Sunday's results
The Raiders supplied the day's clearest statement, beating the Chargers 26-14 at SoFi Stadium to reach 3-0. Dallas beat Washington 37-20 at AT&T Stadium, Cleveland edged Tampa Bay 23-19 at Raymond James Stadium, and New England held Pittsburgh to three points in a 20-3 victory at Gillette Stadium.
Elsewhere, Green Bay beat the Jets 20-17 in overtime; New Orleans defeated Baltimore 24-17; Cincinnati beat Houston 20-6; Denver topped Jacksonville 20-13; Seattle routed Arizona 31-7; San Francisco beat Miami 35-13; Carolina overwhelmed Atlanta 34-3; Minnesota beat Chicago 9-3; Philadelphia edged Tennessee 24-20; and Kansas City beat Indianapolis 33-30 in overtime. The Giants–Rams Monday night game remained to come at publication.
The undefeated list
Eight clubs entered Week 3 at 2-0: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minnesota, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. After Sunday's games, the Raiders, 49ers, Seahawks, Eagles, Vikings, Bengals and Chiefs had all moved to 3-0. Buffalo's result was not confirmed at the reporting cutoff.
Pittsburgh's loss removed the Steelers from perfection and exposed a deeper offensive concern. Dallas and Cleveland survived the week but sit at 2-1. Green Bay's overtime escape over the Jets protected a win, not an unbeaten record. This distinction matters because the “17-0” conversation is already compressing teams with very different performances into one clean number.
Why this matters
Only the 1972 Miami Dolphins completed a fully undefeated NFL season, going 14-0 in the regular season and 17-0 with the playoffs. The 2007 Patriots went 16-0 before losing Super Bowl XLII. The 2015 Panthers reached 15-1. Perfection remains one of the rarest achievements in American team sports because a long season eventually finds every weakness.
Starting 3-0 still matters. Historically, roughly three in four 3-0 teams reach the playoffs, so September separation is not meaningless. Sharp Football Analysis's Week 3 rankings on September 21 placed Buffalo first, followed by San Francisco, Seattle and Kansas City. Dallas climbed six places to No. 15, Las Vegas four to No. 24 and Cleveland four to No. 28; Pittsburgh fell five to No. 21. The undefeated record creates leverage, but the ranking gap shows how much evaluators still discount schedule and underlying play.
Winners and losers in context
Las Vegas is the headline winner. A 26-14 road victory inside the division gives the Raiders a 3-0 start and a credible defense-first identity. The caution is schedule strength: early opponents have not resolved whether this roster can trade scores with the conference's best teams. The next set of games will test whether the defense is a foundation or a September advantage.
Dallas won comfortably at 37-20, but Washington's rebuilding status limits the statement. Cleveland showed resilience in a 23-19 road win, though victories decided by a handful of late possessions can regress. Pittsburgh's 20-3 loss is different: scoring three points is not a bounce problem but evidence of an offense unable to create answers. Green Bay's overtime escape is a warning light, not a badge; good teams survive poor days, but great teams cannot make a habit of them.
Background: how September lies to us
Three games are a small sample. New schemes have not accumulated enough film for opponents to attack them; young quarterbacks are still settling; one turnover-heavy afternoon can swing rankings. September schedules are also uneven, so identical records can conceal dramatically different levels of opposition.
That is why San Francisco's 35-13 win over Miami carries more predictive weight than a record alone. The 49ers look balanced across phases and rank No. 2 in Sharp's ordering. Buffalo remains the team to beat in that model. Most 3-0 starters do reach the postseason, but only a small fraction reach the Super Bowl — evidence that early perfection is a valuable head start, not a destination.
What the numbers mean
The Raiders' 12-point road win and the Steelers' 17-point loss are not equal events with opposite signs. Las Vegas beat a division rival away from home; Pittsburgh produced one field goal in a game that never became competitive. Seattle and San Francisco won by 24 and 22 points respectively, performances that support their high rankings more strongly than a close escape would.
Two overtime games — Packers–Jets and Chiefs–Colts — underline how little separates a clean 3-0 story from a 2-1 record. One possession, penalty or kick can change the headline without transforming the underlying team. The useful question is not merely who remained unbeaten, but who is repeatedly controlling games before variance takes over.
What happens next
Week 4 is where September narratives begin to die. The Raiders' schedule stiffens, and a seven-team 3-0 logjam will thin quickly. If Las Vegas keeps winning, the Raiders become the season's defining surprise. If the field narrows toward Buffalo, San Francisco and Kansas City by mid-October, the preseason hierarchy will have reasserted itself.
The most likely outcome is simpler: someone loses in Week 4 or Week 5 and the perfect-season conversation begins its annual retreat. That would not make the first three weeks irrelevant. It would leave the contenders with the cushion 3-0 creates, and force the surprise teams to prove that their start was more than a favorable September.
Sources
Sportradar, “Las Vegas Raiders vs Los Angeles Chargers (NFL, Sep 20, 2026)”: View the result
Sportradar, “Cleveland Browns vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers”: View the result
Sportradar, “Washington Commanders vs Dallas Cowboys”: View the result
The Celeb Watch, “NFL Week 3 Sunday Live: Real-Time Scores and Updates for Every Game”: Read the roundup
Sharp Football Analysis, “NFL Power Rankings, Week 3 2026: All 32 Teams,” updated September 21, 2026: Read the rankings
SportsBetting3, “2026-27 Undefeated NFL Teams”: Read the tracker
Reporting cutoff: September 21, 2026. The article is a fixed Week 3 snapshot; the Monday night result and Buffalo result were not included.