NFL Week 4: You love to see it
The Ravens' run game would not be denied history, Kyler Murray is playing like an MVP this season, and Big Ben should probably retire.
The NFL is full of surprises each week. I can’t imagine many fans predicted the Giants or Jets, let alone both of them, would earn their first win of the season in overtime this week. Or that after Sunday, only two teams would remain undefeated and only two would still be winless. Or that Sam Darnold would lead the entire league in rushing touchdowns. Or that Tom Brady’s team would luck into a win at Foxborough after a potential game-winning kick hits the uprights.
(OK, maybe that last one isn’t exactly shocking.)
Though some of those results are unique to Week 4, others have been unfolding all season. Here are a few of my favorite developments that happened Sunday and have been happening all season.
The Ravens’ run game makes history
The run game is paramount to the Ravens’ offensive identity. That didn’t change when J.K. Dobbins suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the preseason. Nor when Justice Hill tore his Achilles five days later. Nor when Gus Edwards tore his ACL a few days after that.
Even with a running back committee of veteran journeymen, and even with quarterback Lamar Jackson dealing with a back issue and taking more hits than usual, Baltimore was determined to make history on Sunday.
The Ravens needed three more yards to tie Franco Harris’ Steelers for the most consecutive games (43) with at least 100 yards rushing. It looked like they were going to fall just shy of tying the record when they got the ball back with three seconds left on the clock. With the Ravens up 23-7, John Harbaugh could have opted to kneel it out and let the still-impressive streak end. Instead, he chose to keep it going, thanks to Jackson’s 5-yard carry against one of the league’s stingiest defenses:
After the game, Harbaugh explained why he made his decision: "It's a very, very tough record to accomplish … as a head coach, I think you do that for your players and you do that for your coaches, and that's something they'll have for the rest of their lives."
I’m in total agreement with Harbaugh here. The Broncos might have been upset, but we have enough old-man crankiness in the NFL world. This had nothing to do with Denver, either. It was about the Ravens trying to celebrate themselves. It takes a lot of hard work, and a little luck, for a team to rack up 100 yards on the ground for 43 straight games, especially in today’s NFL. That’s a cool achievement that they should preserve as long as they can.
Jackson’s arm, unexpectedly against a top-flight secondary, won the game for the Ravens this week. But their running game has been a big reason why they’re one of the winningest teams in the last few seasons. Hopefully after next week, they’ll own the record outright.
Kyler Murray is on an MVP path
It’s certainly no surprise that Kyler Murray has been lighting up NFL defenses. In his first two seasons, he was one of the most exciting young players in the league even though the Cardinals couldn’t quite put it all together. The hope was that he would take that next step in year three, from “fun if consistent” playmaker to MVP-level quarterback. The question was, though, if Kliff Kingsbury could get Murray to that position, particularly against top competition.
Through the first three sometimes-madcap weeks, Murray was living up to those lofty expectations. His completion rate, passing yards per game, yards per attempt, and passer rating were all up significantly. He wasn’t running as much, but he was still punching it in the end zone more often. And although he was throwing slightly more interceptions, they weren’t all that costly. The Cardinals were 3-0, even if it took a Vikings missed kick and a comeback against the Jaguars to get there.
The most difficult test yet was in Week 4 when they faced the Rams, who were looking like an early-season juggernaut. In his first two seasons, Murray had struggled against them more than any other team. He came into Sunday 0-4 against the Rams and had turned the ball over eight times and averaged just 187 passing yards in those previous matchups.
This time, Murray was in control from the start. He completed 75 percent of his passes (again!) for 268 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. He kept plays alive with his usual evasiveness and hit his targets with pinpoint accuracy:
The Cardinals won in a rout that wasn’t even as close as the final 37-20 score would indicate. And Murray is the engine behind their 4-0 start. He currently leads the NFL in completion percentage (76.1) and passing yards (1,273, though Derek Carr will surpass him on Monday, barring injury). He also boasts a passer rating of 115.0 — 20.7 points better than last year.
