Five backup QBs played Sunday, and most of them notched victories.
Nine non-offensive TDs were scored Sunday, the most in a weekend in five years.
Seven games were decided in the final three minutes, a rarity for one weekend.

The 32 things we learned from Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season:

0. Number of rushing TDs scored Sunday by Green Bay Packers RB Josh Jacobs, breaking his 11-game streak (including playoffs) of scoring at least once on the ground − the sixth longest in league history. Adding insult to injury, Jacobs averaged just 1.9 yards on his 16 carries, the worst output of his seven-year career when he had at least 12 attempts, as the Pack were shocked 13-10 on the road by the Cleveland Browns.

1. The number of Minnesota Vikings players − ever − to score two defensive touchdowns in a single game, CB Isaiah Rodgers becoming the founding member Sunday. The most dominant Mr. Rodgers in the league this day, he returned an interception 87 yards for a score and brought a fumble back 66 yards for another in the Vikes’ 48-10 blowout of the Cincinnati Bengals. For good measure, Rodgers caused two fumbles, including the one he returned, and broke up two passes. He’s the first player since 2000 with two TDs and a pair of forced fumbles in the same game. May as well hand Rodgers NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors now.

2. The number of backup quarterbacks saddled with losses Sunday, the New York Jets’ Tyrod Taylor and Cincinnati Bengals’ Jake Browning unable to pick up the slack for injured Justin Fields and Joe Burrow, respectively.

3. The number of backup quarterbacks who notched victories Sunday, the Vikings’ Carson Wentz, Washington Commanders’ Marcus Mariota and San Francisco 49ers’ Mac Jones all getting fill-in Ws for injured J.J. McCarthy, Jayden Daniels and Brock Purdy, respectively.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers now ranks alone with the fourth-most TD passes in league history (510) after breaking his tie with Brett Favre (508) on Sunday. Rodgers has a way to go to catch Peyton Manning (539), who is third on the list.

4a. Also Sunday, Rodgers surpassed Philip Rivers for the sixth-most passing yards (63,538) in league history.

5. Speaking of “backup” quarterbacks, the Atlanta Falcons’ Kirk Cousins will apparently remain one – for now – even though he’s making $27.5 million this season and was called in to take over for highly ineffective second-year QB1 Michael Penix Jr. on Sunday as the Falcons were blown out 30-0 by the previously winless Carolina Panthers.

6. The number of teams that remain undefeated, the Chargers, Bills, Colts, 49ers, Eagles and Bucs all improving to 3-0.

6a. The number of teams that will go into Week 4 winless, the Texans, Jets, Titans, Dolphins and Saints all 0-3 … and joined by the Giants on Sunday night.

7. The number of games through Sunday afternoon of Week 3 decided in the final 2 minutes and 30 seconds of regulation. This is why we watch!

7a. Per the NFL, the seven games in Week 3 that produced a game-winning score in the final three minutes (none occurred in overtime) is tied for the most in a single week since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

8. Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams has endured his share of (deserved) criticism, some coming from me. But props on Sunday’s showing – probably his best in the NFL – when he matched his career high with four TD passes while crafting a personal best 142.6 passer rating in a 31-14 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys. Maybe he’s about to take off with rookie coach Ben Johnson as the wind beneath his wings after all.  

9. The number of non-offensive touchdowns scored Sunday – five coming via defense, two off punt returns and the two from blocked field-goal tries. It’s the most in a week since 2020.

10. Combined catches by Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson and Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase − former LSU teammates who are now almost inarguably the league’s two best receivers − in a strange and lopsided matchup between teams deploying backup QBs.

11. Steelers OLB T.J. Watt had gone six consecutive games, including playoffs, without a sack before finally getting his first two of the season in Sunday’s 21-14 defeat of the New England Patriots. Previously, Watt had never had a sack-less streak of more than three games during his nine-year career.

12. Speaking of sacks, Washington Commanders LB Bobby Wagner, a future Hall of Famer if there ever was one, had two Sunday in his undermanned team’s 41-24 defeat of the Las Vegas Raiders. Pass rush impact isn’t what will eventually put Wagner – one of the best defensive quarterbacks of this century – into Canton, but this was the fifth time the typically effective blitzer has had multiple sacks in a game during his 14-year career.

