NFL Week Four Takeaways.
Many NFL Offenses Entered Week Four With Questions To Answer About The Direction, effectiveness, and Ceilings Of Their Talent Level. Some Offenses Have Lived Up To Their Talent Expectations Over The First Three Weeks Of The Season, And Some Offenses Erupted On Sunday. The Steelers, Chiefs, and Falcons Produced Possibly Their Best Outings Offensively This Season. The Outcome Of The Cowboys-Packers Game That Ended In A 40 Point tie, without Ceedee Lamb Or The Chiefs, COMPLETELY outclasses the Ravens 37-20, May Get Your Vote For “Surprise” Result Of The Weekend. Still, I’m intrigued by the Jags who Gave Up 309 Passing yards to Brock Purdy But Defeated The Niners By Running The Ball And Forcing Four Takeaways.
Colts Vs Rams
The Colts Took Their First Loss Of The Season. Daniel Jones Threw Two Picks As Indy’s Offense Let This Victory Over The Rams Slip Through The Gloves Late. Jones didn’t Come Down To Earth 24/33For 262 Passing Yards, and the Colts Held Multiple Opportunities To Win This Game. The Colts Took The Lead In The Fourth and Forced Rams Matthew Stafford To Fumble On The Following Drive. The Colts lost A Touchdown After the second-year receiver Adonai Mitchell let the Ball Slip out of His Hands at the goal line. The Colts took a 20-13 Lead midway through The Fourth. Mitchell “Cost” The Colts Another touchdown On A Holding Penalty In The Fourth Quarter on A Jonathan Taylor Run That Could Have Also Iced The Game For The Colts. Jones played well Enough For The Colts To Win. His accuracy and decision-making didn't waver. He Just Forced A Few Passes downfield, and His Average Arm talent couldn't accommodate his Reads.
When Colts Receivers Drop The BAll, The Rams Receivers Made Plays That Shifted The Tide For Los Angeles In The Fourth Quarter.
The Rams Score Two Touchdowns In The Final Nine Minutes Of The Game, Both Stafford Passes, Including A Massive 88 Yard Touchdown From Stafford to Tutu Attwell(62 Yards After The Catch) That Put The Rams Ahead 27-20 and End The Colts' Run At 3-1. The Other Stafford Touchdown Went To Puka Nacua, Who Racked Up 170 Receiving Yards on 13 Catches, Bringing his Season totals To 42 Catches and 555 receiving Yards With 13 games To Go. He’s On An Incredible Pace. The Wide Receiver Position Has Seen Several Players Stake Their Names as the Best Player Of The Rank. Still, Puka Has Separated Himself From Even the Best At The Position As The Definitive Best Pass Catcher This Season. Stafford 29/41 for 375 Passing Yards and three touchdowns.
Falcons Vs. Commanders
Michael Penix Put Together The Best Game of His Career Despite An Interception On the Great Commander's Play. Penix 20/26 for 313 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, As The Falcons stormed past the Commanders 34-27. Penix completed two passes in 40 air yards and got help in the yards after the catch department. Critics Eviscerated the Falcons' offense After Scoring Zero Points Against The Panthers. In Response, Several Falcons produced season-high performances, including Bijan Robinson, who amassed 181 Yards From Scrimmage, 75 On The Ground with One Rushing and 106 Yards Receiving and A Receiving Touchdown. Kyle Pitts had Five Catches For 70 Yards, Drake London led the way with 110 Yards on Eight Catches. The Falcons produced 435 Yards Of Offense, 6.8 per play, 11.8 per Pass. The Falcons' Offense Continues To Emit Glimpses Of How Explosive They Can Play, But The Offense Needs To Continue Rising as the Team Tries to Stay Afloat in the NFC Playoff Picture. The Defense Held The Commanders, who had Marcus Mariota Starting For The Second Game In A Row, to 147 Passing, picked Mariota Off Once, and Held The Commanders to 1 of 8 On Third Down.
