By Ted Nguyen, Dan Pompei and Jourdan Rodrigue
Each Sunday, three of The Athletic’s NFL writers react to the biggest news, plays and performances from the day’s games.
By the end of Week 4’s afternoon slate, the Baltimore Ravens were reeling, the Kansas City Chiefs seemed to have their groove back, the New York Giants had a sliver of hope, the New England Patriots had the day’s highest scoring output (while the Tennessee Titans had the same number of points they entered the day with) and the NFC West had a three-way tie for first place.
NFL writers Ted Nguyen, Dan Pompei and Jourdan Rodrigue share their thoughts on a Week 4 in which injuries and upsets again scrambled the state of the league.
The Ravens were already ravaged by injuries before Lamar Jackson left their 37-20 loss to the Chiefs with a hamstring issue. Now they’re 1-3 for the first time since 2015 and two games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. How much trouble are the Ravens in?
Rodrigue: Big trouble, not least because hamstring injuries can be so fickle, and you would hate to see the Ravens without any running threat at the quarterback position. The Ravens’ defensive struggles come up right along with these concerns for me — this isn’t a one-off issue, it’s a weeks-long problem that has loomed in the background of a season that started with sky-high expectations. And the defense is also dealing with injuries.
Pompei: They are not in an enviable position, but if any team can dig out of a hole, it’s the Ravens. They will need to get healthy and stay healthy, and their margin for error will be slim the rest of the way. They’re going to need Kyle Van Noy, Nnamdi Madubuike, Ronnie Stanley, Nate Wiggins, Jaire Alexander, Patrick Ricard, Roquan Smith and, obviously, Jackson. But there is a decent chance they can beat the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams at home the next two weeks and go into their bye at 3-3. Then, the Ravens can start over.
Nguyen: Beginning the season 1-3 is a tough hole to climb out of, but the AFC North is still wide open. The Cleveland Browns offense is the worst in the league, and the Cincinnati Bengals don’t have their franchise QB. The Steelers are 3-1, but they have holes. If Jackson is out for an extended period of time, the Ravens are in trouble. Defensively, they’ve taken too many injuries. That defensive line is razor-thin, and losing Wiggins in the secondary is huge; he left Sunday’s game with an elbow injury. How the Ravens respond in the next two games will likely decide their season.
After getting receiver Xavier Worthy on the field, the Chiefs had their biggest scoring day in more than two years. Is their offense back?
Nguyen: How their offensive line performs in the running and passing games will always decide their ceiling. It helps to get a starter like Worthy back, though. Patrick Mahomes looked comfortable against the Ravens pass rush — and shredded them. He and Worthy built some chemistry at the end of last season, and you saw that right away. Once Rashee Rice comes back from his six-game suspension, this offense could really be cooking with gas. The Chiefs should still commit a little more to being able to run the ball from under center, though, because of all the light boxes they see.
Pompei: Play calling and execution are always a challenge when critical pieces are sidelined. The Chiefs are much better with Worthy, but it’s probably dangerous to believe he can transform the offense on his own. The Chiefs are going to need consistent pass protection, more from Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt in the run game and help from other receivers, especially Rice. That being said, Kansas City has the potential to have one of the league’s most dangerous offenses — mostly because the guy who talks kind of funny is still winging it and that big guy with the mustache who likes cheeseburgers is still dialing up killer plays.
Rodrigue: Worthy’s being a huge element to the Chiefs offense this year was clearly the plan, and you could see how they struggled to adjust after he took some friendly fire from teammate Travis Kelce in Week 1. Everything has felt too difficult and stifled for this offense, and Worthy’s speed and threat to create big plays from any type of concept Andy Reid can dream up — motions, sweeps, screens, downfield passes — make any defense think a little more. The Chiefs eclipsed 100 rushing yards against the Ravens without having to overly rely on Mahomes’ scrambling (though Mahomes entered the game as Kansas City’s leading rusher), and they are committed to a similar carry split between Pacheco and Hunt that we saw in Week 3. I’d like to see them continue to workshop their ground game and further open things up for all the speed lying in wait within this offense.
The Rams, 49ers and Seahawks are tied atop the NFC West at 3-1, and the Arizona Cardinals are 2-2. Who do you like to win that bruising division — and why?
