Week 4

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (23) vs. ARIZONA CARDINALS (20)

Through 51 minutes, the Cardinals looked like they were dead in the water. In the first half, Kyler Murray threw two interceptions, yet both of them were not entirely his fault. On two targets to Marvin Harrison Jr., the first one was because the second year receiver stopped running the route, and the second pick was the result of a dropped pass. Their lack of communication was the biggest reason why Arizona trailed 20-6. It was fortunate they scored three points before halftime because Seattle defenders collided into each other that forced the ball out on the first turnover. 

What kept the Cardinals in the game was their defense. Despite allowing two early touchdowns and 155 rushing yards, they still sacked Sam Darnold three times and did not allow a single touchdown after halftime. Heck, Jaxon Smith-Njigba did not even get a touch until the third quarter. The Seahawks were letting the opposition hang around and all it took was one solid drive from Murray to get this offense back into a rhythm.

On his first drive of the fourth quarter, he set the tone with a 29 yard run all the way to the Seattle 41 yard line and a pass interference penalty by Tariq Woolen, the Seahawks corner that got picked on the entire night, set up first and goal at the seven line. However it was a back-shoulder touchdown pass to Harrison Jr. that officially made it a ball game once again. 

There were multiple chances for Seattle to put this game away for good. At the start of the fourth quarter, running back Zach Charbonnet appeared to seal the deal with a walk-in touchdown that would have put his team ahead 24-6, but it got nullified due to a holding penalty by Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That is why we got a rare “hot mic” moment between him and head official Alex Kemp. As a result, the drive stalled out and they kicked a field goal. On their next possession, Smith-Njigba came up with a clutch third down catch over Max Melton for 36 yards that got the Seahawks back into scoring range. However, that drive did not end with a touchdown either and Jason Myers was sent out to attempt a 53 yard field goal, which sailed wide right.

Once Murray got the ball back, a one-handed fourth down catch by Michael Wilson kept the Cardinals’ hopes of winning alive and two big third down conversions from Harrison Jr. and Greg Dortch set up a walk-in game tying touchdown to Emari Demercado! On a night where Murray got sacked six times and turned the ball over twice, the Cardinals were one stop away from forcing the game into overtime!

Unfortunately, the ensuing kickoff fell short in the landing zone and right on cue, Smith-Njigba made another fantastic grab with Melton in coverage to set up the game winning 52 yard field goal for Myers. This time, it did not fall short of the mark and Seattle held on for the victory.

Both Darnold and Murray had decent performances, but Arizona put themselves in too big of a hole for them to win. It took until the fourth quarter just for them to score a touchdown and total 200 passing yards, their offensive line was under duress and the defense looked vulnerable in the first half. Seattle, on the other hand, just took advantage of their chances and minimized their mistakes. This game honestly should not have been as close as it was, but when they had a chance to close the deal, they succeeded.

The Seahawks win their third game in a row to improve to 3-1 and will head back home for what should be an exciting grudge match against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, the Cardinals lose off a walk-off field goal for the second week in a row to finish the week 2-2, and will stay home for a hopeful bounce-back performance against the Tennessee Titans.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (24) vs. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (21)

The first game hosted in Dublin, Ireland proved to be a huge success. It played out the way I honestly could have expected. The Steelers got off to a dominating start, leading 24-6 early in the fourth quarter. Then, the Vikings began to push for a comeback, scoring 15 unanswered points to make it a three point contest and getting the ball back with 1:02 to potentially send the game into overtime. Unfortunately, it was too little too late as they could not score on the final drive and Pittsburgh survived 24-21. 

After the Steelers went up by 18 points, it did not look like a comeback was even possible. Carson Wentz got sacked six times and threw two interceptions, not scoring a touchdown until the fourth quarter, while Aaron Rodgers and Kenneth Gainwell were quickly carving up the Minnesota defense. Personally, I felt like Pittsburgh could have scored more points if it were not for a blocked field goal and a couple stalled out possessions in the red zone, but it was the best offensive performance I have seen from them since the opening game against the Jets. 

What swung the game around, in my opinion, was not something that the Vikings did. It was what they could not do. On the opening drive, just after the defense forced a three-and-out, their offense marched right down the field. They were building momentum as they were in a steady groove, but a lost fumble from Jordan Mason that resulted in a scoop-and-score by Jalen Ramsey appeared to completely crush their rhythm. However, as the ball was on the ground, Mason touched it while his feet were out of bounds and the rule is that the play is immediately over at that spot. Minnesota got a huge break on the play, yet the only result was a field goal and not the touchdown they needed. 

This should not have been as close as it was, but the Vikings made way too many mistakes to complete the comeback. Their offense was shut down for the first fifty minutes of the game, the defense was on its heels for much of the day, and the team could not close the deal when they had the chance to steal the lead. Pittsburgh does not deserve too much credit for letting the opposition hang around after holding an 18 point lead, but to their credit, they never lost it and it was all because they took care of the football.