Titans Vs Texans
The Texans Continued To Struggle, But Houston Didn’t Need A Prolific Performance To Hold The League’s Worse Team, The Titans, To Zero Points and Escape a Middling Game With a Win. This Matchup didn’t look pretty for either team. Still, Rookie Quarterback and Number One Pick Cam Ward Finished 10/26 For 108 Yards(41 Passing Yards On Two Plays On The Teams First Drive) Versus One Of The Toughest Passing Defenses In The League. Ward started The Game with A Nice Down Field Completion To Fellow Rookie Elic Ayomanor for 33 Yards Showing Some Glimpses Of The Talent That Made Him A Top Talent Passer In The Draft Then The Offense Faded. The Titans Finished 2/12 On Third Down, Slightly Better Than The Texans, 6/15 On Third Down. The Texans didn’t Fix Much This Game. The Pass Blocking Still Struggled. Stroud finished 22/28 for 233 passing yards, two touchdowns, 125.1 Passer Rating, Three Completions Over Ten Yards, including a 24 Yard Touchdown to Jayden Higgins. The Texans will play the Titans only once again during the season.
Patriots Vs Panthers
The Patriots, Who Didn’t Have Any Expectations, Took The Panthers' Defense That Didn’t Give Up Any Points In Week Three To Tour For 42 And A Win. The Offense Scores Five Touchdowns and Gets Another On Special Teams In The Form Of Cornerback Marcus Jones Returning A Punt 87 Yards For A Touchdown. Patriots Quarterback Drake Maye Accounts For Three Touchdowns, Two In The Air and One On Ground, as Maye Has A Quiet Game, 14/17 For 203 passing Yards, With a 155.6 Passing Rating. The Patriots' Defense held the Panthers' Score Over Seven Straight drives After Giving Up An Opening Drive Touchdown To The Panthers. Bryce Young Fell Flat In This one, 18/30 for 150 Passing Yards With One Touchdown.
Los Angeles Chargers Vs New York Giants
The Chargers Didn’t Look Like They Were Headed For A Trap Game In Week Four Against The Lowly Giants. Los Angeles Survived a Slugfest with Broncos Thanks To A Super-Charged Game from quarterback Justin Herbert. The Chargers Could “Take A Load Off” Against A Giants Team Working Through a Transition. The Giants started their rookie quarterback, Jaxson Dart, after benching Russell Wilson, and the team making early changes at a crucial position doesn’t often “Scare” a team battling for a Super Bowl. The Giants Have One Of The worst Secondaries In Football, One Of The worst running Games, one of the worst offensive Lines In Football, and an underperforming Defensive Line Based On Expectations. Still, The Giants Grounded The Chargers for Most Of This Game and Held Back A Late Surge. The Giants Pick Up Their First Victory Of The Season Over A Winning Team Like The Chargers, No Less. Jaxson Dart, who I thought should’ve Landed With The Saints In The Top Ten Of The Draft, scored his First Touchdown On a zone-read running Play Inside The Chargers ' ten-yard line. The Chargers Generated A late 75 Yard Touchdown Drive To Prevent Themselves From falling behind By Two Scores To the Giants At Halftime. Dart's Legs Really Proved The Difference Between He And Wilson, As Dart Can Respond And React Faster Than Wilson, which Helped Him Pick Up 50 Yards On The Ground. Darts First Passing Touchdown Accounted For Maybe A Yard On a Quick Pitch To His Tight End, Theo Johnson, for Three Yards.
