NFL Week 4 Recap
The first month of the NFL season is now finished up and we’ve seen some resurging teams, some teams gutting it out in close wins and some surprising finishes!
While the season seems to quickly passing us by, it is still shaping up to be an interesting season so far. The AFC South emerging to be the division to watch and other teams who were potential Super Bowl contenders struggling to reach .500, so lets look at the Week 4 match up results!
Thursday Night Football
Detroit Lions 34 – Green Bay Packers 20
The Lions went into Lambeau Field and David Montgomery punched the Packers in the mouth! Montgomery racked up three TDs on the night ensuring the Pack would leave with an L.Detroit dominated both sides of the ball on Thursday Night, sacking Jordan Love five times and it seems Aidan Hutchinsons pre-game sideline comments to Love had an effect.
Jordan Love was humbled in front of his home crowd, the Pack faithful are used to dominating the Lions, but these Lions have teeth. Love was under constant pressure all night, his first series he started 1 of 7 for 9 yards and an interception. A tough start that didn’t get any easier, it was a hole the Packers couldn’t climb out of on TNF.
Sunday Early Window
Jacksonville Jaguars 23 – Atlanta Falcons 7
The London Jaguars made sure their residency in the UK started with a bang! In their 10th trip to London, Trevor Lawrence made big plays with his legs, picking up four 1st downs and made sure the former Falcon Calvin Ridley got in on the action in his “revenge” game against his former team. Josh Allen (the other one) also made his impact felt, sacking Desmond Ridder three times including a game ending strip sack.
Desmond Ridder’s play is like flipping a coin, you’re 50/50 on whether you get a good quarterback or not. Not content with throwing an interception on a series, Ridder went out and threw a second one on the next series, back to back interceptions (one for 6) is a guaranteed way to kill any momentum or drive a team has! How long before Taylor Heinicke is under centre in Atlanta?
Buffalo Bills 48 – Miami Dolphins 20
Josh Allen (yes that one) found himself in a duel against the red hot Dolphins offence and he came out the winner. Allen made the Dolphins defence look like a college team, picking them apart for 320 yards, four TDs and a perfect passer rating (158.3). When Allen protects the football and when he does, even a quarterback like Tua cannot stand tall in a duel with him.
Even gaining 393 yards, Tua couldn’t beat the Bills defence. They played a bend, don’t break game for the entire four quarters which slowed down the Dolphins explosive offence. Tua struggled in the second quarter, four straight series with a three and out, they must have channelled Matt Canada, which allowed the Bills to build up a lead. The Dolphins need to bounce back from this otherwise other teams will take what the Bills have done and apply it, stopping the Dolphins dead in their tracks in future contests.
Minnesota Vikings 21 – Carolina Panthers 13
Without their defence stepping up, the Vikings may have fallen to the Panthers in this match up. Up 13-7 in the second half, the Panthers looked to close out the game but a Harrison Smith strip sack and a scoop by D.J. Wonnum gave the Vikings life and allowed them to score following the turn over. Turnovers and penalties continue to plague the Vikings, wiping away points and stalling drives, the sloppy play if continued will ensure they cannot compete for any playoff spot this season.
Byrce Young needs to be protected and needs weapons, the rookie is struggling, under constant pressure from an O-Line that cannot protect and when he does have time to throw, there are no explosive weapons to help him out. Carolina needs to fix one or preferably both of these issues before they get their rookie killed.
Denver Broncos 31 – Chicago Bears 28
I haven’t seen a comeback like this since the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl! The Bears built a 28-7 lead with three minutes and change left in the third quarter, the game pretty much sewn up and the Broncos facing another embarrassing blow out… but wait just a minute, Russell Wilson had enough, and the Bears were in for a hell of a ride.
Even with Fields having a career day (335 yards, 80% completion rate and four TDs), the Bears defence could not stop a rallying Wilson. The Broncos came back on both sides of the ball, their defence stepped up to keep the Bears from scoring again while their offence tied the game at 28 and then rallied for the go ahead field goal, sealing the win and seeing the Bears join the Falcons in meme country!
