NFL snap judgements, week four: Remember the Titans, respect the Ravens and never, ever write off the Patriots again
If comebacks are your thing then this one was hell of a weekend in the NFL. Seven of Sunday’s 13 games were decided by a late score from behind, with three games rolling into overtime. Yes, week four of the 2018 NFL season has now officially been declared “squeaky bum week”. If you know, you know.
We’re somehow a quarter of the way through the season, and yet it feels like we haven’t even got going. Only one team in the league looks like a genuine force right now (more on them later), meaning the NFL feels more open than it has in years heading into week five.
Here’s everything we learned from another blistering week of action...
Reports of the Patriots’ demise were greatly exaggerated
In 2014, after a week three blowout defeat to the Chiefs, Bill Belichick replied to every question at the post-match press conference with the words, “We’re on to Cincinnati”. There was talk of a crumbling Patriots dynasty and Tom Brady’s decline in that year too, and New England responded by hammering the Bengals 43-17 on their way to an eventual Super Bowl ring.
This 38-7 crushing of an undefeated Dolphins team felt eerily similar. Brady completed 23 of 35 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns and Sony Michel responded to his horrible showing against Detroit with 112 yards rushing as the Patriots put to bed any notion of Miami being a surprise powerhouse in the AFC this season.
Look, just accept it, the Patriots are going to make the playoffs every year until you’re dead.
The Titans are gritty, and deserve far more respect
They’re not pretty, but the Tennessee Titans have a knack of grinding out big wins in close football games. They’ve now won each of their last three matches by three points, putting away the much-fancied Jags and world champion Eagles in back-to-back weeks.
The Titans defense gave Carson Wentz a tough time on Sunday, sacking him four times on the way to a 26-23 overtime victory. Wentz had his favourite weapon back in Alshon Jeffery - and he managed 105 yards and a touchdown - but it was Titans receiver Corey Davis who stole the show. The second-year wideout hauled in his first ever NFL touchdown in a 161-yard breakout performance.
The Ravens are quietly setting themselves up for a monster season
The Baltimore Ravens are a nice outside bet for the AFC Championship. Their defense limited the Steelers juggernaut to just 14 points - all scored in the second quarter - and Joe Flacco again looked more like his Super Bowl incarnation than the scrub we’ve got used to over the last few years as Baltimore earned a 26-14 win that sends them to 3-1.
The fact they now have a competent receiver room makes such a difference. John Brown managed 116 yards and a touchdown off just three receptions in Pittsburgh, while Willie Snead also contributed with some vital grabs. On their day these Ravens are set up to beat anyone in the NFL.
Tarik Cohen is the key to Mitchell Trubisky’s success
The Bears’ defense has been outstanding so far this season, but that’s only served to shine a light on Mitchell Trubisky’s shortcomings at quarterback - he’s not been able to get the offense going at anywhere near the same level… until this weekend.
Trubisky completed 19 of 26 passes for 354 yards and six touchdowns in easily the best showing of his career, and Matt Nagy finally made great use of their most exciting offensive weapon, Tarik Cohen. Cohen had 53 yards on the ground and 121 yards and a touchdown through the air - the more Chicago can get Cohen involved, the easier Trubisky’s life will be.
Meanwhile, the Bears defense totally shut down the explosive Bucs offense. Ryan Fitzpatrick was hauled off at halftime in favour of the returning Jameis Winston and Tampa Bay came crashing back down to earth with a 48-10 stomping.
The Baker Mayfield victory party is spoiled by the officials
This game was won. With around a minute 30 left on the clock and the Browns up by eight, running back Carlos Hyde was awarded a first down which would have won the game. The call was bizarrely overturned on review, Derek Carr found Jared Cook and converted for two to level the scores, and Jon Gruden snatched his first win back in Oakland with an overtime field goal.
This one will really sting for the Browns. They put up 42 points and had a perfect opportunity to build on last week’s momentous win. Their defense again made some big turnovers but so did the Raiders’ - they picked Baker Mayfield twice and recovered two more fumbles, showing real fight to pull themselves out of what would have been a 4-0 hole.
Yes, the officials played a part, but you could now argue that Cleveland have thrown away three wins in four games this season. They really could be 4-0, instead they’re sat at 1-2-1.
The Atlanta Falcons are in some trouble
At 1-3 in the most competitive division in football, the Falcons already have it all to do. Twice in two weeks they’ve gotten themselves into shootouts in their shiny new dome, and both times they’ve come out on the losing side.
