Dolphins make NFL history with 70-point explosion. Plus, the Bears and Cowboys weren't 'ready for it'

Getty Images

This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

🏈 Football Five

Kenny Pickett threw for a pair of touchdowns, and the Steelers picked off Jimmy Garoppolo three times in Pittsburgh's 23-18 win over Las Vegas.
The Jets' misery -- at quarterback and against the Patriots -- continued in a 15-10 loss. Zach Wilson threw for just 157 yards and somehow sacked himself (to the chagrin of Joe Namath) as the Jets fell to the Patriots for the 15th straight time.
The Packers overcame a 17-0 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Saints, 18-17. Jordan Love threw the game-winning touchdown to Romeo Doubs. For New Orleans, Derek Carr left the game with a shoulder injury and may miss more time, plus Blake Grupe missed a go-ahead field goal with 1:10 left.
The Vikings and the Chargers entered Sunday winless, and for much of the afternoon, it looked like they were trying to leave that way. The final folly of the day was a deflected Kirk Cousins pas at the goal line that the Chargers intercepted to seal their 28-24 triumph. Cousins said crowd noise impacted the ending. The Vikings were at home.
Matt Gay became the first player in NFL history to make four field goals from 50+ yards as the Colts topped the Ravens 22-19 in overtime. Gardner Minshew got the win with Anthony Richardson (concussion) out, and Zack Moss had 145 total yards and a score with Jonathan Taylor still on the PUP list.

🐬 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

THE MIAMI DOLPHINS

Seventy. Seven, zero. Unless you're at least 70 years old, you probably don't remember the last time that happened.

The Dolphins offense reached levels of greatness we haven't seen in a long, long time, hanging 70 (!!!) points on the Broncos in a 50-point win. Let's start with some more numbers.

It's tied for the third-most points by a team in NFL history. The Bears had 73 in the 1940 NFL Championship, and Washington had 72 in 1966. Miami could have tied or set the record but kneeled out the clock. Here's coach Mike McDaniel's explanation why.
The Dolphins' 726 yards were second-most in NFL history. The 1951 Rams had 735.
Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane each scored four touchdowns. It's the second time teammates have scored four touchdowns in the same game. Priest Holmes and Derrick Blaylock did it for the Chiefs in 2004.
Tua Tagovailoa completed his first 17 passes and finished with more touchdowns passing (four) than incompletions (three).
Here are all of the crazy numbers.
Yes, 70-20 is scorigami.

The numbers are stunning. The beauty behind them is magnificent. McDaniel is a mad scientist -- Tagovailoa had a no-look touchdown pass to Achane ... by design! -- who exploits every aspect of his team's strengths and his opponents' weaknesses. Will Brinson heaped praise on Miami in Sorting the NFL Sunday Pile.

It's truly transcendent watching all the motion, all the different looks that produce similar plays, all the similar looks that produce different plays. If you blink, you miss something, and opponents are blinking a lot: The Dolphins' 1,651 yards are most by any team through three games since at least 1940. They are also the last remaining 3-0 team in the AFC.

The Broncos, meanwhile, are missing a lot.

Missing tackles: Denver had 25 missed tackles Sunday, most by any team since Pro Football Focus started tracking the stat in 2017. The Broncos have 48 missed tackles this year, 10 more than the next-closest team.
Missing the old Russell Wilson: He's 0-3 for the first time in his career.
Missing answers: Sean Payton was "at a loss for words."

👍 Honorable mentions

A'ja Wilson won WNBA Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season and led the Aces to a 97-83 Game 1 win over the Wings in the semifinals.
The Sun stunned the Liberty, 78-63, to open their semifinal series.
The USWNT bid farewell to Megan Rapinoe with a 2-0 win over South Africa. Here's Sandra Herrera's tribute.
Shenandoah's Haley Van Voorhis became the first woman non-kicker to appear in an NCAA football game.
William Byron won the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400.

😰 And not such a good morning for ...

THE CHICAGO BEARS AND THE DALLAS COWBOYS

The Bears knew the Chiefs were trouble when they walked in. And now they're lyin' on the cold, hard (0-3) ground.

With Taylor Swift in attendance amid her relationship/flirtationship/friendship with Travis Kelce, the Chiefs throttled the hapless Bears, 41-10. Andy Reid passed Tom Landry for fourth-most wins in NFL history in the process.