The Steelers hang on for the win and are entering their bye week with the division lead at 3-1, while the Vikings are in for an up-and-down season as they finish the week 2-2, but will now travel to London to play the Cleveland Browns.

ATLANTA FALCONS (34) vs. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (27)

This was a big game for two teams that had something to prove earlier in the season. The Commanders needed to find a way to get by without Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin, whereas the Falcons were coming off a 30-0 shutout drubbing to the Carolina Panthers. Both offenses looked respectable in a back-and-forth showing, but the bottom line of this game is that Michael Penix outplayed Marcus Mariota. 

Atlanta got the ball to start the game and scored on their first three drives of the game, immediately taking a 17-7 lead before the Commanders kicked a field goal to cut their halftime deficit to seven. In the second half, it was more or less the same. Any time Washington would score to get back in the game, Atlanta always found a way to respond. Even when both teams turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter, the lead never changed. 

This was the bounce back game Penix needed to have after last week. He was incredible with over 300 yards and a couple touchdown passes, while Bijan Robinson and Drake London shined bright with 100+ yard performances on their own. The offense went four for six in the red zone, a healthy 50% on third down, and they held onto the ball for 34 minutes! The Commanders did their best to compete, but it was not good enough. They went one for eight on third down and only reached the end zone twice, so even though this offense was not at full strength, they certainly did not play their best football. Atlanta was just simply the better team on Sunday. There was not a costly mistake that swung the flow of the game. Washington simply got outplayed and they have nobody else to blame but themselves.

The Falcons bounce back with a promising win at home and will head into the bye week 2-2 while the Commanders get deflated on the road to drop to 2-2, and will have to fly across the country for a must win game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

BUFFALO BILLS (31) vs. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (19)

Yes, Buffalo did what they needed to do on Sunday: they beat a vastly inferior team at home by double digits. However, this was once again another game that the Saints had a strong chance of winning. With nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, they were only down by two points! There were so many chances that New Orleans had to take the lead and, believe it or not, pull off a huge upset! Yet just like two of the last three defeats, they failed to capitalize on their opportunities. In this loss, a couple drives stick out to me.

The first of these moments took place on the final drive of the first half. Thanks to back-to-back sacks from Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson deep in Buffalo territory, the Saints offense got to start in promising field position and they drove all the way to the five yard line! They were only down 14-10 at that point so a touchdown before halftime would have given this team a surprising amount of momentum! The turning point play of the game was on third down when Kellen Moore called a reverse pass featuring Chris Olave and Spencer Rattler. However, the ball was intercepted by Cole Bishop and Buffalo maintained the four point lead! 

The second occurred in the first minutes of the fourth quarter! At that point, the Bills were ahead 21-16 and started to secure the game in their own control, but inexplicably decided to go for it on fourth and one at the 49 yard line. Normally, Joe Brady would call a sneak for Josh Allen or hand the ball off to James Cook. Yet on this one, they ran an inside pass to Khalil Shakir that went absolutely nowhere and it gave the Saints offense great field position. Rattler did a great job marching the team into the red zone, but the crushing play was on third down at the 17 yard line. No, this was not a turnover, that would have been worse. Instead, the sophomore quarterback hit Brandin Cooks in the end zone for what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown! Then instant replay determined that the receiver did not maintain possession of the ball and it forced New Orleans to settle for a 35 yard field goal. Instead of potentially going up by three, they still trailed by two points. 

Eventually, Buffalo realized who they were going up against and made enough plays on both sides of the ball to put the game out of reach, while the Saints did not have any more juice to keep it close. I liked how competitive it was for a majority of the afternoon, but I knew that the longer New Orleans played from behind, the worse it was going to get for them. 

The Bills get the job done at home and are still undefeated at 4-0, but that could be put to the test as they welcome the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football. Meanwhile, the Saints come up short once again as they fall to 0-4, heading back home to see if they can get their first win as they welcome the New York Giants.

DETROIT LIONS (34) vs. CLEVELAND BROWNS (10)

Before anybody rushes to the assumption that the Lions were blown out from beginning to end, keep in mind that this was a close game at one point. The Cleveland Browns offense got off to a fantastic start on their opening drive, marching down the field from their own 11 yard line all the way to the Detroit one! That is a total of 88 yards in about 12 plays, taking nearly seven minutes off the clock. On fourth and goal, the drive was capped off with a touchdown run for Quinshon Judkins, giving the Browns an early 7-0 lead. Unsurprisingly, the Lions offense responded with a touchdown on their next possession, but Cleveland had a chance to respond. However, just a few plays later, Flacco threw as terrible of an interception as you could think, throwing the ball right to Kerby Joseph on the left side of the field. Detroit ended up kicking a field goal on the ensuing drive and from that point on, they ran away with the rest of the game.