Baltimore Ravens 28 – Cleveland Browns 3
The Ravens leaned on Lamar and he carried them to a victory. Rallying back after their OT loss to the Colts, the Ravens put the hurt on their division rivals the Browns. Many expected the Browns defence to keep the game within reach but Jackson and his improv skills made sure the Browns could not hang with the Ravens. The Lamar Jackson to Mark Andrews connection is back in full swing, for a total of two TDs against the Browns who struggled all game.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson looked good in pre-season but against the Ravens starting defence when the game was put on his shoulders, he couldn’t handle the weight. It didn’t help he had next to no running game to leave on. DTR is not someone you want backing up your franchise quarterback at this time and place, maybe with more experience he could be a decent backup but right now, if the Browns want to compete with Deshawn out, they need a veteran backup.
Houston Texans 30 – Pittsburgh Steelers 6
A blow out, a close division game, a decent win and then another blow out. The start to the Steelers season is not how anyone expected it to go, from fans to experts alike. The Steelers defence who terrorised the Raiders was a non-factor against the Texans, even without the majority of their starting O-Line, the Steelers couldn’t get to C.J. Stroud. Have the Texans shown the league how to contain and beat the aggressive, splash play heavy Steelers defence? The offence never showed up against the Texans, only managing two field goals in 60 minutes of football is embarrassing and the Matt Canada era needs to come to an end in Pittsburgh, not only for the lack of offence but for also almost getting Pickett killed on a stupid 4th and 1 shotgun play call.
C.J. Stroud put on a clinic against the Steelers, did not throw an interception and now has thrown for 1200 plus passing yards without an interception. He also posted his third consecutive game with 250+ yards, two or more TDs and zero interceptions. This is the longest streak by a rookie quarterback since 1970. The Texans are on the rise and will shock a lot of teams this year, with Stroud under centre, don’t be shocked to see the Texans winning their division and maybe even a playoff game this season!
Los Angeles Ram 29 – Indianapolis Colts 23
The week of blown leads continues with the Rams leading 23-0 and allowing the Colts back into the game. While Stafford was hurt, clearly limping from midway through the 3rd quarter after taking a hit, he stood strong and finished out the game and when the game when to overtime, Stafford stepped up and went 4 of 5 on the game winning drive and a TD strike to the now legendary Puka Nacua for the walk off win.
Anthony Richardson showed that even a rookie quarterback can turn a blow out into a potential win. He came out in the second half and lead three TD drives to tie the game up and he even had a shot at the game winning walk off TD in regulation but they couldn’t get the drive going. While it is a tough loss for the rookie, he showed that he can rally back from a big deficit. The AFC South is shaping up to be the division to watch this season!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26 – New Orleans Saints 9
The Saints are marching home, with no bite in their offence. Even with the return of Alvin Kamara the Saints struggled to find any offensive momentum. Could it be that Derek Carr’s shoulder prevented them from stretching the field or are the Saints in the same boat as the Steelers and suffering under an offensive coordinator who is not NFL calibre? If you ask the fans, like Steelers Nation, it’s all down to their OC.
The resurgence of Baker Mayfield is on show once again as he threw for 246 yards and three TD’s, ending the Saints defensive record of not allowing more than 20 points in 21 straight games. Even with Mike Evans leaving the game with a hamstring injury, Mayfield spread the ball around and drove the Buccaneers to their 3rd win of the season. Are we looking at Baker Mayfield, NFC South Division Champion?
Philadelphia Eagles 34 – Washington Commanders 31
The Eagles escaped with a win, remaining perfect but only just as the Commanders came within a TD of beating the Eagles. Facing an early 10 point deficit, the Eagles rallied and the Hurts to Brown connection helped the Eagles seal the deal and narrowly get that win in overtime against Howell who never gave up!
Sam Howell clearly burned all tape of last week’s 9 sack, 4 INT game as he went out and balled out early and often against the Eagles defence. Many expected another high sack/interception game from Howell against a much tougher defence but he stepped up and tied the game. Many will question whether they should have gone for two and the win rather than settling for overtime.
Tennessee Titans 27 – Cincinnati Bengals 3
Who dey? No seriously can someone tell me? Because they cannot be the Bengals that have been in the Super Bowl and in the Super Bowl conversation the past few seasons. While they opened with an impressive 72 yard drive, they only put up a field goal, the only points of the day from the Bengals. The calf injury is clearly still bothering Burrow and at what point do you put him on short term IR to force him to rest up? Otherwise the Bengals will be looking up at the Steelers, Browns and Ravens in a long, long season in the AFC North.
The Titans defence made Burrows day almost impossible, they smothered the Bengals receivers and terrorised Burrow all day not allowing a drive to travel more than 30 yards after the Bengals opening drive. Tannehill stepped up and showed some of his old self throwing for 240 yards and a TD but still not completely error free as there was also an interception. The resurgence of Derek Henry in this game helped Tannehill and took him off the hot seat for another week.
