There have been more defensive struggles than shootouts thus far, although Week 4 started out pretty well, with a bunch of early touchdowns. There still wasn't quite as much as you'd hope for ultimately, and there were more crushing injuries to key players. Let's discuss.
Saints at Falcons: Entertaining game that came down to the final plays, probably as it should have. Saints got 2 TDs from Taysom Hill early, replacing Derek Carr in the red zone. But Hill left with an injury, so it was Carr around to lead the go-ahead touchdown drive in the final minutes, with Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed making big plays. (Injured Saints seemed healthy.) Falcons seemed pretty unlikely to move into field goal range in final minute, but a pass interference (correctly called, but close) put the Falcons in range for a 58-yarder. NFC South will be interesting with these teams and the Bucs all in the mix. Kyle Pitts shut out. Not injured.
Bengals at Panthers: About as expected, not a lot of defense in this game. I think I dismissed Chase Brown this week, so of course he had a big game. So did Zack Moss, and pretty much all the key guys on both sides. Good day for offenses and about any skill guy you might have started. Non-TEs, anyway, with Mike Gesicki and Tommy Tremble not involved. Bengals can climb out of hole, their offense is looking good. And Dalton isn't going anywhere for Carolina. Sort of a breakout game for Xavier Legette, there might not be a No. 2 spot waiting for Adam Thielen when he comes back from IR.
Rams at Bears: Bears defense came to play, and their offense is getting a little better. Roschon Johnson scored, saving those who picked him up and started him, but D'Andre Swift had his best game, probably on a lot of benches. Quiet numbers from the passing game, with defense and run game doing the most. For the Rams, it was a Kyren Williams day with Tutu Atwell the best wideout for the second straight week. Jordan Whittington 2nd-best. Looks like Demarcus Robinson won't be stepping up with his opportunity.
Vikings at Packers: A wild game where those who had faith in Jordan Love coming back from his knee injury (I wasn't one of them) were rewarded with a huge game. Game flow was a factor, with the Vikings taking a huge lead and Love throwing the ball 54 times to almost bring Green Bay all the way back. So don't bench Love anymore, and sorry if my reticence to start him swayed anyone, hope you won anyway. Aside from that, Vikings offense looked great (Jordan Addison particularly), Aaron Jones and Jefferson and Darnold all very good, and the D was better than the final score suggested, still plenty of opportunism in all the chaos. Huge games for Jayden Reed (also an auto start with Love back) and Dontayvion Wicks, in part due to Christian Watson leaving with an injury that looked bad on a pass over the middle.
Jaguars at Texans: The poor Jaguars can't get a win these days. Seemed in good shape early, couple nice plays by Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas, and then a sweet maybe game-winning touchdown to Christian Kirk. But Jacksonville had no answer for Nico Collins, who I loved in the preseason but didn't actually draft anywhere for some reason, and the Texans came all the way back to get the win. Tank Bigbsy looked better than Travis Etienne, looks like a committee backfield these days. Cam Akers didn't score, so his 53 rushing yards and no catches made for a disappointing day. Mixon probably back next week.
Steelers at Colts: Unexpected slugfest. Anthony Richardson was looking good early, but he took a couple big hits and left with a hip injury. Joe Flacco came in off the bench and just like last year looked like he should be starting somewhere, leading the offense to a big lead. Justin Fields started running around and had what I think you'd call a Justin Fields type of game, with a couple of rushing scores near the goal line, 4 sacks, a lost fumble, but some good passing stats too (and a nice game for George Pickens, lost fumble notwithstanding). Anyway, we'll see on Richardson, but the offense clearly won't be lost with Flacco. Jonathan Taylor (ankle) left with what Ian Rapoport described as a "mild high ankle sprain," which is pretty useless in determining whether it's a long- or short-term issue, but multiple weeks seems likely.
Broncos at Jets: Leave it to the Jets to follow up their most impressive game of the season with a dud where they didn't get in the end zone. I knew the Broncos defense was improved, but this was something else. It was rainy and unpleasant so there were extenuating circumstances, but between Patrick Surtain taking away No. 1 wideouts and a greatly improved pass rush, the Broncos are consistently causing some problems for offenses. Breece Hall: 10 carries, 4 yards. Denver's offense did essentially nothing, and maybe Tyler Badie would have been the lead back but he left with a back injury. Both Wil Lutz and Greg Zuerlein missed 50-yard field goals at the end, but weather didn't help anything. Ugly game.