Flacco turned it over two more times as the Browns only scored three more points for the remainder of the afternoon, whereas the Lions played well-executed complimentary football in all three phases.  Their offense was not perfect, but they played with more poise and balance. The defense only let up three third down conversions on 14 attempts and did not let up a touchdown after the opening possession. Lastly, once Kalif Raymond took a 65 yard punt return to the house in the fourth quarter, there was no chance of another comeback. All in all, Detroit was just a vastly superior football team and they clearly proved that their first game of the year was just a rough patch to wake themselves up.

The Lions win their third game in a row and are atop the NFC North at 3-1, taking the road again for what should be an interesting matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Meanwhile, the Browns fall back down to earth as they fall to 1-3, but will travel to London for a Sunday morning showdown against the Minnesota Vikings.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (42) vs. CAROLINA PANTHERS (13)

The Patriots blew out a team at home! It has been a long time since those words have been uttered. However, it did not look like it would play out that way at first. The Panthers got the ball to start the game and easily gashed New England’s defense right down the field on the opening drive, ending it with an open touchdown pass to Tommy Tremble. Although Ryan Fitzgerald missed the ensuing extra point, the defense responded with a three-and-out and it was as great of a start as you could ask for Carolina. However, the turning point play that flipped everything around was on Bryce Young’s ensuing possession, when it stalled out for a punt. 

On the ensuing return, Marcus Jones spun out of a tackle to get free down the left sideline, then turned on the jets for an 87 yard touchdown to give New England their first lead of the game! From that point on, the Panthers offense fell stuck in neutral and the Patriots flipped the switch to make this a rout. 

Young did not turn the ball over, which was good, but he only threw for 150 yards on Sunday afternoon and could not lead a scoring drive the rest of the afternoon. The craziest part about that game was that there were more than a few drives where they got in Patriots territory. They just could not score whenever they got those chances. The only other time Carolina did get another touchdown on the board was when Andy Dalton took over in garbage time. By that point, New England was winning 42-6. 

Jones was one of the brightest stars on the field, totaling 167 yards on three punt returns, which makes him a leading candidate for AFC Special Teams Player of the Week without question. Drake Maye only threw three incompletions and finished with a 155.6 passer rating, totaling over 200 passing yards with three touchdowns. Stefon Diggs had his first big game as a Patriot as he totaled over 100 yards on six catches, Hunter Henry and Mack Hollins got in the end zone, and even the running backs were making big plays while holding onto the football! This might not have been the most impressive victory of the season for New England, but considering that Carolina shut out the Falcons last week, it had to reinstall some hope and promise. However, this has been an up-and-down season so far and their performance next week is going to tell us just what type of team they will be for the rest of the season.

The Patriots dominate at home and are evened up at 2-2, but will head on the road for a primetime showdown against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. The Panthers fall back down to earth as they drop to 1-3 and will head back home for an interesting matchup against the Miami Dolphins.

NEW YORK GIANTS (21) vs. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (18)

Jaxson Dart made his first NFL start against the Los Angeles Chargers, and not only did he play well, but the Giants actually won the game! Given the circumstances, I have nothing bad to say. Although he got sacked five times, this offense looked a lot better than it would have if Russell Wilson made the start. Dart totaled 165 yards from scrimmage and scored twice, he did not turn the ball over, and showed plenty of promise! Unfortunately, this was a Pyrrhic victory as he lost his top target Malik Nabers due to a torn ACL, which is an absolutely huge loss for this offense that will certainly impact Dart’s development. To their credit, though, they ran the ball extremely well as they totaled over 160 yards on 42 run attempts. Dart’s debut showed plenty of room for improvement, but New York finally played with some energy and confidence that we had not seen from them in a long time. Maybe Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen could stick around a little longer, but that is if things do not fall off the rails again.

Justin Herbert, on the other hand, lost a lot of stock in the MVP race after this performance. It took until the final drive of the game for him to throw for over 200 yards on Sunday afternoon and he threw two interceptions that were nearly returned for touchdowns. Both turnovers led to 10 points. The Chargers only lost by three. The biggest reason why it was that close was because rookie running back Omarion Hampton had his first breakout game. He only carried the ball 12 times but picked up 128 yards and scored a touchdown. However, their passing game was just out of sync for most of the afternoon. Quentin Johnston continued to be a bright spot with 98 yards and a score, which is extremely warming to see considering that his first two years in the league were rough to watch. Yet, Ladd McConkey caught just one pass on six targets and the next leading receiver was Keenan Allen with 37 yards on five catches. Any time LA had a chance to take the lead, they failed to take advantage of their opportunities as the Giants defense played determined and inspired. It was the ultimate trap game for one of the only undefeated teams in the league, but the hope is that this was just one bad week and not the start of a trend.

This was definitely the best upset of the week because in a game where everybody thought New York was going to get embarrassed for a fourth week in a row, they finally played with a sense of purpose and beat the Chargers at their own game. That decision to bench Russell Wilson after the loss to the Chiefs last week is looking like a smart one so far, and if Dart continues to improve, then this team might actually have a hopeful future. 