Pompei: It’s going to depend on which teams stay healthy and probably will come down to an early January kick. The Rams and Seahawks appear to be pretty evenly matched. The 49ers definitely would have been in the mix with Nick Bosa, who was playing like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate before his ACL injury. They might still rise as they get healthier at other positions. By that time, however, they might be trailing the pack. The Rams’ 27-20 victory over the undefeated Indianapolis Colts on Sunday probably was the most impressive victory in the division to date, although the Seahawks arguably will have a chance to top that next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Rodrigue: The Seahawks are playing the most complete brand of football of any of these teams right now. Yes, the Rams have an elite quarterback in Matthew Stafford, and nobody can seem to stop Puka Nacua. But glaring issues remain with slow starts offensively and in their secondary, despite Kam Curl’s two interceptions against the Colts. The 49ers left Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars even more banged-up than they already were. And I just don’t trust the Cardinals (deep sigh). Seattle’s run game is all conceptually there and should come to life in a serious way down the stretch. Its defense is outstanding. Plus, give Sam Darnold a good play-action plan out of that run game and he will produce.
Nobody has been able to stop the Rams’ Puka Nacua. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Nguyen: The Seahawks legitimately have one of the best defenses in the league, and Darnold is playing excellent football. They are humming right now. I still want to lean slightly to the 49ers, but it hinges on whether they can get healthy and maybe swing a trade for a pass rusher. If the 49ers can get some of their guys back, I trust Brock Purdy more than Darnold based on track record, and Kyle Shanahan’s experience with team-building will be essential down the stretch.
What are your initial impressions of Dart, who led the Giants to their first win of the season, an upset over the undefeated Los Angeles Chargers?
Nguyen: Dart was poised in his first start against a very difficult Jesse Minter-led defense. What stood out was that his athleticism translated to an NFL field, which isn’t always the case. His ability to be not only an effective runner but also a dangerous one will give him something to hang his hat on. Obviously, you want to see him speed up his process and take fewer sacks and hits in the pocket — he was sacked five times — but that’ll come with time. His playmaking ability gave New York a much-needed jolt. The Giants looked like they were playing with more urgency than they have all season. And offensive coordinator Mike Kafka did a good job of quickly putting together a nifty option package for Dart. Because of that, the Giants will at least have a floor.
Rodrigue: Yes, Dart gives the Giants another layer of threat on offense because he can run — and did so on New York’s opening possession for a 15-yard touchdown. Dart will absolutely face some growing pains as the season progresses, and not having star receiver Malik Nabers — who was carted off with what The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported is feared to be an ACL injury — would make his rookie development tougher. Still, he clearly brings juice to this group. Head coach Brian Daboll was as emotional as we’ve seen him after the game when he hugged Dart several times and slapped his pads. Daboll had to love the poise Dart showed late in the game when capitalizing on Dru Phillips’ interception and turning it into a touchdown. And we know Daboll, and the crowd, loved watching Dart’s particularly fearless (if sometimes dangerously so) style of play.
Pompei: Considering everything he had to overcome (a hamstring injury, a hit to the helmet that required a concussion check, and the loss of Nabers while facing one of football’s best defenses), Dart was not bad. On the biggest stage of his life, he had the self-composure and calm to take what the Chargers defense gave him and not lose the game. It was a first step in the right direction, and it left quite a bit of room and hope for growth.
More impressive: the Philadelphia Eagles for building a 21-point lead in their house of horrors in Tampa, or the chaotic Bucs for rallying to give themselves a chance at the end? (The Eagles won 31-25.)
Rodrigue: I loved this game and the range of highs and lows we saw from both teams in each half. In the first half of a sweltering afternoon, Tampa coach Todd Bowles brought his signature heat against Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, blitzing the quarterback on 55 percent of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats. Hurts was remarkable, going 8-of-9 for 59 yards against the blitz and 7-of-7 on non-blitzed dropbacks. He saw the field well, navigating inside and out of the pocket when he felt pressure.
The Eagles, as an offensive unit, had some fun, scoring two touchdowns off wrinkles to the tush push. In the second half, as Baker Mayfield and the Bucs surged, the Eagles couldn’t ice the game and suffered from the loss of tackle Lane Johnson to a shoulder injury. Hurts was 0-for-8 passing in the second half, and the game went from a blowout to an all-out fistfight in the fourth quarter because the Bucs just wouldn’t quit — embodied best by running back Bucky Irving, who lost a fumble but then helped his team back into it with a long touchdown catch. The resilience of both teams is striking, and I hope we see this matchup again in the postseason.
And how about the Eagles’ special teams unit again coming up with a massive scoring play? This week, it was Cameron Latu blocking Riley Dixon’s punt, and Sydney Brown returning it for a touchdown, which made things feel out of reach early. But we know better than that about any game involving the Bucs by now.
Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Eagles stayed undefeated with a win over Tampa Bay. (Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
Pompei: Both teams played as expected. The Bucs continued to show the grit and resilience that have defined them this season. But to be the team they think they can be, they need to be better. There is reason to believe they can become that team as the season unfolds, however. The Eagles, meanwhile, are playing as well as they have since last season. If they can sustain this level of play, we almost assuredly will see them in another parade on Benjamin Franklin Parkway early next year.
Nguyen: I’m going to take the easy way out and say both. I like that the Eagles continued the theme of last week, in which they came back from a double-digit hole against the Rams by being aggressive in the passing game. They were ultra conservative in the season’s first two games, so it was good to see them put the ball in Hurts’ hands early on, which helped them build a lead. Against the Bucs, the Eagles had their highest cook rate (essentially, their pass rate in neutral situations) of the season. On the other hand, I also love the heart that Mayfield and the Bucs play with. They’re never out of games. Irving, who scored on a 72-yard pass play during the rally, is so hard to tackle in the fourth quarter, when defenses start to wear down. Obviously, they didn’t complete the comeback this time, but the Bucs won’t be playing the Eagles every week.
The Patriots had their best offensive performance in years in a 42-13 rout of the Panthers. What’s their ceiling this season?
Nguyen: Drake Maye is well on his way to becoming an elite quarterback, but the ceiling for the offense isn’t high because the offensive line is subpar. The Patriots played a terrible Panthers defensive line, which provided a glimpse of what they can be if they protect Maye. The second-year quarterback was pressured on only 16.7 percent of his dropbacks and sacked on 5.6 percent of his dropbacks, both by far the lowest rates of the season. It was good to see Stefon Diggs have his first 100-yard game as a Patriot. Coming off an ACL injury, the veteran had struggled to start the season. He can help this offense tremendously if he returns to form and becomes a No. 1-type receiver. Unfortunately, there will be games in which Maye is under intense pressure because of the line.
Rodrigue: Despite earlier scores (and a five-turnover disaster last week), the Patriots have been putting more and more pieces together each week, building reps and calluses the way “rebuilding” teams must do during a season with zero expectations. Sunday, they looked like the most complete version of themselves yet. (We should also ask whether last week’s standout Panthers defensive performance was the exception in Carolina or the rule — I know what I’d answer.) But this wasn’t just the level of their opponent; the Patriots seemed more functional in every phase, had a good plan to get Diggs involved and are giving emerging star rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson more chances each week (and he scored his first touchdown Sunday). Five offensive touchdowns and a neat 6.4 yards per play are a nice step for a team I don’t otherwise have high expectations for this season (and Patriots fans, that’s OK!).
Pompei: It’s not likely the Patriots will play many games like that. It was one of those days when a lot of things went right. There is potential for quarterback improvement, however. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Diggs are bringing out good things in Maye. The team is well coached, competitive and can stay in games. But there is a talent deficit between the Patriots and the better teams in the league. It was evident in their loss to the Steelers one week ago, and it’s likely to be evident in their game against the Buffalo Bills next Sunday night.
After a 26-0 loss to the Texans, the Titans are 0-4, averaging fewer than 13 points a game, and have more turnovers than touchdowns. How hot is Brian Callahan’s seat?
Pompei: Given the recent impetuous history of Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk and the fact that general manager Mike Borgonzi was hired one year into Callahan’s tenure, that seat might be pretty hot. But the Titans’ struggles should surprise no one. Usually, when a team plays a rookie quarterback, it cuts the head coach some slack. It’s rare that a QB goes from a college campus to the pros and wins immediately. The Titans’ issues go beyond Cam Ward. And Callahan. It’s just a matter of who gets blamed and when.
Rodrigue: I would think about as hot as the visitors bench was in Tampa Bay on Sunday, because it’s not just that the rebuilding Titans are losing — they are already taking criticism for game-management decisions, and Callahan has given up play calling. That’s a rarity so early in the season, which is notable with a rookie quarterback, whom the play caller must build a strong relationship with. Where there is some lenience, I’d imagine, is due to those words “rebuilding” and “rookie quarterback.” But when the GM and the head coach weren’t hired at the same time, you just never, ever know …
Nguyen: I’d imagine the pressure is intense. Callahan already handed off play calling to Bo Hardegree. The Titans had a brutal schedule to start the season, but getting shut out by the Texans is pretty embarrassing. The call to hand off the ball on a third-and-12 from midfield — while down 6 points midway through the third quarter — was just cowardly. The schedule gets a bit easier, but the team has to show some more fight and improvement or Callahan’s seat will likely be scalding.
(Top photo of Patrick Mahomes: David Eulitt / Getty Images)