Sunday Late Window
Los Angeles Chargers 24 – Las Vegas Raiders 17
Aidan O’Connell led the Raiders against the Chargers and kept them competitive while struggling to protect the ball and stay up right. If the Raiders O-Line could have stopped O’Connell from being sacked seven times, maybe they would have had a chance against a Chargers team that seemed to be sluggish and struggling themselves.
Khalil Mack sacked Aidan O’Connell six, SIX times on Sunday, he was one sack away from tying the single game sack record but is now only the sixth player in NFL history to finish a game with six sacks. Mack stopped any chance of a Raiders comeback win dead. Herbert on the other hand, that’s right his non-throwing hand, suffered a broken finger which meant he had to take victory formation snaps via shotgun. Only throwing for 167 yards against the Raiders was a low for Herbert who regularly finished with 220+ yards a game.
Dallas Cowboys 38 – New England Patriots 3
The Dallas defence showed up this week and dominated the Patriots all game, stopping the run, smashing through their offensive line and keeping Mac Jones from getting any kind of rhythm in his passing game. While their defence showed up strong their offence are still encountering issues in the red zone. Starting out 0-3 in the red zone, the Dallas red zone offence looks incomplete, a work in progress as they are currently now seven straight possessions in the red zone without a TD (counting last week).
Mac Jones was a dumpster fire against the dominating Dallas defence, turning the ball over three times only throwing for 150 yards before he was benched for Bailey Zappe near the end of the 3rd quarter. The question now is, who is the Patriots quarterback as Zappe looked better than Jones against the Dallas defence, onto the Saints as Bill would say…
San Francisco 49ers 35 – Arizona Cardinals 16
The explosive power of McCaffery and Aiyuk was too much for the Cardinals to handle and while down 21-3 in the 2nd quarter, they made it a five point game by the second half. However they could not stop the offensive power of the 49ers. They shut down Kittle and Samuel but this allowed McCaffery and Aiyuk to take the ball and run!
The 49ers are Super Bowl bound, as long as they continue with this type of play. The 49ers scored on every possession except for their end of half kneel down. McCaffery had four TDs, three rushing and one receiving while Aiyuk gashed the Cardinals for chunk yardage on 1st down, the 49ers are almost impossible to defend against. Purdy finished the game with one incompletion and was only hit once in the entire game on a sack, he put up 283 yards and a TD and no interceptions.
Sunday Night Football
Kansas City Chiefs 23 – New York Jets 20
Nobody could have seen this game being this close, Zach Wilson almost toppling Patrick Mahomes!? The Chiefs took a 17-0 lead in the game but then their offence just stalled, Mahomes threw two interceptions and the Jets got a safety due a facemask penalty in the end zone. The Chiefs got extremely lucky to escape with a win against the Jets.
Zach Wilson decided that SNF was when he was gonna try to ball out and beat a 2x Super Bowl champion and he came close! Authoring a 75 yard drive for a score, picking up a two point conversion with his legs and only having the ball for three minutes and change in the 4th quarter, the Jets were only competitive against Mahomes because of the Chiefs mistakes. Wilson is not the answer under centre for the Jets
Monday Night Football
Seattle Seahawks 24 – New York Giants 3
Welcome to the NFL Devon Witherspoon, the Seattle rookie cornerback put his name under the spotlight on MNF, sacking Daniel Jones twice, recording six tackles, a pass defence and a 97 yard pick six! Jone will not want to see Witherspoon again any time soon and other offences in the league need to be aware of this potential superstar corner on the Seattle defence going forward. While the Seahawks ran away with the win, they lost Jamal Adams (OL) to a concussion just nine snaps into the game and Geno Smith to a knee injury, however he eventually returned to the game.
The Giants must be looking at that Daniel Jones extension and questioning it already. The lifeless offence , multiple interceptions and inability to push the ball downfield must be making a lot of Giants fans question the extension he was given. At 1-3 Jones and the Giants will have to make a deep run for the remainder of the season and develop an explosive offence overnight and hope Saquon Barkley recovers soon to give them that much needed injection of life!
And there we have it folks, Week 4 is in the bag as we look forward to Week 5 the question is are we seeing any teams emerging as clear front runners for the playoffs or even the Super Bowl as of yet? As a lot of playoff teams from last year do not look as dominating as previously, thats the fun of football, you’re kept guessing!