Chargers Wide Receiver Quentin Johnston picked up A 35 35-yard passing Touchdown To Cap Off an 8 Play 75 Yard Drive To Pull The Score 13-10 In Favor Of The Giants Before The Half. The Giants' Defense Kept Justin Herbert From Pulling Off A Late comeback. Despite Some Turnover Woes By The Hand Of Justin Herbert, Who Threw Two Picks, One That Big Man Dexter Lawrence Snatched Out of The Air At The Line of Scrimmage And returned near The Foot Of The Chargers’ end Zone. Herbert More Than Doubled Jaxson Dart In attempts, and You Love To See The Chargers' Offense aggressive, but 41 Attempts Only Netted 201 Yards and A Touchdown. Chargers Running Back Omarion Hampton Produced 128 Yards on 12 Carries and a Big 54-Yard Touchdown Run. Herbert Faced Pressure all Night, 47.7% of His Dropbacks After He Suffered the Same Outcome as the Chargers' Last Game. The Giants Ended The Chargers' Final drive with a Sack From Brian Burns. The Chargers need to improve their blocking. Left tackle Joe Alt Left The Game With An Injury, And That Unit Continues To Get Thinner By The Week. If the Chargers can’t protect Justin Herbert, This Promising MVP-level start To His Sixth Season Could Go To Waste.
Jaxson Dart 13/20 111 Passing Yards. The Giants Lost Their Top Threat, Malik Nabers, In The First Half, With Early Reports Suggesting Nabers tore his ACL after Landing Out of Bounds and Struggling To Get Up In The Second Quarter. The Giants Rushed For 161, Cam Skattebo Leading The Way With 79 Rushing Yards, on 25 Carries. The Giants get Their First Win, and Brian Daboll's Seat cools down A Touch, But The Scope Light remains On Him.
Browns Vs Lions
The Browns' Defense Has Played So As a Unit In The Stefanski Era Of The Team
Through four Weeks, Allowing The fewest yards in the NFL per game, 204.3 Total, those questions About Their Porous Quarterback Play That Dominated Much Of The Preseason Have Vanished. Playing a Detroit offense that produced two drives of 98 and 96 yards is almost the entire offense of what the Browns allow per game. The Lions' Defense Looked Better In Three Handling Lamar Jackson, but Joe Flacco Came Out Of The Gates Efficiently. He got Cleveland Out To An early Lead With An early 88 Yard touchdown drive On The team's Opening Drive On A one-yard run by Quinshon Judkins—Just The second Opening Drive Touchdown For The Browns This Season. The Browns Get 88 Yards On The Drive With Flacco Accounting For 70 Yards. From there, the Browns’ offense Goes Cold After the Start. Flacco Throws Two Picks, One On A Miscommunication with His receiver. The offer is a beautiful play on the ball by a free agent signing DJ Reed, and all of the good vibes from the Browns offense are going up in flames. The Lions Score Ten Points Off Those Turnovers. After the DJ Reed Pick, the Lions set the Lions Up In The Red Zone. Amon-ra St. Brown Comes Away With The short-yardage goal-line touchdown. The Lions Pull Off The 34-10 Win Over The Browns, who Have Yet To Score More Than 20 Points In A Game. Joe Flacco Finished 16/34 184 Passing Yards, Two Picks, And 39.3 Passer Rating. Dillon Gabriel spells Flacco at The End Of The Game, but I’m surprised the Browns haven’t Made The full-on transition to one Of Their Younger Options Yet. Quinshon Judkins continues to make promising marks on the team, with 21 carries for 82 rushing yards and one touchdown. Fellow Rookie Isaiah Bond Caught three Passes for 58 Yards. Despite the Score, the Lions struggled offensively against the Browns, although Cleveland Gave Up 109 Yards On The Ground, 91 Yards, and A Touchdown To Jahmyr Gibbs on an eight-yard Run That Tied The Game In The First Quarter. The Cleveland Defense Didn’t Sack Jared Goff, But They Forced Him Into An Average Game 16/27 For 168 Passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, One Interception, and an 86.7 Passer Rating. I Think The Lions Still Need To Add Another Outside Threat, as Jameson Williams struggled with Just Two Catches On Eight Targets For 40 Yards. The Lions Lack Any Proven Outside Option After Williams, Besides A Splash Play Or Two Fron Isaac Teesla.
