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Top storyline for each Week 4 NFL game

Brad Rempel, USA Today Sports

Week 4 of the NFL season marks the quarter point of the schedule for all but two teams around the league. It’s a time for some squads to take stock after struggling a great deal earlier in the year. For others, it’s all about continuing the momentum that saw them put up solid September performances.

It’s also filled with storylines. A whole bunch of storylines.

From Michael Vick making his first start as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers against a division rival in desperate need of a win to Golden Tate returning to where it all started in Seattle, there promises to be a ton of drama around the NFL this week.

Here is your top storyline for each Week 4 NFL game.

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers: Michael Vick’s opportunity at a career revival

Michael Vick Steelers

This is going to be some exciting football. Vick enters the AFC North scene as a starting quarterback for Pittsburgh with Ben Roethlisberger sidelined for at least the next month. He does so on “Thursday Night Football” and with an opportunity to force Baltimore into a 0-4 record to start the season. Talk about being thrown to the wolves early.

Vick last started a game in the NFL as a member of the New York Jets last season. That stint resulted on a 1-2 record with the quarterback throwing a total of three touchdowns in 121 pass attempts. In those three starts, Vick led the Jets to an average of 11 points per game.

In fact, the last real success this 35-year-old signal caller had under center was as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles “Dream Team” squad back in 2011. Even then, he compiled a 84.9 rating and a 7-6 record in 13 starts.

The good news here is that Vick has the best group of skill-position players around him since returning to football after his infamous dog-fighting scandal.

If the veteran proves capable of holding down the fort with Big Ben sidelined, it will likely give him an opportunity to extend his career beyond the 2015 season. If not, this could very well be the end of the road for a quarterback that was once a generational talent.

New York Jets at Miami Dolphins: Nearly a must-win game for the home team

Miami came into the 2015 season with playoff expectations. After three weeks, and two consecutive losses, it now faces the real possibility of finding itself in a huge hole heading into the second quarter of the season.

With the New England Patriots dominating the football world and both the Buffalo Bills and Jets playing darn good football, a 1-3 record through four weeks could actually doom Joe Philbin’s squad.

The biggest issue for Miami through three weeks has been inconsistency on both sides of the ball. Ryan Tannehill, who looked like he was on the verge of a breakout campaign during the summer, hasn’t played horrible football. Though, a disastrous three-interception performance last week doomed the Dolphins in their 41-14 loss at the hands of the aforementioned Bills. Needless to say, the newly-extended quarterback needs to play at a higher clip for his team to have a chance this week.

Defensively, the Dolphins have yielded an average of 32 points and well over 400 yards per game over the past two weeks. With the talent this unit possesses, that’s clearly not acceptable.

If the Dolphins are going to have a fighting chance against a good Jets team this week, both sides of the ball are going to have to tighten up. The talent is most definitely there. It’s now all about execution.

New York Giants at Buffalo Bills: Tyrod Taylor’s rapid progression

After throwing three interceptions in a high-scoring loss to the Patriots back in Week 2, Taylor responded by playing the best game of his young career as a starter in the NFL last week.

The former Virginia Tech standout completed 21-of-29 passes for 277 yards with three scores and zero picks against the Dolphins. For Taylor, it represented the second consecutive game that he has put up three touchdown passes.

Riding Taylor’s hot play and solid performances from other skill-position players, Buffalo heads into Week 4 with a 2-1 record and a third-ranked scoring offense. Look for the newly-minted starter to continue his excellent play against a Giants defense that ranks in the bottom half of the NFL in scoring and is yielding well over 400 total yards per game this season.

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Newton vs Winston, part 1.0

There is little doubt that these two talented quarterbacks will face off a ton of times over the course of the next decade-plus. Cam Newton, who took a two-win Panthers squad from prior to his rookie year and turned it into a legit playoff contender, is entering this game with a 3-0 record and in first place in the NFC South.

Meanwhile, just three starts into his professional career, Winston is looking for the same type of upward trajectory in Tampa Bay.

While it hasn’t necessarily shown on the scoreboard (1-2 through three games), the Buccaneers are playing much better football with Winston under center than we saw last season. Heck, they went into New Orleans and defeated a Drew Brees-led Saints squad back in Week 2. That’s super impressive for a rookie quarterback.

To prove that the team’s progression has been fast-tracked, Winston needs to play mistake-free football in order to help his team come out on top. If that happens, the Buccaneers will find themselves at 2-2 entering October — matching their win total from a season ago.

Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears: Raiders looking for first 3-1 start since 2002 Super Bowl season

It’s been many years since Raiders fans found themselves in position to cheer for a competitive team. After all, this is a squad that won a total of 11 games over the past three years and hasn’t finished over .500 since its Super Bowl campaign of 2002.

Things changed drastically when former Fresno State star Derek Carr fell on to the Raiders lap in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft. Once they got him a star young receiver in Amari Cooper this past May, things appeared ready to take off. And boy have they.

Oakland enters Week 4 with an opportunity to put up a 3-1 record for the first time since the aforementioned 2002 season. It does so entering Chicago as road favorites Sunday afternoon. And it does so with the 10th-best scoring offense in the NFL.