The Giants win their first game of the season and are now 1-3, heading on the road to see if they can earn their second as they play the New Orleans Saints. The Chargers lose their first of the year but are still 3-1 and will head back home for a chance to bounce back against the Washington Commanders.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (31) vs. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (25)

There was a lot that happened in this game between the Eagles and Buccaneers, but the reason why the defending Super Bowl champions held on by six points was very simple: Tampa Bay made way too many mistakes to win.

It all started on the opening drive, when Sydney Brown blocked the punt and capped off the play with a scoop-and-score to give Philadelphia an early 7-0 lead. Afterwards, three of their next four drives ended with scores, while Tampa could only score six points off of two field goals from Chase McLaughlin. Yeah it was amazing that he did not miss a kick this time and was able to make one from 65 yards away, but the Eagles were ahead 24-6 and it was going to take a miracle for Baker Mayfield to pull off a a fourth consecutive game winning drive. Despite Saquon Barkley getting held in check, Jalen Hurts completed 15 of his first 16 passes for 130 yards with two touchdown passes to Dallas Goedert, whereas Mayfield only threw for 65 yards on 12 completions. 

Through the first seven minutes of the third quarter, the Bucs defense forced three straight three-and-outs, yet the offense showed mixed results. For starters, they inexplicably decided to go for it on fourth down and three at the 33 yard line, which predictably failed. The silver lining was that once they got the ball back, Mayfield dropped a dime down the field to Emeka Egbuka for a 77 yard touchdown that officially got Tampa back in the game. Unfortunately, their next possession turned out to be a costly one as Bucky Irving fumbled the ball deep in their own territory, which set up an easy touchdown for Barkley off a fake Tush Push! Now the Bucs were down 31-13 and it felt like all hope was lost.

Then just four plays later, Irving made up for the fumble by beating Jihaad Campbell down the sideline for a dazzling 72 yard receiving touchdown that gave Tampa its spark back! After the defense forced another punt thanks to a bad snap, McLaughlin drilled a 58 yard field goal through the uprights to make it a one-score game again! Another Philly three-and-out gave Tampa the ball back with plenty of time left and this was officially their game to lose. The good news was that Mayfield drove his team in the red zone for a chance to even the score. The bad was that he did not score the touchdown that they needed. On first down at the 11 yard line, he tried to escape out of a rush and had Chris Godwin open near the back corner of the end zone, but the pass was horribly underthrown and intercepted by Campbell. Despite Philly going three-and-out for the fifth time in seven possessions, a huge sack from Moro Ojomo forced fourth down, and the Eagles defense saved the day with a stop. For the record, yes Tampa got an extra couple points, but that was because the punter ran out of bounds in the end zone to kill the clock. 

It does not take a genius to figure out why the Bucs suddenly got back in this game: Philly’s passing attack is utterly atrocious. Remember how I said Hurts completed 15 of his first 16 passes? Well, in the second half he threw the ball eight more times and none of them were caught. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith only had two catches each, the best receiver was Dallas Goedert with 37 yards on just four receptions, and the offense went nowhere after halftime! Tampa Bay had so many chances to steal this game and hand the champs their first loss of the year, but they just made way too many mistakes and it bit them in the butt.

The Eagles hold on for another win and stay undefeated at 4-0, heading back home to keep it alive against the Denver Broncos. The Bucs suffer their first loss of the year but are still leading the division at 3-1 and will take the road for a potential bounce-back performance against the Seattle Seahawks.

HOUSTON TEXANS (26) vs. TENNESSEE TITANS (0)

Despite what the final score might entail, the Houston Texans were only ahead six to nothing at the start of the fourth quarter. Right on schedule, both offenses struggled to gain any sort of consistent rhythm or momentum, but the biggest difference in the game was the special teams. Ka’imi Fairbairn made his first two field goal attempts of the afternoon while Joey Slye missed on both of his chances, so whichever offense scored a touchdown first was more than likely going to win the game.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, rookie running back Woody Marks was wide open in the flat for the score and Houston blew the Titans out of the water from there. Once Cam Ward threw an interception to Derek Stingley Jr., the game officially fell off the rails as the Texans offense led two straight touchdown drives, while Tennessee just ran out of chances.

 Ward completed ten out of twenty-six passes for 108 yards, only picked up 10 first downs, and went two for eleven on third down. CJ Stroud, on the other hand, had his best game of the season. It might not be saying much since it was against the worst team in the league, but he threw just six incompletions and threw for over 230 yards with a couple of touchdown passes. In the second half, he went four for seven on third down and completed 12 of his final 14 pass attempts, finally reminding us why he was such a phenomenal star to watch in his rookie year. Houston dominated the time of possession 38-22, and at the end of the day, they were just the way better football team that handled their business.

