There’s only one undefeated team remaining in the NFL: The Philadelphia Eagles. Miami experienced their first loss and plenty more, London got a climactic game, Buffalo and Kansas City continue to prove they are the elite AFC teams, and the Bengals busted out some badass jerseys. Don’t look now, but we are already passing the first quarter of the NFL season.
Tua Injury Biggest Loss in Night of Losses for Miami
The Miami Dolphins experienced their first loss of the season on Thursday Night Football after losing to the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-15. The defeat ended Miami’s run as the only remaining undefeated AFC team this season, but that loss was far inferior to the one experienced when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was violently tackled about halfway through the second quarter. The tackle to Tagovailoa swung him quickly to the ground and caused his head to hit the turf in hard whiplashing movement. Tagovailoa was carted off the field and did not return. He’s already been determined OUT for Week Five.
The injury came only four days after the Miami quarterback had to briefly exit the Dolphins game against the Buffalo Bills due to head trauma. Understandably so, the Dolphins started receiving heat from analysts and social media before the game was even over with most people questioning why Tagoviloa was even cleared to play. The neurotrauma consultant who approved of him playing has already been fired by the NFL Player’s Association.
Teddy Bridgewater took over the quarterback position for Miami, but couldn’t provide enough offense against the Cincinnati defense to pull out the win. A 160 yard receiving game from Tyreek Hill provided yardage, but the Dolphins only found the end zone once.
The defending champion Bengals have now won back to back games and are 2-2. It hasn’t necessarily been beautiful football, but a win against Miami appears to be a good win in the 2022 season. The reality is that the Cincinnati win was overshadowed by the injury of a player who should’ve never even been in the game.
Controversial Calls Help Bills Complete Comeback in Baltimore
A pair of questionable calls may have cost the Baltimore Ravens their game against the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately for Ravens fans, they can only blame the referees for one of them.
With 4:15 left in a 20-20 tied game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh decided to go for the touchdown on fourth down from the two yard line instead of taking the chip shot field goal and three point league. What followed was Jordan Poyer picking off a Lamar Jackson pass intended for Devin Duvernay and then getting a touchback to bring the ball out to the 25 yard line.
With the ball in his hands, Josh Allen was able to get the Bills down field, but not without a little help from a questionable call. Just before the two minute warning, a 1st and 15 play from the Baltimore 41 yard line ended with an incomplete Allen pass, but also flags for a very questionable roughing the passer call on cornerback Brandon Stephens. You can find bad calls in just about any NFL game, but considering the time of game and the player tackled, it’s hard not to view this as Allen receiving a bit of star treatment.
The penalty moved the Bills up 15 yards with an automatic first down, essentially allowing them to methodically move the ball for a closer field goal while draining the clock to nothing. The game ended as time expired with a Tyler Bass 21 yard field goal. It capped off a 20-0 scoring run for the Bills.
The roughing the passer call is one thing, but the Harbaugh fourth down call was immediately criticized. On the surface, you can make sense of going for the seven points. A touchdown forces the Bills to earn a tie at most. A failed fourth down should’ve also ideally pinned Buffalo against their own goal line. The interception and touchback was literally the worst case outcome of the fourth down outside of a defensive touchdown.
John Harbaugh has looked like a genius plenty of times when making gutsy calls like the one he made on Sunday. Like anything in sports, fans live in the moment. This moment was not a good one for Harbaugh.
Double Doink Missed Field Goal Gives Vikings a London Win
It may not be the English Premier League, but the kicking moments in the Minnesota Vikings 28-25 win over the New Orleans Saints likely brought in some new NFL fans.
Not the prettiest of games, but the Vikings barely survived a New Orleans team without Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas, and Alvin Kamara. Andy Dalton and a Saints running game that produced 111 yards gave the Vikings defense issues all day. Down by three points with 1:51 remaining in the game, veteran kicker Will Lutz drained a 60 yard field goal to tie the game.
The tie only lasted about one and half minutes as Kirk Cousins led a game winning drive for second straight week, getting kicker Greg Joseph into position to his a 47 yard field goal of his own.