A last-ditch comeback drive from Andy Dalton (29/41, 337 yards, three touchdowns) gave the Bengals a 37-36 win, moving them to 3-1, and also highlighted the struggles Atlanta’s defense is facing with so many key players out of action.
How many Falcons fans out there are wishing right now that it was they, not their division rival Carolina Panthers, who had picked up free agent safety Eric Reid in the week? They sure could use someone like him. The positive for Atlanta? Calvin Ridley is a bona fide star. He leads the league with six receiving touchdowns after week four.
Don’t worry everyone, the Bills still suck
Buffalo’s anomalous battering of the Vikings last weekend was just that, an anomaly. They followed it by duly getting shut out by the Packers in Green Bay as Josh Allen completed less than 50% of his passes and was picked off twice by a Packers defense which looked hungry for blood against a rookie quarterback who’s been thrown into the NFL before he’s really ready.
A lovely long connection from Aaron Rodgers to Ty Montgomery was the highlight of the game for Green Bay in the 22-0 routine victory, but the real star of the show? That has to be the Packers’ stunning throwback uniforms. Beautiful.
The Cowboys still have a chance to be relevant
Dak Prescott broke a streak of five games without 200 yards by throwing for 255 and two touchdowns as Dallas snatched a last-second victory from the jaws of the Detroit Lions courtesy of a Brett Maher field goal.
Ezekiel Elliott had a big game against a very poor Lions run defense - he tore them apart for 151 yards at an average of 6.1 per carry on the ground, on top of 88 and a touchdown through the air as he proved once again why he’s seen as one of the most dominant offensive players in the NFL. No one has more rushing yards than Elliott since he entered the league in 2016 - if he and Prescott can keep up this form the Cowboys can hang around in an open NFC East.
Rosen makes the Cardinals watchable, thank god
Josh Rosen’s first NFL start was ruined by a last-second Sebastian Janikowski field goal, but the number 10 pick immediately improved the Cardinals offense and made them genuinely competitive for the first time this season. His numbers weren’t that impressive - 15/27 for 180 yards and a touchdown - but he made a couple of really pretty throws and looked encouraging against the Seahawks.
Seattle’s 20-17 comeback victory moves them to 2-2 despite looking uninspiring and often a little lost this season. The win was marred by Earl Thomas leaving the field with a fractured leg in what will probably now be his last game as a Seahawk. He gave the finger to the Seahawks bench as he was carted off. What a sad way for a real legend to end his time in Seattle.
The Rams are comfortably the best team in the NFL right now
"Any team can be beat right now, but, nah, we can't be beat right now. No ifs, ands or buts about it." That’s what star running back Todd Gurley said after LA’s 38-31 victory over the Vikings on Thursday, but the thing is… he might be right.
All the other contenders have clear weaknesses, but the Rams just look so complete. They have all the hallmarks of a 16-0, 15-1 type team, and Jared Goff - who threw for five touchdowns against a good Minnesota defense - may well find himself in the MVP picture come January.
Elsewhere in the NFL…
Blake Bortles and the Jaguars offense got firing again in a comfortable 31-12 win over the Jets. Bortles threw for 388 yards, two touchdowns and a pick with Dede Westbrook and Donte Moncrief both going over 100 yards, but they were helped out a lot by a non-existent Jets pass rush and below par play in the secondary.
Deshaun Watson and Andre Luck both had good days as the Texans edged a 37-34 overtime thriller with the Colts. It was Watson’s first ever comeback victory in the NFL and got the Texans out of an ugly nine-game losing streak. With the Jags and Titans both looking strong these two may already be dead and buried in the AFC South.
Alvin Kamara was ridiculous, again, as the Saints iced any chance of a late Giants comeback in New Jersey. Kamara scored the touchdown which put the game to bed - his third of the day in a 181-yard performance. The Giants missed an opportunity to let Odell Beckham and co. loose on a leaky New Orleans defense, though Saquon Barkley managed 100 yards from scrimmage for the fourth time in his first four NFL games.
San Francisco surprised a lot of people by pushing the Chargers right to the wire in LA. CJ Beathard had a decent game in Jimmy Garoppolo’s absence, but in the end it was Philip Rivers (25/39, 250 yards, three touchdowns) who ended a 29-27 nailbiter. Safety Derwin James was outstanding again - a lot of teams are going to regret passing on this guy in the draft.
