Looking over the week-by-week stats, I see eight cases where a team or player has either improved or declined every week. Nothing too notable, but I’ll run them down.

DECLINING EVERY WEEK

Christian Kirk (receiving yards): Kirk’s receiving yards have gone from 117 to 78 to 72 to 60 to 11. He caught 6 passes in each of his first three games. He’s caught only 3 passes in his last eight quarters of play, looking less like a franchise kind of guy.

DeAndre Carter (receiving yards): Carter looked like a decent fill-in for Keenan Allen in the first two weeks, but he’s been unable to sustain that production. His receiving yards have gone from 64 to 55 to 31 to 16 to 9. Not surprising, in that Carter has previously played for a bunch of other teams.

Chase Edmonds (total yards): Edmonds looked like Miami’s starting running back at the beginning of the season, but he was unable to play well enough to remain in that role. In his five games, his total yards have dropped from 65 to 41 to 27 to 20 to 1.

Joe Mixon (receiving yards): Mixon was improved as a runner last night, but his role in the passing game has declined each week, from 63 to 26 to 14 to 13 to 10 receiving yards.

Jalen Hurts (pass protection): Jalen Hurts lost 4 yards on 1 sack in his opener. He’s lost 10, 12, 13 and 21 yards in his last four games. This one is a little soft, with him actually being sacked more often in his second and third games (3 times each) than in his last two (2 sacks each). But I ran the numbers, and he showed up. And a decent chance this streak will be extended with the Eagles facing Dallas this week.

IMPROVING EVERY WEEK

New England (team rushing): The Patriots ran for only 78 yards in their opening-day loss at Miami. They’ve followed that up by running for 124, 145, 167 and 176 yards in their last four. They’ve got another bad run defense this week (the Browns), giving them a chance of maybe extending this one more week.

San Francisco (team passing): The 49ers began the season with Trey Lance at quarterback before switching to Jimmy Garoppolo, and he’s been getting his timing back (and seeing easier opposition). San Francisco’s passing yards has gone from 164 to 184 to 211 to 239 to 253 yards.

New Orleans (pass protection): The Saints lost 35 yards on sacks in their first game. They have lost 30, 11, 9 and 6 yards in their last four games.

—Ian Allan