Vikings Vs Pittsburgh
During Aaron Rodgers' Long Extended Free agency period, When The Quarterback Took His Time, Decided Where To Play, Several Suitors, Not Many, popped up With Interest IN the 41-year-old four-time MVP. The Vikings Had Interest, but couldn't Work Out a Deal, and Rodgers Inked With The Steelers. What, If Any, Quarterbacking Skill Did Rodgers have left? The Vikings Found Out, against An Elite Vikings Defense, Number One In EPA Per Allowed and EPA Per pass, Rodgers didn’t THrow His first incompletion Until Less Than Five minutes left In The Second Quarter, going 12/14 Passing With A 139.6 Passer Rating. Rodgers and DK Metcalf Generated A Big 80 Slant and Run Touchdown With About 67 Yards After The Catch as the Vikings Secondary failed to get a Hand On Metcalf As He turned up The Field. Rodgers Lead The Steelers To An Early 14-3 Lead Through The Second Quarter, But The Steelers' Defense, Catching Fire Now, Delivered The Win. Jalen Ramsey’s Fumble Return Got The Steelers On The Board First in The Game.
His Counterpart, Carson Wentz, Struggled Against the Steelers. He Threw A Pick In The First Half, and Before The Final Drive Of The First Half, the Vikings couldn’t Move The Ball, 4.2 Yards Per Play, and the Vikings got two first-half field Goals On Two Red Zone Drives.
The Vikings Scored Their First Touchdown With Less Than Eight Minutes Left In The Fourth quarter. The Vikings' Defense Couldn’t Get The Steelers Off The Field On The Ensuing Drive. Instead, the Steelers Ride The Running Prowess Of Kenneth Gainwell To A Red-Zone Drive That Ends With No Points But Eats Up Nearly Four Minutes Of Game Time. The Steelers' Offensive Line Bullied The Vikings, Opening Windows For Runners To Rush For 4.5 Yards Per Attempt. Kenneth Gainwell 19 Carries For 99 Rushing Yards, 6 Catches For 35 Yards Receiving.
The Vikings score Another Late Touchdown after A Big Connection From Wentz to Jordan Addison, who goes for 81 Yards and A Score, Four Plays later. The Late Surge to Make The Score Interesting In The End Falls Short.
Before Vikings’ quarterback JJ McCarthy suffered An Ankle Injury, Forcing Him To Miss Time and setting His Development Backward. His Play Hurt The Team. Kevin O’connell’s offense couldn't sustain drives, But His Rookie Contract Allowed The Vikings to Exhaust Most of the cap and Free Agent Effort On A Defense Ranked In The Top Five In The NFL, allowing 141.3 passing yards per game through Three Games. The Defense Couldn’t Hold up Against A Pittsburgh Offense That Produced One Good Game Before This Matchup. The Vikings Struggled To Get The Steelers Off The Field Much Of The Half, While The Offense Struggled To sustain drives and protect Carson Wentz.
The Offensive Line That The Vikings Spent A Lot Of Money On Struggled Blocking. Ryan Kelly and Will Fries Went Out With an Injury. The Vikings' O-Line Made The Steelers Look Like The 2023 Eagles. The Vikings Had Multiple Opportunities To Get Back Into This Game With Big Plays slipping through Their Hands(Literally), and the Steelers took full Advantage Of Carson Wentz’s and the Vikings' Carelessness. Kevin O’Connell Staked His Reputation on JJ McCarthy and Carson Wentz, and neither has looked Particularly Good In the Vikings' Offense. Wentz Put Up big Numbers: 350 Passing Yards On Over 50 Dropbacks, two Touchdowns, Two Interceptions, and an 84.5 Passer Rating. Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson Go For Over 100 Yards, 114 and 126, respectively, but struggle with Turnovers, putting the Bucs in an Early Inescapable Hole. The Vikings continue to struggle to run the ball.
