The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 4

Each week this NFL season, we’ll break down the highs and lows—and the whole lot in between—from the newest slate of professional soccer. Welcome to Winners and Losers.

Winner: The Ravens’ Tremendous Bowl Hype

One of many best mysteries of the 2024 season will probably be how the Raiders beat this Ravens workforce in Baltimore again in Week 2. I’m nonetheless not solely satisfied that recreation really occurred. They will do wild issues with video modifying software program lately. Regardless of the case, the Ravens workforce we noticed lose to Las Vegas just a few weeks again was not the workforce that throttled the red-hot Payments on Sunday Evening Soccer. The Baltimore we noticed within the 35-10 win over Buffalo in Week 4 regarded extra just like the workforce many pegged as the largest menace to Kansas Metropolis’s reign over the AFC.

Derrick Henry, who rushed for 199 yards, would be the story all week. He took an 87-yard jaunt for the sport’s opening rating and by no means actually stopped operating.

That future padded Henry’s stat line, however the veteran again averaged 4.9 yards per keep it up his different makes an attempt. The Payments simply by no means regarded very curious about tackling him.

They usually by no means regarded able to tackling Lamar Jackson, who chipped in with 54 yards on six carries and by no means allowed Buffalo to totally decide to stopping Henry. Jackson has by no means carried out significantly nicely in opposition to this Payments protection, which has centered on neutralizing him as a runner in previous video games. However with Henry, who’s been a bogeyman for the Payments all through his profession, standing subsequent to Jackson within the Ravens backfield, that was troublesome to do. This had been Baltimore’s goal when signing the 30-year-old again: lowering the playmaking burden on Jackson on this offense. With Henry now main the NFL in speeding after his dominant efficiency on Sunday night time, it’s protected to say he’s offered that aid. However Lamar remains to be doing his half. The Ravens quarterback ranks ninth within the NFL in speeding, with 308 yards. This isn’t simply the very best two-headed speeding assault within the league at this time—it is perhaps the very best we’ve ever seen. Jackson and Henry are on tempo to complete with a mixed 3,349 speeding yards this season.

Baltimore’s offense has discovered its groove, and the protection simply performed its most full recreation of the season after holding the Payments to solely 236 yards of offense. Josh Allen nonetheless made his performs—there’s solely a lot you are able to do to comprise a quarterback able to this—however the entire simple splash performs Buffalo’s offense had been creating by means of the primary three weeks disappeared. The Ravens’ run protection has been sturdy all season, however we’ve seen rookie defensive coordinator Zach Orr begin to discover solutions in opposition to the go. Allen struggled to search out open receivers all recreation. It was the primary time all season that his common time to throw crept over the three-second mark, in addition to his first recreation of 2024 with an anticipated factors added common within the adverse, per TruMedia.

After an 0-2 begin, which has been a demise sentence for NFL groups prior to now, the Ravens at the moment are 2-2 and only a recreation again within the AFC North, with solely the Steelers forward of them within the standings. With 4 of their subsequent seven in opposition to divisional opponents, together with two monster video games in opposition to the Bengals, this workforce may run away (each actually and figuratively) with the division by Thanksgiving.

Losers: Aaron Rodgers and the Jets

From awkward sideline embraces to passive-aggressive feedback within the offseason, it felt like Rodgers and Jets coach Robert Saleh have been destined for a public, verbal spat sooner or later this season. We could have gotten the primary signal of discontent after the Jets dropped an unpleasant, rain-soaked recreation to the Broncos. After New York’s offensive line was known as for 5 false begins throughout the 10-9 loss, Saleh talked about Rodgers’s pre-snap cadence as a attainable space of enchancment. That appeared to tick off Rodgers, who has weaponized the tactic to punish overly jumpy defensive linemen all through his profession, together with just a few occasions in 2024. When requested about Saleh’s feedback, Rodgers stated that one approach to deal with the state of affairs is to “maintain them accountable.”

To be honest to Saleh, he did acknowledge there hadn’t been any issues with the cadence or pre-snap operation heading into the sport—and he didn’t say the Jets wanted to make changes. He merely named it as a possible issue for the problems that plagued New York on Sunday.

That is in all probability a nonstory, however Rodgers’s addition of the “accountable” line seems like a dig on the Jets teaching employees. The quarterback had each proper to really feel grumpy after the loss. He was sacked 5 occasions and took 14 hits in complete from the Broncos go rush. He limped by means of the ultimate three drives of the sport, together with two failed makes an attempt at a game-winning drive after Greg Zuerlein missed a 50-yard area purpose within the rain with beneath a minute remaining. Denver by no means relented, blitzing Rodgers 22 occasions, together with eight blitzes of six or extra rushers. The purpose was clear: knock Rodgers off his spot and drive the 40-year-old to make performs on the transfer. He couldn’t. Rodgers averaged simply 2.7 yards per dropback when blitzed on Sunday.

