The NFL enters Week 3 with several teams already adjusting to significant quarterback injuries, while other early-season problems are beginning to expose questions about roster depth and defensive performance. The 16-game slate begins Thursday night with the Atlanta Falcons visiting the Green Bay Packers and includes the league’s first regular-season game in Brazil this season.
Three teams — the New York Giants, Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears — are dealing with injuries to their starting quarterbacks. Detroit’s defense faces another test, Atlanta is turning to Michael Penix Jr., and the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts meet Sunday with both teams at 0-2.
Here are five storylines to watch as Week 3 unfolds.
1. Three teams are trying to survive without their starting quarterbacks
Quarterback injuries have quickly become one of the defining issues of the opening weeks of the season.
Washington will be without Jayden Daniels when the Commanders host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Daniels dislocated his left elbow during Washington’s 37-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2. Coach Dan Quinn confirmed that Marcus Mariota will start against Seattle, while Daniels has been consulting specialists and does not yet have a timetable for his return.
The Giants’ situation is more serious. Jaxson Dart left Monday night’s 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams with a knee injury. Subsequent testing showed a more significant injury than initially feared, and NFL Network reported Wednesday that Dart is expected to undergo season-ending surgery. The ACL remains intact, according to the report, but damage involving the MCL, PCL and meniscus is expected to require surgery.
New York will therefore turn to Jameis Winston against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Chicago is also monitoring its quarterback situation. Caleb Williams suffered a right hamstring injury during the Bears’ 9-3 loss to Minnesota and was listed as week-to-week by coach Ben Johnson. The Bears have not ruled him out for Monday night’s game against Philadelphia, although Johnson said he did not expect Williams to practice during the week.
That situation could become more complicated because backup Tyson Bagent has been dealing with a concussion. The Bears were still managing both quarterback injuries as Week 3 approached.
The combined effect is significant: Washington and New York already know they will use replacements, while Chicago’s quarterback situation remains unsettled ahead of a Monday night matchup with Philadelphia.
2. Detroit’s defense faces another examination against the Jets
Detroit’s offense has continued to provide plenty of production, but the defense is entering Sunday’s matchup with the New York Jets under considerable scrutiny.
The Lions allowed 41 points to Buffalo in Week 2 and enter the Jets game at 1-1. ESPN’s post-Week 2 analysis noted that Detroit had the league’s second-worst defense through two games, with problems against both the run and the pass.
The matchup also brings Aaron Glenn back to Ford Field.
Glenn spent four seasons as Detroit’s defensive coordinator before leaving for the Jets’ head-coaching job. The Lions confirmed Thursday that Glenn expects an unusual reunion when he returns to Detroit on Sunday. Glenn described Ford Field as a place where he has fond memories but said his current team is focused on winning the game.
The Jets are 1-1 and are not coming into Detroit with an explosive offense. But Sunday’s game should provide another indication of whether Detroit can correct the defensive problems that have surfaced early in the season.
For a Lions offense led by Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown, the question is whether the defense can give that group enough support.
3. Atlanta’s quarterback situation reaches prime time
The Falcons’ quarterback situation has become one of the league’s more unusual early-season storylines.
Atlanta began the season with Tua Tagovailoa expected to start, but an oblique issue sidelined him. Michael Penix Jr. was also unavailable while recovering from the torn ACL he suffered last season. Cooper Rush started the first two games, both Atlanta losses, while Jack Strand also saw action in Week 2.
Penix is now expected to make his first start of the season Thursday night against Green Bay at Lambeau Field.
The Falcons enter the game 0-2. The NFL’s official injury report lists defensive end Samson Ebukam as out with a hamstring injury and cornerback Billy Bowman Jr. as questionable with an Achilles injury. Green Bay will be without wide receiver Jayden Reed, guard Aaron Banks, offensive lineman Zach Bako-Bewele and defensive tackle Warren Brinson.
The game is also the opening part of a nationally televised stretch for Atlanta. After Thursday’s matchup, the Falcons have a bye before visiting New Orleans and then hosting Baltimore on Sunday Night Football.
For Penix, the immediate task is straightforward: provide stability to an offense that has struggled through the opening two games.
4. The NFL’s international schedule moves to Brazil
Sunday’s Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys matchup will take the NFL to one of its most prominent international venues.
The teams will meet at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, with kickoff scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET. The NFL lists the game as the league’s 2026 Rio Game, with CBS carrying the contest in the United States.
It is the first NFL regular-season game at Maracanã and part of a 2026 international schedule that includes a record nine games outside the United States, according to the CNN report.
The matchup also features two quarterbacks who have started the season strongly. Dallas enters at 1-1 after beating Washington 37-20, while Baltimore is also 1-1 after losing 24-17 to New Orleans.
ESPN’s Week 3 analysis identified an important issue for Baltimore: the revamped offensive line has struggled in pass protection during the opening two games. The Ravens’ pass-block win rate with Lamar Jackson was 38% in Week 1 and 33% in Week 2, according to ESPN’s analysis.
The Brazil game therefore has two storylines beyond its international setting: how Baltimore protects Jackson and whether Dallas can continue the offensive momentum it generated against Washington.
5. Texans and Colts face an early AFC South crossroads
The Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts both enter Sunday at 0-2, guaranteeing that at least one team will leave the matchup with its first victory unless the game ends in a tie.
Houston opened the season with losses to Buffalo and Cincinnati, while Indianapolis lost in overtime to Kansas City in Week 2. The Texans were held to six points by Cincinnati, while the Colts pushed the Chiefs to overtime before losing 33-30.
The AFC South currently has only one team with a winning record: Jacksonville at 1-1. Tennessee is also 0-2.
An 0-3 start does not automatically eliminate a team from postseason contention, but it is historically difficult to overcome. Houston itself provides two recent examples: the Texans made the playoffs after starting 0-3 in both 2018 and 2025. Houston’s 2025 postseason appearance made it the seventh team in NFL history to reach the playoffs after an 0-3 start.
That history offers some perspective, but it also shows how unusual such recoveries are.
For the Texans and Colts, Sunday is therefore about more than the first win of the season. It is an opportunity to prevent an early deficit in the AFC South from becoming substantially larger.
What to watch across the weekend
Week 3 does not determine the direction of an NFL season by itself, but it can expose problems that become increasingly difficult to fix.
The quarterback situations in Washington, New York and Chicago will receive much of the attention. Atlanta’s decision to turn to Penix gives another young quarterback an opportunity under prime-time scrutiny, while Detroit’s defense faces a direct test against Glenn and the Jets.
Then there is the international spotlight in Rio, where the Ravens and Cowboys will play at Maracanã for the first time.
The full Week 3 schedule runs from Thursday through Monday, with Philadelphia visiting Chicago to close the week on Monday night.
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