NFL

NFL Week 4 wrap 2024

Catch up on all the action from week four of the NFL season!

Published by
Frank Seal

Dallas Cowboys (20 vs 15) New York Giants

Dak Prescott: 22/27 completed, 221 yards, 2 touchdowns
Ceedee Lamb: 7 catches, 98 yards, 1 touchdown

Daniel Jones: 29/40 completed, 281 yards, 1 interception
Malik Nabers: 12 catches, 115 yards

Those who were unimpressed by Dallas' start to the season were far from convinced by their performance on Thursday Night, scraping past the lowly Giants in a lifeless encounter.

The Cowboys' defence is yet to return to their brutal best, and copped a frustrating blow to their most imposing force, Micah Parsons, who went down with a sprained ankle.

Fortunately, QB Dak Prescott's accuracy and connection with Ceedee Lamb was enough to take Dallas to 2-2.

New Orleans Saints (24 vs 26) Atlanta Falcons

Derek Carr: 28/36 completed, 239 yards, 1 interception
Alvin Kamara: 119 total yards, 1 touchdown

Kirk Cousins: 21/35 completed, 238 yards, 1 interception
Troy Anderson: 1 touchdown, 1 tackle-for-loss

The Falcons move to 2-2 with the divisional bonus over the Saints after scoring 26 points without an offensive touchdown.

Neither quarterback shot the lights out, but Atlanta linebacker Troy Anderson's pick six proved the costly blow in the match, as a 4/4 kicking day and game-winning field goal for Younghoe Koo sealed victory.

Cincinnati Bengals (34 vs 24) Carolina Panthers

Joe Burrow: 22/31 completed, 232 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
Chase Brown: 80 rush yards, 2 touchdowns

Andy Dalton: 25/40 completed, 220 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
Chubba Hubbard: 104 rush yards, 1 touchdown

Not all that convincing, but a must-win match that the Bengals capitalised on. Now 1-3, Cincinnati still sit in a glaring hole, but have re-found a winning feeling to launch into the middle of the season with.

Ja'Marr Chase is gradually returning to his best form, exploding for 85 yards and a touchdown from just three receptions.

Though barring their one interception early in the piece, the Bengals' defence has work to, failing to inflict a single sack of tackle-for-loss on the Panthers.

Los Angeles Rams (18 vs 24) Chicago Bears

Matthew Stafford: 20/29 completed, 224 yards, 1 interception
Kyren Williams: 94 rush yards, 1 touchdown

Caleb Williams: 17/23 completed, 157 yards, 1 touchdown
D'Andre Swift: 93 rush yards, 1 touchdown
Jaquan Brisker: 1 sack, 2 tackles-for-loss

While the Bears were favoured to win this, the result comes as a surprise to some.

No clear-cut number one receiver hurts the Rams, but no mistakes for Caleb Williams and a quality run game from D'Andre Swift with a game-sealing score gives Chicago plenty to look forward to moving on.

It is still way too early to tell what impact Caleb Williams will have with more time leading the Bears, but there's no shame in boasting 2-2 record after the rocky start they've endured.

Minnesota Vikings (31 vs 29) Green Bay Packers

Sam Darnold: 20/28 completed, 275 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception
Justin Jefferson: 6 catches, 85 yards, 1 touchdown

Jordan Love: 32/54 completed, 389 yards, 4 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
Jaylen Reed: 7 catches, 139 yards, 1 touchdown

The Vikings remain unbeaten despite a scintillating fourth quarter comeback from the Packers, who scored 22 points to three in the final term.

If not for two missed field goals by Green Bay kicker Brayden Narveson, the Packers would have claimed victory with a roller coaster comeback from injury for QB Jordan Love.

They left it all up to Love on the day, who threw the ball 54 times for mixed results, scoring a stunning four touchdowns but three ugly picks including one in the fourth.

Sam Darnold continues his winning ways in a breakout campaign so far, we'll see how long the Vikings can hold their spot up top the NFC.