Rodgers by no means actually regarded able to outrunning the Broncos protection. He made a number of spectacular passes—proving he nonetheless has some dimes left in his arm—however consistency was an issue. The Jets offense performed poorly as a unit, and the quarterback wasn’t any higher. In different phrases, it felt like each different Jets recreation over the previous few seasons.

“I can’t say I had a spectacular recreation,” Rodgers stated afterward. “I missed some throws. The climate sucked, however so did a few of my throws. We had some possibilities however manner too many psychological errors, too many poor throws, after which we simply missed some simple stuff.”

These missed throws and psychological errors not often happen when Rodgers is taking part in at his greatest. Constant precision was a trademark of his recreation all through his prime. It’s been lacking since his final MVP marketing campaign in 2021. If the Jets are ever going to get the model of Rodgers they wished once they traded for him final offseason, he’ll must rediscover it.

Winner: Kliff Kingsbury

Right here’s a sentence I didn’t count on to sort out at any level this season: There isn’t a greater play caller within the NFL than Kliff Kingsbury in the meanwhile. Rookie Jayden Daniels, who padded his early lead within the Offensive Rookie of the Yr race with one other near-perfect efficiency, deserves loads of the credit score for Washington’s stunning 3-1 begin to the season, however Kingsbury has made his transition again to the NFL as seamless as any we’ve seen in current historical past.

It’s not simply that Daniels is taking part in nicely and appears to be bettering by the week. It’s how simple the Commanders offense has made issues search for the rookie quarterback. It was honest to say that Kinsgbury held the rookie’s hand by means of the primary two video games with a scheme that Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt precisely described as a “school offense.” He known as a bunch of run-pass choices and possibility performs that utilized Daniels’s operating capacity. However Kingsbury has began including new layers these previous two weeks, culminating with Sunday’s complete efficiency within the blowout win.

Daniels was the star as soon as once more, ending 26-of-30 for 233 yards and a landing by means of the air, together with 47 yards and a rating on the bottom. It was his greatest efficiency as a passer. He made anticipatory throws over the center of the sphere, he navigated the pocket to purchase time, and outdoors of 1 poorly thrown interception, he didn’t make any rookie errors.

Nearly as good as Daniels regarded, his diploma of problem was by no means too excessive due to Washington’s early-down success. Working backs Brian Robinson Jr. and Jeremy McNichols mixed for 169 yards on 29 carries, and the Commanders completed with a 55 p.c success charge on early-down runs, which saved Daniels out of apparent passing conditions all afternoon. Kinsgbury’s run-game name sheet included some Wildcat performs, runs from unbalanced formations, and loads of quarterback-centric runs. It was a scheme junkie’s dream offensive efficiency.

The Commanders at the moment are 3-1 and personal the NFL’s most effective offense. They lead the league in pass-game EPA and run-game EPA, per TruMedia. They’re second in success charge. Up till Daniels’s interception within the second quarter on Sunday, the Commanders had scored on 16 consecutive possessions. The movie, particularly over the previous two weeks, has been simply as spectacular because the numbers. There isn’t a statistical cut up that means Kingsbury’s NFL revenge tour will finish anytime quickly.

Loser: The Trevor Lawrence–Doug Pederson Partnership

Pederson is formally on the “throw your gamers beneath the bus” stage of the teaching sizzling seat cycle. Pederson made that clear after Sunday’s disheartening 24-20 loss in Houston when he was requested whether or not he’d think about taking up the play-calling duties for Press Taylor after one other disjointed efficiency for the Jags offense.

“As coaches, we will’t go on the market and make the performs, proper?” Pederson stated, in a clip that can get loads of run in Jacksonville over the following few days. Maybe Pederson, who’s sitting on the most popular seat of any head coach in the meanwhile, is already in job preservation mode. It was the primary time Pederson revealed that Taylor was calling the performs after being hounded about all of it offseason. The Jaguars head coach, who hasn’t gained greater than 10 video games in a season since main Philadelphia to a Tremendous Bowl in 2017, may purchase himself just a few extra weeks of job safety by taking up the play-calling.

It could be too late for Pederson to scrub up the mess he’s created. The Jaguars offense is poorly coached, and the play-calling has been simple to criticize over the previous two seasons. However Pederson’s evaluation of Sunday’s efficiency isn’t solely unsuitable. Jacksonville’s gamers left loads of yardage on the sphere. There have been unhealthy penalties, egregious drops, and quite a lot of missed throws by Lawrence. It wasn’t an exquisitely known as recreation—particularly within the purple zone—however the play-calling was adequate. The gamers, led by Lawrence, weren’t.