13. Number of consecutive regular-season games the Buffalo Bills have won at Highmark Stadium going back to the 2023 season, currently the league’s lengthiest home heater. Not great news for the rest of the conference as the perennial AFC East champs are very much on track to capture home-field advantage for this season’s playoffs in their building’s final season.

14. Even with electric Daniels out and RB Austin Ekeler lost for the season, Washington still rushed for 201 yards by committee Sunday – journeyman Jeremy McNichols posting a career-best and game-high 78 on just four carries.

15. They weren’t necessarily impactful, but Raiders WR Tre Tucker caught three TD passes from Geno Smith in Sunday’s loss to Washington. Tucker already has five in 2025, matching his total − combined − from his first two NFL seasons.

16. The number of wins credited to Wentz since the start of the 2020 season. More notably, since then, he’s now started for six different teams in each of the past six years − a first in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) − making a (very) successful debut (173 yards, 2 TDs passing) for the Vikes Sunday in their win over the Browning Bengals.

17. ‘Do you believe in miracles? Yes!’ If only Al Michaels had been on the call for the Philadelphia Eagles’ 33-26 comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams. Not only did Philly win its second nailbiter of the year over LA − the Rams nearly upset the Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs at Lincoln Financial Field in January − 336-pound DT Jordan Davis’ 61-yard TD run following a block of the Rams’ game-winning field-goal attempt allowed Philadelphia to cover the point spread … which Michaels would have gleefully made note of.

18. Davis’ block came on the heels of another by teammate Jalen Carter. The Eagles became the first team since at least 1978 to block a pair of FG tries in the fourth quarter of the same game.

19. The Jets were in position to get their first win for rookie HC Aaron Glenn, taking 27-26 lead with fewer than two minutes to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after DE Will McDonald IV blocked a field-goal attempt of his own and returned it 50 yards to pay dirt.

20. The number of drives it took for the Indianapolis Colts to finally punt, the most ever to start an NFL season. And speaking of 20, it was a nice punt by Indy’s Rigoberto Sanchez, who dropped a 46-yarder inside the Tennessee Titans’ 20-yard line.

21. Number of combined penalties (14 by Tampa Bay) for 205 aggregate yards in the Bucs-Jets game.

22. Alas, the Jets didn’t have enough juice to win the Todd Bowles Bowl, their former coach’s Bucs driving 48 yard over the final seven plays to set up Chase McLaughlin’s game-winning 36-yard FG at the gun.

23. Perhaps Sunday’s close shave was due to Tampa Bay’s ‘Creamsicle’ white throwbacks, last worn in 1976 − when the expansion Bucs finished 0-14.

24. Tampa Bay, which has started 2-0 each of the past five seasons, including all four under Bowles, is now 3-0 for the first time since 2005.

25. However Taylor (197 yards, 2 TDs, pick-six passing and team-best 48 rushing yards) – the 15th-year vet was making his first start since 2023 – surprisingly played (very early) MVP candidate Baker Mayfield (233 yards, TD passing plus 44 yards rushing) to a surprising draw. The duo were Browns teammates in 2018, when Mayfield was the No. 1 pick of that year’s draft.

26. Not-much-to-see rookie watch: No. 1 pick Cam Ward continues to look overmatched for the Tennessee Titans, throwing an early pick-six and getting sacked four more times for his winless team. Such is the life of a young QB trying to lift a flailing franchise … but the 85-sack pace Ward is on remains highly worrisome.

27. Not-much-to-see rookie watch: No. 2 pick Travis Hunter played another 80 snaps (43 on defense, per PFF) and made six tackles but caught just one ball for 21 yards as  a receiver. Again, no intent here to pick on him, but he has yet to display the type of impact on either side of the ball that would justify the bold move rookie GM James Gladstone made to get him in April. But let’s give Hunter (a lot) more time.

