NFL results: Week three round-up featuring Miami Dolphins crushing win over Denver Broncos

Week Three Fixtures & Results

Thursday, September 21

• New York Giants 12-30 San Francisco 49ers

Sunday, September 24

1800 BST

• New Orleans Saints 17-18 Green Bay Packers
• Los Angeles Chargers 28-24 Minnesota Vikings
• Atlanta Falcons 6-20 Detroit Lions
• Denver Broncos 20-70 Miami Dolphins
• Tennessee Titans 3-27 Cleveland Browns
• Buffalo Bills 37-3 Washington Commanders
• Houston Texans 37-17 Jacksonville Jaguars
• New England Patriots 15-10 New York Jets
• Indianapolis Colts 22-19 Baltimore Ravens
• Carolina Panthers 27-37 Seattle Seahawks
• Chicago Bears 10-41 Kansas City Chiefs
• Dallas Cowboys 16-28 Arizona Cardinals
• Pittsburgh Steelers 23-18 Las Vegas Raiders

Monday, September 25

• Philadelphia Eagles v Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0015 BST, Tuesday)
• Los Angeles Rams v Cincinnati Bengals (0115 BST, Tuesday)

Dolpins turn down record bid

The Miami Dolphins rattled up the highest points total in the NFL since 1966 as they overwhelmed the winless Denver Broncos 70-20.

Rookie De’Von Achane ran for 203 yards, two touchdowns and collected a touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa – who completed his first 17 passes – while fellow running back Raheen Mostert ran for three touchdowns and caught another.

Coach Mike McDaniel opted against a last-ditch field-goal attempt which would have broken the record of 72 points set by Washington against the Giants 57 years ago.

AFC East rivals Buffalo Bills also had a commanding victory as they routed the Washington Commanders 37-3.

Josh Allen threw for one touchdown and ran for another as the Bills defence sacked home quarterback Sam Howell nine times.

Howell threw four interceptions, once of which was returned for a touchdown by AJ Epenesa – as the Commanders went scoreless until a field goal with 46 seconds left on the clock.

Elsewhere in the AFC East, the New England Patriots won 15-10 to beat the New York Jets for a 15th successive game and avoid a first 0-3 start since 2000.

Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdown passes, two to Jerick McKinnon, but had to take second billing to a watching Taylor Swift as Kansas City Chiefs ease passed the winless Chicago Bears 41-10.

Swift cheered on from a suite at the invitation of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, with whom she has been romantically linked and who also grabbed a touchdown pass from Mahomes.

Reigning MVP Mahomes threw for 272 yards, Isiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire adding touchdown runs as the Bears fell to a 13th straight defeat ahead of a clash with the Broncos next week.

Kenny Pickett passed for 235 yards with two touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Steelers held off a fourth quarter comeback from the Las Vegas Raiders to win 23-18.

The Raiders, who trailed 23-7 going into the final quarter, cut the deficit to eight points but opted to take a field goal on fourth and four in the closing moments.

Dallas Cowboys’ impressive start to the season hit came to an abrupt end as they lost 28-16 at Arizona Cardinals, Joshua Dobbs throwing for a touchdown and 189 yards to secure his first win as a starting quarterback in his seventh NFL season.

Quarterback Derek Carr was forced off with a shoulder injury as the New Orleans Saints coughed up a 17-0 lead to lose 18-7 to the Green Bay Packers while Kenneth Walker II rushed for a pair of touchdowns as the Seattle Seahawks won 37-27 over the winless Carolina Panthers.

The Minnesota Vikings are also 0-3 after they went down 28-24 to the Los Angeles Chargers, Justin Herbert completing 40 of 47 passes – a franchise record 18 of them to Keenan Allen – for 405 yards and three touchdowns.

Andrew Beck returned a kick-off 85 yards for a touchdown and CJ Stroud threw for two more as the Houston Texans beat the faltering Jacksonville Jaguars 37-17.

Matt Gay kicked four field goals from more than 50 yards, including the game winner in overtime from 53 yards, as the Indianapolis Colts won 22-19 to inflict a first defeat of the season on the Baltimore Ravens.

The Tennessee Titans totalled just 94 yards in offence as they went down 27-3 at the Cleveland Browns, while the Atlanta Falcons went down 20-6 at the Detroit Lions.

San Francisco stay perfect

Christian McCaffrey grabbed a touchdown for the 12th consecutive game as the San Francisco 49ers saw off the New York Giants 30-12 for a 3-0 start to the season.

Brock Purdy threw for two touchdown passes – to Ronnie Bell and Deebo Samuel – as he extended his winning run as a starter in the regular season to eight from as many starts.

But he struggled at times, narrowly avoiding turnovers and relying on his receivers to make the bulk of the yardage.

Although the 49ers offense was not particularly smooth, they were too good for the Giants – without the injured Saquon Barkley – as the defence finished the job.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones struggled to make any headway downfield as he threw for just 137 yards and an interception.

The Giants’ only scores came from an eight-yard Matt Brieda touchdown run and a pair of first-half field goals.

McCaffrey’s four-yard touchdown run, which opened a 17-3 lead in the second quarter, equalled Jerry Rice’s franchise record of touchdowns in successive games and is just three short of the NFL record.

The 49ers have now won 13 consecutive regular season games as they moved to 3-0 for only the second time in 25 seasons.