National Football League

Russ Cooks the Cowboys

Published Sep. 27, 2020 9:01 p.m. ET

The afternoon window of NFL games featured Tom Brady finding his groove and Russell Wilson breaking even more records.

Check out the key takeaways from Sunday afternoon:

Easy Breezy Brady

Brady finished the day with 297 yards passing and three touchdowns, en route to a 28-10 victory in Denver.

Brady connected with WR Mike Evans for back-to-back TDs before the half, and the legendary QB also recorded his longest completion of the season, with a 47-yard dart to WR Scotty Miller.

It marked Brady's first 3-TD performance since arriving in Tampa.

The cook is in

Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson might actually be unstoppable.

After finishing with five TDs against the Dallas Cowboys, Wilson's remarkable start to the 2020 season continued, as he stamped his name in the NFL record books.

For context, Wilson's 14 passing TDs this season are more than the other QBs in the NFC West have thrown combined (13).

Wilson would have had six TDs on the day, but WR DK Metcalf made a grave mistake, allowing the ball to be punched out and through the back of the endzone for a touchback early in the contest.

Wilson finished the day with 315 passing yards and a 130.7 passer rating, and for the first time since 2013, Seattle is 3-0 to start the season.

Wilson just might be on his way to getting his first-ever MVP vote.

Not Darnold's day

The New York Jets dropped to 0-3 this season, and their quarterback Sam Darnold tossed three interceptions – two of which were returned for TDs – in a 36-7 shellacking at the hands of Indianapolis.

In the last three games, New York has lost by a combined 57 points.

Darnold finished the game with 168 passing yards and a TD to go along with his those picks.

Darnold became the first QB in franchise history to throw two pick-sixes since Geno Smith in 2013.

With those pick-sixes and one safety, the Colts' defense outscored the Jets' offense, 16-7.

Kyler comes back to earth

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray threw three interceptions – which led to 10 Detroit points – in Arizona's 26-23 loss to the Lions.

The win snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Lions.

It marked Murray's fourth multi-interception game in 19 career games, after Murray had only thrown two picks in the first two weeks.

Lastly, Murray rushed for a mere 29 yards, after averaging 79 rushing yards per game through the first two games.

Turnovers doom Chargers

The Chargers won every major statistical category on Sunday, but still fell to the Panthers, 21-16.

Los Angeles ran 23 more plays, accrued 134 more total yards (98 more passing and 36 more rushing) and tallied 12 more first downs.

But the most important stat for the day was turnovers – LA had four compared to none for Carolina.

Chargers rookies struggled, with rookie QB Justin Herbert turning the ball over twice – both an interception and a fumble – and rookie RB Josh Kelley losing a fumble.

The Panthers turned those three takeaways into 12 points, earning their first win of the season, even without superstar running back Christian McCaffrey in the lineup.