28. Not-much-to-see rookie watch: No. 6 pick Ashton Jeanty rushed for 63 yards on 17 carries in Sunday’s loss. It was easily the best showing of his three games, which also tells you how it’s been going thus far.

28a. Jeanty’s NFL experience so far can best be described as “Boise to Men” – shoutout to Rich Eisen for turning that phrase.

29. A lot-to-see rookie watch? Browns RB Quinshon Judkins, the 36th pick of this year’s draft – and part of what Cleveland got in order to give up the pick used by Jacksonville on Hunter – ran for a 94 yards and a TD on Sunday, his second NFL game after an offseason when Judkins’ legal issues drew the kind of attention he didn’t want. But he now has 155 rushing yards after two games.

30. A lot-to-see rookie watch? Seattle Seahawks WR Tory Horton, the 166th pick of this year’s draft, scored on a 95-yard punt return and a 14-yard reception in Sunday’s 44-13 rout of the New Orleans Saints. Horton has already found the end zone three times in three NFL games.

31. The Bucs weren’t the only team in throwback – or alternate – uniforms Sunday, though their game against the Jets, who permanently reinstituted their 1980s look last season, was the most aesthetically pleasing game on the slate.

32. Also switching it up: Panthers (black helmet), Browns (debut of their all-brown “Alpha Dawg” look), Jags (“Prowler” throwbacks), Patriots (Pat Patriot throwbacks), Saints (debut of alternate white helmet) and 49ers (throwbacks).

32a. The Baltimore Ravens will be in their all-black kit Monday night – they are 20-6 in those alternates – in a highly anticipated matchup with the Detroit Lions.

The New England Patriots lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-14, committing five turnovers.
Running back Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled twice, once at the goal line, after a strong performance the previous week.
Despite the loss, coach Mike Vrabel noted positive aspects of rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s performance.

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The goal line, for an offense, typically means scoring chances. 

For the New England Patriots’ offense Sunday in a 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was the site of calamity – on two separate, equally hurtful occasions. Every time it felt like the Patriots were building momentum, disaster struck. 

The Patriots turned the ball over five times – four fumbles by three different players and one interception – compared to the Steelers’ lone turnover (an Aaron Rodgers interception). The game was there for the taking, except New England quite literally coughed it up. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye outplayed Rodgers, however, by completing 28 of 37 passes for (both to tight end Hunter Henry) and a pick. 

“I’m not going to state the obvious,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said. “We just have to not give them so many chances with the turnovers, take care of those things. There’s a lot to clean up. A lot of good in there, but unfortunately just not enough to get us to win, to get us to really have any sort of advantage in a football game.”

Worse than the Patriots’ mistakes was their timing. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s first error of the game happened three plays into the proceedings and less than two minutes had ticked off the clock. With the Patriots trying to tie the game at 14, he fumbled at the goal line early in the third quarter. Maye’s interception came seven seconds before halftime on a pass intended for Kayshon Boutte that Steelers’ defensive lineman Cam Heyward tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell into the hands of Brandin Echols. The play lingered in Maye’s mind as he headed to halftime.

“It stings just knowing we hurt ourselves,” he said, “and that’s what cost us.”

What Vrabel wants his young quarterback to understand, he said, is that winning can’t be accomplished in one play. Moving on to the next one is sometimes just as important.  

“You can’t put the ball in harm’s way at that position,” Vrabel said. “But certainly Drake wasn’t alone.”

Maye’s fumble came in the fourth quarter when Nick Herbig forced the ball out and T.J. Watt recovered it; the Steelers went on their game-winning drive with the ensuing possession. Maye said he saw rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson break open late and he “tried to do something stupid” to get him the ball, thus exposing the pigskin. 

But Vrabel said plenty of positives emerged – Maye’s ability to extend plays, scramble and pick up first downs (he rushed seven times for 45 yards) with his legs while delivering the ball consistently within his progression from the pocket. 

“There’s a lot of good things in there, just some decision making that we need to have be better for him and for himself,” Vrabel said. 

