Here are some notes and observations from the games I watched in Week 4
Trevor Lawrence looked a lot better in this game against the Bengals. His 50 yard pass to Laviska Shenault was one of the best passes of the weekend (one that was almost exactly mirrored by Josh Allen on Sunday). He didn’t turn the ball over in this one as he seemed more willing to settle for the safe option as opposed to throwing high-risk balls that were frequently picked off in the first three weeks.
I had the Bengals pegged as a 4-win team heading into this season. Oops. This team may not be quite as good as the 3-1 record indicates, but Joe Burrow has grown over last season, as have the offensive weapons. The much-maligned offensive line is also improved – while it’s not among the best in the league, it’s not the collection of turnstiles that it was in 2020.
The Texans-Bills game started in a deluge – both QBs had issues with the rain, Mills had the ball slip out of his hands on a passing down, while Josh Allen threw a pick on his first pass
You won’t win many games if you are consistently in third-and-long situations.
The Browns seem to have found another decent RB in Demetric Felton from UCLA. Felton doesn’t typically line up in the backfield – he’s put in motion a lot and used like a slot receiver or in the flats a lot.
The Cowboys rush offense is as good as its passing offense, which is saying a lot.
A really bad call of forward progress on a tackle on Dalton Schultz in the first half of the Panthers-Cowboys game. The ball was out at the point of contact but reviews are not allowed on plays where it is ruled that forward progress has been stopped. The Cowboys got a TD at the end of the drive.
Sam Darnold has two more rushing TDs – now leads the league with 5 (halfway through second quarter). Darnold looks like a completely different QB from what we saw with the Jets. Not sure if it’s the Joe Brady effect or the Adam Gase effect or a combination of the two.
Browns-Vikings has been a defensive slugfest for most of the game. Each team had two extended drives in the first quarter but both defenses settled down after that.
The Browns got 33 yards on a draw play from Kareem Hunt at the end of the second quarter on a 3rd and 20, which led to a FG at the end of the first half. The Vikings fell asleep on an obvious draw play and that error could cost them this game, where points will be at a premium
The Texans had 11 total yards with just under 9 to go in the third quarter, including -20 passing yards (sacks count against passing yards).
Justin Fields has built something with WR Darnell Mooney on deep passes. Fields looks a lot more comfortable in this game since he doesn’t have Myles Garrett to contend with. Bears fans should be excited about the prospects of Fields long term. He’s not quite ready for the gig but it’ll come with time.
Vikings had a good first drive but can’t get anything going since. I’m sure the pass rush plays a significant role, as does Cook not being 100% but it seems like the offense has been disrupted.
The Jets have a good defensive front and, while DT Quinnen Williams is the star (and was in Week 4 with 2 sacks), another emerging star is DE John Franklin-Myers. Franklin-Myers had a sack and has been causing trouble in the Titans backfield.
The Jets had the ball on the one yard line with a chance to win and, on third down, ran a bootleg by Zach Wilson which lost 4 yards and left the Jets with no chance but to go for a field goal. The play was sniffed out by Denico Autry but it was surprising that it was a committed run play as opposed to a play with a pass option.
Two fourth and short conversions by the Titans on the final drive in overtime while down by 3. They ended up missing a field goal that would’ve resulted in a tie game with 19 seconds left.
The last time both New York teams won a game? Week 16 of 2019, when the Jets beat the Steelers and the Giants beat Washington.
In inclement weather conditions, Mac Jones looked pretty decent. At one point in the game against the Bucs, he completed 19 passes in a row. While many of these were checkdowns, he was taking what the defense gave him (sort of like a certain former Patriot QB).
The lack of any run game hurt the Pats here – they ran 7 times for -1 yards in this game, which may be a record for futility.
There was no doubt that Bill Belichick would have a game plan to slow down his QB of nearly 20 seasons. The Patriots employed a lot of different looks and delayed blitzes to throw Brady’s timing off. Matt Judon in particular had a strong day off the edge, getting to Brady once, and pressuring him on a number of other occasions.
The Bucs secondary, already thin, had a rough game with Carlton Davis and Antoine Winfield going down with injuries. Winfield was evaluated for a concussion while Davis had a non-contact quad injury that caused him to be carted into the locker room. Davis’ injury could be long-term.
Richard Sherman made his Bucs debut and was targeted frequently by Mac Jones, mostly on crossing routes. Sherman was signed off the street on Wednesday and started Sunday night, so it is likely that he’ll need some time to adjust to the Bucs defensive scheme and get into game shape. Their scheme is a curious fit for Sherman as Tampa plays more man defense than Sherman is accustomed to – and he will be expected to tail defenders into the slot, which is something that he was not required to do in Seattle or San Francisco.
The Chargers are for real – especially the defense. The return of Derwin James from two injury-plagued seasons has revitalized the defense – Raiders TE Darren Waller was held to 4 catches for 50 yards (and a score) due largely to James’ ability to cover tight ends in space.
The Chargers run game had a huge game, especially Austin Ekeler, who ran the ball 15 times for 117 yards and a TD (he also added a receiving TD). Every Ekeler run seemed to be a quality play, even if he didn’t break any long runs – he had a 7.8 yard average, despite his longest run being 20 yards.
The Raiders need to figure out their first half issues. In this game, the Raiders looked lost in the first half, only to find their game in the third quarter, nearly erasing a 21 point deficit in the process. When their drive stalled at the Chargers 35 yard line, Daniel Carlson missed a 52 yard field goal that would’ve cut the deficit to 4. The Chargers immediately took the ensuing possession for a touchdown and effectively put the game away.