However mentioning how poorly the gamers are executing gained’t assist Pederson’s trigger. Their efficiency is a mirrored image of his teaching. And with quarterback reclamation tasks rising as a significant theme of the 2024 season, Jags proprietor Shad Khan gained’t want a lot convincing to maneuver on from this employees to rescue Lawrence and get his improvement again on observe.

Winner: Joe Flacco, the Season Saver

The Colts climbed again to .500 with a 27-24 win over the Steelers however couldn’t keep away from the six phrases they’ve dreaded all season: Anthony Richardson leaves recreation with damage. Earlier than coming to a sudden and disappointing finish, the second-year quarterback’s day began on a excessive notice. He accomplished three of his first 4 passes for 71 yards and ran for one more 24 yards on three designed rushes. The second of these runs ended with Richardson taking a direct shot to the fitting hip, which despatched him to the sideline.

Richardson had loads of time to slip however opted to combat for just a few additional yards—a mistake he’s made quite a lot of occasions early in his NFL profession. Not solely did that gambit result in an avoidable damage, but it surely additionally practically value Indianapolis the ball.

Richardson sat for only one play earlier than returning to the sphere. Colts coach Shane Steichen determined to place Richardson’s mobility to the take a look at and dialed up an possibility run for his hobbled quarterback. Steichen stated he wouldn’t let damage issues get in the way in which of using Richardson’s mobility within the run recreation, and he backed up that discuss on Sunday. However Richardson pulled up early after holding the ball and later defined that his damage (a hip pointer) made it troublesome for him to speed up. The 22-year-old stated he lobbied Steichen to get again into the sport, however the Colts head coach in the end determined in opposition to it.

Enter Richardson’s 39-year-old backup, Flacco. After we final noticed Flacco, he was main the Browns into the playoffs after changing an injured Deshaun Watson in Cleveland. On Sunday, the veteran offered the identical service for a Colts workforce that was in peril of falling to 1-3 with a troublesome (and undefeated) Steelers workforce on the opposing sideline. Flacco didn’t gentle up Pittsburgh’s protection however produced knowledgeable quarterbacking show that helped Indy stave off a late comeback try. He averaged solely 6.5 yards per try however threw two landing passes and didn’t throw an interception. It was the boring model of soccer any workforce would need from a backup making a cameo look—particularly one pushing 40.

Richardson stated after the sport that he’s “just a bit sore” and expects to play subsequent week in opposition to the Jaguars. This may very well be the final we see of Flacco for some time, however with Richardson nonetheless taking part in this reckless fashion of soccer—and his coach refusing to chop again on his designed touches within the run recreation—it will not be the final time the Colts want him.

Loser: Crimson Zone Offense

There are loads of components resulting in the NFL’s decline in scoring. The quarterbacks are younger and unhealthy. Offensive linemen are poorly coached. Two-high coverages are turning even the very best quarterbacks into cowards. All of that is true—or largely true, at the very least—however there could also be a extra intuitive clarification for why scoring is down over the previous few seasons: Offenses have gotten worse within the purple zone.

In a research for Sports activities Information Options revealed final week, James Weaver discovered that “purple zone success charge decreased year-over-year whereas non purple zone success charge elevated” over the previous two seasons. In keeping with Weaver, these two numbers had mirrored each other during the last decade however began to diverge just a few seasons in the past. The hole has by no means been wider than it was over the primary three weeks of the season. From his piece:

Through Sports activities Information Options

We noticed a number of groups get burned by poor purple zone performances on Sunday. The Rams misplaced 24-18 in Chicago after scoring only one landing on 4 journeys into the purple zone. The Jets misplaced by a single level after going 0-for-2 within the purple zone. And the Jaguars, persevering with a nightmare season within the purple zone, may have put the Texans away within the fourth quarter after attending to Houston’s 1-yard line, however Jacksonville turned it over on downs after Trevor Lawrence was stuffed on a pitiful quarterback draw.

The groups that appear to be struggling essentially the most within the purple zone are these with out a dependable operating recreation. As Weaver discovered, the purple zone is upside-down for offensive effectivity: Working the ball is usually the best technique of shifting the ball, whereas passing effectivity drops off in tighter quarters. “Working the ball has resulted in a 46.2% success charge, whereas passing is barely at 42.1%,” Weaver wrote.

The Rams’ points within the purple zone on Sunday supply the very best illustration of this phenomenon. Led by a fearless efficiency from Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles had no downside shifting the ball between the 20s regardless of the whole absence of a run recreation. Even in opposition to a troublesome Bears protection, Stafford saved the Rams offense forward of the chains, however that modified once they bought into the purple zone.