Stevenson, meanwhile, led all running backs last season with seven fumbles. His pair against Pittsburgh confounded his coach. In a 33-27 victory over the Miami Dolphins last week, Stevenson had 54 rushing yards and 88 receiving yards. This week, he cost his team the game. Figuring out how to deal with the yin and yang of his performances is something Vrabel said he can’t decide 20 minutes after the game ended. 

“It’s like you sit there, and we were so excited about him and everybody is excited about him, the fans are, and we know what his capabilities are, and we’ve got to get him back,” Vrabel said. “We need him. We absolutely need him. You see what he was able to do for us last week, his ability to make some plays.

“We need him because he helped us win the game last week, and it was a different story today.” 

It will be the same tale going forward for the Patriots until the turnover troubles are reversed.

All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter.

Cal Raleigh is closing in on the 60-home run milestone this season. He is currently leading Major League Baseball with 58 home runs through Sunday, Sept. 21.

Raleigh would become the youngest player to reach the mark since Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961 at age 26. Raleigh also broke Mickey Mantle’s record for most home runs in a season by a switch-hitter earlier this month.

Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber are currently tied with 53. Raleigh, the 28-year-old catcher, would become just the seventh player to hit at least 60 home runs in a single season.

Barry Bonds set the all-time single-season record with 73 home runs in 2001 at age 36.

Aaron Judge is the most recent player to hit more than 60 home runs in a single season, doing so in 2022. The feat hadn’t been accomplished since 2001, when Bonds hit 73 and Sammy Sosa hit 64.

Here are all the players to hit 50 or more home runs in a single season:

MLB players with 50-plus home run seasons

(Number of home runs, season; players in alphabetical order)

Pete Alonso (53, 2019)
Brady Anderson (50, 1996)
José Bautista (54, 2010)
Albert Belle (50, 1995)
Barry Bonds (73, 2001)
Chris Davis (53, 2013)
Cecil Fielder (51, 1990)
Prince Fielder (50, 2007)
George Foster (52, 1977)
Jimmie Foxx (58, 1932; 50, 1938)
Luis Gonzalez (57, 2001)
Hank Greenberg (58, 1938)
Ken Griffey Jr. (56, 1997; 56, 1998)
Ryan Howard (58, 2006)
Andruw Jones (51, 2005)
Aaron Judge (62, 2022; 59, 2024; 52, 2017)
Ralph Kiner (54, 1949; 51, 1947)
Mickey Mantle (54, 1961; 52, 1956)
Roger Maris (61, 1961)
Willie Mays (52, 1965; 51, 1955)
Mark McGwire (70, 1998; 65, 1999; 58, 1997; 52, 1996)
Johnny Mize (51, 1947)
Shohei Ohtani (54, 2024; 53, 2025)
Matt Olson (54, 2023)
David Ortiz (54, 2006)
Cal Raleigh (58, 2025)
Alex Rodriguez (57, 2002; 54, 2007; 52, 2001)
Babe Ruth (60, 1927; 59, 1921; 54, 1920; 54, 1928)
Kyle Schwarber (53, 2025)
Sammy Sosa (66, 1998; 64, 2001; 63, 1999; 50, 2000)
Giancarlo Stanton (59, 2017)
Jim Thome (52, 2002)
Greg Vaughn (50, 1998)
Hack Wilson (56, 1930)

The Kansas City Chiefs secured their first win of the season against the New York Giants, showing signs of overcoming an early slump.
Patrick Mahomes received more support from the offense, with multiple players contributing to the run and pass game.
Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton had a career night, helping to fill the void left by injured and suspended players.

Now that’s more like it.

Patrick Mahomes didn’t have to throw it and run it like crazy as the Kansas City Chiefs won their first game of the season on Sunday night.

Go ahead, Chiefs Kingdom. Exhale.

Mahomes had a notable supply of HELP! from a large cast of characters as the Chiefs took down the New York Giants, 22-9, at MetLife Stadium. No, the Chiefs offense hasn’t hit a playoff level. At least not yet. But there was progress. There’s a bit more hope as the Chiefs showed signs of snapping out of a distinct funk.