Still, there’s a lot of season left. Murray has to stay healthy and prove he can sustain this type of pace once the second half of the season rolls around. Same for Kingsbury and the team overall. Other quarterbacks, such as Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, and Carr, are his stiff competition in the way-too-soon MVP rankings. For now, though, Murray looks like he has taken that proverbial leap while he puts on a show each week.
This rookie quarterback class refuses to be defined just yet
Most rational NFL fans knew that, even after a historically awful week for rookie quarterbacks, it was too early to draw any conclusions about the 2021 class. Unfortunately, there are many irrational NFL fans out there, some of whom are quick to throw around the word “bust.”
Thankfully, this QB group bounced back in Week 4 and showed the kind of resilient nature you would expect from quarterbacks teeming with enough talent to be drafted in the first round.
Together, Justin Fields and Zach Wilson gave the rookie starters more wins this week (2) than they had the first three weeks combined (1). Fields benefitted from Matt Nagy handing over playcalling duties to OC Bill Lazor and from, well, playing the Lions. But after taking nine sacks a week ago, he was actually put in a position to succeed this week. Fields, with a little more time in the pocket, delivered several of the beautiful throws he was known for at Ohio State:
Meanwhile, Wilson came through in the clutch and provided arguably the wow-iest highlight in the league Sunday:
The other three first-round passers all came up short in Week 4, but they at least showed promise. Trevor Lawrence had his most efficient game in a close loss to the Bengals on Thursday. Trey Lance came in for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo and started shaky but looked more comfortable as the game progressed. He even finished with a better stat line than both Garoppolo and Russell Wilson (157 yards passing, two touchdowns, 117.1 passer rating, 41 yards rushing). Mac Jones went toe-to-toe with Tom Brady and didn’t look fazed in the least.
This was only one week in their nascent careers, just like last week was only one week. They’ll all have setbacks again and more triumphs along the way. Sit back and try to be patient as they develop into the NFL quarterbacks they’re supposed to be — and whether that’s a good quarterback or a bad quarterback, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Trevon Diggs is making his son proud
The biggest star on this season of Hard Knocks wasn’t Dak Prescott or Ezekiel Elliott or Jerry Jones and his Whataburger obsession. It was Aaiden Diggs, Trevon Diggs’ precocious 4-year-old son. Every time he was on camera, Aaiden stole the spotlight, most memorably when he finally got to meet Dak “Not Patrick Mahomes” Prescott:
During one preseason game, Aaiden was in the stands cheering on his dad with encouragement like “Believe in yourself” and “Make sure you do good” and “We want the money” (an almost Jerry Maguire-ism).
Aaiden is no doubt saying the same thing right now considering Trevon leads the league with five interceptions, including two on Sunday against Sam Darnold. That’s the kind of breakout performance the Dallas defense has needed this season, so good for them and good for Trevon. But most of all, I’m happy for Aaiden. — SH
Christian’s shit list, Week 4
1. Ben Roethlisberger. All of him.
But especially on fourth down, where he stared down a pair of manageable short yardage situations and somehow threw short of the sticks not once:
But twice:
Roethlisberger finished his day with 232 passing yards on 42 dropbacks. His Steelers got out to a 7-0 lead and then didn’t find the end zone again until the game was effectively over.
2. The Texans, who won’t even get a can’t-miss quarterback out of this
Davis Mills through three quarters:
Houston managed zero points against a Bills team that didn’t seem to be trying very hard. The Texans had two drives that started in Buffalo territory and failed to score on either. They had two drives that crossed midfield and each ended in an interception. They had four drives start inside their own 25 that ended up losing at least five yards. Not a single player scored double-digit fantasy points. Only Brandin Cooks had more than six fantasy points.
What an ungodly mess this all is, and the light at the end of the tunnel may be the chance to draft Spencer Rattler or Sam Howell.
Oh, no.
3. Russell Wilson, who is gonna make me trust the Seahawks right up until they fall apart in the playoffs
It happens every year. Wilson does superhuman things at quarterback and I forget all about Seattle’s fatal flaws; the lack of receiving depth, the defense that can’t stop anyone, the underwhelming run game. This was on full display against the 49ers:
This, of course, is gonna end how it always does. The Seahawks are gonna stumble, lose some stupid games, then collapse in the Divisional Round like a spaghetti skyscraper. And I will wind up picking them every time they lose because I trust Russ so much I ignore the massive failure of a support system around him.
