The NFL season has been far from boring or predictable up to now, and this weekend’s slate of games offers several exciting matchups, sprinkled with unfortunate injuries along the way.
Here are some observations to take note of prior to the NFL action in Week 4.
New Orleans Saints looking for first win, which won’t come in a smoothie
The New Orleans Saints have lost on the road and at home, with Drew Brees and without him.
Head coach Sean Payton appears to get that drift as well stating this of the team’s current losing status when he addressed the media (via Nola.com):
“It doesn’t come in a smoothie, a pill or anything like that. I think the first step, that we were just discussing, is certain things that keep you from winning. The other stuff will take care of itself.”
It used to be that the Saints were unbeatable at home and fans out there watching could nearly bet on the fact that Brees playing at the Superdome was a sure win. Not so much anymore.
Brees and the Saints lost at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a rookie quarterback in Week 2. They had already lost in Week 1 on the road, and then again in Week 3 on the road with backup Luke McCown.
Week 4 brings the Saints back home to host the Dallas Cowboys, headed up by a backup quarterback who lost last week. If Brees plays, the recipe for a successful outing at home against the Cowboys looks promising.
That said, if Brees plays and the team doesn’t scratch out a win over the Brandon Weeden-led Cowboys, then there is something horribly wrong.
Only two Week 4 quarterbacks have zero interceptions
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers remains interception-free so far this season. However, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning also joins Rodgers as the only two quarterbacks heading into Week 4 who have yet to toss a pick.
We’ll discount the fact that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady also has no interceptions because he is enjoying himself on a bye this week.
As for Rodgers, he has completed 67 of 91 passes for 771 yards and 10 touchdowns — five of which came last week against the Kansas City Chiefs. We can probably conclude that Rodgers will be adding to that number big time while remaining clean against a terrible San Francisco 49ers defense on Sunday.
As for Eli, he has completed 70 of 108 passes for 764 yards and four touchdowns. While Manning’s zero touchdown status is commendable, he certainly could score more touchdowns and improve upon the team’s 1-2 record. At least Eli has his big brother Peyton, who has three interceptions, beat in this category.
Cleveland Browns teammates furious about quarterback situation?
The Cleveland Browns are 1-2 resulting in two losses at the hands of Josh McCown versus Johnny Manziel’s win when he started in Week 2.
Yet the Browns have McCown listed as the starter. For this, the Browns’ teammates are irate and some anonymously lashed out with their frustrations:
“I love both Johnny and Josh but its f—ed up when you have Johnny come in and play well and has proven to the team that he is the right person for the job,” the player told TMZ (h/t cbssports.com). “It’s frustrating to him and us when you sit a player down when he is playing well. Coach has got to understand you are messing up the chemistry and timing with players and its f—ed up.”
Receiver Andrew Hawkins adamantly denies this rumored discontent, however, saying it’s “1,000-percent made up.”
It is possible all the alleged ranting is starting to wear on the ears of the Browns brass because there are reports that Manziel might get a “package of plays” this week.
Either way, the Browns will look to climb out of the McCown pit of despair and pull off a win on the road against the San Diego Chargers, who have won four of the past five games against Cleveland. Good luck with that, guys.
New York Jets players are clueless about London landmarks
No. Buckingham Palace is not the capitol of Paris.
The New York Jets and Miami Dolphins will be playing Sunday’s Week 4 game at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Therefore, some of the New York Jets players were quizzed on whether they could name two of the London’s landmarks – Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. The responses some had were priceless. “Pass” was one of the classic answers.
Thank goodness these guys have successful careers in football going for them.
Kickers dominate the top 10 NFL offensive point scorers
The top two NFL point scorers after the first three games are New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski who has scored 35 points and New York Giants kicker Josh Brown who has 34 points. Insert happy fantasy football owner faces here.
The top 10 points scored in three weeks range from 35 to 21 for which 14 kickers and eight other offensive players rank due to ties. The list contains some surprise names along with some no-brainers. Larry Fitzgerald, Jamaal Charles, and Travis Benjamin have all scored 30 points. While James Jones, Randall Cobb, Julio Jones, Rob Gronkowski and DeVonta Freeman have each scored 24 points.
Regarding the non-kickers, who would have thought we’d be seeing names such as James Jones, who in his last season with Green Bay in 2013 only scored three touchdowns all year? As for Benjamin, before his four touchdowns this season, he only had five total scores to his name in his past three seasons with the Browns.
Note that this analysis covers the first three weeks of the season so Justin Tucker’s 11 points made on Thursday Night Football do not factor into the equation.
Melvin Gordon leads in rookie rushing yards while many veteran running backs lag
The San Diego Chargers drafted well when they selected Gordon in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Currently, Gordon leads in rookie rushing yards with 190 at an average pace of 4.3 yards per carry.
Entering into Week 4, Gordon ranks No. 11 overall in rushing yards, which is quite impressive for a rookie. He is making other struggling veterans, such as LeSean McCoy (146 yards, 3.4 y/a) and Marshawn Lynch (128 yards, 3.4 y/a), look quite haggard. Both running backs are a bit dinged-up and it is becoming very apparent as shown by their lowly average yards per attempt.
Sitting dead-last in production is Philadelphia Eagles running back and last year’s top rusher, DeMarco Murray. In the two games Murray has played he has only rushed for 11 yards on one attempt, which equates to a miserable 0.5 yards per carry.
Let’s hope Murray can improve on this horrible stat if he is able to play against the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
These two teams will be 0-4 at the end of Week 4
The two teams that look to have no shot at winning in Week 4 are the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, who currently sit at 0-3.
The Bears, who were simply depressing to watch as they got shut out by the Seattle Seahawks last week, have a home game against the Oakland Raiders. Receiver Alshon Jeffery has already been ruled out of this contest. The team could be playing without starting quarterback Jay Cutler once again which will only make matters worse.
As for the Bears defense, they have allowed 10 touchdowns and 105 points to be scored, which is the most in the NFL. Oakland’s offense is on fire as of late with Derek Carr under center. They’ve registered 848 passing yards, 315 rushing yards and nine touchdowns the past three weeks.
The Bears will be outplayed on many levels and should lose once again in Week 4.
The poor Detroit Lions will also go 0-4 facing the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on Monday Night Football.
After shutting down the Bears, the Seahawks defense will feast on Matthew Stafford and crew, who have only managed 56 points all season. Stafford is an interception machine with five so far and the team is struggling to sustain drives in order to put points on the board. They also can’t get anything going on the ground as shown by a meager 135 total rushing yards.
Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense will have no problem claiming their second victory over the Lions, whose defense has been awful allowing 881 passing yards in three weeks.
And, we’ll be bound to see some “in your face” looks going on between Golden Tate and his former team.
Hurricane Joaquin is attempting to interfere with Washington/Eagles game
A tropical storm and two floundering quarterbacks – what could possibly go wrong?
At one point it was thought the NFL might have to relocate Washington’s home game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to the oncoming Hurricane Joaquin that could be heading for the states.
After determining the game was safe to play in Washington, we know it could still be quite a stormy, wet contest at FedEx Field led by quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Sam Bradford. Both quarterbacks currently tie with a lopsided 3:4 touchdown to interception ratio and have only managed to lead their teams to one win.
Slippery, muddy conditions don’t look to add to either quarterback’s success in Week 4. And, we shudder at the thought of Bradford scrambling around on a slick, wet field. This game should be a run-dominated affair by both teams, which hopefully will cut down on both quarterbacks making lousy passes.