Shoot, the sight of a fiery Travis Kelce yapping at his venerable coach, Andy Reid, on the sideline might have been another indication that things might ultimately get back to normal for the team that has stumbled with an apparent Super Bowl hangover after the bid for an historic three-peat was denied in February.

And hey, Mahomes, who completed 22 of 37 passes for 224 yards, with a touchdown and zero picks on Sunday, rushed for all of 2 yards! The first two games, he led all NFL quarterbacks in rushing for 57 and 66 yards, which wasn’t the ideal stat for one of the game’s most electric passers.

Considering the misfiring during the first two games – and the load that Mahomes endured as the team’s leading rusher in both losses – the formula now seemingly has taken a turn toward the direction that you’d imagine has been Reid’s plan all along.

Look at all the contributors. Tyquan Thornton – who? – had a career night with five catches for 71 yards and demonstrated his ability to supply some of the big-play punch missing without Xavier Worthy (dislocated shoulder) and Rashee Rice (suspension). Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt combined to rush for 79 yards, which was more significant when considering each tallied 47 yards on the ground during the 0-2 start, when Mahomes ran for 123 yards. And JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Kelce and Noah Gray divided up 15 catches. There was balance and purpose.

“We just want to play better,” Mahomes said during a postgame interview on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast. “We haven’t played up to our standard.”

We know. For the first half on Sunday night, it was ragged, too. They settled for three Harrison Butker field goals and a fourth attempt that the kicker missed. The turnaround came after halftime. Maybe it will prove to be a pivotal moment if the Chiefs are able to play themselves back in the mix to perhaps win a 10th straight AFC West crown.

Why’s that? The Chiefs took the second half kickoff and produced a crisp, 11-play, 74-yard drive capped by Mahomes’ 5-yard TD toss to Thornton. In the fourth quarter, they went 77 yards on 9 plays, capped by Hunt’s 1-yard score. Two long TD drives can do wonders for the confidence of the unit.

Said Mahomes, “We had to clean it up.”

The work is far from complete for a unit trying to survive the absence of their big-play receivers. The Chiefs (1-2) will need to be even sharper next weekend, when the Baltimore Ravens visit with Lamar Jackson and an explosive offense that will challenge Mahomes & Co. to keep pace.

That’s a measuring stick that will likely say much more about whether the Chiefs are back in the mix as a top contender.

 Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell, on Bluesky: jarrettbell.bsky.social.

Week 3 of the NFL season featured several exciting broadcasting moments, including game-winning calls and booth antics.
Joe Davis and Greg Olsen called another thrilling game, culminating in a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown.
Tom Brady provided insightful analysis on a flea-flicker play during the Bears game.

For a minute there, Week 3 was shaping up to be a snoozer. Then somebody finally got a hold of the ‘Buffalo Wild Wings’ button.

Blocked kicks. Walk-off winners. Booth hijinks. Flea-flickers.

These are the best broadcasting moments from Sunday’s Week 3 NFL games. There are some repeat honorees – the best Sunday crews will find themselves here more often than not, methinks – and even some love for a predictable media nemesis. As always, please let me know what we missed.

Joe Davis, Greg Olsen behind mic for another thriller

The best 1 p.m. ET game once again fell to Joe Davis and Greg Olsen, after the duo had the call for the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants overtime thriller in Week 2.

This time it was the Philadelphia Eagles’ comeback victory over the Los Angeles Rams, which was punctuated by Jordan Davis’ highlight-reel touchdown return after he blocked a potential game-winning field goal.

‘Joshua Karty, has it blocked again! This time Jordan Davis! The big man looks for the icing on one big cake! Eagles hang on!’

What a call. He will be missed once Major League Baseball postseason duties pull him away from NFL coverage.

Guess who the ‘Mike’ is (clean version)

An easy way to respond to some unintentional profanity, without being able to cuss yourself, Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma taught us, is with some humor.

Calling the wild Tampa Bay Buccaneers-New York Jets game, Vilma and Albert had to think on the fly when the FOX microphones picked up Buccaneers center Ben Bredeson saying that No. 44 on the Jets (Jamien Sherwood) ‘is the (expletive) mike (middle linebacker).’ Sadly, we cannot incorporate the video but please utilize your imagination.

