The big story going into Week 4 was a pair of unbeatens squaring off in Tampa and a rookie quarterback getting his first start in the Big Apple. Neither game disappointed.
In Florida, the Eagles and Buccaneers tangled in a game that began as a laugher before turning into a tightly contested affair. Ultimately, Philadelphia held on to run its record to 4–0 despite two Chase McLaughlin field goals of 58 and 65 yards, the latter being the all-time NFL record for an outdoor game.
Meanwhile, Jaxson Dart wasn’t spectacular with 111 passing yards and another 54 on the ground, but the Ole Miss product led his team to its first win of the season, knocking off the undefeated Chargers by a 21–18 score. With Dart, the Giants and their long-suffering fans have hope once more, with a roster that has some intriguing rookies, including Dart, running back Cam Skattlebo and edge rusher Abdul Carter.
There was another rookie quarterback who continued to struggle in Houston, with the Texans shutting out Cam Ward in a 26–0 victory. For the Titans, alarms aren’t going off about the No. 1 pick Cam Ward yet, but concerns are there.
But we start in Tampa, where the Eagles started hot, hit a lull and then did what they always do: Win.
Good: Nobody beats Jalen Hurts and the Eagles
Nothing about the win was pretty, but nobody in Philadelphia should care.
The Eagles haven’t looked dominant in any of their four wins this year. They survived the Cowboys. They escaped against the Chiefs. They rallied against the Rams. They rolled early and held on late against the Buccaneers.
Don’t sweat it.
On Sunday, Philadelphia jumped to a 21–3 lead with the help of a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. The Eagles also had scoring drives of 73, 67 and 54 yards in the first half, dominating Tampa Bay’s defense. In the second half, Jalen Hurts and his charges were held to 23 total yards not including a -34-yard run on an intentional safety. But in the end, the Eagles won 31–25, the first NFC team to 4–0.
There was one notable play in the third quarter, though, when Philadelphia faked the tush push and Barkley scampered for a six-yard touchdown. After all the controversy over the last few weeks around the play, the Eagles provided an intelligent changeup.
Looking at the stat sheet, nothing was great. Hurts threw for 130 yards on 5.4 yards per attempt. Saquon Barkley wasn’t able to get anything going, rushing for 43 yards on 19 carries against a Tampa Bay defense that came into the contest ranking fourth with 3.6 yards per carry against. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith were quiet once more, combining for four catches and 36 yards on 11 targets.
At some point, it stands to reason that Philadelphia will explode and look like the dominant team we saw raising the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans in February. But for now, winning every Sunday will have to do.
Bad: Cam Ward’s early returns (but he needs help)
No honest declarations can be made in four games. But it’s been an ugly start for Cam Ward.
In fairness to Ward, plenty can be laid at the feet of coach Brian Callahan. Tennessee might be the worst-coached team in the league, evidenced by Callahan deciding the following:
- Week 1: Leading 6–3 with 47 seconds remaining in the first half, Callahan could have opted to have Ward kneel out the clock against the Broncos. Instead, he called three pass plays, resulting in two incompletions and a sack. Denver then scored a short-field touchdown and never relinquished the lead.
- Week 3: Trailing 17–6, Callahan opted for a 64-yard field goal in the second quarter. Not surprisingly, Joey Slye missed. On the next possession, with the same score, Tennessee faced fourth-and-1 at Indianapolis’s 39-yard line. Callahan then watched as his team incurred a delay of game penalty despite having two timeouts in his pocket. He then asked Slye to make a 62-yard field goal. He missed again.
Still, Ward needs to be better. His receivers have eight drops, third-most in the league behind the Jets and Jaguars, but Ward isn’t making plays. Entering Week 4, Ward had completed 54.5% of his attempts with 5.1 yards per attempt and a pick-six. He’s also run for just 20 yards, lacking the mobility we’ve seen from most high-profile quarterbacks entering the league such as Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Jaxson Dart.
Against the Texans in a 26–0 loss, Ward was 10-of-26 for 108 yards and an interception for a QB rating of 35.4. Even for a rookie against a terrific defense, it’s an unacceptable showing.
At 0–4, the Titans are clearly going to be playing for player progression and not a playoff spot. That all starts with Ward, who needs to make some progress and get some help.
