12a. Rodgers and Brady combined for 526 yards and three TDs passing ... though TB12's inability to get a two-point conversion attempt off before the play clock expired ultimately doomed Tampa Bay's comeback bid in the final seconds.
13. The New England Patriots had a season-high 447 yards of total offense in Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but QB Mac Jones hopped off the field at game's end with what appeared to be a very painful ankle injury. If New England has to go with QB2 Brian Hoyer for any extended period, Bill Belichick and Co. are in serious trouble.
14. MVP frontrunner? Though Hurts has a claim, too, it might be Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, who's now accounted for 12 TDs in three games after throwing for four and running for one in Sunday's 37-26 defeat of the Pats.
14a. Jackson has also rushed for more than 100 yards in successive weeks and has done so a dozen times in his career, extending his own league record among quarterbacks.
14b. Lastly, on Sunday he became the first player during the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to rush for at least 100 yards and throw for at least three TDs in back-to-back games.
15. Lovie Smith Bowl? His old team, the Chicago Bears, didn't seem to miss their former coach much in a 23-20 win over Smith's Houston Texans. The Bears last reached the Super Bowl with Smith at the helm in 2006.
16. Carson Wentz Bowl? His old team, the Eagles, didn't seem to miss their former quarterback at all in a 24-8 shellacking of Wentz's Washington Commanders. The Eagles last reached the Super Bowl with Wentz under center in 2017 ... for most of the season anyway.
16a. Wentz was sacked a career-high nine times by his former mates.
17. Sean McVay's ownership of the Arizona Cardinals continues, the Los Angeles Rams coach improving his record against the NFC West rivals to 11-1 following Sunday's 20-12 triumph.
18. Rams star Aaron Donald collected his 100th career sack, a shoestring takedown of Cards QB Kyler Murray. Donald has averaged 0.77 sacks per game over the course of his nine-year career.
18a. Donald hit the century mark in just 130 games, making him the fastest interior lineman in league history to reach the benchmark.
18b. No other player has more sacks than Donald since 2014, the year he was drafted 13th overall.
19. If you needed a reminder that betting on NFL games should solely be done for entertainment purposes, hopefully you were entertained as the Indianapolis Colts, 5½-point underdogs in their own building and arguably playing the worst football in the league, somehow bowed up to beat the seemingly elite Kansas City Chiefs 20-17.
20. K.C. QB Patrick Mahomes threw his first interception of 2022 on his team's final play to seal the win for Indy. Mahomes expressed his displeasure with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy regarding the Chiefs' lack of urgency to get into field-goal position at the end of the first half, instead willing to let the clock run out while nursing a 14-10 lead.
21. Didn't help at the end of the game when Kansas City DT Chris Jones was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on what would have been a drive-killing sack to the Colts. Instead, Indianapolis' march concluded five minutes later with a game-winning TD pass from QB Matt Ryan to rookie TE Jelani Woods – a score that only gave Mahomes 24 seconds to work with.
22. Line of the day: Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed seven times for 0 yards and a TD. (He added 39 receiving yards in a bid to mollify you fantasy owners.)
23. If only the "Hard Knocks" camera crews were around to document Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell's decision to take his foot off the accelerator late in Sunday's game, opting for a (failed) 54-yard FG attempt with 74 seconds remaining and his team up by three. The Lions, who were 4-for-6 on fourth down in the game, surrendered the game-winning TD on the Minnesota Vikings' ensuing drive. "I should have gone for it," Campbell said afterward. "I just felt like, ‘You know what? Let’s kick the field goal. We go up by six and force them to score a touchdown for the win.'"
24. Early vote for Bears LB Roquan Smith, who "held in" amid a nasty contract dispute with Chicago's front office this summer, as the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Smith racked up 16 tackles against the Texans, but it was his interception of QB Davis Mills with 65 seconds to go that paved the way for the Bears' game-winning field goal.
25. Interim New York Jets QB Joe Flacco turned the ball over four times Sunday (2 INTs, 2 fumbles). If the NYJ weren't already inclined to ground Flacco in favor of Zach Wilson, who's recovering from preseason knee surgery, Sunday's performance may sway the decision.
26. Panthers QB Baker Mayfield gets the nod over Saints counterpart Jameis Winston in a battle of former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks ... who could both soon find themselves back in the NFL's transfer portal.
27. Through Sunday's games, there have been 18 contests this season decided by a field goal or less – the most through the first three weeks of a season in NFL history.
28. Props to LA Chargers QB Justin Herbert for suiting up with those tender ribs ... but he probably should've taken the week off. The rest of his team did in a 38-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
29. Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence may be arriving. Touted as a generational prospect when he was taken first overall in the 2021 draft, Lawrence is playing his best professional football with five TD passes and no turnovers during his team's two-game win streak.
30. How did we not focus on the hirsute aspect of the Jags-Bolts matchup? Props to the NFL's social media warriors.
31. Days after the NFL announced Apple Music as Pepsi's replacement for sponsorship of the Super Bowl halftime show, the league revealed the headline performer of Super Bowl 57: Rihanna. Should be quite a show – within the show – as she joins musical legends like Michael Jackson, U2, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Tom Petty, Bruno Mars, The Who and last year's collaboration between Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar as Super Sunday entertainment performers.