The Texans finally win a game as they get on the board at 1-3, but will take the road for a more challenging performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, the Titans get dominated once again to fall to 0-4 and will have to travel across the country for a road matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

LOS ANGELES RAMS (27) vs. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (20)

This was the first true test of the season for the undefeated Indianapolis Colts and they learned that lesson quickly on the opening drive, when Daniel Jones threw an interception into double coverage to Kam Curl, setting up an easy field goal for the Rams to take an early lead. To Indianapolis’ credit, they never let this game get out of hand, but they did not play well enough to win. 

They committed 11 penalties for 55 yards, seven of them on the offensive side. Despite Jones and Jonathan Taylor continuing to run the offense, the real killer for this group were turnovers. Look at what happened on their third play of the second half. On third down and four at the 24 yard line, Jones threw a deep shot to Adonai Mitchell down the left sideline, who held on and spun past Emmanuel Forbes for what was going to be a 76 yard touchdown. However, just like Taylor did against the Broncos last year, Mitchell lost control of the football before crossing the goal-line and it rolled out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback! Keep in mind, they lost by seven. At the very least, if that ball is secured, this game is going into overtime and perhaps Indianapolis pulls off the upset.

Even then, the Colts still managed to go ahead 20-13 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter thanks to a lost fumble from Kyren Williams, so this game was well in Indianapolis’ control. However, there were two guys that the Colts defense had a tough time stopping the whole day: Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua. The veteran quarterback finished the game throwing for 375 yards and three touchdown passes, while the league’s leading receiver in catches caught 13 more passes for 170 yards. Their chemistry paid off on fourth and two at the nine yard line with 3:20 to play. With no other choice but to go for it, Stafford found Nacua on the slant for the tying touchdown, and whichever team had the ball last was going to win.

 For a split second, it looked like it would be the Colts after Taylor scored a 53 yard go-ahead touchdown just a few plays later, but a holding penalty brought the ball all the way back and the drive stalled out for a punt. The next time Stafford returned to the field, he found Tutu Atwell wide open down the field for an 88 yard score that gave the Rams the lead, yet the Colts still had time to even the score. Unfortunately, all of the momentum was killed with yet another interception into double coverage to Curl, this time to put the icing on the cake. 

It would have been nice to see Indianapolis pull off a statement win on the road, but the reality was that they made three costly mistakes that killed their chances. In a game like this, there is no margin for error and sure enough, turnovers turned out to be the deciding factor. I still feel like this team can make amends, but they did not deserve to win that game that day.

The Rams win a thriller at home and bounce back to 3-1, but will enter a short week as they welcome the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football. The Colts lose their first game of the year but are still tied for the division lead at 3-1, with a trip back home to hopefully bounce back against the Las Vegas Raiders.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (26) vs. SAN FRANCISCO 49ers (21)

Brock Purdy made his return to the football field after missing the last two weeks with a turf toe injury, but unfortunately it was not one to remember. Although he finished the game with over 300 yards and two touchdown passes, there is one huge reason why the 49ers lost at home to the Jaguars: turnovers. Four of them to be exact!

It all started on their first play of the second quarter, when Purdy found tight end Luke Farrell open in the middle of the field, but got the ball punched out from Dennis Gardeck and Jacksonville recovered! On the very next play, Travis Etienne bounced to the outside and juked past the safety for a 48 yard touchdown to take an early 7-3 lead. Once that happened, the 49ers never led for the rest of the afternoon. On the next drive, Purdy tried to find McCaffrey down the seam, but the ball bounced off his hands and landed right into the arms of linebacker Devin Lloyd. Right on cue, the Jaguars offense marched down the field and scored another touchdown, putting them ahead by double digits. 

Eventually, San Francisco did enough to make it a one score game multiple times, but failed to take the lead due to two more miscues. Only down 17-14 with six minutes left in the third quarter, Purdy threw his second interception of the game to Lloyd, giving Jacksonville an extra three points. When the 49ers offense got the ball back, not only did they go three-and-out, but Parker Washington took the ensuing punt return 87 yards to the house that widened the lead 26-14. On the next possession, San Francisco attempted to go for it on fourth down and two at the 26 yard line, but the pass was overthrown and the Jaguars defense held again! 

Yet, this was still a ball game. Throughout the entirety of the second half, the 49ers defense kept Trevor Lawrence out of the end zone, yet the team was still playing from behind. In the fourth quarter, however, it felt like they were going to come back. They scored a touchdown to trim the deficit to five, and not only did the Jaguars force a field goal attempt on the next drive, but Cam Little missed it wide right with three and a half minutes left! That was more than enough time for San Francisco to pull through in the clutch for a consecutive week. Then just two plays later, Purdy got strip sacked by his former teammate Arik Armstead and the Jaguars recovered to thwart a potential comeback. All it took was a first down pass to Hunter Long for the clock to run out and the upset was officially complete.

