NFL Round-Up: Week Four

Week Four of the NFL season is officially in the books. It's safe to say that at this point in the NFL season, we have a good idea of who the pretenders and the contenders are. It's pretty easy now to pinpoint exactly what's going to happen every week now that we have a good idea of what each team is bringing to the plate this season.

I kid of course.

C'mon guys! It's the NFL people! We never know what we're going to see on a week-to-week basis. Just because the Cincinnati Bengals are undefeated and look like world beaters right now, all it's going to take is one bad Andy Dalton game next week to have everyone saying "I TOLD YOU SO!".

Anyway, this week sucked because the New England Patriots were on a bye week and whenever the Patriots are off with a bye, the NFL product suffers in a horrible way. Isn't that right Tommy boy?

"Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate"

Thankfully, the New England Patriots and Marcus Mariota will be back in my life next week. As for now, let's take a look at what went down in week four of this already crazy NFL season.

So.......

Sit back........

Grab a beer............

Put the kids outside...........

Tell the wife to leave you alone.........

IT'S TIME............................................

NFL Round-Up

Week 4

The Scoreboard

(A recap of all the action from the past week in the NFL....)

*Due to time restraints, the Monday Night Football games are not included in The Scoreboard


Baltimore Ravens (1-3): 23    Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2): 20

It's good to see the Baltimore Ravens pick up their first win of the season. Why? Because they were my pre-season Super Bowl pick and it would've have been next to impossible for them to make the playoffs had they started out 0-4. As for this game itself? It wasn't pretty. It basically came down to the fact that the Steelers kicker Josh Scobee couldn't make a field goal to save his life and the Ravens kicker could. I don't know what else to say about this game? Baltimore is a mess right now and they don't exactly scare me in anyway shape or form. The Steelers are a good football team, but Michael Vick can't throw the ball downfield and unfortunately NFL defenses are well aware of that. Something tells me that Pittsburgh fans are going to be eagerly counting down the weeks until Ben Roethlisberger returns. They had just better hope and pray that they aren't out of playoff contention by then.  

Kansas City Chiefs (1-3): 21     Cincinnati Bengals (4-0): 36

The Cincinnati Bengals are for real people. They have quietly been playing some of the best football in the NFL this season and they absolutely dominated the Chiefs on Sunday. My wagon is fully hitched to the Bengals bandwagon, so expect them to fall off a cliff the next two weeks when they face the Seahawks and the Bills. Let's focus on the Chiefs though. This team needs a bye week in the worst way. After facing their third straight undefeated team (and second straight on the road), this is an exhausted team that could use a break. The Chiefs unfortunately don't have a bye week for another month, but the good news is the schedule does get a little easier coming up. Hopefully during this time, Kansas City can find a way to manage their offensive line issues. This unit is god awful and is single handily killing this team. They are giving the very limited Alex Smith no time at all, which is causing the offense to struggle in various ways. I know the NFL draft and free agency are a long ways away, but unfortunately that's the only way the Kansas City Chiefs are going to fix their offensive line problems. This schedule and offensive line are just screaming 8-8 or worse....

New York Jets (3-1): 27     Miami Dolphins (1-3): 14

Raise your hand if you think NFL games in London are a good idea.

  

Ya, that's what I thought.

Look NFL. I get why you want the United Kingdom to become NFL fans ($$$), but do you really have to drag two teams over their each year to play mediocre football games? Are the few NFL fans in London screaming from the rooftops to see the Dolphins and the Jets play against each other in person? I don't think so. Can we just call this a failed experiment, go on with our lives and just act like it never happened? As for the game itself, the Dolphins are garbage. Like my buddy Jeremy Lambert said, would any Dolphins fans really care if Miami left Joe Philbin over in London? I don't think so. If that guy isn't sitting on a hot seat, than the Dolphins are the worst ran NFL team in the league. Miami needs to get somebody in there who can whip this offense up. Throw the ball downfield to Kenny Still and get the running game going. Miami is a talented team that is playing like it has no direction, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO DIRECTION! Look at the Jets! The Jets are not that good of a team, but new head coach Todd Bowles has these guys playing like playoff contenders! That's what the Dolphins need! MAKE IT HAPPEN ALREADY!

[Editor's Note: Joe Philbin was fired from the Miami Dolphins on Monday, I just thought it would be funny to keep the rant I wrote about him on Sunday in the column.]

Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3): 13      Indianapolis Colts (2-2): 16

The Colts survived beating the awful Jacksonville Jaguars by the skin of their teeth. Usually, one would look at this score and shake his head as the Colts continue their disappointing 2015-16 NFL season. However, Andrew Luck was out of this game and the Colts were left playing the 104 year-old Matt Hasselbeck in his place. Thankfully for Colts fans, Hasselbeck can still get it done somewhat. However, don't get too excited because this team still has a ton of question marks surrounding it. Chuck Pagano continues to make questionable coaching decisions. The free agent pick-ups from the off-season continue to be very underwhelming. And no one knows what kind of player Andrew Luck is going to be once he returns from injury, because he hasn't been a very good one so far this season and with an injury....I'm not feeling to confident about him once he returns. I guess it's a good thing the Colts are playing in the awful AFC South, isn't it? Worst division in football right now by a mile.

New York Giants (2-2): 24    Buffalo Bills (2-2): 12

Leave it up to the Bills to come out and fall flat on their face immediately after I give them some credit. After crushing the Dolphins last week, the Bills should have come out and crushed a mediocre Giants team. Instead they didn't look good on either side of the ball and now they have me questioning whether or not these guys are for real. Is it a coincidence that the Bills come out looking like shit the same week the New England Patriots are on a bye???

Carolina Panthers (4-0): 37    Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3): 23

The Panthers have had a pretty easy schedule so far this year (in my pre-season picks, I have them starting out 4-0), but business is about to pick up when the team returns from it's bye after next week. Carolina has to travel to Seattle in week six and that game is really going to tell us everything we need to know about the Panthers. Only great teams can go into Seattle and escape with the win. Are the Panthers and Cam Newton a great team?

Philadelphia Eagles (1-3): 20    Washington Redskins (2-2): 23

The Eagles woes continue. There is no NFL head coach right now (well, maybe Joe Philbin?) that is catching more fire than Chip Kelly. Kelly made waves this off-season when he drastically changed the Eagles roster and it looks as though it's not paying off at all. The offense that was destroying people in the pre-season continues to come out and look flat and let's face it, this team needs a drastic upgrade at quarterback. When Kirk Cousins looks like the best NFL QB in the game you're playing in, you know you're team is heading for a long season. Let's not blame it all on Bradford though. Philly once again failed to get the running game going, and for a team that spent a lot of money on that position in free agency, that has to be a big disappointment. Chip Kelly's teams live and die by running the ball and the Eagles have failed to do that on a consistent basis. I refuse to believe that Chip Kelly is on the hot seat right now, but you know what he probably thinks about being on the hot seat anyway?

Oakland Raiders (2-2): 20     Chicago Bears (1-3): 22

It's just like the Oakland Raiders to get their fans excited after starting out 2-1 and getting gift-wrapped the atrocious 0-3 Chicago Bears and the Raiders blow it all.....

Jay Cutler is the GOAT.

Houston Texans (1-3): 21    Atlanta Falcons (4-0): 48

The Houston Texans suck. It's pretty obvious that they are going to be in the running for the #1 overall draft pick next spring. I know the Texans are not good on the offensive side of the ball, but there's no reason their defense should be playing like it's playing. Not with guys like J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Brian Cushing, Vince Wilfork and Romeo Crennel as your defensive coordinator. Something else is going on in Houston and they need to get this thing figured out before it blows up any further. It's embarrassing what's going on with that team. As for the Falcons, I would like to apologize to this team. It's obvious they are much better than anyone thought coming into the season on both sides of the ball. Their defense has been playing fantastic and that offense....man....that offense. Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones have been tearing it up so far this year and if they keep it up, the Falcons may not only win the NFC South, but they also could be serious contenders in the NFC. There aren't a whole lot of NFC teams that have looked better than the Falcons have up to this point. 

Cleveland Browns (1-3): 27    San Diego Chargers (2-2): 30

  

Green Bay Packers (4-0): 17     San Francisco 49ers (1-3): 3

Green Bay Packers = really good football team.

San Francisco 49ers = really bad football team with a head coach who farts during his press conferences.

Oh, what's that? You don't know what I'm talking about.

By all means, click this to read about #FARTGATE. 

St. Louis Rams (2-2): 24     Arizona Cardinals (3-1): 22

Good News for the Rams: You just took down an undefeated rival in another hard-fought divisional game and it was on the road. At the moment, your team is currently in second place in the NFC West. Not to shabby following the first month of the NFL season. This was a HUGE win for St. Louis and Todd Gurley looks amazing as well (good, because I drafted him in EVERY single fantasy league I was in).

Bad News for the Rams: The remaining schedule is far from easy. This week the Rams have to travel to Green Bay and with road games left against the Vikings, Ravens, Bengals, and Seahawks, the Rams still have a long way to go before they start thinking about a playoff spot. Plus, the team they just beat is still ahead of them in the rankings for the time being.