Led by Carr (two consecutive 300-yard passing games) and Cooper (leading the NFL in yards after the catch), the Raiders look to continue their early-season momentum against a vastly inferior Bears team at Soldier Field on Sunday.

Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals: Andy Dalton’s hot play

If you look up “fire” in the dictionary, it’s likely you will find a photo of Cincinnati’s ginger-haired quarterback right there. Through three games, Dalton is completing over 66 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and one interception for a blistering hot 121.0 quarterback rating. He’s also coming off his fourth career four-touchdown performance in a late-game win over the division-rival Baltimore Ravens.

Looking to continue their hot play, the first-place Bengals will host a Chiefs team that has lost two consecutive games and is in desperate need of a win. Fortunately for the home team here, Kansas City’s defense is yielding a 101.6 rating to opposing quarterbacks through three games.

With a decided advantage in that aspect of the game, Dalton could very well be looking at another stellar outing come Sunday. If so, the Bengals will find themselves at 4-0 through the quarter point of the season.

Houston Texans at Atlanta Falcons: Can the Falcons offense continue to dominate against J.J. Watt?

It’s definitely debatable, but Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has staked claim to the top position among NFL wide receivers. Through three games, the ultra-talented pass catcher is leading the NFL in receptions (34) yards (440) and has put up four touchdowns. He’s also catching a ridiculous 74 percent of the passes thrown in his direction.

In no way is it a surprise that Matt Ryan has benefited from Jones’ early-season success. Atlanta’s quarterback is leading the fifth-best scoring offense in the NFL and is currently on pace to put up over 5,000 passing yards for the first time in his career.

Going up against a player in J.J. Watt who can change the outcome of a game on a dime, it’s going to be important that Ryan is given a clean pocket to find Jones on the outside.

The good news for Atlanta is that second-year left tackle Jake Matthews has yet to allow a quarterback hit or a sack through three games. That’s one of the primary reasons Atlanta’s passing game is one of the best in the NFL.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck looking to turn the corner

Kevin Hoffman, USA Today Sports

Assuming Luck (minor shoulder injury) is able to go on Sunday, he’s going to have an opportunity to build off what was a stellar fourth quarter performance in a comeback win over the Tennessee Titans. Prior to tallying two touchdowns in that final stanza, Luck had racked up three touchdowns and a league-leading eight turnovers in the first 11 quarters of the season.

Still leading the NFL in interceptions (seven), Luck has a chance to get back on track against a Jaguars defense that is allowing quarterbacks to complete 69 percent of their passes for a rating in the triple-digits.

If that happens, the Colts could find themselves in the midst of a nice little winning streak. If not, there will be more questions about Luck’s ability to lead this team moving forward this season, as overblown as those questions might be.

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins: Questions for both team’s starting quarterback

Neither Sam Bradford nor Kirk Cousins appears to be in jeopardy of losing his starting job, but both quarterbacks have struggled a great deal this season.

Bradford has failed to live up to preseason expectations for an Eagles team that many expected to contend for a playoff spot. Through three games, Bradford has thrown for less than 700 yards with three touchdowns and four picks while leading the league’s 23rd-ranked passing offense.

Meanwhile, Cousins has done a whole bunch of nothing in D.C. For some reason beyond the logical thought process of your average human, head coach Jay Gruden decided to give Cousins the key to his team’s offense. The results have been disastrous.

Cousins may be completing nearly 70 percent of his passes, but he’s thrown just three interceptions in as many games and is leading the 26th-ranked scoring offense in the NFL.

Both the Eagles and Redskins have options behind their current starters. For Philadelphia, it comes in a quarterback the team re-signed this past offseason. And while Mark Sanchez doesn’t provide a ton of upside, it’s hard to imagine the Eagles being any worse off with him under center.

In Washington, Robert Griffin III could be an option. Though, it’s likely that ship has sailed as long as Gruden is the head coach.

Cleveland Browns at San Diego Chargers: How much longer can Cleveland stick with Josh McCown?

At this point, the quarterback situation in Cleveland is becoming comical. I cannot understand for the life of me why the Browns and head coach Mike Pettine are sticking with McCown under center.

Prior to the start of the season, it could have made some sense. Johnny Manziel was coming off an offseason that saw him spend extensive time in rehab. He also didn’t seem to be prepared to take over the starting job.

Now, it’s just a joke. McCown may have put up 341 passing yards against a weak Oakland Raiders pass defense last week, but it took a near garbage time situation and 49 passes to do so. Still then, the Browns could only muster 20 points. It was McCown’s second start of the season (both losses).

Meanwhile, Manziel led the team to an impressive 28-14 victory over Tennessee in the veteran’s stead when McCown was sitting out with a concussion in Week 2.

Small sample size aside, this has led to what one gossip rag has referred to as drama in the Browns locker room. While it would be foolish to really even suggest that this report has any legs to it, no one would be surprised if there were Browns players privately indicating they would rather see Manziel under center. That’s the point we are at right now in Cleveland.