From the 49ers perspective, this was a game that should have been well in their control. Their defense definitely showed its flaws, but the two touchdowns they allowed were off of turnovers and they never let Trevor Lawrence reach the end zone once in the second half. The only points the Jaguars scored in that span were from the special teams. However, four turnovers against the team that leads the league in takeaways is inexcusable, especially in a five point loss. Give Jacksonville credit for capitalizing on their opportunities when they were presented, but all San Francisco had to do was hold onto the ball and they might have escaped with another ugly win.

The Jaguars pull off a big upset on the road and are tied for the division lead at 3-1, heading back home for a primetime showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. The 49ers lose their first game of the year and will also finish the week 3-1, but they take the road on a short week for a Thursday night slugfest against the Los Angeles Rams.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (37) vs. BALTIMORE RAVENS (20)

Do not even pretend to be surprised about how this game played out. The Ravens do this every year. They tease us into thinking that this is the year they finally turn things around, only for them to get their hearts ripped out by the Bills or the Chiefs. After the offense scored on the opening drive of the game, I knew that they would find a way to screw up eventually. It turned out it was on the next possession when Lamar Jackson threw an interception to Leo Chenal as the quarterback just flung it up for grabs off the blitz. The game went off the rails from there and the offense looked worse. 

They tried to go for it on fourth down in their own territory twice and both attempts. Derrick Henry only touched the ball eight times: four in the first half and four in the second. The defense was carved up and shredded by Patrick Mahomes, who threw four touchdown passes in a dominant showing. Xavier Worthy returned from a shoulder injury and ran all over the secondary for 118 total scrimmage yards. When your best player is Justice Hill, there is a serious problem with your team. To make matters worse, Jackson suffered a hamstring injury late in the third quarter and did not play the rest of the game. It would not have mattered because he only threw for 147 yards and coughed it up twice. Once again, Baltimore got in their own way once again and Kansas City made them pay for it, proving that they are still the better team in the AFC.

One thing that is surprising is the amount of injuries the Ravens have to deal with entering next week. There is Jackson’s hamstring that will be extremely important to monitor. Nnamdi Madubuike was recently ruled out for the season with a neck injury. Kyle Van Noy and Roquan Smith are out with hamstring problems. Marlon Humphrey is expected to miss multiple weeks with a calf problem, and both Nate Wiggins and Ronnie Stnaley exited the game with shoulder and ankle injuries. This defense was already in bad shape when they did have their starters on the field, but the alarm bells are officially ringing now. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are going to have to play perfect football just for the team to have a chance of making the playoffs because if they make one little mistake, then this will not be the only loss where they get absolutely manhandled. 

As for the Chiefs, they officially got their season back on track. I am not going to put too much stock into their two victories since they were against Russell Wilson and a terrible Ravens defense, but this was the type of game we have been used to watching from this football team. After the Chargers loss this week, Kansas City is back in the divisional race, but we are still miles away from the finish line. However, now that they are starting to get healthy, it will be a matter of time before they hit their peak.

The Chiefs pull off a statement victory at home and are evened up at 2-2, with a trip on the road for an exciting showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football. Meanwhile, the Ravens find their season in limbo as they fall to 1-3, heading back home for a must win matchup against the Houston Texans.

CHICAGO BEARS (25) vs. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (24)

There were plenty of ugly games this week but this one had to top the list in my opinion. How do the Bears force four turnovers, dominate the time of possession 33-26, yet they win off a blocked field goal? 

In the first half, the Raiders were begging Chicago to make this a blowout. Kevin Byard picked off Smith twice and Ashton Jeanty fumbled the ball at his own thirty-five yard line, which was recovered in the red zone. However, the Bears did not score a single touchdown in that span, scoring nine points off of three field goals from Cairo Santos. One of the biggest reasons why was because the offensive line had no answers for Maxx Crosby, who was all over the place on Sunday. He totaled three tackles for loss, three batted passes, a forced fumble, and an interception! It is not completely surprising since he is easily one of the most dominant defensive players in the league, but any other team would have turned this into a rout. Instead, any time Vegas did not turn the ball over, Jeanty would get them on the board and take the lead. By halftime, the Bears were down by five when they should have been leading by way more.

On the first play of the third quarter, Smith threw his third interception of the day that landed in the hands of Tyrique Stevenson! Okay, Chicago’s offense had to score on the next drive! Thankfully they did, but an offensive facemask forced the score to take place on third and twelve. On that play, Caleb Williams found Rome Odunze down the post and the Bears finally took their first lead of the day! Yet of course, the Raiders offense comes back with a scoring drive of their own that ends with the third touchdown of the day for Jeanty. 

