Seven NFL games were decided by winning scores in the final three minutes on Sunday. That ties a record for the most late-game heroics in a single week in NFL history, and that’s with Monday night’s game between the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens still to come.
“Special teams took the headline this week,” NFL executive vice president of communications Jeff Miller declared Monday on a media teleconference.
Sunday’s late game-winners included:
The early window of games saw field goal blocks galore. Three kicks were blocked in the final two minutes of three games, with the Eagles and Browns using those plays to complete comeback wins. It also marked the third week since 2000 with multiple blocked field goal return touchdowns of 50 or more yards.
Leading by 1 point, Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis swatted down a 44-yard walk-off field goal attempt by the Rams’ Joshua Karty and returned the ball 61 yards for a game-winning touchdown. Davis, at 6 feet 6, 336 pounds, became the heaviest player in NFL history to return a blocked field goal 50-plus yards for a TD, and he reached the fastest top speed for any player over 330 pounds since at least 2017.
When he learned how fast Davis was, teammate Saquon Barkley joked: “Maybe he has a future at running back.”
Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter also blocked a field goal against the Rams, making the Eagles the first team since at least 1978 to block two field goals in the fourth quarter of the same game.
The Browns’ Denzel Ward blocked a Green Bay 43-yard field goal attempt with 27 seconds left, which set up a game-winning drive for Cleveland, sealed with a successful 55-yarder by Andre Szmyt as time expired.
Szmyt accounted for one of four game-winning field goals on Sunday. Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker nailed a game-winning 43-yard attempt to lift Los Angeles over Denver (the second consecutive loss by a late-game field goal for the Broncos). The Chargers are 3-0 for the first time since 2002, and Dicker is a perfect 7-for-7 on field goal attempts and extra-point attempts through three games.
San Francisco’s Eddy Piñeiro made a 35-yard attempt on the final play against the Cardinals and helped keep the 49ers unscathed through three weeks, even without starting quarterback Brock Purdy. (The road will get tougher now, however, with star defensive end Nick Bosa out for the season with a torn ACL.)
Finally, Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin sealed the win against the Jets with a 36-yard walk-off field goal that was made necessary when New York’s Will McDonald IV blocked a McLaughlin field goal attempt minutes earlier and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown to put the Jets on top 27-26 with 1:49 to play.
But Baker Mayfield rallied the Bucs back into field goal range to earn a “personal” win. Tampa Bay is 3-0, has beaten its opponents by a combined 6 points and has notched the go-ahead score in the final minute of each game. The Bucs are the first team in the Super Bowl era to record a game-winning score in the final minute in each of its first three games.
Defenses also shone on Sunday. Across the league, nine touchdowns were scored by defense or special teams, the most in a week since 2020, per CBS Sports. After scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 1:48 left, the Jaguars sealed their win by ending the Texans’ comeback drive and intercepting quarterback C.J. Stroud with 30 seconds remaining.
Meanwhile, the Steelers sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye five times and picked him off once in a win in New England. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers passed Brett Favre on the NFL’s all-time touchdown passes list during the game, then tossed the game-winning touchdown to Calvin Austin III with 2:16 remaining.
The last time the league saw this many game winners in the final three minutes in a single week was Week 15 of the 2022 season. The Lions and Ravens could break the record if “Monday Night Football” comes down to a late-game score to end the Week 3 slate.
(Photo of Jordan Davis celebrating his touchdown off a blocked field goal: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
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