to achieve the feat were the 2013 Denver Broncos, 2007 New England Patriots and 2000 St. Louis Rams.
Josh Allen has been at the centre of Buffalo’s start. The Bills quarterback is the first player in NFL history to record five touchdown passes and four rushing touchdowns across the opening two games of a season.
Allen could make further history against the Chargers by becoming the first quarterback to record multiple rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games.
Chiefs offence setting the pace
Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) at Miami Dolphins (0-2) – Sunday, 6pm Irish time
Kansas City enter Week 3 leading the NFL in total offence at 457.5 yards per game.
Running back Kenneth Walker has been one of the biggest stories of the opening fortnight, leading the NFL with 369 scrimmage yards.
That is the most scrimmage yardage ever recorded by a non-rookie in his first two games with a new team.
Walker has produced at least 175 scrimmage yards in both games, becoming only the fifth player in NFL history to open a season that way.
Kansas City can improve to 3-0 for the sixth time in the past 10 seasons.
Bengals eye first 3-0 start since 2015
Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) – Sunday, 6pm Irish time
Cincinnati can win their opening three games for the first time since 2015, with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase continuing to establish themselves among the NFL’s most productive quarterback-receiver combinations.
Burrow and Chase have now connected for 50 touchdowns.
They are one of only four combinations in NFL history to reach 50 touchdown connections while both quarterback and receiver were under the age of 30.
Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers also has history within reach.
Rodgers has 164 regular-season victories and another would move him level with former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on 165, fifth on the NFL’s all-time list.
Cousins has Raiders dreaming of 3-0
Las Vegas Raiders (2-0) at New Orleans Saints (1-1) – Sunday, 9.25pm Irish time
Las Vegas can begin a season 3-0 for the first time since 2021.
Kirk Cousins leads the AFC with six touchdown passes and has thrown at least three in each of the Raiders’ opening two games.
At 38, Cousins joined Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks aged 38 or older to throw three or more touchdown passes in each of their team’s opening two games.
New Orleans quarterback Tyler Shough has also made a remarkable start statistically, leading the NFL with 62 completions and 662 passing yards.
Super Bowl champions Seattle remain perfect
Seattle Seahawks (2-0) at Washington Commanders (0-2) – Sunday, 6pm Irish time
The reigning Super Bowl champions are attempting to become the third consecutive champions to begin their title defence 3-0.
Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald has compiled a 29-10 record, including the playoffs, since taking charge in 2024. Victory in Washington would make him only the sixth head coach since 1970 to win at least 30 of his first 40 games.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba has carried his outstanding 2025 form into the new campaign.
After leading the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards last season, Smith-Njigba again tops the league with 277 yards through two games.
McCaffrey joins NFL’s 100-touchdown club
Arizona Cardinals (1-1) at San Francisco 49ers (2-0) – Sunday, 9.05pm Irish time
San Francisco can begin 3-0 for the third time in four seasons.
Brock Purdy produced a remarkable performance in Week 2, completing 20 of 22 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing score.
He became the first player in NFL history to complete at least 90 per cent of his passes while throwing for at least 285 yards and two touchdowns and adding a rushing touchdown in the same game.
Christian McCaffrey also reached a significant milestone.
His two rushing touchdowns took him to 100 career scrimmage touchdowns in just 114 games, making him the fourth-fastest player to reach the landmark during the Super Bowl era.
Jefferson continues historic pace
Minnesota Vikings (2-0) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2) – Sunday, 9.05pm Irish time
Minnesota’s defence has made a huge impact through two weeks.
Linebacker Dallas Turner has three sacks while leading the NFL with 20 quarterback pressures and 11 quarterback hits, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Vikings have eight sacks as a team, tied for the NFL lead with Cincinnati and Las Vegas.
Justin Jefferson, meanwhile, continues to climb the record books.
Jefferson now has 8,627 career receiving yards, the second-most ever accumulated by a player before turning 28. Only Randy Moss, with 9,142, recorded more.
Eagles head to Chicago for Monday Night Football
Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) at Chicago Bears (1-1) – Tuesday, 1.15am Irish time
Philadelphia produced one of the dramatic finishes of Week 2 when Jalen Hurts found Darius Cooper for the winning touchdown with just nine seconds remaining in a 24-20 victory over Tennessee.
Hurts has now engineered eight fourth-quarter comebacks since 2023.
Saquon Barkley has another opportunity to extend an impressive Monday Night Football run. The Eagles running back has recorded at least 100 scrimmage yards in five consecutive Monday night appearances.
Philadelphia can now win their opening three games for the fourth time in five seasons.
Stafford and Nix meet on Sunday Night Football
Los Angeles Rams (1-1) at Denver Broncos (1-1) – Monday, 1.20am Irish time
Two of last season’s four Championship Game participants meet in Denver after both recorded their first victories of the campaign in Week 2.
The Rams are set to become the first NFL team since 1970 to begin a season with three consecutive primetime games.
Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes in Week 2, moving to 427 regular-season touchdown passes for his career and overtaking Philip Rivers for sixth on the NFL’s all-time list.
Denver quarterback Bo Nix has also compiled an impressive record since entering the league in 2024.
Nix has 25 victories over the past three seasons, placing him alongside Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Jared Goff and Jalen Hurts among starting quarterbacks with at least 25 wins during that period.
Eight teams chasing perfection
Week 3 could significantly reshape the early NFL standings.
Buffalo and Kansas City are attempting to continue their recent tradition of fast starts, Cincinnati are chasing their first 3-0 opening in more than a decade and Las Vegas are looking for their first since 2021.
In the NFC, reigning champions Seattle are joined by Minnesota, San Francisco and Philadelphia in trying to preserve perfect records.
With Josh Allen chasing unprecedented quarterback numbers, Aaron Rodgers closing in on another career milestone and several of the league’s leading offensive players already producing historic statistics, Week 3 has no shortage of storylines.
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