September comes to a close today, and with it, three weeks of the current NFL season have been completed. We're getting a sense of which teams are real contenders and which are already looking ahead to the 2027 NFL Draft and offseason. Let's take a look at the best (and worst) in class for the past month with our NFL September Superlatives.
Best Team: Buffalo Bills
The Bills are off to a 3-0 start, with wins over three legitimate playoff contenders: the Chargers, Lions, and Texans. Honorable mention goes to the San Francisco 49ers, who are undefeated and have perhaps the most impressive win of the season, soundly defeating the Rams by 20 points in Week 1.
Best Player: Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Speaking of the 49ers, their starting quarterback
appears to be the MVP front-runner right now. He has completed 72.3% of his passes for 789 passing yards while adding 93 rushing yards. He has also tallied 10 total offensive touchdowns and thrown just one interception this year.
Biggest Surprise Team: Minnesota Vikings
Most fans didn't have an undefeated Vikings team on their NFL bingo cards at the end of September, but here we are. They sit atop the NFC North at 3-0, with wins over both the Bears and the Packers, who represented the division in the playoffs last year.
Biggest Surprise Player: Greg Rousseau, Buffalo Bills
Rousseau has always been a consistent starter for the Bills, but he elevated himself into Defensive Player of the Year conversations early this season. He's recorded 15 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and six sacks through three games and is on pace to shatter his career-best marks in each category.
Most Disappointing Team: Tennessee Titans
The Titans appear to have made no improvements from last season. They are winless to begin the season, with losses to a pair of teams that were also at the bottom of the league last year: the Jets and the Giants – losing to the latter in an ugly 12-7 loss, despite Giants starting quarterback Jaxson Dart missing the game due to injury.
Most Disappointing Player: J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings/New York Giants
McCarthy went from a first-round draft pick to a third-string quarterback for the Vikings after just two seasons in the league, then was traded to the Giants earlier this week for a future fifth-round draft pick. Not a great start to the year for someone who started several games last year.
Best Free Agent Acquisition: Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders
Cousins has the Raiders rolling, and they've already matched last year's win total with a 3-0 start. And on Sunday, Cousins becomes the first quarterback in league history to throw three touchdown passes in each of his first three games with a new team.
Biggest Free Agent Bust: Trey Hendrickson, Baltimore Ravens
Hendrickson is a former All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection, and the Ravens spent big to land him – awarding him a 4-year, $112 million contract. But through three games, he has just four tackles and one sack, and he recorded zero tackles in his most recent outing against the Cowboys.
Best Rookie Performer: Jeremiyah Love, Arizona Cardinals
Love is off to a hot start, with 41 carries for 160 rushing yards, 10 receptions for 44 receiving yards, and two offensive touchdowns through his first three games. In Week 3, he posted his career-high in both single-game rushing yards (90) and receiving yards (19).
This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: NFL September Superlatives: The best (and worst) performer so far