Both teams traded field goals to begin the fourth quarter, but Chicago has a chance to close the deal and take the lead. On an eleven play drive, Williams looked determined and focused to get the job done and he made a few exceptional plays to get inside the ten yard line before the two minute warning. On first and goal at the two, D’Andre Swift gave the Bears the lead with a stretch play to the outside for the touchdown, but the two point conversion pass was nearly intercepted by linebacker Germaine Pratt. Now Geno had 1:34 to get into field goal range and finish the job for Las Vegas, a situation he has been in many times before.

Smith managed to drive the offense just into scoring territory, yet Chip Kelly went conservative and called two straight running plays to Jeanty that only picked up 3 yards, sending Daniel Carlson onto the field for a 54 yard field goal. With 38 seconds left, the kick was up but it got blocked off the edge and it allowed Chicago to escape with the victory! 

I honestly don’t know what was worse about this game. Geno Smith was awful with three interceptions, yet the Bears barely took advantage of it until late in the game. This laid out a lot of flaws about both teams to the barefront. The Raiders are not the dark horse Wild Card team that I thought they could be at the start of the year. Chicago is back to 500, that is nice, but this should not have been close whatsoever. I hate to say it, but the false hope is dwindling away on both sides, but do not tell the owners that.

The Bears survive on the road and head into the bye week 2-2 while the Raiders drop their third game in a row to fall to 1-3 and will take the road for a must win game against the Indianapolis Colts.

GREEN BAY PACKERS (40) vs. DALLAS COWBOYS (40)

This was the greatest tied game I think anybody has ever seen in the National Football League. Both teams scored 40 points, Dak Prescott and Jordan Love were absolutely phenomenal the entire night, 925 yards were accumulated, and Micah Parsons barely had any impact on his revenge game. Yet, nobody won nor lost. 

It looked like Green Bay was going to turn this into a rout after scoring a touchdown on their first three drives. Their offense was unstoppable and the defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs. Trailing 13-0, Dallas was already in a big hole, until a blocked extra point recovered for a two point conversion by Marquese Bell gave them their first points of the night. After that occurred, the Packers offense only totaled nine more yards for the rest of the first half and the Cowboys officially made it a ball game. After a 95 yard touchdown drive led by Dak Prescott, a huge strip sack by James Houston gave the offense the ball back at the fifteen yard line, in which they immediately took the lead with a post in the end zone to George Pickens. All of a sudden, Dallas was ahead 16-13 at the break and they had the momentum entering the second half. 

What proceeded in the next thirty minutes was one of the best back-and-forth showings I have seen all season long. After Dallas punted on their opening drive of the third quarter, neither offense could be stopped. There were seven lead changes after halftime and it was only fitting that a 53 yard field goal from Brandon McManus sent the game into overtime. 

Dallas got the ball to start the extra period and their offense marched all the way to the five yard line. Because of the new overtime rules, a touchdown was not going to immediately win them the game, but their odds would have been better. Instead, a well-timed sack from Micah Parsons and a missed opportunity to Jake Ferguson on the next play forced the drive to stall out for a chip-shot field goal. All the Cowboys defense needed to do was stop Jordan Love one time and the win would be in their grasp. They forced fourth down and six at the Green Bay 24 yard line, but of course, a first down was picked up and the game continued. Just like Prescott did on the previous possession, Love drove his offense into the red zone but it surprisingly stalled out. They barely had enough time to send the field goal team out to prevent the loss, and with one second, McManus ended the game with a chip shot kick to even the score. 

Although this was an outstanding performance from both offenses, the outcome is incredibly deflating and you can make an argument on each side that there were avoidable mistakes that made the outcome what it was on Sunday night. For starters, the Packers offense did not do anything in the final five minutes of the second quarter and it was that strip sack that gave Dallas the edge to lead at halftime. Their final possession of the game was just infuriating because instead of winning the game with a touchdown, they settled for the tie with the field goal. From Dallas’ perspective, they started slow on their first three drives and they also could not score the touchdown they needed in overtime to close the deal. 

For better or for worse, this game spoke volumes about both teams. Dallas certainly has the offense to compete for a playoff spot, yet their defense is absolutely atrocious. Green Bay, however, is in a little bit of a more precarious situation. After week two, it looked like they were going to be one of the most dominant teams in the league, but their next two games hinted otherwise. Last week against Cleveland, their offense could not finish the job in the fourth quarter. This time, their defense was picked apart drive after drive against an offense without CeeDee Lamb. At the end of the day, we watched an outstanding game, but I think I speak for all of us when nobody wanted it to finish with a tie.

The Packers will enter the bye week 2-1-1, while the Cowboys are now 1-2-1 and will look to bounce back on the road against the New York Jets.

MIAMI DOLPHINS (27) vs. NEW YORK JETS (21)

There have been plenty of teams that have gotten in their own way at one point in a game and lose in frustrating fashion. Yet, nobody does it quite better than the New York Jets, especially on Monday Night Football against the Dolphins. There is no doubt that they had multiple chances to win. Yet what got in the way were not one, not two, but three fumbles! 