‘Guess who’s the mic?’ Vilma quipped.

‘Forty-four?’ Albert answered.

They also nailed the finish.

Tom Brady breaks down Caleb Williams’ flea-flicker

Do we think Bears head coach Ben Johnson talked about this trickery in the production meeting?

Rather than jumping into the excitement, Brady let his partner Kevin Burkhardt carry the scene and laid out. He let the moment breathe. His first words gave us some reporting on Johnson’s demeanor.

Later, Brady took the viewers through the sequence of the play – from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams receiving the lateral to his footwork to throw itself. We are hard on Brady here but this was good stuff.

Ian Eagle honors CBS’ 50-year anniversary celebration with throwback look

The chemistry the elder Eagle and JJ Watt have constructed within three weeks is marvelous. Of course, Eagle’s personality helps.

Check this guy out.

Watt started laughing the moment Eagle began the open from the booth.

“Welcome to the broadcast booth, everybody,” Eagle began. “Ian Eagle, along with JJ Watt.”

“The over/under was two seconds for J.J. to lose it,” Eagle continued. “I should’ve taken the under.”

“It’s the lip sweater,” Watt replied. “I mean, it’s phenomenal.”

The kick is BLOCKED. The kick is GOOD.

FOX’s Kevin Kugler met the moment for the end of the Cleveland Browns’ upset over the Green Bay Packers.

When Brandon McManus’ go-ahead 43-yarder with less than 30 seconds left was blocked, he nailed it.

Seconds later, he perfectly described Andre Szmyt’s game-winning 55-yarder as time expired, and the vibrato on ‘GOOD!’ definitely hit.

The Chicago Bears defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-14, giving head coach Ben Johnson his first win.
Quarterback Caleb Williams matched his career high with four touchdowns and posted his best QB rating yet.
Chicago’s defense forced four turnovers, including three interceptions on Dallas’ final three drives.

CHICAGO — This game is exactly what the Chicago Bears, and their fans, hoped for when they drafted Caleb Williams and hired Ben Johnson.

An explosive offense. An offense that’s fun to watch. An offense that can grind opposing defenses into submission. A defense that’s opportunistic. A defense that doesn’t beat itself.

Most of all, a team that can win.

“We have so many guys that care,” Williams said after Sunday’s 31-14 thrashing of the Dallas Cowboys.

“We always felt that our hard work, our preparation, the long-drive drill, the two-minutes, the moments, the four-minute, situational third downs — all those things, those are going to come,” Williams said. “I know we started off 0-2, but the belief was still there. The trust was still there. It’s just being able to go out there and do it.”

One game is not enough to revive a franchise or declare Williams the quarterback the Bears have been searching for since before he was born. This was against the Cowboys, after all, a team that has given up a whopping 891 yards — 720 of them in the air — and eight touchdowns in the last two games and doesn’t yet have Jadeveon Clowney.

Still, for a team and a fan base starved for any sign of progress, this was a game they desperately needed.

Williams matched his career high with four touchdowns, earning fans free hot dogs Tuesday from The Wieners Circle, while posting his best QB rating (142.6) yet. He finished a game without a sack for the first time since the Bears made him the overall No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, and Chicago did not have any turnovers or pre-snap penalties.

While Rome Odunze remains Williams’ favorite target, he threw to eight different receivers. Williams was able to get rid of the ball quickly — that he was able to pull off the flea flicker that resulted in a 65-yard touchdown to Luther Burden III is a miracle — and his footwork looked better. He made better decisions and, unlike previous games, most of his misses were to the right area.

The defense, meanwhile, set the tone on Dallas’ first possession. Javonte Williams had rushed for 22 yards and was trying to get out of bounds when Tyrique Stevenson ripped the ball from his hands.

Tom Brady still causing headaches for the NFL a decade after Deflategate | Opinion

The Bears D finished the game with interceptions on each of Dallas’ last three drives, two by Tremaine Edmunds.

“It builds confidence for us, as a team and an organization, to be able to go out here and win these games and feel confident about who we’ve got on this field,” Williams said.  