Ugly: Two major injuries on the MetLife Stadium turf
The Giants-Chargers game was supposed to be about the first NFL start for quarterback Jaxson Dart. Instead, it was defined by injuries on a field known all too well for them.
In the first half, New York saw a worst-case scenario unfold when star second-year receiver Malik Nabers leaped for a deep ball. As he jumped, Nabers immediately saw his right leg go limp before collapsing in pain with what’s believed to be a torn right ACL. If Nabers is finished for the year, Dart now has Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton as his top options in the pass game.
Earlier in the afternoon, Los Angeles left tackle Joe Alt was forced to the sideline after being rolled up on, eventually getting carted into the locker room for X-rays. Early reports indicate a high ankle sprain for Alt, something which would likely sideline him for multiple games.
Since MetLife Stadium opened in 2010, the playing surface has undergone several changes and updates, but it remains one of the league’s most treacherous fields. The artificial turf has been linked to a host of season-ending injuries in recent years, including those sustained by Aaron Rodgers, Jaelen Phillips, Nick Bosa, Blake Martinez, Raheem Mostert and others.
As for the Giants and Chargers, both teams will be significantly impacted by these injuries. Without Nabers, New York’s offense will have to rely on rookie running back Cam Skattlebo and Dart’s mobility. Los Angeles will have to try to survive without both Alt and Rashawn Slater, with the latter being lost in the summer to a torn patellar tendon.
Good: Xavier Worthy’s return sparks Chiefs’ offense
Through three games, Kansas City’s offense ranged from middling to repugnant. The Chiefs were averaging 5.2 yards per play, tied for 18th with Bo Nix and the Broncos. Facing the Chargers, Eagles and Giants, they never eclipsed 22 points.
On Sunday, Kansas City got second-year receiver Xavier Worthy back from a torn labrum sustained on the season’s opening drive in Brazil. The results were immediate. Worthy went for a career-high 83 receiving yards while totaling 121 yards from scrimmage in a resounding 37–20 victory over the Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium.
With Worthy on the field, Patrick Mahomes suddenly found wide-open receivers, including Tyquan Thornton, who caught a touchdown for the third consecutive week and one of Mahomes’s four scoring tosses. Mahomes ended his day with 270 yards and those aforementioned quartet of touchdown strikes, the first time since Week 7 of the 2023 season in a win over the Chargers.
For Kansas City, a 2–2 start is typically a blight on the franchise. But without Worthy for the first three weeks and Rashee Rice suspended for six games, the Chiefs survived the toughest stretch of their schedule.
It’s far from perfect, but suddenly Kansas City looks right and is getting better by the week.
Bad: Raiders look like the Raiders … again
Pete Carroll stared in disbelief. Geno Smith left the field knowing his start in Las Vegas has been a mess.
After watching Daniel Carlson’s would-be game-winning 54-yard field goal get blocked by the Bears in a 25–24 loss at home, the Raiders fell to 1–3 and last place in the AFC West. While the game ended on Carlson’s kick being rejected, it was lost on Smith’s three interceptions and a lost fumble by rookie back Ashton Jeanty.
For the season, Smith has now thrown seven interceptions to lead the league. That could be the reason why, with 43 seconds left and a third-and-2 at the Chicago 35-yard line, Carroll eschewed a more aggressive call to run Jeanty into the line. The first-rounder lost a yard and then saw their hopes evaporate on Carlson’s miss.
Las Vegas gave up a third-round pick for Smith this offseason, believing it would get above-average quarterback play for the first time since Derek Carr’s best days. Instead, Smith has struggled mightily surrounded by an inconsistent run game (3.1 YPC, 30th in the league entering Sunday) and an offensive line surrendering sacks at a rate of 10.2% of dropbacks, fourth-worst through three weeks. While the line kept Smith clean with only one quarterback hit on Sunday, he still struggled with 117 yards (5.6 YPA) and turnovers.
It won’t get any easier for Smith and the Raiders, with road games against the Colts and Chiefs over the next three weeks.
Ugly: Adonai Mitchell makes a familiar Colts mistake
Last season, Jonathan Taylor was rolling down the sideline in a must-win game against the Broncos. Leading 13–7 and about to be up two scores, Taylor began to celebrate and fumbled out of the end zone. Denver got the ball, scored 24 unanswered points, and effectively put the Colts out of the playoff chase.
