Top storyline for each Week 4 NFL game

Week 4 opens up with two struggling AFC teams taking on one another while looking to get back on track heading into the quarter point of the season.

It concludes with a dominant Minnesota Vikings defense looking to hand it to Odell Beckham Jr. and the New York Giants.

In between these two nationally-televised games, two AFC East rivals take on one another in a huge early-season game. A rookie quarterback leads his Dallas Cowboys to California. It also includes the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers heading to Atlanta reeling from a Week 3 loss.

These are among the top storylines heading into Week 4 of the 2016 NFL season.

Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals: Getting the home team back on track

There seems to be something off about the Bengals during the early part of the season. Sure a 1-2 record points in this direction. But there’s more to it than simply losing two of their first three games.

Take the recent report that Bengals players are already at odds with defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle (more on that here).

Now, add in the fact that this unit has allowed nine passing touchdowns in three games, and something seems to be happening here. Remember, Cincinnati intercepted 21 passes while allowing just 18 passing touchdowns a season ago.

Offensively, Cincinnati has struggled both in protection of Andy Dalton and getting the ball to play-making receiver A.J. Green. Dalton has been sacked 12 times in three games after going down a total of 20 times last season.

Meanwhile, Green put up a stinker of a performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2, catching just 2-of-8 passes thrown his way.

There’s definitely some correlation here. And it must change in order for Cincinnati to avoid a let down against a vastly inferior Dolphins team that needed overtime to defeat the Cleveland Browns at home last week.

Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars: Staying viable in the AFC

Based on the Houston Texans’ blowout loss to the New England Patriots last week, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a team win the AFC South with nine wins once again this season. If that’s the case, both Indianapolis and Jacksonville remain viable in the division race.

Whoever loses this game might not be able to say that at the quarter point of the season.

Jacksonville’s road is already pretty much impossible. Since 1980, only five teams that have started out 0-3 went on to make the playoffs. Of that group, only one 0-4 team earned a trip to the postseason. Needless to say, a loss here by Jacksonville would pretty much eliminate the team from playoff contention.

It would also place Gus Bradley even further on the inferno-laced hot seat he currently exists on.

For the Colts, it’s rather simple. One T.Y. Hilton late-game catch against the San Diego Chargers last week saved their season. If it weren’t for that one huge play, the Colts would be entering Week 4 without a win.

More than simply taking care of business against an inferior opponent on Sunday, the Colts need to start gaining momentum, something we have not seen since the 2013 campaign. That means continued solid performances from Andrew Luck and a renewed energy on the defensive side of the ball.

If that were to happen, Chuck Pagano and Co. will find themselves at 2-2 at the quarter point of the season. If not, questions will continue regarding his job safety.

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots: Rex Ryan’s final stand

Ryan may have literally saved his job last week. Everything seemed to be spinning downhill after a disastrous Week 2 loss to the division-rival New York Jets.

A talented Arizona Cardinals team was making the trip to Western New York. It was doing so after absolutely dominating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the week prior. It was doing so with the Bills’ coaching staff already in flux following the firing of offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

An emperor with no clothes, Ryan somehow found a way to lead his Bills team to a dominating 33-18 win over Arizona, potentially saving his job in the process.

Now, heading into Week 4 against a Brady-less Pats team, Ryan and the Bills are looking to even their record at 2-2. Unfortunately, long-time AFC East nemesis Bill Belichick stands in his way.

No matter the shade Ryan wants to throw the way of his rival, one thing is readily apparent here. If the Bills were to put up a performance similar to what we saw in the first two weeks, Ryan’s job might be in jeopardy.

That would put the team three games behind New England in the AFC East. Not necessarily an ideal scenario for an organization that hasn’t earned a playoff spot since 1999.

And let’s be honest here for a second. Belichick would like nothing more than to put the final nail in the coffin of Ryan’s short-lived Bills coaching career.

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans: All eyes on Brock Osweiler

Osweiler simply hasn’t been a good quarterback in his three games with the Texans. This fact came out in droves last week against New England when he tallied 196 yards on 41 pass attempts. Those are hard numbers for a NFL quarterback to compile. It takes a lot of work. Most of it really bad work.

In the end, Houston fell 27-0 on national television in a game that exposed its $72 million signal caller to be a fraud.

We’re looking at a quarterback that had marginal success in seven career starts with the Denver Broncos. His shortcomings were masked by Denver’s dominant defense, a fact that resurfaced during the first two games of his Texans career.

