Biggest NFL early-season questions: Are the Raiders for real, who’s in trouble and the MVP favorite

We’re through three weeks of this year’s NFL season, and we’ve seen quite a bit happen so far. As usual in the early stages, some surprises – good and bad – have transpired, and that leaves us all searching for answers as the season progresses.

Three games is still a relatively small sample, but it’s enough to start wondering which early trends actually mean something.

NFL’s biggest burning questions entering Week 4 of the season

With the calendar about to flip to October and with three weeks in the books, it’s time to dive into some of the more burning NFL questions we have at this stage of the season. Let’s start with one of the more shocking stories of the year thus far. 

Are the Raiders real?

No good start to 2026 has been more interesting than the Raiders’. Vegas, after going 3-14 all of 2025, are 3-0 under new head coach Klint Kubiak.

Everything has been working thus far. The Raiders have taken down the Dolphins, Chargers and Saints to begin the season, scoring 27, 26 and 35 points over the first three weeks of the season. Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins may just be keeping the seat warm for No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, but he has tossed three touchdowns in all three games – the only quarterback to do so in 2026. Ashton Jeanty is still waiting to get going in the run game, but Brock Bowers, who made his season debut on Sunday, caught 10 of 13 targets for 116 yards and a touchdown against the Saints.

Now, the Raiders’ schedule thus far has been very easy by virtue of finishing in last place in the AFC West last year, and through three weeks, their three opponents they’ve beaten are a collective 1-8. Ouch. 

But you can only play who’s on the schedule, as we saw all too well with the Patriots last year. 

As far as whether the Raiders are for real, I’m still bullish. We will find out very soon just how good this team is as their next four games are against the Chiefs, Patriots, Bills and Rams. After playing the Jets, the Raiders play the 49ers, Seahawks and Broncos. 

Maybe the Raiders will surprise us and do well over that stretch, but there’s also a very real possibility that Vegas goes anywhere from 2-6 to 0-8.  

Are the Rams and Patriots not good, or is it the schedule?

Two conference championship game representatives from a year ago would like do-overs. 

The Patriots, who made the Super Bowl, lost to Seattle, beat Pittsburgh and then got absolutely blown out by Jacksonville. The Rams were blown out by San Francisco and suffered a gutting loss at Denver while beating a beat-up Giants squad. 

So, is it that these teams aren’t as good as expected? Or is it the schedule?

No one should fault any of these losses. The Seahawks are the reigning champs, the Jaguars made the playoffs last year and are 2-1, the 49ers are 3-0 and the Broncos made the AFC title game last year. 

Things are far worse for New England. 

Drake Maye has one touchdown to six interceptions already, throwing three in Week 1 and two in Week 3. That’s not gonna fly, and Maye had eight picks all of 2025. Did the Super Bowl showcase how to beat him?

The Rams’ 1-2 start is interesting given they were viewed as the Super Bowl favorites after a successful season last year and busy offseason adding stars. But the defense has been an issue, and the team clearly mismanaged travel for the Australia game in Week 1. 

I think the Rams will ultimately be fine, and no one would be surprised if they go on a massive run and win the NFC West. But the Patriots have a lot of soul searching to do based on what’s transpired, especially offensively. 

What’s in store in NFC South?

The NFC South was bad last year. The winner, Carolina, went 8-9. So, too, did Atlanta and Tampa Bay. New Orleans went 6-11 but won four of its last five. 

So far? Same as usual. Three teams are 1-2. One is 0-3. 

Carolina’s offense has been really good … except Week 3 in a low-scoring loss to the 2-1 (wow) Browns.  Atlanta got its first win in dominant fashion in Week 3, dominating Green Bay with Michael Penix Jr. back under center, peppering Drake London with looks and Bijan Robinson running wild. Have the Falcons turned a corner? The Saints were a trendy pick to win the division, who beat Baltimore but narrowly lost to Detroit and Vegas. 