Good News for the Cardinals: This was only your first loss of the season. You guys weren't going undefeated anyway, so brush it off. You always learn more about yourself following a loss than you ever do following a win. Don't be surprised if the Cardinals get even better from here on out.

Bad News for the Cardinals: Todd Gurley just tore up your defense for 146 yards on 19 carries. Guess which running backs are still in Arizona's future? Le'Veon Bell. Justin Forsett. Marshawn Lynch (2x!), Adrian Peterson, Jeremy Hill/Gio Bernard, Gurley again, Eddie Lacy, and DeMarco Murray (Philly might be giving him carries by then....). Those running backs are licking their chops right now looking at the Cardinals.

Minnesota Vikings (2-2): 20    Denver Broncos (4-0): 23

Would someone beat the Broncos already? Is this really what's going to happen? Peyton Manning is going to lead this Broncos team to an undefeated season and ride off into the sunset with a Super Bowl ring isn't he?

ISN'T HE????

Dallas Cowboys (2-2): 20    New Orleans Saints (1-3): 26

This was an absolutely awful game, until overtime came and Drew Brees and C.J. Spiller channeled their inner elite players and set an NFL record with the quickest win ever in overtime. This was a very emotional game for the Cowboys who are just trying to get by until their full roster is back (and they are missing a TON of guys right now) and they had victory within their grasps. I was actually watching this game with a buddy of mine who's a big time Dallas fan and he didn't know I was recording him with my phone when overtime started....

We're sure going to miss you Seabass. 

Monday Night Football Scores:

Detroit Lions (0-4): 10     Seattle Seahawks (2-2): 13

Fantasy Football Top Performers

(Fantasy football is huge these days. Here are the best fantasy football players from this week)

*Stats are from Yahoo and don't include Monday Night Football teams

Quarterbacks:

1. Philip Rivers (26.22 points)

2. Sam Bradford (24.20 points)

3. Drew Brees (22.36 points)

4. Josh McCown (22.24 points)

5. Kirk Cousins (21.70 points)

Running Backs:

1. Devonta Freeman (32.90 points)

2. Jeremy Hill (24.00 points)

3. Chris Ivory (22.60 points)

4. Le'Veon Bell (21.00 points)

5. Doug Martin (20.30 points)

Wide Receivers:

1. Tavon Austin (23.60 points)

2. Vincent Jackson (20.70 points)

3. Allen Hurns (17.60 points)

4. Leonard Hankerson (16.30 points)

5. DeAndre Hopkins (15.70 points)

6. Jeremy Maclin (14.80 points)

7. Mike Wallace (14.30 points)

8. Kenny Stills (14.10 points)

9. Ted Ginn Jr. (13.80 points)

10. Kamar Aiken (13.70 points)

Tight Ends:

1. Martellus Bennett (14.30 points)

1. Coby Fleener (14.30 points)

3. Gary Barnidge (13.50 points)

4. Ladarius Green (11.30 points)

5. Charles Clay (11.10 points)

Kickers:

1. Cairo Santos (27.00 points)

2. Chandler Catanzaro (17.00 points)

3. Justin Tucker (15.00 points)

4. Josh Lambo (14.00 points)

4. Travis Coons (14.00 points)

Defense:

1. Atlanta Falcons (21.00 points)

2. Carolina Panthers (18.00 points)

3. Green Bay Packers (15.00 points)

4. Oakland Raiders (11.00 points)

5. St. Louis Rams/Denver Broncos/New York Giants/Washington Redskins (10.00 points)

NFL Power Rankings

(Pretty self explanatory here...)

1. New England Patriots (3-0)

2. Green Bay Packers (4-0)
3. Denver Broncos (4-0)

4. Cincinnati Bengals (4-0)

5. Carolina Panthers (4-0)
6. Atlanta Falcons (4-0)
7. Arizona Cardinals (3-1)

8. New York Jets (3-1)
9. Minnesota Vikings (2-2)
10. Seattle Seahawks (2-2)
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2)
12. Dallas Cowboys (2-2)
13. St. Louis Rams (2-2)
14. New York Giants (2-2)
15. Buffalo Bills (2-2)
16. Oakland Raiders (2-2)
17. Washington Redskins (2-2)
18. San Diego Chargers (2-2)
19. Indianapolis Colts (2-2)

20. Tennessee Titans (1-2)
21. Kansas City Chiefs (1-3)
22. Baltimore Ravens (1-3)
23. Cleveland Browns (1-3)
24. New Orleans Saints (1-3)
25. Philadelphia Eagles (1-3)
26. Chicago Bears (1-3)
27. Houston Texans (1-3)
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3)
29. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3)
30. Miami Dolphins (1-3)
31. San Francisco 49ers (1-3)
32. Detroit Lions (0-4)