4. The Broncos, who fell from the tree of trust and hit every branch on the way down
At the start of the second quarter, Denver led Baltimore 7-0. For one brief moment, it looked as though the Broncos were about to announce their presence to the rest of the AFC.
Then, for the final 44 minutes of this game, Vic Fangio’s club looked exactly like a franchise that had gotten to 3-0 by exclusively playing 0-3 teams. Teddy Bridgewater erased all the goodwill of a superb start to 2021 by completing only seven of his 16 passes before leaving the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit. Drew Lock entered the game in relief and played like Drew Lock.
The outcome was grim. The Broncos were proven to be playing dress-up in their dad’s shoes while the Ravens remained legit. Denver, even at 3-1, drops back to the butt end of the AFC West.
5. Janoris Jenkins, who is getting $7.5 million annually to give Zach Wilson his get-right game
The Titans’ defense is butt. They still won the AFC South in 2020 despite the league’s 29th-ranked unit. They’ll probably be able to do the same this year because the division is as well constructed as a Yugoslavian automobile, but that inability to stop anyone is going to loom large this postseason.
Janoris Jenkins was supposed to be one of the fixes to that problem. Instead, he spent Week 4 generally being the closest defender whenever Zach Wilson dialed up a big play. Here he is, failing to adjust when Keelan Cole links up with his scrambling rookie quarterback:
And here he is getting roasted by former Titan Corey Davis:
Jenkins isn’t the sole reason for the Titans’ failures. On Sunday they played without their top two wideouts, leaving backup running back Jeremy McNichols to be their most targeted player. Bud Dupree has hardly played after signing an $82.5 million contract in the offseason due to injury. Same with first-round pick Caleb Farley, who had played eight defensive snaps headed into Week 4.
But Jenkins, a pricy offseason fix, has been the most glaring issue in an uneven start in Nashville. Now the Jets have a win to show for their efforts, which feels like the worst insult of all in a weekend full of them.
6. Bill Belichick chose death
In 2009, Belichick famously went for it late in the fourth quarter of a game against the Colts when facing fourth-and-2 at his own 28-yard line. He reasoned that he knew Peyton Manning was going to lead a scoring drive anyway, so the impetus was to keep the ball out of his hands. The play failed and New England went on to lose.
Belichick faced a similar decision Sunday night when his team stared down fourth-and-3 at the Tampa 36. The Hall of Fame head coach, trailing 19-17, opted to kick a 56-yard field goal in a downpour rather than let rookie quarterback Mac Jones, who’d been a master of short-range passes all evening, take a shot at a first down.
This was the moment, regardless of whether or not the kick sailed through the uprights, that the Patriots lost.
Best case scenario, Belichick hands Tom Brady the ball with 50 seconds and two timeouts and in need of just a field goal to lead a comeback victory. This was the exact outcome of the previous two drives. If Brady got that ball back, he was winning.
And he did, but all he had to do at that point was kneel down and accept his crown. Nick Folk’s kick clanged off the upright and the Patriots sank to 1-3. Brady got the win over the only franchise he’d never beaten before. And New England got to wonder if the specter of his old quarterback has its head coach questioning his own best practices. — CD
Week 4 results, in 5 words or fewer
Bills 40, Texans 0
Washington 34, Falcons 30
Bears 24, Lions 14
Fields shines with new playcaller
Cowboys 36, Panthers 28
Colts 27, Dolphins 17
Suddenly, Colts are in business
Browns 14, Vikings 7
Chiefs 42, Eagles 30
Andy Reid, enjoy that cheesesteak
Giants 27, Saints 21 (OT)
Jets 27, Titans 24 (OT)
Cardinals 37, Rams 20
Seahawks 28, 49ers 21
49ers can’t stay healthy, again
Ravens 23, Broncos 7
Packers 27, Steelers 17
Bucs 19, Patriots 17