With minimal time, the Saints offense was able to get Lutz into position to attempt a 61 yard field goal. On tv the kick looked good immediately as it also must have on the field as the Saints blockers started celebrating shortly after the kick was booted. Unfortunately for Lutz and the Saints, the football just grazed the left upright before landing perfectly on the crossbar and bouncing back into the field of play. It’s not often you get to see the coveted “Double Doink” missed field goal. It’s truly one of the most beautiful plays in football when it’s not happening to your own team. Lutz’s kick was an elite double doink considering the game situation.
The win kept the Vikings in first place of the NFC North with a 3-1 record despite the fact they could just as easily be 1-3 right now. It doesn’t seem to matter how big of a game, the Saints and Vikings provide some wild games.
Kansas City Offense Runs Up Score on Bucs Defense
That’s a statement game for the Chiefs. Up until Sunday Night, the Tampa Bay defense looked like an elite, if not the best defensive unit in the NFL. The Chiefs played that same defense and scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives. Kansas City scored touchdowns on four of five first half drives and also came away with points on three more drives in the second half.
Tampa Bay’s offense eventually started putting points on the board, but was never able to get the deficit back to single digits. The 41-31 final score was the lowest that deficit would get. The Bucs now drop to 2-2.
This was an impressive win for Kansas City after last week’s loss to Indianapolis, a team that has otherwise looked miserable. The 41 points produced was also the Chiefs’ second game with 40+ points. As long as Patrick Mahomes is throwing the ball is making plays like his second quarter scramble, spin to avoid a tackle, and floater touchdown pass to Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the Chiefs will be able to fill the score column.
Questions After Week Four
With Philadelphia being the only undefeated team left, are they truly the best team in the NFL?
From a “they are the only remaining undefeated team” standpoint, they have to be crowned the best current team in the league. As Dennis Green once so eloquently stated, “If you want to crown them, crown their ass!” If my life depended on it, I still believe Buffalo, Kansas City, and the Los Angeles Rams are still better teams and believe they are more likely to be playing in February. Team to team, man to man, I just believe the Bills, Chiefs, and Rams have better rosters and the proven coaching to match. Philadelphia’s success and playoff berth last season was a surprise and their start to 2022 doubles down on what’s brewing there. The Eagles look like they are on their way, but there’s still a concern that this team could falter when the adversity surely hits at some point.
How should the NFL handle the Tua Tagovailoa concussion situation?
You know it’s bad when nearly every football fan is yelling at their television, “How the hell is he still playing?”. The NFLPA has already moved forward with firing the neurotrauma consultant who approved Tagovailoa was okay to play against Cincinnati only four days after his head injury. That’s a good start.
The real question is how serious does the NFL want to take concussions and head injuries? Yes, there will continue to be improvements in helmet technology, but that won’t completely prevent these injuries. When those injuries do occur there will still be team executives, coaches, doctors, and even players who continue to push to play. If the NFL really intends to be a true proponent of player safety they should start showing it by punishing those who put the players at risk. Taking away draft picks, team or personal fines, and firing more frequently would be a good start. It shouldn’t have to come to a young player receiving head injuries in back to back weeks for things to be taken more seriously.
Should NFL teams have more games with uniforms like the Cincinnati Bengals’ white jerseys and helmets?
I loved the Bengals’ Thursday night uniforms. I think people in the fashion community would describe the “white tiger” look as “fierce”. I don’t want to let recency bias say that Cincinnati should make those uniforms their main set, but my original thought upon seeing them was that they are far superior than the classic orange with black stripes.
I enjoyed the Color Rush jersey additions in 2015. Not every jersey was amazing, but I loved some of the different looks including the Vikings’ all purple with gold print and the Chargers’ royal blue jerseys. Sure, there are plenty of hideous alternate jerseys. I swear I’m not being biased when I say this, but the Bears all orange jersey/helmet look is just a sore on the eyes. Also, historic or not, those Green Bay ACME Packers jerseys are awful. That being said, sometimes NFL teams nail a new jersey like they did with the Bengals this past Thursday. I would love for the NFL to continue to be creative with different jersey looks, even if that means I have to look at some pretty awful NFC North division rivals’ jerseys. Yeah Detroit, your all grays are really bad as well.
Four games in, what’s easier to determine? The five best teams or five worst teams?
Let’s start with identifying the unanimous choices in both the top five and bottom five. As far as the best five teams, I’d say it’s safe to say Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Kansas City are the current certainties. When it comes to bottom five teams, Houston is clearly an obvious option as they are the only winless team in the NFL. After the Texans, there’s a multitude of options for the remaining four spots.