Chicago fans have been punked by the Bears on a regular basis since 1985. There have been some years when they resembled a real football team — Lovie Smith took the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006 and had a winning record in five of his nine seasons — but mostly it’s been long stretches of futility.

Particularly lately.

Chicago hasn’t made the playoffs since 2020 and has had a winning record once in the last 12 years. Johnson is the fifth head coach in that time, and Williams is the third QB the Bears have drafted in the first round since 2017.

But Johnson’s success as Detroit’s offensive coordinator, coupled with Williams’ talent and savvy, gave fans optimism that the Bears had finally gotten it right.

Then the season began.

The Bears gagged up an 11-point lead in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the season opener, then got flattened by the Detroit Lions last weekend. Things were bad enough for a players’ only meeting before the Cowboys game.

And for The Wieners Circle, a local institution that specializes in hot dogs and sides of snark, to make its bet.

“The first two weeks had not gone the way we wanted to. It’s early, but we’ve got to get the issues fixed and I thought the guys were committed to that here this week,” said Johnson, who was given a game ball for his first win as a head coach.

Again, one game doesn’t make the Bears contenders for the Super Bowl. Or even the division title.

‘We’re behind the eight ball here,’ Johnson cautioned. ‘We’re 1-2 and we’ve got to get back to .500.’

But for one day, at least, the Bears lived up to their promise. After being so bad, for so long, that’s a huge victory.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

Entering the final week of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, playoff berths are still up for grabs with a pair of longtime postseason shoo-ins suddenly in danger of missing out.

The Cleveland Guardians trailed the Tigers by 11 games in the American League Central on Sept. 4, but reeled off a 10-game winning streak and enter Monday, Sept. 22 just one game back in the division as Detroit has lost nine of its last 10. In the National League, the New York Mets had held a postseason spot since early April, but lost two of three over the weekend against the lowly Washington Nationals, falling behind the Cincinnati Reds for the final wild-card spot.

Cleveland hosts Detroit for a three-game set beginning Tuesday at Progressive Field, with the Tigers needing a sweep to clinch the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Guardians’ ascent also shook up the AL wild-card standings with the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros needing to fight them off as well.

Here’s a look at the latest standings and playoff picture:

Entering Monday, Sept. 22

MLB playoff bracket if season ended today

American League

Byes: Blue Jays, Mariners
AL wild card series

Guardians at Tigers
Red Sox at Yankees

National League

Byes: Brewers, Phillies
NL wild card series

Reds at Dodgers
Padres at Cubs

AL wild card standings

Top three reach playoffs

New York Yankees (88-68): +4 games
Boston Red Sox (85-71) + 1 game
Cleveland Guardians (84-72): holds head-to-head tiebreaker vs. Houston
Houston Astros (84-72)
Texas Rangers (79-77): 5.5 GB
Kansas City Royals (78-78): 6.5 GB

NL wild card standings

Top three reach playoffs

Chicago Cubs (88-68): +8 games // clinched postseason berth
San Diego Padres (85-71): +5 games
Cincinnati Reds (80-76): holds head-to-head tiebreaker vs. Mets
New York Mets (80–76)
Arizona Diamondbacks (79-77): 1 GB
San Francisco Giants (77-79): 3 GB
St. Louis Cardinals (76-80): 4 GB
Miami Marlins (76-80): 4 GB

AL East

Toronto Blue Jays (90-66) – clinched postseason berth
New York Yankees (88-68): 2 games back
Boston Red Sox (85-71): 5 GB

AL Central

Detroit Tigers (85-71)
Cleveland Guardians (84-72): 1 GB

AL West

Seattle Mariners (87-69)
Houston Astros (84-72): 3 GB
Texas Rangers (79-77): 8 GB

NL East

Philadelphia Phillies (92-64) – clinched NL East title
New York Mets (80-76)

NL Central

Milwaukee Brewers (95-61) – clinched NL Central title
Chicago Cubs (88-68)

NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers (88-68) – clinched postseason berth
San Diego Padres (85-71): 3 GB

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.