As it relates to the season, Cleveland now stands at 1-2 through three games. A loss to the Chargers come Sunday, and this team will be right back where it’s been over the past several seasons — closer to last place than first place.

Minnesota Vikings at Denver Broncos: Offensive star power in game that should be defensive slug fest

Adrian Peterson now leads the NFL in rush attempts (59) and rushing yards (291) through three games. This was made possible by a two-game stretch that has seen the league’s best running back put up 318 total yards and two scores.

Peyton Manning was supposed to be the conductor of a run-first offense in Gary Kubiak’s first season as the Broncos head coach. Offensive line issues and Manning’s regressing abilities seemed to scrap this through three games.

Now running out of the pistol formation (yeah, that’s happening), Manning seems to have righted the ship following a bad late-season performance last year and two questionable outings this season. Though, this one scribe is pretty sure the Broncos don’t want to see Manning continuing to put up 40-plus pass attempts per game.

For his part, Peterson had some kind words to throw Manning’s way this week. With these two veterans coming off stellar outings, some might figure that Sunday’s game would be a high-scoring affair. Not so fast, my friends.

Denver’s defense ranks No. 1 in the NFL in pass defense at 176.3 yards per game and total defense at 259 yards per game. Heck, its defense is yielding a ridiculously low 58.0 passer rating to opposing quarterback. For the Vikings, it’s been all the emergence of talented youngsters on defense. That unit is yielding the fifth-fewest points in the NFL and a quarterback rating of just 85.0.

The Broncos come into this game with a perfect 3-0 record while the Vikings are riding a two-game winning streak after a blowout loss to San Francisco in Week 1. This is a pretty big barometer game for both squads.

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers: League’s best quarterback against one of the NFL’s worst defenses

Coming off a four-interception performance against the Arizona Cardinals last week, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is going to have his hands full in an attempt to keep pace with a dominating Packers offense on Sunday.

And while Kaepernick has had tremendous success against the Packers in the past (3-0 record, 400-plus total yards per game and eight touchdowns), those numbers might not even be enough to keep up with Green Bay.

Playing the best football of any quarterback in generations, Aaron Rodgers has thrown 149 touchdowns compared to 25 interceptions since the start of the 2011 season. I’ll give you some time to comprehend that stat before really scaring fans in San Francisco in the lead up to the game.

Okay. San Francisco’s defense has allowed 40-plus points in two consecutive games for the first time since the 1969 season. It has also allowed a 70 percent completion percentage and 111.6 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks through three games.

To make matters significantly worse, this is all being done with an average of 30 passes being thrown against the defense. This means that opposing teams are stopping the pass in what have been blowout 49ers’ losses over the past two games.

At 1-2 on the season and coming off two consecutive humiliating defeats, San Francisco needs to find a way to pull off an upset here. If that doesn’t happen, any goodwill the team had following an impressive Week 1 performance will be all but gone. Unfortunately, that could be all on Kaepernick’s shoulders.

St. Louis Rams at Arizona Cardinals: Arizona looking to go 4-0 for first time since 1974

We have seen the stats. Arizona ranks in the top-10 in league history in points scored in a team’s first three games. It’s averaging a whopping 42 points per game thus far this year.

As a team, the Cardinals are outscoring their opponents by an average of 25.7 points per game. That’s more than all but 10 teams are averaging in terms of scoring this season.

For a franchise that hasn’t seen a ton of success in its history, this is all new to the Cardinals. As one of the top-three teams in the NFL, it’s now all about Bruce Arians and Co. maintaining this high level of play.

Going up against an inconsistent Rams team that has already defeated the Seattle Seahawks this year, it will be important for the Cardinals to be at the top of their game. If that happens, the team could be looking at its first 4-0 start since Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets” topped the billboard charts.

Dallas Cowboys at New Orleans Saints: Pretty much a must win for the home team

Chuck Cook, USA Today Sports

Could we really be looking at Brandon Weeden matching wits with Luke McCown in this all-important early-season game for both teams? That will depend on news we hear from New Orleans on Friday relating to the status of Drew Brees. In any event, this is a huge game for the home team.

At 0-3 on the season, New Orleans is already behind the proverbial eight-ball. Since 1990, only two percent of the teams that have started a season with three straight losses have made the playoffs — the last being the 1998 Buffalo Bills. Since the AFL-NFL merger of 1966, only one team has made the postseason after starting 0-4.

In a division that boasts two undefeated teams, the Saints are one nail in the coffin from being done this season. Their only realistic (or not) hope of salvaging something out of this season is a win on Sunday night against an injury-plagued Cowboys team.

Detroit Lions at Seattle Seahawks: Golden Tate’s return to CenturyLink

I would pay really good money to see Tate go up against Richard Sherman in this one. Though, that’s extremely unlikely to happen. In any event, Tate and his ultra-enigmatic personality will travel to the Pacific Northwest with his Lions team in desperate need of a win after starting the season 0-3.

It will be interesting to see if Tate saber-rattles his former teammates into some sort of armed conflict come game time Monday night. Based on Tate’s personality, this wouldn’t be a surprise.

Check out Vincent’s other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL

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