After the defense forced a field goal on the opening drive, the Jets ran the ball down Miami’s throats all the way inside the five yard line. This was a drive that was going to set the tone for New York and a touchdown would have given them the early edge, until Braelon Allen coughed up the ball on second down just before he reached the goal-line. The Dolphins offense then took over from the nine yard and proceeded to move 91 yards down the field, capping it off with a touchdown pass to Darren Waller, who played in his first NFL game since coming out of retirement. 

The next turnover occurred on the very next drive for the Jets offense, when they decided to go for it on fourth down and five at the Miami 36 yard line, until Tyrel Dodson knocked the ball out of Fields’ hands and then recovered by Jaelan Phillips. Miami did not score on the ensuing possession, but they did take a seven point lead at halftime when it easily could have been New York in front. 

The last one was on the opening kickoff of the second half, when Isaiah Williams failed to hold onto the ball on the return the Dolphins ended up recovering that fumble, quickly scoring in three minutes thanks to another open touchdown to Waller. To make a long story short, the Jets single-handedly gave up 14 points off of three turnovers in a six point loss. 

Not only did New York turn the ball over, but they were incredibly undisciplined, committing 13 penalties for 101 yards, nine of them on the offense! Nobody is going to remember that they nearly ran for 200 yards as a result and it is their own fault. Aaron Glenn knows that his team is bad right now. Their offensive gameplan is “run the ball and throw it to Garrett Wilson every time.” Their defense has allowed the fifth most points in the league and they have not created a single takeaway. The season is already slipping through the cracks and this team will have to do some serious soul searching, or else who knows if they will even win more than four games?

As for Miami, this was a Pyrrhic victory because early in the third quarter, Tyreek Hill suffered a gruesome knee injury in which he tore multiple ligaments including his ACL, immediately ruling him out for the rest of the year. The Dolphins might have won the game, but in what has already been a frustrating season, they lost their most dynamic offensive player. There is no question that when Miami goes up against inferior opponents, they can find a way to get the job done, but the exact opposite happens when they play higher-tier teams. Now that Hill is out, their offense is going to look incredibly different, so there are going to be plenty of players on both sides of the ball that really need to step up. Otherwise, this is going to be another lost year and massive changes will be coming.

The Dolphins get their first win of the year and are on the board at 1-3, taking the road to hopefully pick up where they left off as they play the Carolina Panthers. Meanwhile, the Jets are still winless as they fall to 0-4 as they head back home to welcome the Dallas Cowboys.

DENVER BRONCOS (28) vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS (3)

Out of the two games on Monday Night Football, this was supposed to be the most intriguing. After the Bengals kicked a chip shot field goal on a 62-yard opening drive, it looked like this game would live up to the hype. However, that was the only good possession their offense had the entire night as they were absolutely shut down the rest of the way. Not only did they fail to score, but only totaled 89 more yards! They did not even cross midfield! This Broncos defense played at a supremely high level and kept Jake Browning bottled up from start to finish. Although a turnover was not forced, they still came up with three sacks and only allowed 57 combined receiving yards to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. In the second half alone, Cincinnati only picked up three first downs and could not convert on third down. Not even Riley Moss was going to let anybody get wide open that night. 

If the Bengals offense got shut down, then it was inevitable that their defense was going to get run off the field. Bo Nix had a solid day, throwing for over 325 yards with a couple of touchdown passes and the score could have honestly been worse if he did not throw an interception in the end zone late in the first half. However, their quarterback was not even the biggest reason why the Broncos offense was in sync. Their two running backs JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey dominated the trenches by combining for close to 160 yards on the ground, which was the biggest reason why Denver held onto the ball for 38 minutes. The offense went eight for fourteen on third down, they totaled over 500 yards of offense, and finished a near perfect three for four in the red zone!

What truly made this a boring and frustrating blowout were the amount of penalties in this game. Both teams were flagged 18 times and 11 of them were awarded to Cincinnati. A huge amount of these fouls were on the offensive lines, whether it was pre-snap or holding, and Troy Aikman said it best when he pointed out that it was completely embarrassing. Thank goodness the Broncos won 28-3 or else the reaction would have been way worse. 

When I look back at this game, there was not even a momentum swinging play that turned things around and made it a lopsided contest. The Bengals simply got outplayed from start to finish and Denver proved to be the better football team. After a strong 2-0 start, Zac Taylor is back on the hot seat after dropping his second game in a row. Obviously, they need Joe Burrow back sooner than later, that goes without saying. However, it is never a good look when Ja’Marr Chase is yelling at the head coach because the offense cannot get anything going. Cincinnati needs to figure this out now, or else the massive changes I warned about at the start of the season are going to take place sooner than later.

The Broncos bounce back with a dominating performance and are back in the win column at 2-2, but will take the road for what should be a challenging matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. Meanwhile, the Bengals get crushed on the road once again to finish the week 2-2 and will head back home to welcome the Detroit Lions.