Now facing renewed skepticism, Osweiler leads his Texans against a Titans defense that’s nowhere near up to the level of what the team saw in New England last week. Should the first-year full-time starter struggle here at home, it will tell us a lot more about where he’s heading moving forward on the season.

The interesting dynamic here is that Tennessee’s pass defense has actually been pretty darn good this season. It’s yielded just two touchdowns and an accumulative 76.4 quarterback rating against the likes of Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr.

Still, this is a defense Osweiler should be able to expose with the vast amount of weapons he has at his disposal. Should that not happen, there will surely be growing concerns that the Texans made a Texas-sized mistake by throwing that absurd amount of cash his way.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears: Home team’s quarterback mess

Brian Hoyer still isn’t a good quarterback. Jay Cutler still isn’t healthy. And once Cutler does return to full health, there’s no guarantee he will regain the starting job. All this representing the backdrop to an o-3 start that has seen the Bears outscored by a total of 38 points.

It could be said that the Bears are the worst team in football right now. Injuries on the defensive side of the ball coupled with inconsistency at quarterback has John Fox’s team at a legitimate crossroads heading into the quarter point of the season.

And while there are more issues than simply the quarterback position, that promises to be the biggest story moving forward in what looks to be a lost year in the Windy City.

Cutler opened the season up by turning the ball over three times in just six-plus quarters of action. He was then replaced in the lineup by Hoyer, who proceeded to lead the team to just 17 points against a pedestrian Dallas Cowboys defense on Sunday night.

Though, Chicago’s offense did show a bit more life under Hoyer than it did when Cutler was under center. The veteran journeyman completed 30-of-49 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns. All said, he led the Bears to their best offensive output (390 yards) since Week 10 of the 2015 season. Maybe that’s why Fox won’t commit to Cutler.

More than anything, this is about the future of the quarterback position in Chicago. Hoyer is a placeholder. That’s all he’s ever been during a largely average NFL career.

The larger question here is whether the Bears still view Cutler as a franchise quarterback. If not, the team will have to be looking at top-end quarterback prospects in the 2017 NFL Draft. How it performs on the field in terms of wins/losses will dictate whether Chicago will be able to add one of them.

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons: Protecting Cam 

Eight sacks. The reigning NFL MVP was sacked eight times by a swarming Minnesota Vikings defense last week. Overall this season, Newton has been brought to the turf a total of 12 times. Way to protect your $103 million investment.

Prior to Carolina putting up a surprising 15-win 2015 campaign, we focused on how the organization failed Cam by not providing him with enough pass protection upfront. That was mitigated to an extent by the resurgence of Michael Oher at left tackle.

Though, threw three games, it’s readily apparent that there are more issues along this offensive line than the brass in Carolina first thought. It started during the Super Bowl when Von Miller abused right tackle Mike Remmers, and has continued during the first three games of the regular season.

Whether Newton remains healthy all season remains to be seen. It must happen in order for Carolina to get out of this 1-2 funk and show itself to be true contenders in the NFC once again. It’s also going to require better pass protection.

Equally as important, Newton needs the protection in order to perform at a high level in Carolina’s timing-based passing attack. That obviously didn’t happen last week, as evidenced by the fact that top receiver Kelvin Benjamin was targeted one time throughout the game.

Taking on a Falcons defense that has recorded a grand total of 22 sacks over the past 20 games, the Panthers should be in good position to protect Newton here. Should that not happen, the team will likely fall to 1-3 with questions continuing to remain about Newton’s ability to remain healthy throughout the season.

Seattle Seahawks at New York Jets: Russell Wilson’s knee

Much like Cam in Carolina, there has to be some real concern about Wilson’s ability to hold up throughout the season. And much like the reigning NFL MVP, most of that has to do with lackluster offensive line play.

Just three weeks into the season, and Wilson has already suffered two semi-serious leg injuries. Back in Week 1, it came in the form of a sprained ankle. Then, this past Sunday, Wilson went down with a scary-looking knee injury while being sacked by San Francisco 49ers linebacker Eli Harold.

The good news here is that Wilson suffered only a sprained MCL and is preparing to go this week against the Jets. The bad news is that he will be taking on one of the best defensive lines in the entire game. This coming at a time when his offensive line has been among the worst in the NFL in pass protection.

Wilson has been hurried in over a quarter of his drop backs this season, a number that’s likely to increase with him at less than 100 percent.