The Steelers Move To 3-1 in Sole Possession Of The AFC North Lead With a Defense Coming Along Despite Dealing With Injuries. Rodgers 18/22 for 200 Passing Yards, right around Where The Steelers Offense wants him To Play Regularly.
Bucs Vs Eagles
Neither the Bucs nor the Eagles has played their best football through three games this season, but both enter week four with a 3-0 record. The Team’s Passing Offense Has Created The Most Cause For Concern, And Deciphering Which Quarterback Has Looked Shakier Depends On What You Expect From A Passing Attack In 2025. The Eagles' Passing Offense Works When Hurts and AJ Brown, Devonta Smith Need the Air Game to win(Or When It Has to Work), and That’s Happening Mostly In The Second Half Against The Rams. The Bucs don't stop cranking up the passing attack until it works. The Eagles Looked Positively Dominant Against The Bucs Early. Philly got on The Board First With A blocked punt For A Touchdown, then Jalen Hurts Picked Up The Scoring With two Touchdowns To tight End Dallas Goedert in The First Half as the Eagles amassed a 24- 6 Lead At The Half. Of the Bucs' First Nine Possessions Of The Game, the Eagles' Defense forced four Punts, Two Long Field goals, One Touchdown, and One Fumble. The Bucs Playing With all The Moxie Of Their Quarterback Pulled Within One Score Mid Way Through The Fourth By Making Two Big Plays Down Field.
Mayfield Connects With Rookie Emeka Egbuka in the Third Quarter, Who Catches A Ball between two Eagles Defenders, Then Scoots Downfield for 77 Yards. The Play Between Baker and The Rookie had a 21.2% Catch Probability And looked extremely Cool On TV. On Tampa Bay's Next Drive, Baker Connects With running back Bucky Irving(Who Coughed Up The Fumble Earlier) for 72 Yards For A Down Field Touchdown. Mayfield Threw A Red zone Interception On The team's Second Drive Of The Fourth quarter, but Mayfield couldn’t Create Enough Plays To Pull Off The Comeback. Aside From His Two Big Plays(72,77, 77-yard touchdowns), Mayfield generated just 20/38 for 140 Passing Yards, 3.6 Per Attempt, and One Pick. The Eagles Moved To 4-0 Despite The Offense Shutting Down In the Fourth, Generating Just Three Yards On 11 Plays, Excluding The Final Drive That Ended In A Safety. Hurts Finished With Just 130 Passing Yards On 15/24 Passing, two touchdowns, and a 104.5 Passer Rating. Hurts also led the Team With 9 Carries For 62 Yards, and Saquon Barkley Scored A Touchdown But Only Managed 43 Yards On 19 Carries. The Eagles Have Made Their Mark By Winning These Ugly Games, and Football Gets Ugly, But How Long Shall They Continue Along This Trend? The Eagles Averaged 3.4 Yards Per Play And 2.8 Yards Per Run And Came Away With a Win. The Bucs Didn’t Have Enough Fire To Complete Another Late Game Comeback. The Offense hasn't gotten Bucky Irving Going On The Ground, just 15 Carries, 63 Yards On The Ground, But He led the Team In Receiving, Five Catches For 102 Receiving Yards. Emeka With Four Catches For 101 Receiving Yards. Chris Godwin was Quiet In His Return, with three catches for 26 yards. The Bucs Need To address Their Tight End Position.