With a banged-up offensive line, Sean McVay correctly leaned on Stafford’s passing prowess on Sunday. However within the purple zone, he was rendered ineffective, and the Rams coach didn’t have sufficient belief in his run recreation—in his banged-up offensive line, particularly—to complete off drives. Perhaps he ought to have proven extra religion. In spite of everything, the Rams’ lone landing on Sunday got here on a run play.

That was considered one of three purple zone runs known as by McVay on Sunday. A couple of extra run calls could have made the distinction for a troublesome day in Chicago.

Winner: Travis Kelce

Kelce hasn’t fully overwhelmed the “washed” allegations, however he put a giant dent within the prosecution’s case with a seven-catch, 89-yard efficiency in a 17-10 win over the Chargers. These seven catches included positive factors of 18 and 38 yards, so that they weren’t the dink-and-dunk receptions we’d seen for Kelce this season.

It couldn’t have come at a greater time. The Chiefs, who’re already with out operating again Isiah Pacheco and large receiver Hollywood Brown for the foreseeable future, misplaced main receiver Rashee Rice, who was carted off the sphere on Sunday after struggling a knee damage throughout an interception return. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the concern is a torn ACL, which might finish the second-year receiver’s season and put an amazing quantity of stress on Kansas Metropolis’s 34-year-old tight finish. Rice had successfully changed Kelce as Mahomes’s most trusted goal on throws to the center of the sphere.

Will probably be simpler for the Chiefs to beat the lack of Rice if Kelce can replicate Sunday’s efficiency on a extra constant foundation over the following three months. That’s so much to ask of Kelce, and it will not be sufficient to avoid wasting this passing recreation, which will probably be banking on rookie Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson, and JuJu Smith-Schuster greater than anybody anticipated coming into the season. Worthy might need a breakout in him—and his 54-yard landing reception may have been an indication that it’s coming sooner quite than later—however he doesn’t have the construct to tackle the workload of a WR1 for a full season, particularly if it contains loads of targets over the center of the sphere. Smith-Schuster performed that position for the workforce in 2022 however has misplaced just a few steps since then. And Watson is extra of a vertical menace. Kelce is the one go catcher on the roster able to filling the void.

Kansas Metropolis is 4-0 and is 2 video games away from its closest competitor within the AFC West. This workforce will march proper into the playoffs once more, and it’ll in all probability be a heavy favourite to win all of it by the point the calendar flips over to January. I’m not making the error of writing off the Chiefs as severe contenders. But when Kelce can’t preserve this up, we’ll must revisit this dialogue.

Winner: Justin Jefferson

It’s not possible to pick the MVP of this Vikings workforce, which moved to 4-0 after leaving Lambeau Discipline with a 31-29 win over the Packers. Head coach Kevin O’Connell has constructed the league’s most dynamic and balanced offense. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has tormented opposing quarterbacks all through the season, and that continued on Sunday, together with his Vikings intercepting Jordan Love thrice. After which there’s Sam Darnold, who leads the league in landing passes after throwing three extra in opposition to the Packers and whose gorgeous play is perhaps thestory of the 2024 season after 4 weeks. However Sunday’s win in Inexperienced Bay was one other reminder that Jefferson remains to be the very best member of the workforce.

Primarily based on the field rating, it was a ho-hum day for the NFL’s greatest receiver: six catches, 85 yards, and a landing. However these numbers don’t actually inform the story. That one landing got here on the most effective “focus” catches you’ll ever see, with Jefferson hauling within the ball with one hand after it ricocheted off his chest plate and bounced off the defender’s shoulder. Even in gradual movement, it appears like an not possible job:

That seize gave Minnesota a 28-0 lead that it practically blew after two Darnold turnovers within the second half, however Jefferson helped seal the win with this unreal show of physique management alongside the sideline.

That was considered one of Jefferson’s 4 first downs within the recreation. Even when opposing defenses know Jefferson is getting the ball, it may be troublesome to cease him. First-year Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley tried to account for the star wideout by throwing double groups and bracket protection at Jefferson in apparent passing conditions, however that gravity simply made issues simpler for his fellow receivers.

Throwing single groups at Jefferson wasn’t any simpler, as we noticed later within the recreation. The reality is, there are not any solutions for a participant as dominant as Jefferson. There isn’t an apparent weak point in his recreation, and there are many strengths. He runs routes higher than anybody. He has an elite pair of arms. He can out-muscle bodily corners for 50/50 balls and contort his physique to erase inaccuracies from his quarterback. He’s the final word expertise in at this time’s NFL. If there’s any member of this workforce worthy of being included within the MVP dialogue, it’s Jefferson.