Jacksonville Jaguars (20 vs 24) Houston Texans

Trevor Lawrence: 18/33 completed, 169 yards, 2 touchdowns
Brian Thomas Jr.: 6 catches, 86 yards, 1 touchdown

C.J. Stroud: 27/40 completed, 345 yards, 2 touchdowns
Nico Collins: 12 catches, 151 yards, 1 touchdown

Once again the Jags fail to capitalise in a winning position, and remain winless after four games. The offense can't get into a routine flow and are very susceptible to costly game-management calls.

The Texans squeaked by and were somewhat lucky, but will enjoy having young quarterback C.J. Stroud back to playing some of his best football, scoring the decisive touchdown with less than three minutes remaining.

Pittsburgh Steelers (24 vs 27) Indianapolis Colts

Justin Fields: 22/34 completed, 367 total yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 turnover
George Pickens: 7 catches, 113 yards

Joe Flacco: 16/26 completed, 168 yards, 2 touchdowns
Michael Pittman: 6 catches, 113 yards

The Colts could be a playoff team the way this season and the AFC South division is shaping. A hip injury to QB excitement machine Anthony Richardson is an inconvenience, but reportedly just a minor one.

They've notched another win despite a thrilling display from Steelers recruit Justin Fields, who is breaking out this season as a dual threat.

There is still some work to do on looking after the ball, but with George Pickens to launch a solid defence as the foundation, the Steelers could be dangerous.

Denver Broncos (10 vs 9) New York Jets

Bo Nix: 12/25 completed, 60 yards, 1 touchdown
Courtland Sutton: 3 catches, 60 yards, 1 touchdown

Aaron Rodgers: 24/42 completed, 225 yards
Mike Williams: 4 catches, 67 yards

A tough watch for all involved. Denver clearly don't trust their new quarterback to take them very far, while Aaron Rodgers got a peak into the Jets' experience over the last decade, especially on Greg Zuerlein's costly missed field goal late.

Defense dominated this one, and talks of New York's surge to Super Bowl contention can be put on ice for a while, as both teams reach a 2-2 record after four games.

Philadelphia Eagles (16 vs 33) Tampa Bay Bucaneers

Jalen Hurts: 18/30 completed, 178 total yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 turnover
Saquon Barkley: 10 carries, 84 yards

Baker Mayfield: 30/47 completed, 357 total yards, 3 touchdowns
Mike Evans: 8 catches, 94 yards, 1 touchdown
Lavonte David: 2 sacks, 2 tackles-for-loss

Philly continue to be the Bucs' NFL bunnies, seemingly holding a psychological edge over the franchise in recent seasons.

Tampa Bay piled on more pain following their playoff victory last season, and did so with another prolific performance from Baker Mayfield.

The doubts in the Eagles' camp continue to haunt them, with coach Nick Sirianni under the microscope and quarterback Jalen Hurts not free from criticism either.

Saquon Barkley still looks like the recruit of the season regardless.

Washington Commanders (42 vs 14) Arizona Cardinals

Jayden Daniels: 26/30 completed, 280 total yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
Brian Robinson: 21 carries, 113 total yards, 1 touchdown

Kyler Murray: 16/22 completed, 142 yards, 1 touchdown
James Conner: 18 carries, 104 yards, 1 touchdown

Jayden Daniels looks like the rookie of the year so far, bringing newfound excitement to a franchise begging for some.

Any doubts of holding a lead heading into the last quarter were put to bed by two fourth-quarter touchdown drives to establish a blowout win over the in-form Cardinals on their home deck.

Arizona had no answers beyond an admirable effort from running back James Conner, who exceeded 100 yards in the loss.

New England Patriots (13 vs 30) San Fransisco 49ers

Jacoby Brissett: 19/32 completed, 168 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 turnovers
Antonio Gibson: 3 catches, 67 yards

Brock Purdy: 15/27 completed, 288 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Jordan Mason: 24 carries, 160 total yards, 1 touchdown

Brock Purdy continues to dine on opposing defences without the full crop of stars helping him, this week sharing the spoils with Juan Jennings, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and others.