And then there’s the Buccaneers, who lost to Cincinnati, Cleveland and Minnesota, all by one score. We’ll talk more about them soon.

It’s a subpar division, and things don’t look great thus far. I think Atlanta looks very interesting with Penix back under center, but is that just a one-week blip? The Panthers have looked the best of the bunch, at least offensively, for the longest, but that defense is tough to stomach.

We’re still in wait-and-see mode a bit, but at least based on Week 3, things seem the best in Atlanta. 

Are the Chargers, Buccaneers and Texans cooked?

These three teams that many (well, I) picked to make the playoffs are a collective 0-9.

We’ll start with the Chargers. In many ways, they’re the biggest disaster in football. An offense that many expected to be great with new play caller Mike McDaniel running things has been a mess. There’s no run game or consistent passing attack, and Justin Herbert looks lost. It’s stunning just how much of a mess this team looks, and the schedule is brutal. Next up are the Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans and Ravens. Ouch. Jim Harbaugh may have his first losing season at the NFL level. 

The Bucs are a strange one. They’re the only one of these three to miss the postseason last year, but the team is talented and is in the easiest division. That alone should ease some concerns, but Baker Mayfield hurt his throwing hand on Sunday, so the Bucs may be needing to sort that out now as well. Todd Bowles already was on the hot seat, but this sure isn’t helping.

As for the Texans, it’s surprising they’re 0-3 after falling to Buffalo, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, but the offense the last two weeks has clearly missed Nico Collins. The defense has been good the last two weeks, but the offense is lacking in playmakers. I’m the least worried with Houston of these three both because the talent is great but also the Texans started 0-3 last year and finished 12-5. 

Are the 49ers the best in the NFC West – and the NFL?

Just one team is undefeated in the NFC West, and it’s not the reigning champs. It’s not the “preseason champs,” either. No, the Seahawks are 2-1, and the Rams are 1-2. Instead, the 49ers are 3-0 with wins over L.A., Miami and Arizona thus far.

The 49ers look darn good. Brock Purdy has been lights out with nine passing touchdowns to two interceptions. The defense had a tougher time in Week 3 against the Cardinals with 30 points allowed, but they’d given up 20 points total the first two weeks of the year. Christian McCaffrey is Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle is back and things look great in the Bay.

Are the 49ers the NFL’s best team? I’m not sure. Buffalo looks so good on the strength of its offense and Kansas City looks legit once again. What about the NFC? The only other undefeated club is Minnesota, a team I love but wouldn’t consider to be the cream of the crop just yet. I think the 49ers look better than the Vikings, and they obviously look better than L.A., who they beat in Week 1, and Seattle, who lost to Washington with a backup in at quarterback.

Obviously it’s early on, but so far, so good for Kyle Shanahan’s club.

Who is the MVP favorite?

It’s never too early for awards talk, right? MVP discussions are always ongoing, and at least as the calendar flips to October, it feels like six guys stand out above the rest: Buffalo QB Josh Allen, Detroit RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes, Las Vegas QB Kirk Cousins and San Francisco QB Brock Purdy.

These guys are all off to great starts. Allen probably has the upper hand at 3-0 and his status as a preseason favorite, but these six all have awesome stats thus far.

• Allen has 11 total touchdowns and has two rushing scores in all three Bills games. 

• Gibbs has rushed for 307 yards and four scores, adding 156 yards and two touchdowns through the air. 

• JSN has 27 catches, 405 yards and six receiving scores.

• Mahomes has eight total touchdowns on a 68.4% completion rate.

• Cousins has nine passing scores and is the only QB in the NFL with three touchdown passes in all three games.

• Purdy is completing 72.3% of his passes and has 10 total touchdowns. 

MVP has become a QB award, so Gibbs and JSN are likely duking it out for Offensive Player of the Year, which Smith-Njigba won last year, but I’d expect Allen, Mahomes and Purdy to be in the MVP conversation all year long, health permitting. As for Cousins, we’ll learn a lot about him and the Raiders over the next month or so.