The third week of the 2025 NFL season saw the best performances from African players come on the offensive side, with wide receivers in particular having a superb week.
Seattle Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba starred in their win over the New Orleans Saints, while Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze continued his fine personal form and was on the winning side against the Dallas Cowboys.
Elsewhere, Emeka Egbuka starred in another narrow Tampa Bay Buccaneers win - this one against the New York Jets.
Player of the Week: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seattle Seahawks)
Smith-Njigba continued his superb start to the season, making up 96 yards across five catches and scoring a touchdown in a convincing 44-13 win for the Seahawks against the Saints.
The wide receiver of Sierra Leonean descent has had a superb start to the season, gaining the Seahawks a total of 323 yards across three games. However, the 12-yard touchdown off a Sam Darnold pass to open the scoring at Lumen Field was his first of the season.
His longest catch of the game was for 45 yards. This was his longest reception of the season, but it was also his third game out of three this season with at least one catch for at least 40.
Moment of the Week: Rome Odunze (Chicago Bears)
Odunze has scored touchdowns in all three of his games so far this season, racking up four in total, but for the first time in the 2025 campaign, he picked one up in a win as the Bears beat the Cowboys 31-14.
The 23-year-old, who is of Nigerian heritage, scored a memorable touchdown to open the scoring off a 35-yard pass from Caleb Williams.
Odunze capitalised on a stumble from Trevon Diggs to latch onto the pass with around 10 yards left to run, going in effortlessly in the corner to set the tone for what was to come.
It was the Bears' first win of the season after a frustrating 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in week 1 and a poor defensive display in a 52-21 mauling at the hands of the Detroit Lions in week 2.
Honorable Mentions
Emeka Egbuka - the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie of Nigerian heritage - had a third straight standout performance in a third straight win.
Egbuka made up 85 yards across six receptions, with a longest catch of 30 yards. Four of his catches were first downs and he played an instrumental role in the Bucs' 29-27 win over the Jets.
Another African player had an important role to play in that win on defense. YaYa Diaby, whose parents are from Guinea, picked up a sack.
Bobby Okereke, of Nigerian descent, kept his place at the top of the NFL tackles chart. He picked up eight for the New York Giants in a 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs to take his tally after three weeks to 34 for the season.
Elic Ayomanor has family ties to Nigeria and Liberia. He had a second successive touchdown game for the Tennessee Titans. However, unlike fellow African wide receivers Smith-Njigba, Odunze and Egbuka; Ayomanor ended up on the losing side as the Titans went down 41-20 to the Indianapolis Colts.
African-born Player Watch
Kwity Paye - a Guinea-born Liberian defensive end - picked up a sack in the Colts win. On both sides of that game, there were key contributions by players with ties to Liberia.
Joseph Ossai, born in Lagos, picked up a sack for the Cincinnati Bengals. However, they were soundly beaten 48-10 by the Minnesota Vikings.