He’s exposed from the blindside due to lackluster protection along the left side of the offensive line. He’s exposed from the interior and he’s exposed himself due to the injuries he suffered throughout the first three games.

Should something happen to Wilson that forces him out for an extended period of time, the margin for error just isn’t there in Seattle. It lost Marshawn Lynch to retirement, is facing a much more competitive NFC West than previous seasons, and simply doesn’t have the talent to make up for the loss of its franchise quarterback.

It’s in this that Seattle’s offensive line, under veteran coach Tom Cable, must do its part and perform at a much higher clip. If that doesn’t happen on Sunday, Wilson himself will surely be eating a ton of grass. Hopefully, it doesn’t result in a serious injury for the talented signal caller.

Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens: True competition for Baltimore

Baltimore is 3-0 on the season. That’s an amazing accomplishment considering the team went 5-11 last year. Unfortunately, it’s the weakest 3-0 mark we’ve seen in the recent history of the league.

The Ravens’ first three wins have come against the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars, teams that have combined to put up a 1-8 record on the campaign. They’ve also come by a combined 13 points.

Consider this: These three teams have lost their other five games by a combined 60 points.

Now, tasked with taking on a vastly improved Raiders squad and one of the top offenses in the NFL, Baltimore will surely be tested here. That’s something it can’t say about the first three weeks of the season.

Should John Harbaugh’s squad pass the first legitimate test of its young season, we will have to start taking this team seriously in the AFC North, a division that’s seemingly ripe for the taking this season.

On the other hand, a home loss against an up-and-coming playoff contender would raise questions about all the good Baltimore did during the first three games. That makes this a huge early-season test for the Ravens.

Cleveland Browns at Washington Redskins: A guy named Terrelle

What Pryor has done in his first full season as a wide receiver after making the transition from quarterback is nothing short of amazing. Following last week’s 144-yard explosion against the Miami Dolphins, Pryor is now on pace for over 1,300 receiving yards.

Did we mention that he also completed 3-of-5 passes for 35 yards while adding 21 yards and a score on the ground last week? Yes, that’s an average of 13.3 yards per touch. Adding to this ridiculousness, Pryor ranks second behind Antonio Brown in target percentage among NFL receivers.

In what is already looking like a lost season for the Browns, Pryor is the one bright spot. He’s also one of the primary reasons Cleveland remains a watchable entity despite starting the season with an 0-3 mark.

Now taking on Josh Norman this upcoming week, we should have our popcorn at the ready. It promises to be one heck of a battle between an up-and-coming receiver and one of the top corners in the league.

Denver Broncos at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: What to make of Tampa?

The Bucs shocked everyone by firing Lovie Smith and replacing him with offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter following a surprising 2015 season that saw the team in playoff contention into December.

It was a move meant to help Jameis Winston and the team’s young offense take that next step.

Through three games, this has happened to an extent. Tampa Bay ranks in the top 10 of total offense and is averaging nearly 24 points per game. For his part, Winston is averaging over 300 passing yards and is on pace for 43 touchdown passes.

In a sense, this strategy worked on one side of the ball. Unfortunately, it’s the Bucs’ defense that has been disastrous through three games. It just yielded 32 points to the lowly Los Angeles Rams’ offense last week and ranks dead last in scoring defense at 33.7 points per game.

That’s the trade off right there. You go from a defensive-minded head coach in Smith to someone that almost literally knows nothing about that side of the ball.

Now taking on the defending champion Broncos with an opportunity to hit the .500 mark on the season, it’s up to the Buccaneers’ defense to do the work here.

That’s magnified by the fact that Winston and Co. are going up against the league’s best defense. Should this not happen, Tampa will find itself at 1-3 at the quarter point of the season.

Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals: First place against last place

Even with the season in its infancy, there’s not a single person out there that believed Arizona would enter its Week 4 matchup with Los Angeles facing the possibility of falling two games behind the Rams in the NFC West. But that’s exactly where we are at.

After scoring a combined six points in their first two games, the Rams offense exploded (by their standards) for 37 points and 320 total yards in a win against Tampa Bay last week.

That game saw Todd Gurley finally do something of substance after being held to 2.5 yards per rush in the team’s first two outings. That in and of itself is going to be the biggest key here.

No one expects the likes of Case Keenum, Brian Quick and Tavon Austin to light up the Cardinals’ secondary in the passing game. That would be akin to this one scribe believing Carrie Underwood will dump Mike Fisher to hang out with him in Vegas.

