Four weeks in and the NFL remains as unpredictable as ever with plenty of teams already riding the roller coaster of emotions with plenty of twists and turns already.
Week 4 was no different with plenty of games going right down to the wire with over half of the games decided by a single score.
Of course, those teams that are stuck at 0-4 will be trying to conjure up some sort of miracle to salvage their season, although others might be aware of how far off the rest of the league they are.
Just as Cam Ward who showcased a refreshing level of honesty when asked to evaluate his team’s play through the opening month.
Sadly that forthrightness will likely be beaten out of him by his coaching staff and PR team as the season goes on so let’s enjoy it while we can.
We’ll try and display a similar level of candidness as we recap all of the highs and lows from Week 4 in the NFL below.
1 – Atlanta Produces a Perfect Response
Week 3 was nothing short of a disaster for the Atlanta Falcons, getting blown out by a bad Carolina team 30-0.
Things did not look like improving in Week 4 with the Washington Commanders up next on the schedule, even without Jayden Daniels.
But for a franchise with a history of folding under pressure there was a lot to like about their hard fought win to get their record back to 2-2.
The one thing Atlanta should be able to rely on is their star power at the skill positions on offence.
In this game Bijan Robinson delivered with four catches for 106 yards plus 17 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Top receiver Drake London added eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Even massive underachiever, tight end Kyle Pitts came alive with five catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.
There are going to be ups and downs with the development of Michael Penix in his first season as the undisputed starter and after a massive down where some were wondering if he may get benched for Kirk Cousins, he came through in a big way, going 20/26 for 313 yards and two touchdowns.
They needed every last bit of that production as Washington pushed them all the way, but coming off such an embarrassing effort, finding a way to win was very impressive.
Maybe Raheem Morris has been able to build some mental toughness in this side.
2 – The Chargers Get Caught Out
Heading into Week 4 there was plenty of optimism surrounding the LA Chargers and their 3-0 start, but they had to navigate a potential trap game against the New York Giants in the Meadowlands.
With the home team turning to rookie quarterback Jackson Dart to try and salvage something from 2025 after an 0-3 start, LA was still expected to make short work of their opponents favoured by just under a touchdown.
After all, their quarterback Justin Herbert was the sudden popular pick for MVP and their defence had difference makers across the board, so it should have been a case of “good luck rookie”.
Instead, Dart looked comfortable running the Giants offence and while it wasn’t always pretty, he took charge on their opening possession running in for the game’s first points.
From there New York was never caught as the Chargers just couldn’t get enough things going their way to erase the deficit.
For this offence, 21 points should be a reasonable number to hit every week short of playing in a monsoon and the production from Quentin Johnston and Omarion Hampton should not offset the rest of the team’s struggles.
Johnston continued his strong start to the season catching eight passes on 13 targets for 98 yards and a touchdown, but he had nearly 50% of Justin Herbert’s passing yards.
Hampton only got 12 carries, perhaps because his team was chasing from the first quarter and he turned it into 128 rushing yards, but a bit more balance might have helped the Chargers out too.
Meanwhile their vaunted defence got run over by the Giants, with Dart, Cam Skattebo and Devin Singletary rushing for over 150 yards.
There is every chance that by November we are looking at this result as an outlier for LA, but when good Chargers teams have dropped similar games in the past, you can’t help but wonder when they will stop producing these sort of performances.
3 – Mahomes Delivers For The Chiefs
For a guy who announced himself to the league by lighting up defences left, right and centre, Patrick Mahomes had become pretty dull over the last couple of seasons.
In Kansas City’s underwhelming 1-2 start, he had thrown for 258 yards and a touchdown, 187 yards a touchdown and a pick, then 224 yards and a touchdown.
Nothing overly bad but well below the levels we have come to expect from the three time Super Bowl champion and his head coach Andy Reid.
Only one team that began a season 1-3 went on to win a Super Bowl, which made this desperation derby against the also 1-2 Ravens a must win affair for both teams.
Knowing that the Chargers had lost their game at kickoff, the game became even more important for Kansas City with the ability to get back to one game behind LA.
This is where Mahomes stood up, posting his best stat line since Christmas Day 2024, going 25/37 for 270 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers.
By the time Baltimore lost Lamar Jackson to a hamstring injury, the Chiefs were in control of the game and they could only muster a consolation score to Justice Hill after then.
Just how that impacts Baltimore’s season at 1-3 remains to be seen, but for now, it’s time to enjoy a vintage Mahomes performance.
With his main receivers slowly getting healthier and returning from suspension in the coming weeks, we might see Mahomes enjoy a statistical uptick as his team tries to chase down another AFC West title.
4 – The Colts Continue to Compete
One way that struggling teams make the leap into competitive status is by reducing the number of “honourable losses” against good opponents.
Ideally you want that number to get down to zero because you win those games, but there is still room for a couple of defeats that leave the fans feeling surprisingly content.
Few would have expected the Colts to fly out of the blocks the way they did, starting 3-0 with a marquee win over a Denver team many expected to be really good.
Which made this week’s clash with the LA Rams at SoFi Stadium a real test of their mettle, if they could hold their own, they might have to be taken a bit more seriously.
While they did not beat the Rams, there was a lot to like about the way they played even in defeat.
They did not play all that well, with this boneheaded move by AD Mitchell a nice reminder why players fumbling through the end zone should remain a touchback.
Their defence got shredded by Matthew Stafford as well, but in spite of those problems they managed to hang with one of the NFC’s fringe contenders right to the end.
Tied at 20-20 with under two minutes to play, the game was settled by one single play, with a defender slipping in coverage freeing up Tutu Atwell for the go-ahead score.
Daniel Jones threw his second pick of the day on the subsequent possession as he tried to force it into coverage, sealing their first loss of the season.
That dropped their record to 3-1, level with Jacksonville on top of the AFC South but there are a lot more positives about Indianapolis than anyone expected right now.
Eventually these games against teams like the Rams will have to turn into wins, but for a team that is still growing it is a sign they are heading in the right direction.
If the opening quarter of the season is any indication of how things are going to unfold, they have to be looking forward to their return to SoFi in Week 7 when they take on the Chargers and get another chance to beat a good team away from home.
5 – A New Rivalry Out of Nowhere
We should have seen this coming during the week when 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh made these comments in a press conference.
Putting aside the fact Saleh tried his best to make it as clear as possible he did not think the Jaguars were breaking any rules, plays are signalled through a headset and that teams are always trying to find an edge without getting caught, there was always going to be a fallout.
So after the Jaguars used their (legal) espionage tactics to help them beat the 49ers, Jags coach Liam Coen just had to let Saleh know about it.
It’s a real shame that we won’t see these two face off again until the 2027 season at the earliest, especially with Kyle Shanahan weighing in on the matter postgame.
Comments like Saleh’s get remembered though, whether for the intended or perceived slights and it has surely put the rest of the league on notice not only to how the Jaguars do business but how the 49ers aren’t afraid to make concerns public.