Now let’s take a look at the options to fill the remaining spots on both ends of the spectrum. With two remaining spots in the top five I would make the nominees the Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings. The Ravens two losses are to Buffalo and Miami in games they probably should’ve won. They are getting a spot from me. I’ll continue to ride with Miami despite the concern over Tua’s injury. The Waddle-Hill duo is so dangerous.
To join Houston in the bottom five seems quite a bit more difficult. I really think Washington needs to be there. Carolina looks lifeless. Pittsburgh already moved on to their rookie quarterback. That gives me four teams. The Colts have been so bad, but have a win over Kansas City. I think it’s down to the Jets, Falcons, and Seahawks. For now, let’s throw the New York Jets in there.
As this experiment showed, I think it’s actually harder to predict the five worst teams. As it usually goes in the NFL, there’s a few elite teams and plenty of mediocre to bad teams.
“Everybody Loves to Hate-read Power Rankings so Go Ahead and Hate-read” Power Rankings
- Philadelphia Eagles (4-0)
- Buffalo Bills (3-1)
- Kansas City Chiefs (3-1)
- Miami Dolphins (3-1)
- Baltimore Ravens (2-2)
- Los Angeles Rams (2-2)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2)
- Minnesota Vikings (3-1)
- Green Bay Packers (3-1)
- San Francisco 49ers (2-2)
- Dallas Cowboys (3-1)
- Los Angeles Chargers (2-2)
- Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
- Denver Broncos (2-2)
- New York Giants (3-1)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2)
- Cleveland Browns (2-2)
- Tennessee Titans (2-2)
- Arizona Cardinals (2-2)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2-2)
- New England Patriots (1-3)
- Indianapolis Colts (1-2-1)
- New Orleans Saints (1-3)
- Atlanta Falcons (2-2)
- Seattle Seahawks (2-2)
- Detroit Lions (1-3)
- Chicago Bears (2-2)
- New York Jets (2-2)
- Carolina Panthers (1-3)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3)
- Washington Commanders (1-3)
- Houston Texans (0-3-1)
Week Five Game Watchability Rankings
16. Seahawks vs Saints: For what it’s worth, most people never expected Seattle to be 2-2 in their first four games. The Geno Smith-led Seahawks are outperforming expectations early, but that still isn’t enough reason to watch this game. The Saints are probably better than their 1-3 record would lead on, but if they don’t get healthy quickly they will become an afterthought. This game just doesn’t provide much of anything big picture wise for the remainder of the season.
15. Titans vs Commanders: A slightly better version of Seahawks vs Saints just because the Titans have a legitimate chance to compete for a division title.
14. Texans vs Jaguars: The Philadelphia Eagles proved to be too much for Jacksonville, but there’s still plenty to like there. If the Jaguars are able to stay in contention for the AFC South title it will be one of the fun storylines of the year. Houston does seem to have a legitimate weapon in rookie running back Dameon Pierce. Houston is the only remaining winless team left and this may be their best opportunity for some time as their upcoming schedule is fairly loaded.
13. Steelers vs Bills: Kenny Pickett’s regular season debut was quite the stat sheet stuffer, finishing with two rushing touchdowns but throwing three interceptions. Nothing is certain, but one would think Mike Tomlin has seen enough of Mitch Trubisky and would prefer to see what the Steelers have in their 2022 draft pick. If Pickett does get the start, he’s only going to be playing one of the NFL’s most premiere defenses in Buffalo. The Bills are the far better team and this game could be a bloodbath. How Pickett handles his first potential start is the reason, if any, to watch this one.
12. 49ers vs Panthers: San Francisco earned a big Monday Night Football win over the Los Angeles Rams to take over first place in the NFC West division. The Panthers look like they are primed for a top five pick and Matt Rhule will probably be out of a job sooner than later if they don’t figure things out. The Panthers do have talent though and eventually they will play a good game against a decent team. A home game against Jimmy Garoppolo and the Niners may be the recipe.
11. Lions vs Patriots: Two teams that had high expectations for improvement this season, but find themselves 1-3. The Patriots will hope for Mac Jones to return, but he has been anything, but great this season so far. Detroit will hope to return some of their own players from injury including Amon-Ra St. Brown who has proven to be their strongest offensive weapon. With their home loss to Seattle, Detroit has to have lost a lot of their fanbase’s belief that this was an actual improved team. A 1-4 start might bring out the brown paper bag masks again.
