Houston might become everybody's problem
Confetti from Week 4 in the NFL.
Houston 30, Pittsburgh 6
– The Texans came into this season with a 11-34-1 record in this decade, and DeMeco Ryans was their fourth coach. They’re still only 2-2, but hope is skyrocketing after C.J. Stroud threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns, and a dead-serious Houston defense held Pittsburgh without a touchdown on the day that Texans legend JJ Watt joined the club’s honor roll.
– Stroud set the NFL record for most pass attempts without an interception (151). But the Texans also ran the ball 38 times and Devin Singletary flipped a gadget touchdown pass to Nico Collins, who had 168 yards receiving – the third consecutive 100-yard game by a Houston receiver.
– Watt’s brother TJ wasn’t as visible. The Steelers’ edge rusher never hit Stroud and was in on just two tackles. The Steelers didn’t cross the 50 in the first half, and Kenny Pickett was kayoed with an ankle. Jonathan Greenard had two sacks for Houston.
Buffalo 48, Miami 20
– It only took a couple of service breaks to determine this one. After Buffalo and Miami had combined to score on their first five possessions, the Dolphins’ Raheem Mostert lost two fumbles. Josh Allen hit Stephon Diggs with a 55-yard touchdowns, the first of three for Diggs, and Tyler Bass kicked a field goal just before the half to give Buffalo (3-1) a 31-14 lead.
– When Micah Hyde intercepted Tua Tagliavoa in the third quarter, Allen connected with Diggs ahead for a 41-20 lead. Allen’s QB rating was 158.3, the highest you can get, after a 21-for-25, 320-yard day with four TDs and no picks.
– Miami (3-1) got 101 rush yards from rookie De’Von Achane but went 3 for 13 on third and fourth down, and scored 50 fewer points than last week. But it was a roller coaster day for Buffalo. After Damar Hamlin saw his first action after his cardiac arrest on Jan. 2, cornerback Tre’Davious White was carted off with a torn Achilles.
Philadelphia 34, Washington 31 (OT)
– Washington was the site of Philly’s first loss in 2022, after an 8-0 start. In this one, the Eagles led 31-24 when Jalen Hurts hit A.J. Brown (nine catches, 175 yards), but the Commanders tied it at the buzzer when Sam Howell connected with Jahan Dotson on a 10-yarder. Earlier Howell had converted a fourth-and-two with a throw to Dyami Brown. A poor punt gave the Eagles the ball on their own 41, and after Hurts had converted a fourth-and-one on the club’s patented “brotherly shove,” Jake Elliott boomed a 54-yard field goal to win it.
– Howell had a big day, going 29 for 41 for 290 yards, and Washington (2-2) picked up eight of 17 third downs. But Hurts had his best game so far, going 25 for 37 for 310 yards.
– Nicholas Morrow, a free agent who played for Chicago last year, had three sacks for the Eagles (4–0), who had released him in training camp. Morrow played with the Raiders before Chicago. He was an undrafted free agent from Greenville, a Division III school in central Illinois that is the alma mater of a true American game-changer: Esther Snyder, co-founder of In N Out Burger..
Detroit 34, Green Bay 20
– On Thanksgiving Day 1962, Alex Karras and the Lions’ defense never stopped dribbling Bart Starr’s head in the mud of Briggs Stadium. They sacked him nine times at the peak of Green Bay’s powers. Maybe the Lions have played a better defensive game between then and Thursday night, but it doesn’t come to mind. After five series, Green Bay (2-2) had no first downs and minus-one yard, and by then Detroit (3-1) had a 24-0 lead.
– The Lions had five sacks, hit Jordan Love 11 times and had nine tackles for loss, and the Packers were 4-for-12 on third and fourth down. Green Bay, playing at home, only ran the ball 12 times and possessed the ball for only 22:02.
– On the other side, the Lions stayed grounded with 32 carries and three TDs from David Montgomery. Undrafted free agent Jerry Jacobs brought the backbreaker, an interception of Jordan Love that set up the Lions on the Packers seven and led to a touchdown and a 17-3 lead.
Kansas City 23, N.Y. Jets 20
— A borderline holding call on Sauce Gardner negated Michael Carter’s interception and allowed the Chiefs to keep the ball and run out the clock, thanks to two runs by Patrick Mahomes. Apologies to Philadelphia fans who might read “borderline holding call” and “Chiefs” in the same sentence.
– That came after Zach Wilson couldn’t handle a center snap and fumbled to the Chiefs’ Tershawn Wharton with seven and a half minutes left. The Jets (1-3) never got the ball back. Wilson played one of his better games, going 28 for 39 with no interceptions, but Breese Hall still didn’t get enough touches. He had a 43-yard run and only five other attempts.
