NFL Week 3: The 13 Biggest Winners and Losers

With three games under nearly each teams' belt, observers can start to highlight the franchises and individuals and what path they will take for the remainder of the season.

And while some of these premature determinations may eventually become untrue, there are events that occur in the year's early goings that provide foreshadowing as to how the 2011 season will pan out.

Here are the 12 teams or players that either found success or failure during Sunday's Week 3 contests.

Winner: Victor Cruz

Little was expected of the Giants' passing attack considering the injuries to their receivers and the fact that they were facing a stifling Eagles secondary.

However, quarterback Eli Manning threw for four touchdowns Sunday in Philadelphia. Two of those scores went to the unsung Cruz, who was filling in for an injured Mario Manningham.

The first TD covered 74 yards, with the majority of the distance coming after Cruz broke a tackle from safety Kurt Coleman.

The second, and most important, scoring connection came in the fourth period with the Giants down 16-14. At the Philly 18, Manning lofted a pass for Cruz, who snatched the ball at the goal line in the close presence of Nnamdi Asomugha and Jarrad Page and fell into the end zone.

It was his second touchdown of the game...and career. Cruz ended this glorious afternoon with three receptions for 110 yards.

Loser: Chris Johnson

Maybe the league's richest running back needed some practice during the preseason instead of holding out for a new contract.

That's because C.J. has just 77 rushing yards in a sluggish start to the 2011 campaign.

His lowest output of the season came on Sunday in a Titans win versus the Broncos. Johnson had little to do with the victory, as he carried the ball 13 times and accumulated a paltry 21 yards.

Despite doing a fine job receiving (four catches for 54 yards) against Denver, Tennessee must be concerned with how their star rusher is performing at what he's done so well over the past three years.

Winner: Buffalo Bills

After coming back from a 21-0 deficit to take down the New England Patriots, 34-31, we are all taking the Buffalo Bills much more seriously than we were after the first two wins of 2011.

Ryan Fitzpatrick and the offense continued to sparkle. The Buffalo quarterback was 27-of-40 for 369 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Wideout Stevie Johnson had eight receptions for 94 yards and a TD, while running back Fred Jackson totaled 161 yards on catches and carries.

The most important play came on a first-down play at the Patriots 39 with about three minutes to go. Fitzpatrick threw to Jackson on a short pass over the middle. Jackson used his speed to take all the way to the 1-yard line and put the Bills in position for a game-winning field goal.

The defense gave up plenty of yardage and points, but they did intercept Tom Brady four times. One of those picks was returned by Drayton Florence for a touchdown and proved vital in helping the Bills snap a 15-game losing streak against the rival Patriots.

Loser: Philadelphia Eagles

The panic meter in Philadelphia has gone a few notches up.

With the exception of LeSean McCoy, the Eagles offense looked anything but sharp in a 29-16 home loss to the New York Giants.

The probable reason for this is due to quarterback Michael Vick not practicing much last week after suffering the concussion in the loss to Atlanta in the season's second game.

Unfortunately for Philly, that continuity will be delayed further as Vick suffered a broken right hand and was forced to watch the game's final moments from the bench.

It's a possibility that either Mike Kafka or Vince Young will be leading the 1-2 Eagles into a meeting with the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday.

Winner: Torrey Smith

Not a bad way to get your first three receptions in the NFL.

Torrey Smith, the rookie out of the University of Maryland, became the first wide receiver to have his first three pass catches result in touchdowns.

The trio occurred in the first period of the Ravens' blowout victory on the road over the St. Louis Rams.

Less than three minutes into the contest, Baltimore QB Joe Flacco connected with Smith on a 74-yard scoring strike down the sideline.

Touchdown No. 2 came on a play action pass to Smith, who sped past the Rams secondary and made the catch in the end zone.

The final score in this triple crown was the result of a 18-yard fade route. Before St. Louis knew what hit them, Smith and the Ravens were up 21-0 with 1:30 to go in the opening quarter.

His memorable stat line read: five catches for 152 yards and those three TDs.

Loser: Kenny Britt

The enjoyment from Tennessee's 17-14 victory against the Denver Broncos was tempered with the sight of wideout Kenny Britt being taken off the field on a cart.