On Sunday, Indianapolis fans got a sequel.
Trailing the Rams 13–10 early in the third quarter, second-year receiver Adonai Mitchell made a few moves to shake loose for an apparent 76-yard touchdown. Instead, Mitchell lost control of the ball a few feet before paydirt, creating an embarrassing, avoidable turnover in a 27–20 loss.
For coach Shane Steichen, Taylor’s gaffe was a horrid play but also a teaching moment for the rest of the roster, something that can never happen again. Somehow, it did, and it strongly contributed to the Colts losing their first game of the season instead of walking out of SoFi Stadium with a perfect 4–0 mark.
Good: Browns’ defense is great, even if it’s in defeat
Cleveland is 1–3, and if it had any offense at all, it would be a playoff contender.
On Sunday, the Browns were blown out 27–10 by the Lions, with Joe Flacco going 16-of-34 with two interceptions. Flacco and the offense did what they’ve done all year, consistently putting the defense in impossible spots.
And still, Cleveland has stayed in every game for at least three quarters because of Jim Schwartz’s unit. In Week 1, the Browns lost 17–16 to the Bengals despite Joe Burrow and his attack gaining 141 total yards. In Week 2, Cleveland lost 41–17 in Baltimore. Bad defensive effort, right? Hardly. The Browns held an offense led by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry to 242 yards and three third-down conversions. Baltimore scored on a scoop-and-score and drives of five, 24, 24, 51 and 66 yards.
Then, after holding the previously unbeaten Packers to 10 points in a stunning upset win, Cleveland once again held down an impressive offense in Detroit. The Lions scored 34 points but mustered only 277 yards on 4.9 yards per play with the combination of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery contained to 103 yards on 24 carries.
The Browns entered Sunday second in yards per play against (3.8), first in yards per carry (2.3) and seventh in net yards per pass (5.0). Then there’s perennial All-Pro Myles Garrett, who already has four sacks and a league-best seven tackles for loss coming into Week 4.
Cleveland might be a bad team, but it has a great defense.
Bad: Washington’s pass defense
The Commanders will soon get Jayden Daniels back, and he covers up plenty of warts. But even Daniels’s brilliance might not be enough to mask Washington’s pass defense.
Washington came into its Week 4 matchup with the Falcons ranking 23rd against the pass (229 yards per game) and dead last in yards per completion allowed (13.6). It’s been a struggle for coach and former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who has seen his secondary torched despite posting nine sacks and 21 quarterback hits over the first three games, both ranking in the top 10.
Facing Atlanta, second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. lit up Washington with 313 yards and two touchdowns on 12 yards per attempt, including 150 yards and 17 points in the first half in a 34–27 Falcons win. This is a continuation of recent weeks.
Last week, Geno Smith threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns on 10.0 yards per attempt. The week prior, Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft had a career night with 124 yards on seven receptions while Jordan Love went for 292 yards (9.4 YPA) and two touchdowns in a 27–18 loss to the Packers.
With Daniels sidelined with a knee injury, Quinn desperately needs his defense to be a tone-setter. That hasn’t been the case.
Ugly: Carson Wentz takes way too many sacks
The Vikings lost 24–21 to the Steelers on Sunday in Dublin, and the defeat came in large part because Minnesota’s offensive line struggled to hold up.
However, backup Carson Wentz was also responsible for the six sacks and 14 quarterback hits Pittsburgh inflicted on the veteran. Far too often, Wentz sat in the pocket and took unnecessary punishment, allowing the Steelers to create one negative play after the next.
Dating back to when Wentz was last a full-time starter in 2021 with the Colts, his inability to avoid sacks has been jarring. That year, he was second-slowest to throw the ball with 2.5 seconds per average dropback. The year before in Philadelphia, Wentz was at 2.6 seconds and once again tied for the second-slowest time.
Throughout his 10-year career, Wentz has taken 252 sacks over 100 games (96 starts), giving him a sack percentage of 2.5%. For comparison, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are at 1.6%. Joe Burrow, who is the gold standard of playing behind an annually terrible line and doesn’t have great mobility, comes in at 2.8%.
With Myles Garrett and the Browns next week, Wentz’s issues could take center stage once again.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Good, Bad and Ugly of NFL Week 4: Fake Tush Pushes and Another Eagles Win.
