A Look Back at the NFL's Week 3

Kolb Leads Eagles, Favre Magic Again, Lions Finally Win

Sep 28, 2009

Week 3 of the 2009/10 NFL season showed lots of promise for younger players and flashes of brilliance for a decorated veteran. Here are the headlines.

Kolb Proving Worth As a Starting QB

Though Donovan McNabb will almost certainly return as Philadelphia's starting QB in Week 5, backup Kevin Kolb has shown the last two weeks that he has a bright future with the organization. It would be unfair to say that a QB controversy is swirling in Philly, but recording back-to-back 300-yard passing games in your first two starts (the first player in NFL history to do so) bodes well for your career outlook once McNabb moves on. Kolb's day under center overshadowed the return of Michael Vick, who was playing in his first NFL game since December 31st, 2006. A week after losing to the New Orleans Saints in a game in which he posted 391 passing yards, 2 TDs and 3 INTs, Kolb threw for 327 yards, 2 TDs and no INTs, and rushed for another score as the Eagles (2-1) beat the Kansas City Chiefs (0-3), 34-14. Vick missed on both of his pass attempts and rushed once for 7 yards in limited playing time. WR DeSean Jackson joined Kolb in the the category of "career games," hauling in 6 passes for a career-high 146 yards and 1 TD. TE Brent Celek also broke the 100-yard receiving mark (104) and caught 1 TD pass. And rookie RB LeSean McCoy, filling in for the injured Brian Westbrook in his first NFL start, rushed 20 times for 84 yards and his first NFL score.

Philadelphia will be off next week before hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5. The bye week will help McNabb (rib) and Westbrook (ankle) recover from their injuries. Head coach Andy Reid expects them to be back in the lineup in Week 5.

Favre Returns to Glory of Old

Sunday's Minnesota Vikings game against the San Francisco 49ers was quite the home debut for the 39-year-old Brett Favre. The QB who made the late-game comeback cliched during his playing days with the Green Bay Packers showed everyone that he still has the magic touch. With just 12 seconds remaining in Sunday's game, and the Vikings trailing, 24-20, Favre pulled out his magic wand. Taking the snap at the 49ers' 32-yard line, he scrambled left, faked a pass, scrambled right, shook off a defender, and came back to the middle of the field to launch a pass to the end zone just before being hit from behind. From the turf, Favre watched as WR Greg Lewis stretched behind the defender to make the catch and just get both feet down in the back of the end zone for the score with two seconds left. For Lewis, who was cut by the New England Patriots before the season, the 32-yard, game-winning catch was his first reception of the season, and perhaps the biggest of his career. For Favre, the play was nothing new. But it was something we hadn't seen for a while. Favre's final stat line: 24/46, 301 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT.

The Vikings are 3-0 for the first time since 2003. Favre will face his former team, Green Bay, for the first time in his career when the Packers come to Minnesota next Monday.

Lions Stop 19-Game Losing Streak

As the Detroit Lions recorded loss after loss, 31 NFL teams hoped that they wouldn't be on the other side of a Detroit win. Well, 30 of those teams can rest easy now as the Washington Redskins were the eventual "victims" of a 19-14 Detroit win that snapped the team's 19-game losing streak. And the Lions (1-2) can breathe a collective sigh of relief. The Lions jumped out to an early lead and held off a Redskins team that featured 340 passing yards from QB Jason Campbell (the second most of his career) and a career-best 178 receiving yards by WR Santana Moss. The victory gave Lions rookie QB Matthew Stafford his first win in 3 starts. Stafford completed 21 of 36 pass attempts for 241 yards and 1 TD. It was the Lions' first regular-season win since December 23rd, 2007. The Redskins dropped to 1-2 on the season.

Week 3's Best Performances (by position)

QB - Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts 31 @ Arizona Cardinals 10): 24/35, 379 yards, 4 TDs

RB - Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars 31 @ Houston Texans 24): 23 carries, 119 yards, 3 TDs

WR - Santana Moss (Washington Redskins 14 @ Detroit Lions 19): 10 receptions, 178 yards, 1 TD

Defense - New York Giants: held Tampa Bay to 86 total yards (58 passing; 28 rushing) as they shut out the Buccaneers, 24-0

Other Week 3 NFL Scores:

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