Instead, it’s going to be all about finding balance on offense. Considering Arizona yielded 208 yards in its surprising loss to the Buffalo Bills last week, this isn’t a far-fetched possibility.

For the Cardinals, it really is all about playing more sound football. It seems to be ridiculous to focus on this with a Bruce Arians-led squad, but last week was a complete exception to the rule for the defending NFC West champions.

Not only did Carson Palmer throw four interceptions in defeat, the Cardinals couldn’t stop the run and struggled big time with the basics of tackling. Add in the eight penalties and three total fumbles, and there’s reason to worry here.

Can the Rams prove themselves to be a legit playoff contender this week? No. That’s going to take more than a three-game stretch. However, this game could expose the Cardinals as a fraud in the NFC. It’s in this that Palmer and Co. must show up.

Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers: Can Dak make decision harder for Dallas? 

We’ve read the reports coming out of Dallas. Tony Romo will regain his starting job when he’s 100 percent after suffering a broken bone in his back during the preseason.

Is that nothing more than company talk and PR spin at this point? We can’t be too sure it isn’t.

Through three weeks, Dallas boasts a 2-1 record and should conceivably possess a 3-0 mark. Here’s a team that’s playing darn good football under this rookie fourth-round pick. And in reality, it has a whole heck of a lot to do with Prescott himself.

Taking on a 49ers’ defense that’s yielded 83 points and 947 yards of total offense over the past two games, Prescott and the Cowboys have an opportunity to keep it rolling against an inferior opponent on Sunday.

Should that happen, and with another stellar outing from the Mississippi State product, we are definitely going to hear more rumblings about the quarterback situation Dallas.

New Orleans Saints at San Diego Chargers: Drew Brees’ homecoming 

It’s an anomaly we rarely see in the NFL. The Saints have not played in San Diego since the 2004 season.

In fact, the last time New Orleans traveled to the southernmost California city, it lost to a Brees-led Chargers team 43-17. That was two years before Brees made his way to the Bayou.

The only remaining member of the Chargers from the Brees era is Antonio Gates. This just goes to tell us how long ago it was.

Brees himself returns to San Diego at a crossroads. He’s leading a 0-3 team into a game that it simply must have to remain relevant in the NFC. He is doing so with the league’s worst defense and on the back-end of his career.

The future Hall of Famer would like nothing more than to go into San Diego and defeat an organization that chose its current starter, Philip Rivers, over Brees himself. Nope, 10 years doesn’t heal these wounds.

Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers: Who are these teams?

In asking this question, it’s all about figuring out one simple thing. Are these two teams conference title contenders or merely playoff contenders? Through three weeks, we have no idea.

Kansas City is coming off a dominant Week 3 win over the New York Jets. A game that saw the Chiefs force eight turnovers in a 24-3 win. That came on the heels of Andy Reid’s squad laying a complete egg against the same Houston Texans team it shutout in the playoffs last season.

On the other hand, Mike Tomlin’s Steelers had it handed to them by Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles last week.

Pittsburgh yielded 34 total points without scoring a single touchdown itself. That represented the squad’s worst loss in over a quarter century.

The talent is surely here for both teams to have a say in the AFC title race. It’s also talent that’s going to take on a whole new meaning here soon. Le’Veon Bell returns to the Steelers’ lineup after serving his three-game suspension.

Meanwhile, it sure looks like Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles is close to returning from the torn ACL he suffered last season.

It’s possible that we won’t know the true identities of these two teams until both of their star running backs are fully worked back into the mix.

But in an inter-conference game between two teams that earned a playoff spot last season, there’s definitely a lot on the line here.

New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings: Mike Zimmer’s dominating defense

It hasn’t just been dominant. Minnesota’s defense that shellacked its opponent at every turn this season. The numbers speak for themselves.

They also tell us a story of an up-and-coming unit fully prepared to help this team take the next step to Super Bowl contention.

Xavier Rhodes’ performance at cornerback last week against Carolina Panthers receiver Kelvin Benjamin was exceptional. Heck, it was so good that Benjamin was held to zero catches on a grand total of one target.

Though, it’s in the front seven where the Vikings have made their presence known. They recorded eight sacks of reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton last week, forcing the quarterback into three costly interceptions in the process. That charge was led by the likes of Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter.

With an offense that’s going to struggle putting up points, it’s going to be up to Minnesota’s defense to continue playing at a high level.

It’s definitely done that through three weeks. Now taking on a high-powered Giants offense, it will be interesting to see how this turns out Monday night.