Cardinals Vs Seahawks
Crucial Divisional Matchup, Especially Those of Nearly Even Teams in Terms of Standing In The Division, Like the Seahawks and Cardinals, Can Come Down to the smallest Factors, and Turnovers Proved the Cardinals' Undoing. In. During the Offseason, the Cardinals Focused On adding Forces To The Defensive Side Of The Ball, Most Notably Josh Sweat, but Arizona Stayed Patient Offensively. The Organization Extended Tight End Trey McBride and Trusted In The Growth Of Young Receivers Like Marvin Harrison Jr And Micheal Wilson. So Far They’ve Betrayed The Cardinals' Trust. The Cards Lost Running Back James Conners For The Year, And That Changes The Complexion Of An Offense. Not Completely Ready To Embrace A full-time attack. The Offensive Line Has Made Strides, But The Pass Catchers Have A Lot Of Ground To Make Up For The Rest Of The Year.
Harrison Can’t Catch The Ball, Multiple Drops. His Lack Of Connection With Murray Results In Turnovers. Harrison Jr Fail To Reel In A Catch Over The Middle That Hits Him Right In The Chest, Then Ricochets Off His Hands And Into The Arms Of A Seahawks’ Linebacker, Ernest Jones.
The Pick Didn’t Result In a Point For the Seahawks directly; the Cardinals' Defense forced the Punt, But The Loss OF possession Took Potential Points Off The Board For The Cardinals. Murray Threw Two Picks, Both Targeted Towards Harrison, that Happened In The First Quarter. The Cardinals, fortunately, get the ball Back As Seahawks Corner Coby Bryant Fumbles, and the Cardinals Get A Field Goal For The First Points Of the Game, 3-0. Mike McDonald's Defense Played Fast And Tight In Coverage Outside Of Greg Dortch. No Cardinals Receiver Generated More Than 2.66 Yards Of Separation During The Game—The League Average Starts At 2.98 Yards. The Cardinals' Offense Crossed Field Just Twice In The First Half.
I criticized the Football Media For Defending Their Darling “Prodigy” Marvin Harrison Jr. for His Lack Of effectiveness this season. Im not “Out” On Harrison, But The Cardinals Need Another piece after falling Short In Two straight divisional matchups.
The Cardinals Entered The Game 12th In EPA per Pass, But Through Three Quarters Against The Seahawks, Quarterback Kyler Murray Faced Waves Of Pressure. The Cardinals Scored Just Three Points Through Three quarters. Arizona scored 17 Points Over The Final 18 Minutes Of The Game. Two Passing In The Fourth quarter made things Interesting In The End, But The Seahawks pulled the Late Victory On a Field Goal.
In A Twisty, “Mirror Dimensional” Way, the Seahawks avoided This Loss More Than The Cardinals dropped The Ball On A Late Opportunity. Seattle’s Defense put Pressure On Kyler Murray Without Allowing the quick-footed Murray To Pummel Them On The Ground With Scramble Yardage—only Four Scrambles For 38 Rushing Yards. Kyler Murray Passed For 200 Passing yards, 60% Of The Yardage After The Catch(120), on 27/41 on 52 Dropbacks, 4.9 Yards per Attempt, two touchdowns (Both In the Fourth), and A Passer Rating Of 73.2. He faced 21 Pressures in the Game and Took Six Sacks. Two years ago, I thought the Cardinals Had Too Many Small Receivers. They have too many large receivers with separation challenges who don't create explosive plays. Unfortunately, the Cardinals' Offense lacks Diversity. Harrison Jr., WHO came Away With 66 Yards receiving, Looked Disinterested, high-maintenance, And Poorly Coached By Simply quitting on the Route When He Assumed The Ball wouldn't Come His Way. The Cardinals Needs A Rushing Attack. The Rushings Attack Gained 5.3 Yards per Rush, But After The Seahawks Took A double-digit Lead, The Cards Had To Pass.
Sam Darnold had fewer attempts (26) than Kyler Murray Had completions (27). Darnold Racked Up 242 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, A Passer Rating of 111.4, And +0.40 EPA—the Seahawks' Defense Kept Darnold Composed. The Offense hasn't Had To Rely On His Arm To Win Games. Seahawks Leading Receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba Caught Cuts For 79 Receiving Yards.
