NFL Week 3 live updates: Inactives, schedule, kickoff times, matchups, odds and predictions
New York Giants rookie Malik Nabers put on a show to lead his team to a 21-15 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Nabers led the Giants (1-2) to their first win of the season with eight receptions for 78 yards and two touchdowns. The 21-year-old LSU product became the first player in NFL history with 20-plus receptions, 250-plus receiving yards and three-plus receiving touchdowns in his first three career games.
New York quarterback Daniel Jones went 24-for-34 passing for 236 yards and two touchdowns, both to Nabers. The Browns (1-2) picked up two touchdown throws from Deshaun Watson to Amari Cooper.
Malik putting on a show 🔥
đź“ş: FOX pic.twitter.com/CQaShTjad7
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 22, 2024
Nabers, Giants defense shines
Nabers didn’t let last week’s huge drop against the Washington Commanders cloud his memory. The wide receiver continued his dominant run to his rookie season. We saw his potential on display in a second quarter touchdown drive that featured two incredible Nabers grabs. First, on a sideline play, he grabbed the ball from Browns cornerback Martin Emerson’s hands to keep the drive alive. Then, Nabers caught the touchdown pass on a tip-toeing catch.
Meanwhile, the Giants defense made Watson’s life miserable, sacking the quarterback eight times, New York’s most since 2014.
Even more encouraging for the Giants was that there wasn’t just one player who got to the quarterback. Nine players recorded a sack or shared a sack. Azeez Ojulari got his first extended snaps of the year and he made the most of them. He had one sack and then recovered a huge fumble midway through the fourth quarter as the Browns were threatening. — Charlotte Carroll, Giants beat writer
Cleveland’s offense stumbles
The Browns just weren’t good enough offensively. They made it interesting late, and Cooper broke out of his slump. But Cleveland got no traction over the game’s first 40 minutes; speaking of 40, the Browns got 80 total yards on their first 40 plays. The team had offensive line injuries, and a fourth-quarter fumbled handoff exchange between Watson and Jerome Ford was both deflating and costly.
This Watson-led offense still doesn’t have much identity or consistency, and the Giants’ constant pressure won out. The entire New York defensive front probably deserves a game ball, and the Browns’ offense has a lot of work to do. — Zac Jackson, Browns beat writer
Required reading
- Giants’ Daniel Jones failed to build on momentum in 2023. He can’t let that happen this year
- It’s not all doom and gloom for Giants. Even at 0-2, there are slivers of hope for future
- Browns RB D’Onta Foreman has had his share of ups and downs in the NFL
- Bryce Young, Tua and Watson: An NFL tipping point, or billionaires’ business as usual?
(Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
