Jeremy Maclin broke a 27-27 tie with a 27-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to lift Philadelphia (3-0) to a key NFC East win Sunday.

The former Tigers receiver caught eight passes for 154 yards against Washington in the 37-34 win. Playing in the offense of former Oregon coach Chip Kelly is paying dividends for Maclin, who is fifth in the NFL with 296 receiving yards through Week 4. Maclin also is averaging 18.5 yards per reception, third in the NFL among receivers with at least 10 catches.

(Side note: current Missouri kick returner and running back Marcus Murphy tied Maclin’s career school record with five combined kick returns for touchdowns earlier this season and nearly got free on a punt against Indiana on Saturday.)

  • Rookie LT Justin Britt has started every game for Seattle. On Sunday, he didn’t perform well in pass protection, but proved quite an asset in the running game, including on the game-winning touchdown in overtime against Denver (a Super Bowl rematch).

  • A number of former Tigers in the NFL didn’t play Sunday. San Francisco 49ers LB Aldon Smith still is serving a nine-game suspension. Atlanta Falcons LB Sean Weatherspoon is injured. St. Louis Rams CB E.J. Gaines didn’t get as much playing time and didn’t record a stat. New York Jets DE Sheldon Richardson will play tonight as the Jets host the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, trying to harass former SEC East rival QB Jay Cutler.
  • Carolina DE Kony Ealy, Detroit DT C.J. Mosley, Jacksonville DE Ziggy Hood and San Diego LB Andrew Gachkar each collected a single tackle Sunday.
  • That makes the totals by San Francisco DE Justin Smith (four tackles), Atlanta S William Moore (three tackles) and LB Zaviar Gooden (three tackles) look prodigious.
  • DE Michael Sam remains on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, nixing an unlikely but entertaining Sam vs. St. Louis Rams showdown Sunday. The Cowboys did beat the Rams, 34-31.