10. Falcons vs Buccaneers: Atlanta is one of the current “record double take” teams in the NFL right now. It’s unbelievable that the Falcons are 2-2 right now. They will have the same record as the Buccaneers, but this game should show pretty quickly that these are two completely different teams and the gap is far wider than the current standings will state. As true as that may be, for now we will treat this like this is a big AFC South match up for first place in the division. It’s not a great week of matchups so a likely Tampa Bay smothering breaks the top ten games of the week.
9. Colts vs Broncos: All of the excitement Indianapolis gained with their Kansas City win was lost this week after their home loss to Tennessee. Denver is fortunate to be 2-2 as they have had as hard a time scoring the football over the first four weeks and actually look like they may have the lowest ceiling in the AFC West. These were supposed to be two of the many good teams in the insanely stacked AFC this year, but have struggled far more than expected. This almost feels like a gatekeeper game with both teams being the gatekeeper.
8. Dolphins vs Jets: This could be a sneaky trap game for Miami with what will certainly be a week of distractions. Tua Tagovailoa will enter the week in concussion protocol and the team better make sure he clears all necessary requirements before he touches a field again. The Dolphins will also continue to face criticism for Tua’s health heading into the Cincinnati game, which also turned out to be the team’s first loss of the season. For a team that was sitting sky high last week, this could be a week from hell and a loss to a Jets team that earned a late game win over Pittsburgh this week would only throw gasoline on the fire.
7. Bears vs Vikings: There is about a 75% chance this is the ugliest game of football after the weekend is all said and done. Watching Chicago this year has been the equivalent of Alex having his eyes forced open in A Clockwork Orange. Minnesota is 3-1, but has done little to make anyone believe they are actually as good as their record. Being a division game gives this some bonus points.
6. Chargers vs Browns: Cleveland will be coming off a tough loss in Atlanta. Los Angeles prevented back to back disappoint weeks by defeating Houston this week. Considering we still haven’t seen consistent good performances from the Chargers, Cleveland could steal a win. As I’ve said before, any win the Browns can earn without Deshaun Watson is a big step towards earning a playoff berth.
5. Eagles vs Cardinals: Four quarters of Jaylen Hurts and Kyler Murray throwing and scrambling is enough of a reason to tune into this one. Philadelphia is the lone remaining undefeated team in the NFL. Arizona seems very average, but should offer an interesting road test to the Eagles.
4. Giants vs Packers: London will get their second NFL game in two week and this one will feature two 3-1 teams. New York has wins over Tennessee, Carolina, and Chicago so a win over Green Bay would do a lot to validate their early season start. Green Bay may need to prove their own pedigree as well after barely squeaking by this week in a home game against a New England team quarterbacked by Brian Hoyer and eventually Bailey Zappe, a fourth round rookie who made his professional debut. This is a big game for both teams as 4-1 sounds a lot better than 3-2.
3. Raiders vs Chiefs: The Raiders finally earned their first win against division rival Denver and will try to parlay that into another victory against the AFC West cream of the crop, Kansas City. I still like this Raiders team and think they will challenge the Chiefs, even on the road. Las Vegas has lost three games that easily could’ve been wins and they know the urgency of staying close in record to other teams in the AFC. When you combine that urgency with Kansas City, one of the most enjoyable teams to watch in the NFL, it makes for one of the better games in a week that isn’t as loaded with great ones.
2. Cowboys vs Rams: Cooper Rush is still undefeated as a starting quarterback. He and the Cowboys will have their hands full when they travel to Los Angeles and play a Rams team coming off a loss on national television to their division rival. There’s plenty to like about this Dallas team, but many of us still are waiting for the floor to collapse on the Cowboys. A win in LA would convince plenty of people that this Dallas team is legit. This should be a fun battle between to likely NFC playoff teams.
1. Bengals vs Ravens: It’s amazing what a couple wins will do to improve the confidence in a team. After a big Thursday night win over Miami, Cincinnati is starting to get on the right page. Baltimore is 2-2, but one could argue they’ve been one of the five most impressive teams so far this season. This is a big early season game between the two biggest favorites to win the AFC North. This is the race in the AFC North. Hopefully we get to see both teams at their absolute best.