The Chiefs led 34-0 at halftime behind two touchdowns from Jerick McKinnon and one each from Isiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
In the third quarter, Patrick Mahomes found Kelce in the back of the end zone, eliciting NSFW jubilation from Swift.
The Chiefs then pulled Mahomes. The Bears managed 10 points thanks to two Blaine Gabbert interceptions and the fact that they were facing backups.

Days after Justin Fields blamed "coaching" for his struggles, Fields ... uh ... struggled. He threw for 99 yards and got sacked three times while also being intercepted by Mike Edwards. The Bears had five first downs through three quarters. The defense -- days after coordinator Alan Williams resigned (reportedly for inappropriate activity) -- got shredded. The Chiefs scored on seven of Mahomes' eight drives.

The Bears have lost 13 straight games while giving up at least 25 points in all of them, the longest such streak in NFL history. Chicago and the win column are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together. Like, ever.

Moving from one of the NFL's worst to one of its supposed "best" -- though they didn't look like it -- the Cowboys, 11-point favorites, lost to the Cardinals, 28-16. It's their largest upset loss since 2006.

The Cardinals racked up 222 yards rushing on 7.4 yards per carry.
Playing without Trevon Diggs (torn ACL) for the first time this season, the Cowboys had several coverage lapses, including on a 69-yard pass from Joshua Dobbs to Michael Wilson that set up a late touchdown.
This was Dobbs' first career win.
Dak Prescott ended a frustrating day with an awful game-sealing end zone interception to Kyzir White.

Give the Cardinals credit. They play extremely hard despite low external expectations. Dobbs, James Conner, Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck have impressed. But we're talking about the preseason favorite for league's worst record against a legitimate Super Bowl contender. As such, Dallas got an "F" in our weekly grades.

Podell: "The Cowboys had more than enough talent on the field to top the team most associated with tanking during the 2023 season. ... It was shocking to see what looked like the NFL's most well-oiled machine in the first two weeks of the season collapse the way it did in Week 3."

🏈 College football recap: Ohio State walks it off, Oregon walks all over Colorado

On the road, against one of the nation's top teams, with one chance for 1 yard. Who says Ohio State isn't tough? The Buckeyes left South Bend, Indiana, with a 17-14 win over Notre Dame thanks to Chip Trayanum's touchdown plunge as time expired. The Fighting Irish only had 10 players on the field for the play, and Trayanum took full advantage.

In the aftermath of the win, Ryan Day called out Lou Holtz for saying the Buckeyes are less physical than other top teams. It was a surprise to see Day break out of his normally reserved shell, writes Dennis Dodd, and Will Backus says Day's team proved him 100% correct.

That game lived up to the hype and then some. Colorado-Oregon ... didn't. The Ducks destroyed the Deion Sanders-led Buffaloes, 42-6. Oregon went up 42-0 after three quarters and earned an "A+" in Barrett Sallee's weekly grades. The Ducks -- both their mascot and their coach -- talked plenty of trash. Colorado, meanwhile, fell out of both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.

Those were just two of the six matchups between top 25 teams. In the others ...

Penn State crushed Iowa, 31-0, with dominant defense.
Alabama pulled away from Ole Miss, 24-10.
Cameron Ward dazzled as Washington State beat Oregon State, 38-35. The Cougars are moving up in Jerry Palm's bowl projections.
Cameron Rising-less Utah got a 14-7 win over UCLA.

One matchup that didn't feature two ranked teams might have been the best, though: Florida State barely escaped Death Valley, topping Clemson 31-24 in overtime. The Seminoles only got to overtime after Tigers kicker Jonathan Weitz -- added to the roster days before the game -- missed a 29-yard field goal late. Then Jordan Travis found Keon Coleman for a touchdown in the extra session for the win and a spot among Shehan Jeyarajah's Week 4 winners.

Jeyarajah: "Every national title contender has a hump they have to overcome to reach the top level. ... For Florida State, that challenge was Clemson. Despite the early jitters, they responded. Suddenly, the schedule looks home free as the Seminoles attempt to reach the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014."

⚾ MLB Power Rankings, standings entering final week

One week. That's all that's left until the end of the regular season, and it's going to be wild. Here are the division races yet to be determined:

AL East: Orioles up 2½ games on Rays (both clinched playoff spots)
AL West: Rangers up 2½ games on Astros, 3 games on Mariners
NL Central: Brewers up 6 games on Cubs

You'll notice the AL Central isn't on there: The Twins wrapped that up over the weekend. They also activated Chris Paddack from the IL.

As for the wild card ...

American League