– The Chiefs (3-1) survived, but were 0-for-4 in the red zone, and let a 17-0 first quarter lead get away. While the NBC cameras were helpfully showing us Taylor Swift’s reactions, the Chiefs’ Isiah Pacheco was leading the offense with 115 rushing yards in 20 pops, as he returned to his North Jersey home.
Dallas 38, New England 3
– In 2003 the Patriots opened the season with a 31-0 loss to Buffalo. It was Bill Belichick’s worst as an NFL coach until Sunday. That year, New England won the Super Bowl, but that’s not in the cards with this group. They fell to 1-3 after holding the ball for only 24 minutes and suffering two turnovers that became Dallas touchdowns.
– Da’Ron Bland took an interception home, and Leighton Vander Esch scored on a fumble caused when Donte Fowler sacked Mac Jones, who was later benched in favor of Bailey Zappe. The touchdowns were the third and fourth scored by the Dallas defens and special teams. New England held the Cowboys offense to two scoring drives, although Dallas was 8-for-17 on third down and now has a 51 percent conversion rate.
— Dallas takes a plus-9 turnover ratio and a 3-1 record into San Francisco on Sunday
L.A. Chargers 24, Las Vegas 17
– Chargers coach Brandon Staley keeps putting his hand on the burner. He decided to go for another fourth-and-one, this time with a 7-point lead on his own 34 with 3:34 to go. Worse yet, he had Justin Herbert try to sneak for it, even though Herbert had injured his left hand. Herbert was denied and the Raiders took over, but Asante Samuel Jr. saved the Bolts by picking off Aidan O’Connell on the three-yard-line.
– The Chargers led 24-7 but were missing Joey Bosa and both safeties. They got six sacks, one short of the NFL record, from Khalil Mack, but O’Connell, a Purdue rookie filling in for Jimmy Garoppolo, took the Raiders (1-3) on a 60-yard TD drive with 3:59 left.
– Only five of the Raiders’ past 22 games have been decided by seven points or more. They are 2-2 and have gotten only one game from Austin Ekeler.
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Baltimore 28, Cleveland 3
– Making your quarterbacking debut against the Ravens (2-2) is a lot like building your first oceanfront house on stilts, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson got washed away Saturday. The rookie from UCLA filled in for DeShaun Watson (shoulder) and had a QB rating of 25.3, suffering three interceptions and four sacks.
– Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson’s QB rating was a near-perfect 142.5. He was successful on all five passes to tight end Mark Andrews, and he ran a 93-yard drive in the second quarter and never had to go to third down. Jackson was 15-for-19.
– David Njoku, Cleveland’s tight end who had suffered burns on his face in a fire pit accident, caught six passes for 46 yards. DTR was under such duress that 11 of his 19 completions were quick ones to Njoku and running back Jerome Ford. Cleveland is 2-2.
San Francisco 35, Arizona 16
– On third and 24, early in the third quarter, Brock Purdy threw an incompletion in the direction of Christian McCaffrey. Otherwise, the second-year quarterback was 20 for 20 for 283 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.
– McCaffrey scored four touchdowns and has now gotten a TD in 13 consecutive games. That hasn’t been done since Houston’s Arian Foster 11 seasons ago. The record since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger is 15, shared by O.J. Simpson and John Riggins.
– It was another solid game for Cardinals’ QB Joshua Dobbs, who was 28 for 41 and had a rating of 102.2. But Arizona (1-3) couldn’t survive a 5-for-5 performance by San Francisco (4-0) in the red zone. It was another example of how the 49ers, who have scored 125 points so far, are the masters of the routine win.
L.A. Rams 29, Indianapolis 23 (OT)
– The legend of Puca Nacua is picking up speed each week. The rookie from BYU was targeted 10 times and caught nine passes for 163 yards, including the 32-yard game-winner on the first possession of overtime. Nacua has 39 catches for 501 yards, both records for an NFL receiver i his first four games. Rumor has it that the Rams’ resident All-Pro receiver, now trying to get healthy, will rename himself Coopa Kuppua.
— The Rams chugged to a 23-0 lead but found itself in overtime, and Matthew Stafford was fighting a hip injury in the second half. He still put up 319 yards on 27 of 40 passing. The Rams had 20 more snaps than the Colts.
– Anthony Richardson continued to dazzle with 55 yards rushing and two TDs, although his passing (11 for 25) still needs work, and the Rams held Michael Pittman adn Alex Pierce to two catches in eight targets. The defense got bullied by Rams runner Kyren Williams (25 carries, 103 yards) and couldn’t stop the Rams on the first drive of OT.
Seattle 24, N.Y. Giants 3
– Seattle (3-1) had one long touchdown drive, of 75 yards, and had the ball 24 minutes. It still romped in the same stadium where it won a Super Bowl ten seasons ago, primarily due to 11 sacks and three takeaways, including a 97-yard pick-six by rookie DevonWitherspoon just as New York was threatening to cut the lead to 14-10.
– Witherspoon is in the middle of a new Legion Of Boom. The cornerback from Illinois had three QB hits, two tackles for loss, two sacks and seven tackles. Four Seahawks had multiple sacks, an NFL first since 1987.
– The Giants (1–3) are minus-6 in turnovers this year thanks to six interceptions thrown by Daniel Jones, and they have no takeaways. Without Saquon Barkley there’s no incentive for opponents to play the run.
Tennessee 27, Cincinnati 3
– The Bengals (1-3) need a life jacket. Joe Burrow hasn’t had a 300-yard game yet and has thrown two touchdowns in four games. Cincinnati’s longest play in this game was 17 yards, and the defense got bulldozed by Derrick Henry’s 122 yards in 22 carries.
– Tennessee (2-2) is not exactly a quick-strike unit, but it went 78 yards in six plays midway through the second quarter. Burrow responded with three quick incompletions, and the Titans went 73 yards in four plays. The final three plays went 26, 22 and 29 yards, with Henry doing the honors. Later he threw a touchdown pass, although he apologized to Peyton Manning for poor form.
– The Bengals obviously are missing safeties Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell, who left in the off-season. Tennessee punted twice in nine possessions.
Broncos 31, Bears 28
– It might have been the Game Of The Weak, but not for Russell Wilson. Down 28-7, Wilson rallied the Broncos, then threw a 48-yarder to rookie Marvin Mims to set up Will Lutz’s game-winning 51-yarder. Denver (1-3) had tied it when Nik Bonitto strip-sacked Justin Fields, and Jonathan Cooper took the fumble and ran 35 yards for the score.
– Prior to the field goal, Chicago coach Matt Eberflus succumbed to 4th And One Follies. Khalil Herbert gained nothing on the Denver 18 with 2:57 left, and Wilson needed one big play to beat the 0-4 Bears.
– Both Fields and Wilson were outstanding, with QB ratings over 132, but Denver coach Shawn Payton has a new toy in 5-foot-7 undrafted rookie Jaleel McLaughlin of Youngstown State. He had 72 yards on seven carries and caught a TD pass. Second-year linebacker Bonitto had two and a half sacks of Fields, who found D.J. Moore for eight catches and 131 yards.
Tampa Bay 26, New Orleans 9
– The Saints (2-2) were trailing 7-3 when Adam Prentice coughed up a fumble to Tampa Bay’s Antoine Winfield on the New Orleans six-yard-line, just before halftime. Baker Mayfield threw a 1-yard score to Trey Palmer for a 14-3 lead, and the Saints couldn’t recover.
– Vita Vea had two sacks for Tampa Bay (3-1), which squeezed the Saints’ offense. There was only one 20-yard play for the home team, and Alvin Kamara caught 13 passes for a superfluous 33 yards.
– They say the NFC South is up for grabs, and maybe the Bucs are the most interested in grabbing it. Mayfield was 25-for-32 with three touchdowns, and Chris Godwin caught eight of the 11 passes that came his way for 114 yards.
Jacksonville 23, Atlanta 7
– You’d say the Falcons lost their offense in customs,, but they didn’t have it last week either. Desmond Ridder’s 15-yard TD pass to Drake London – yes, London calling – was the only score for Atlanta (2-2), which did get Bijan Robinson’s second 100-yard rushing game.
– In both of Jacksonville’s wins this year, Josh Allen has been a dominator on defense. Here he had three sacks and a forced fumble. A pick-six by Darius Williams was one of three Jaguars’ interceptions.
– Trevor Lawrence survived seven hits to keep the Jags moving, as he hit 23 of 30 passes. A pass interference call on Atlanta’s A.J. Terrell allowed the Jags to prolong a drive that led to a field goal and the 23-7 lead midway through the fourth.
Minnesota 21, Carolina 13
– In another Beggars Bowl between 0-3 teams, Bryce Young’s season continued to look like an extended Hard Knocks series. The first-overall pick was sacked three times by Harrison Smith and coughed up a fumble that D.J. Wonnum took for a go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter. He was also sacked during a fourth-quarter drive, and the Vikings wrapped it up with Kirk Cousins’ second TD pass to Justin Jefferson at the buzzer.
– Young was actually pretty good when he could remain upright. He hit 25 of 32 passes and had no picks, but was dumped five times. A 2.7-per-carry running game did not help. The Panthers’ only TD was a first-quarter, 99-yard pick-six by Sam Franklin.
– The Vikings were 1 for 8 on third down and had 44 snaps to Carolina’s 68. Alexander Mattison rumbled for 95 yards in 17 carries, and new Viking Cam Akers contributed eight yards a pop on five carries.