Eagles at Buccaneers: Kind of a strange season for Baker Mayfield, with a pair of huge games and a pair of duds. Not clear how the Eagles could follow up their strong performance in the win in New Orleans with this'n, but they did, with pretty much every Buc you should have had in your lineup delivering. Both running backs finished with good numbers, with Bucky Irving scoring the touchdown, Rachaad White doing more as a receiver, and of course both kind of capping each other's value. But I guess both are kind of usable, at least in good matchups. Fair to say the Eagles missed their top wideouts, since aside from a touchdown by Parris Campbell touchdown, the fill-ins did nothing. Dallas Goedert a good day again, as expected. Saquon Barkley had one long run but not a great game overall.
Commanders at Cardinals: That Jayden Daniels guy, he's pretty good. Started out as just a runner, but he's throwing it around pretty decent now too. You know who else is pretty good? Brian Robinson. In one draft I took him, late, with a couple of guys on the board (Rhamondre, Najee) in a move I was regretting initially. Not anymore. Looks like Washington will be playing a lot of high-scoring games this season, and winning more of them than it seemed after Week 1. Not sure what happened to Arizona against a Commanders defense that's really struggled, but at least Conner and Harrison scored for you.
Patriots at 49ers: So this one wasn't close, with San Francisco's offense doing basically what it wanted and its defense all over Jacoby Brissett and the ground game. Give the Patriots credit for playing hard and stuff, but they just don't have a lot going for them right now. Spectacular touchdown catch by George Kittle, good game from Jordan Mason (he had another TD erased by a penalty), better numbers for Deebo than the others, but none were great. Too many weapons when everyone is available in the passing game, it seems. New England does not have weapons.
Kansas City at Chargers: Kansas City wins, but I think Rashee Rice getting hurt (early reports suggested ACL) is the big takeaway. Sucks, as do all injuries, but this was just an ugly pile up where he collided with his own quarterback after an interception. Guy was having a great year and now it sounds like it's going to be over. Also over appears to be the Carson Steele experience, since he lost a fumble early on and it was Kareem Hunt and Samaje Perine after that. Kansas City defense pretty much controlled the game, Patrick Mahomes hit one big play to Xavier Worthy, and Hunt had a nice game running it.
Browns at Raiders: Not a pretty game, as you might expect with Deshaun Watson battling Gardner Minshew. The play I can't forget is Watson scrambling around and connecting on a beautiful 82-yard touchdown with Amari Cooper in the fourth quarter that might have won it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you were facing or had benched Cooper), a kind of weak holding penalty erased the play, and the Browns went on to lose. They were in it largely because of a Zamir White fumble that was returned for a touchdown; his season just gets worse. Raiders passed for just 130 yards in this one, making me think it will be Aidan O'Connell before long. (Raiders in Denver next week.) Nice game for Tre Tucker, looking like the key beneficiary of Davante Adams being out.
Bills at Ravens: Anyone get the number of that truck? Oh that was Derrick Henry blasting through and over the Bills all night long. Looks like we've found the weakness in the previously unbeaten Bills, and the Ravens have discovered that this Henry dude is pretty good. Scary moment when Khalil Shakir left with what looked like an ankle injury, but was able to return (but the Bills offense did essentially nothing all night in a blowout loss). Ravens passing game also did zip, a drag for those of us starting Zay Flowers for the second straight week.
Monday, Monday, times two: Dolphins-Titans will probably set quarterbacking back a few years, unless I'm underestimating Tyler Will Huntley Levis. Regardless, I'm expecting more running than passing in this game. I'll go Dolphins 20, Titans 17. Seahawks-Lions should feature more productive quarterbacks and more offense in general, with the Walker-Charbonnet split a little uncertain if Walker is less than 100 percent. But I'm not betting against Detroit: Lions 28, Seahawks 24.
