At least for the early wave of games, drama took a week off. The usual craziness at the end of the 1 p.m. window never arrived. In the first eight games of Week 4, no leads changed hands in the fourth quarter. Half were decided by double-digits. Since when are yawns allowed on an NFL Sunday?
Here is what to know.
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The Jaxson Dart Era began with a win and a wince
The New York Giants’ unveiling of Jaxson Dart was a broad success. Dart led them to their first win while knocking the Los Angeles Chargers from the ranks of the unbeaten, showing athleticism and poise in a 21-18 victory. He threw his first career touchdown pass on a goal line shovel to tight end Theo Johnson. He rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t commit a turnover.
But the day couldn’t be considered an unqualified success for the snakebit Giants. Wide receiver Malik Nabers, their best offensive player, exited the game in the second quarter on a cart with an injury that seems likely to sideline him for the remainder of the season.
Nabers’s right knee buckled awkwardly as he attempted to make a leaping catch. Once he landed, he immediately grabbed for his knee. Trainers tended to him, and he entered the locker room on a cart. NFL Network reported that Nabers is believed to have torn his ACL.
Nabers’s injury will leave Dart without his best weapon. But he made clear the Giants are his team. Dart needs to speed his processing on dropbacks, evidenced by the five sacks he took. But he has enough speed and athleticism to function while he refines his passing on the fly. On the Giants’ opening drive, Dart completed two of two pass attempts, both to Nabers, and ran three times for 28 yards, including a 15-yard draw for a touchdown.
Nabers’s misfortune wasn’t the only significant injury. Chargers star tackle Joe Alt was carted into the locker room in the first quarter with an ankle injury. Los Angeles already lost left tackle Rashawn Slater to a season-ending injury in training camp. Despite their 3-0 start, the Chargers are suddenly facing adversity.
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The Eagles are head and shoulders above the NFL
In Week 4 last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throttled the Eagles, 33-16, dropping them to 2-2 and inviting doubt Philadelphia had recovered from its 2023 collapse. The Eagles returned to Tampa on Sunday, and their 31-25 victory over previously undefeated Tampa Bay provided a full-circle emblem of how thoroughly the Eagles have dominated the rest of the NFL.
Since that 2024 loss to the Buccaneers, playoffs included, the Eagles have gone 20-1. On average, the Eagles have won those games 31-22. Their only loss came in Washington late last year, after Jalen Hurts sat out the second half with a concussion and their defense yielded a game-winning touchdown in the final 10 seconds. The Eagles improved to 4-0 this season, their last three victories coming against 2024 playoff teams.
The Eagles continue unearthing defensive stars. Rookie Jihaad Campbell, the 31st pick of the first round, looks like a Zach Baun clone – a former edge rusher unleashed as a versatile off-ball linebacker. His interception of Baker Mayfield in the end zone may have been the most pivotal play of Sunday’s victory.
Philadelphia’s offense can still go up a level. Saquon Barkley, coming off his 2,000-yard season, has rushed for only 237 yards all year while gaining a startlingly low 3.1 yards per carry. He hasn’t uncorked any of his signature game-breaking long runs. But his slow start has not kept the Eagles from hovering above the rest of the NFL.
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The Bills’ run defense is a problem
Along with the Eagles, the Buffalo Bills ended Sunday’s early wave as one of two 4-0 teams. But the Bills have a glaring issue that was exposed again in a closer-than-expected 31-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints: They have one of the NFL’s worst run defenses.
The statistics are skewed by Baltimore’s bonkers rushing performance on the first Sunday night of the season. And Coach Sean McDermott prefers a bend-don’t-break style that makes them susceptible to opposing production on the ground. But the Bills have been allowing opponent after opponent to run on them.
The Saints ran 34 times for 189 yards, which actually lowered the Bills’ average allowed per rush – they entered allowing a league-worst 6.2 yards per carry. Their running allowed the Saints to hang in a game they entered as a 16.5-point underdog. The Saints pulled to within 21-19 midway through the fourth quarter before Josh Allen came to the rescue, barreling for 27 yards on a tackle-breaking scramble and then hitting tight end Dalton Kincaid – a breakout tight end in his third season – down the sideline for a 28-yard touchdown.
The path to the Bills’ improvement starts with the return of defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who missed his third consecutive game with an ankle injury. The Bills have a chance to win the Super Bowl. Their top mission right now may be to prevent their run defense from becoming a fatal flaw.
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Joe Flacco is on the clock
The vibes from the Cleveland Browns’ shocking victory over the Green Bay Packers evaporated in Detroit, where the Lions pulverized the Browns, 34-10. The Browns’ upset last week momentarily masked the obvious issue hovering over their season: Joe Flacco’s ineptitude at quarterback is making a switch inevitable.
The Browns drafted two quarterbacks – Dillon Gabriel and, you may have heard, Shedeur Sanders – in the middle rounds. At 40, Flacco is clearly a placeholder. He may not be holding the place much longer. Despite the benefit of field position earned by one of the NFL’s best defenses, the Browns have produced 16, 17, 13 and 10 points in their games this season.
On Sunday, Flacco completed fewer than half his passes for 184 yards and threw two interceptions, giving him a league-high six. He entered Week 4 with the lowest yards per attempt in the NFL. The Browns held the high-flying Lions to 4.9 yards per play, but Flacco’s turnovers and three sacks taken led to short field and no chance to win.
For the second time in four weeks, Gabriel mopped up in the fourth quarter. The undersized, 25-year-old rookie may soon be playing all game. Gabriel has stood above Sanders on the depth chart all season; Sanders has been rostered on game day as the emergency quarterback. Whichever rookie gets the chance, playing Flacco is becoming both untenable and pointless for a team whose future matters more than the present.
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Mike Tomlin got away with one
All in all, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a tremendous trip to Dublin in their 24-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Aaron Rodgers played one of his best games in years, efficiently spreading the ball around. Their defense rebounded aside from a late, blown-coverage glitch. Kenneth Gainwell ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Their offense revolved around DK Metcalf, who in a twist played more than half his snaps from the slot, resulting in five catches for 126 yards and an 80-yard touchdown.
They escaped, though, only after an unforgivable game management misstep from Coach Mike Tomlin. Leading by three after the two-minute warning, the Vikings having exhausted their timeouts, the Steelers faced fourth and half a yard from the Vikings’ 40-yard line. Going should have been an obvious decision. The game would be over with a high-probability conversion. Only an exceptional punt would gain more than 20 or 30 yards in field position. Essentially, going for it gave Pittsburgh two paths to clinch victory and punting provided only one.
The Steelers took a delay of game and punted. Woof. Corliss Waitman’s punt sailed into the end zone. Pittsburgh’s defense narrowly bailed Tomlin out when Nick Herbig’s pressure on Carson Wentz forced an intentional grounding as the Vikings approached midfield. Tomlin got away with it, but in an easy moment to help the Steelers win, he made victory less likely.