The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL

A back-and-forth night in Cleveland ended up in an unlikely spot...with the home team sitting at 3-1 on the first night of October. The Cleveland Browns knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-24, to begin Week 4. Robert Mays and Dave Helman break it down on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: https://discord.gg/bCyPFKASHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Accompanied reading: Sando's 2026 quarterback tiers https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/interactive/nfl-quarterback-tiers-insider-rankings-2026/Trevor Lawrence was the most baleyhooed quarterback coming out of college since Andrew Luck, seemingly a true can't-miss prospect. Until he missed. And then in year five of his career, when he seemingly was going to go down as a player who never lived up to the hype, he put it all together and finished fifth in MVP voting. Early on this season, he has picked up right where he left off. What can we as a football-loving people take from Lawrence's path to where he is now? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dive into that question on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: https://discord.gg/bCyPFKASHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

An absolutely jam-packed Week 3 Sunday recap means we're back to our Hangover roots. Vikings over Bucs in a game where neither offense reached a 25% success rate? Hell yeah! The Browns improving to 2-1 with a 21-18 win over the Panthers? Hell yeah! Titans-Giants in a game where the two teams combined for 19 points? Hell! Yeah! Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dig into those three games on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: https://discord.gg/bCyPFKASHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

No Caleb Williams, no problem. At least for one week. The Chicago Bears turned to third-string quarterback Case Keenum and he helped deliver them a 27-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen break down the game on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: https://discord.gg/bCyPFKASHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

We've got 15 more regular season weeks ahead of us, but it wouldn't be a surprise if we just saw what goes down as the best one in Week 3. We had 12 one-score games (two of those were eight-point differences, but still), five of which were decided by three or fewer points. As for storylines, well, the Raiders are 3-0. The Broncos erased a 16-point deficit to beat the Rams. The Ravens won a thriller over the Cowboys in Brazil. The Jaguars absolutely boatraced the Patriots. And the Commanders and Steelers upset the Seahawks and Bengals, respectively. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman recap Week 3 on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: https://discord.gg/bCyPFKASHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

The Ravens, Cowboys, Rams and Broncos all began this year at our Contender's Table. They're all now 1-1, but we aren't too worried about any of them just yet. And hey, they get together to give us our Games of the Week in Week 3, with the Ravens and Cowboys meeting in Brazil, and the Rams and Broncos squaring off in Denver. After hitting those two games, Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman discuss One Thing From Raiders-Saints, Patriots-Jaguars and Bengals-Steelers, take a stroll down Sicko Street with Brian Flores and Baker Mayfield, and enter the Danger Zone with three 0-2 teams on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: https://discord.gg/bCyPFKASHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Time to add the Packers to the list of teams ready to hit the panic button before we even turn the calendar to October. The Falcons, meanwhile, finally had a nice day at the office in Michael Penix's return to the field. Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen recap the Falcons' 35-14 win over the Packers on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshowHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

**Game Show Audience Voice** IS...THIS...REAL?!? That's right, it's time for one of our favorite annual traditions, a round of Is This Real? with Robert Mays and Bill Barnwell from ESPN. On this year's edition, the guys consider Bryce Young, the Bengals defense, the Packers offense, and a couple more surprises from the first two weeks of the 2026 season.Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: https://discord.gg/bCyPFKASHost: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC