Five must watch games of Week 4 in the NFL
Just three teams remain undefeated heading into this weekend. The Miami Dolphins are one of those teams and will play the Game of the Week on Sunday.
It’s still too early in the season to have a grasp on just how good teams are or aren’t. As soon as it seems like maybe, just maybe we are getting a grasp on who the frontrunners in each conference are, one of those favorites take a shocking defeat at the hands of a team who we expected to be one of the worst in the league. Just ask Dallas, or Jacksonville who lost to Arizona and Houston respectively.
The uncertainty of each week in the NFL is what makes the league so great, fans so intrigued and casinos so rich. While there may not be a clear grasp on who the best teams in the league are so far, we do have an idea of which games will make your mouth water leading up to this weekend. So here is our list of the can’t miss games of Week 4.
Detroit @ Green Bay (-1.5): Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET
We open the weekend slate on Thursday night in a rematch of last years Week 18 game that had playoff implications on the line for the Green Bay Packers. After the Lions were eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the week, they went into Lambeau and beat the Packers, knocking them out of the playoffs in what would be Aaron Rodgers last game in the Frozen Tundra.
This year the Lions have carried that momentum from the end of last year into the start of this season. They beat the Chiefs in Week 1, but lost to the Seahawks at home in Week 2. Last Sunday they went back above .500 with a drubbing of the formerly undefeated Atlanta Falcons and now will look to keep rolling on a short week.
The Packers needed 18 fourth quarter points to beat the New Orleans Saints last week at Lambeau Field. Jordan Love orchestrated a comeback that had never been seen in the history of the most illustrious franchise in the game. Love has big shoes to fill, and so far he’s doing a fantastic job. They cruised the Bears in Week 1, had a second half collapse that led to a loss against the Falcons, but responded with a comeback for the ages against the Saints last week.
Miami @ Buffalo (-2.5): Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Forget about this being the Game of the Week, this is the Game of the Year, and lucky for us this is the first of two matchups we get to see this season between the Bills and the Dolphins.
Miami has looked like the best team in the AFC after putting up 70 points last week against the Broncos and averaging 43.3 points a game coming into Week 4. It’s not just Tua Tagovailoa, who is the early season MVP favorite, or Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. The Dolphins have established a running game and their defense has showed improvement from last year to this year.
Awaiting them in Orchard Park this weekend is a Buffalo Bills team that has put a Week 1 loss behind them, and have rolled to two blowout wins over the Raiders and the Commanders in the last couple of weeks. With all due respect to Vegans and Washington, the Bills were in need of a couple “cup-cake” games after losing to the Jets in heartbreaking fashion in Week 1. Now they will be put to the test on Sunday afternoon. These are two of the best teams in the league, and this juicy matchup will give us an indication of who might be the best team in the AFC through a month in the season.
Baltimore @ Cleveland (2.5): Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Two of the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL go mano-a-mano this weekend in Cleveland as the Browns and the Ravens will lock horns in an AFC North battle. At the moment there are three teams that are tied at 2-1 in the division and the only team that is 1-2 is the team that was, is and will be the favorite to win division and that is the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Browns crushed the Bengals in the opening week of the season, taking advantage of a rusty Joe Burrow and pounding the Cincy defense on the ground. Since then, their star and one of the best running backs in the game, Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome season ending injury in their loss to the Steelers in the following week but they bounced back against the Titans this past Sunday. Deshaun Watson gave his best performance as a Brown, passing for 289 yards and two TDs.
The Ravens are coming off of a puzzling loss to the Indianapolis Colts over the weekend. After finally signing a long term contract that will keep Lamar Jackson in Baltimore for the foreseeable future, the former MVP and his offense have yet to hit stride. They beat the Texans to open the season, and just edged the Bengals in Week 2, but their loss to the Colts made people question whether or not this is a team that should be considered among the best in the AFC.
New England @ Dallas (-7): Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
It’s America’s team against the team of the century on set for a Sunday afternoon showdown. The Pats have been less than impressive to start the season, while the Cowboys were everyones hot pick to win the Super Bowl after two weeks. Turns out, Dallas isn’t as invincible as everyone thought and the Pats don’t need to enter panic mode… just yet.
Dallas scored 70 points through their first two games of the season, but a lot of those points came from pick sixes or special teams plays. The defense looked sensational as Micah Parsons led the Boys to a couple of lockdown performances but last Sunday in Arizona, the defense couldn’t stop the Cardinals run game and the offense proved to be Dallas’ biggest liability. Mike McCarthy ran it five straight times, needing two TDs and with time winding down in the fourth quarter. When he finally decided to go to the air, Dak Prescott threw a pick and the Boys dropped their first game of the season.
It couldn’t have been much tougher of a start to the season for the Patriots who took on the Eagles in Week 1, and the Dolphins in Week 2. They lost both of those games, but were within a possession of two of the best looking teams in the league. Luckily for Bill Belichick and the Pats, they had the Jets last Sunday and stretched their win streak over their divisional rivals to 15 games thanks to a brilliant night on the defensive end.
Seattle @ New York (-1.5): Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Week 4 will come to an end with one of the biggest toss up games of the week. No one is really sure how good the Seahawks are or how bad the Giants are coming into this weekend.
The Giants have been embarrassed for two and a half of the three games they have played this season. If it wasn’t for the remarkable comeback in Arizona in Week 2, Brian Daboll, Daniel Jones and the rest of the Giants would be under even more scrutiny than they already are following blowout losses in Week 1 and 3. To add insult to injury, or I suppose injury to insult in this case, Saquon Barkley suffered a sprained ankle against the Cardinals and is listed as day to day. Luckily this is a Monday Night game and he will have an extra day to try to get that ankle ready for the Seahawks.
Seattle gave Seahawks fans reason to be concerned after getting wiped out by the LA Rams at home in their season opener from Lumen Field. It turns out the Rams are a better team than a lot of people predicted, and since then the Seahawks have responded with back-to-back 37 point performances in wins over the Lions and the Panthers. The question is, how will their defense hold up against a Giants team that will be desperate to finally make a good impression in front of their home fans on Monday night at Metlife Stadium.