No Christian McCaffrey, no worries. Backup RB Jordan Mason looks like one of the best in the business at the moment, even as coach Kyle Shanahan leans a large bulk of the offense on him.

The Patriots never stood a chance, but did manage to reach the end-zone and hit the scoreboard to steady the margin.

Kansas City Chiefs (17 vs 10) Los Angeles Chargers

Patrick Mahomes: 19/29 completed, 245 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Travis Kelce: 7 catches, 89 yards
Chris Jones: 2 sacks, 2 tackles-for-loss

Justin Herbert: 16/27 completed, 179 yards, 1 touchdown
Ladd McConkey: 5 catches, 67 yards, 1 touchdown
Bud Dupree: 2 sacks, 2 tackles-for-loss

How do the Chiefs do it? They are still yet to put together a convincing four-quarter performance this season, they lost their best receiver, Rashee Rice early in the piece to what initially looked like a season-ending knee injury.

Patrick Mahomes is rediscovering his bomb-throwing ways on the fly, but the Chiefs just keep winning.

This is all while opponents come in with a clear plan to bring their best against the benchmark of the league, but continue to falter under the pressure of Mahomes, Andy Reid and Travis Kelce's presence, while Steve Spaguolo's defensive scheme overwhelms everyone.

Some soul-searching awaits the entire AFC.

Cleveland Browns (16 vs 20) Las Vegas Raiders 

Deshaun Watson: 24/32 completed, 208 total yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Jerry Jeudy: 6 catches, 72 yards
Myles Garrett: 2 sacks, 2 tackles-for-loss

Gardner Minshew: 14/24 completed, 130 yards
Alexander Mattison: 5 catches, 60 yards

The Raiders claim victory despite some offensive struggles and defensive lapses.

Beyond a defensive clinic by Myles Garrett and defensive touchdown to Rodney McLeod Jr., the Browns were poor again, and sit in a gaping hole in the AFC North this season, likely to fall behind the Bengals in the coming weeks, with a quarterback controversy to figure out eventually.

Buffalo Bills (10 vs 35) Baltimore Ravens

Josh Allen: 16/29 completed, 201 total yards, 1 turnover
Khalil Shakir: 4 catches, 62 yards

Lamar Jackson: 13/18 completed, 210 total yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 turnover
Derrick Henry: 24 carries, 209 total yards, 2 touchdowns
Kyle Van Noy: 2 sacks, 2 tackles-for-loss

Just as the Bills look like the team to beat and the Ravens battle their attitudinal woes, Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens' defense go bang!

Henry's first quarter run and touchdown will go down as one of the best plays of the season and a worrying sign for run defences moving forward.

Josh Allen took on some super-man plays to thrilling effect, but could not even keep the Bills close in Baltimore, giving up their first loss of the season.

Tennessee Titans (31 vs 12) Miami Dolphins

Mason Rudolph: 9/17 completed, 85 yards
Tony Pollard: 22 carries, 108 total yards, 1 touchdown

Tyler Huntley: 14/22 completed, 136 total yards, 1 touchdown
Jaylen Waddle: 4 catches, 36 yards

The Titans claim victory and may have a quarterback controversy, with Will Levis going down with a shoulder injury and Mason Rudolph stepping up to the plate with a win.

The Dolphins are without an adequate solution to replace the impact of sidelined QB Tua Tagovailoa, leaving receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle hung out to dry as the struggles continue.

Seattle Seahawks (29 vs 42) Detroit Lions

Geno Smith: 38/56 completed, 433 total yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Kenneth Walker III: 12 carries, 136 total yards, 3 touchdowns

Jared Goff: 18/18 completed, 292 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 TD reception
Jameson Williams: 2 targets, 80 yards, 1 touchdown

Fascinating game. The performance of Geno Smith was scintillating despite the loss, as was Kenneth Walker in his three-touchdown showing.

Jared Goff was perfect, throwing 18/18 in a record breaking performance. He also caught a touchdown thrown by wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in a Philly special-esque play.

The two would connect again - in reverse order - for a game-sealing fourth quarter touchdown.

Published by
Frank Seal