The leading receiver in the AFC heading into Week 3's action, Britt had his right knee buckle underneath him after catching a pass in the second quarter on Sunday.

According to reports from the NFL Network, the Titans are anticipating that Britt will undergo season-ending surgery.

Winner: Cam Newton

After two out-of-this-world performances to start his NFL career, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft came back to Earth a bit in game No. 3.

But those two statistical gems resulted in losses. The third try proved to be the charm for Cam Newton, who found a way to lead his Panthers to a soggy win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and fellow rookie signal-caller Blaine Gabbert. All of this despite a 18-of-34 passing effort that totaled 158 yards in the air and one touchdown.

Down 10-5 after two quarters of play, Newton engineered a drive that led to an Olindo Mare field goal and cut the deficit to two points.

The maturing process for Newton continued when the Heisman winner guided the Panthers down the field in the late stages of the fourth period. Greg Olsen hauled in a pass from Newton that ended up being a 16-yard trip to pay dirt and was the winning score in a 16-10 victory that will the first of many for Carolina's star rookie QB.

Loser: Tony Sparano

The heat is on for Miami's head coach. That is the case after the Dolphins' latest loss places them at 0-3 and in the cellar of the AFC East.

A potential victory on Sunday was snatched away when Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy capped an 80-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mohamed Massaquoi with 43 seconds remaining and put Sparano's club down down 17-16.

Miami's final attempt to regain the lead went for naught, and thus brings more pressure on the team's already embattled leader.

Winner: Detroit Lions

For the first time since Billy Sims' rookie year of 1980, the Detroit Lions are sitting pretty at 3-0.

Sure, they've been impressive with their imposing defensive line as well as the passing combination of Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.

But the most positive sight from this growing group of Lions is the fact that they are winning games in which they didn't play their best.

Utilizing great determination and resilience, they overcame a 20-0 hole and a poor first half performance (50 total yards) to prevail 26-23 in overtime on the road against the Vikings—putting an end to a 13-game losing streak in Minnesota.

That makes seven straight regular season victories dating back to last season.

Loser: Minnesota Vikings

For every winner, there must be a loser. And in Sunday's contest in the Metrodome, the vanquished is a team that is becoming frustrated with an agonizing pattern.

The Vikings have blown a double-digit second half lead for the third time in as many weeks and have been outscored 67-6 after halftime this season.

Up 20-0 at halftime, Leslie Frazier's bunch saw it all disappear yet again—with the final blow being Jason Hanson's kick that sealed the Lions' OT triumph.

If only the games could be shortened to 30 minutes...

Winner: Wes Welker

There were many outstanding offensive efforts in the contest between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots in Orchard Park. The best of those may have been what Wes Welker did in a losing effort. 

Tom Brady's favorite target finished Sunday with a single-game career-highs in receptions (16) and receiving yardage (217). He also scored twice.

The latter was a six-yard catch that tied the game at 31 apiece with 3:25 to go.

Loser: St. Louis Rams Offense

The Baltimore Ravens racked up a franchise-record 553 yards 37-7 beatdown.

Their opponents, the St. Louis Rams, were the near inverse. Their inept offense, even with the return of Steven Jackson, had just 132 passing yards (most of those when the game was out of reach) and was 4-for-14 on third down conversions.

Quarterback Sam Bradford, constantly pressured by the Ravens defense, completed 16 of his 32 pass attempts with one interception and was sacked five times. He also was forced into one fumble that turned into a 28-yard return to the end zone by Baltimore DT Haloti Ngata.

It didn't help that the Rams offense was given a 21-0 hole, but it showed no signs of being effective enough to give the team win No. 1.

Winner: Oakland Raiders Running Game

Coming off of a heart-breaking loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, the Oakland Raiders had the tough task of trying to rebound against the New York Jets.

That was no easy task, considering that they were facing one of the best defenses in the league.

But the Raiders ground attack cut through the Jets to the tune of 234 yards. That amount is the most against New York in the 41 games under head coach Rex Ryan.

Darren McFadden gained 171 of those yards and found the end zone twice as Oakland improved to 2-1.