10 takeaways from NFL Week 4

Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines the significance of them moving forward.

The NFL's best team might be ... the Cardinals? Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty

OK, it's only been four games, but the Arizona Cardinals are making a strong case that they deserve to be taken seriously.

The Cardinals have scored at least 31 points in every game, they stifled the Tennessee Titans at full strength, and now they've gone into L.A. and completely worked over the Sean McVay-Matthew Stafford-Aaron Donald-Jalen Ramsey Rams.

Quarterback Kyler Murray completed 75% of his passes, totaled 307 yards passing and rushing, and put up a terrific EPA/dropback of 0.43. He also didn't turn the ball over. Murray can consistently make plays after the pocket breaks down, and he's entertaining as hell when he does it.

The Cardinals also converted eight of their first 12 third downs despite averaging 7.9 yards to go in those situations. Chase Edmonds and James Conner combined to rush for 170 yards. Arizona had four drives of 75 yards or more. This is an offense that isn't easy to stop, and it's safe to say that's no fluke nearly a quarter of the way into the season.

But the Cardinals' defense also put the clamps on a Rams offense that had looked completely unstoppable with Stafford at the controls. Stafford wasn't sacked, but he was hit five times, and he was off-target all afternoon.

The Cardinals have the San Francisco 49ers at home next week before going to Cleveland to face the Browns. But right now, they're all alone in first place in the league's best division with a road win against the Rams that might matter come January. Pretty dang good.

What about Mac Jones?

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned the win during Brady's big homecoming night. But Mac Jones proved a little bit of something for the New England Patriots, though the signal-caller's performance also showed some of his limitations.

The Bucs' banged-up defense came after Jones, blitzing him on 47.7% of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats. Tampa Bay's defense entered the game leading the league with a blitz percentage of 40.4, according to Pro Football Reference, so a lot of extra pass-rushers were pressuring Jones on Sunday.

He nonetheless managed to go 31-of-40 passing for 275 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the pouring rain. Jones even connected on 19 consecutive throws at one point. He marched the Patriots 66 yards to take the lead with 4:34 left, and the rookie put them in position for Nick Folk to win the game with a 56-yard field-goal attempt, but the ball clanged off the left upright. Jones did that even as the Patriots attempted just eight rushes all night for minus-1 yards.

He didn't make many mistakes during what was undoubtedly a pressure-cooker moment, but Jones also didn't take many chances while finishing with an EPA/dropback of just 0.01.

Few of his 40 throws covered 10-plus yards through the air. Here's what his passing chart looked like:

It's impressive that Mac can do this as a rookie. I'm just not sure how sustainable it'll be. pic.twitter.com/HaZnO5qin2

- Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 4, 2021

The Patriots are 1-3, but their point differential is plus-1. Jones isn't hurting his team, which is more than can be expected for most rookies. But can he do much more to elevate the Patriots in the future?

Trevon Diggs lifts Dallas' defense Tom Pennington / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Dallas Cowboys have clearly benefited from Dak Prescott's return from injury, which is a big reason why the franchise gave him a market-setting contract during the offseason. Well, that and owner/general manager Jerry Jones waited too long to do a deal, got boxed in by using the franchise tag, and then had to watch as Andy Dalton, Ben DiNucci, and Garrett Gilbert made his eyes bleed for most of 2020.

The Cowboys' offense is humming - they got a combined 210 rushing yards from Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard against the Carolina Panthers, and Prescott tossed four touchdown passes. But Dallas is 3-1 in no small part because the team is getting a huge assist from its defense.

Second-year cornerback Trevon Diggs is a big reason why. Diggs had two more interceptions against the Carolina Panthers, giving him a league-high five for the season. Both picks created short fields that led to a combined 10 points. And the Panthers finally managed a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives only after Diggs was pulled from the game because of back tightness.

The bottom line: All Dallas needs to take an otherwise dreary NFC East is a decent defense to complement its strong offense. So far, so good.

Zach Wilson shows some promise

Getting their first win was less important for the New York Jets than the play of rookie Zach Wilson, who made a number of huge throws to beat the Tennessee Titans in overtime and actually looked a lot like the signal-caller the franchise hopes he can become in the years ahead.

Wilson's raw numbers were fine - 21-for-34 for 297 yards, two touchdowns, one interception - and his EPA/dropback was a solid 0.28. And, yes, he took a brutal sack that was officially listed as a run for a 3-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line during overtime. But that's less important than the excellent deep shots he made: a 54-yarder to Keelan Cole in the third quarter, a 53-yard bomb to Corey Davis in the fourth quarter, and another gorgeous touch pass to Cole that went for 29 yards on third down in OT.

Who cares that it came against a bad defense, and that the Titans were without A.J. Brown and Julio Jones? Wilson made plays, which is what he's being asked to do. Jets fans know better than to get too familiar with the concept of "hope," but Wilson showed them it might be possible to feel a bit optimistic about the future for the first time in forever.

Seahawks get it going Ezra Shaw / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Seattle Seahawks went three-and-out and totaled minus-7 yards on their first five possessions against the San Francisco 49ers. Not counting a possession that ended at halftime, they scored touchdowns on four of their next five series to win a game that wasn't as close as the 28-21 final score indicated.

Niners return man Trenton Cannon did Seattle a pair of favors by muffing one kickoff and misplaying another, while San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan mysteriously had punter Mitch Wishnowsky attempt a 41-yard field goal in the absence of injured kicker Robbie Gould. Wishnowsky missed, and he also shanked an extra point.

But Seattle's second-half aggressiveness in Letting Russ Cook was the key to victory. Per Next Gen Stats, Wilson in the second half finished 4 of 5 for 76 yards and a touchdown on throws of 10-plus air yards after attempting just one such throw in the first half.

The Seahawks' leaky defense gave up an absurdly easy long touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel, but it was otherwise OK. Seattle's games always seem like they'll turn into a nail-biting high-wire act, but a win on the road within the NFC West is a win on the road within the NFC West.

Trey Lance gets his chance

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo told reporters he was "hopeful" he'd be sidelined for "just a couple of weeks" because of the calf injury that kept him out of the second half of the 49ers' loss to the Seahawks. The obvious subtext is that Trey Lance now has a chance to win Garoppolo's job while he's out.

Injuries have plagued Garoppolo throughout his career, and San Francisco didn't trade up to draft Lance No. 3 overall just to have him sit behind Garoppolo forever. In his first full half of work, Lance didn't do much to distinguish himself, but he didn't make any awful mistakes, either.

Lance wasn't always accurate and at times held on to the ball too long, but he did show an ability to evade pressure. One of his two touchdown passes was that way-too-easy bomb to Samuel, who had no one near him, while the other came in garbage time. So, there still isn't much to go on.

But the opportunity is there nonetheless. Lance will get a giant test next week when the Niners visit the unbeaten Cardinals.

Justin Fields might be OK Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The second start for the Chicago Bears' rookie passer was significantly better than his first. And it's not just because he couldn't possibly have been any worse.

Fields only completed 11 of 17 passes to beat the Detroit Lions, but five of those completions went for 20 yards or more, and his average intended air yards was 13.2, per Next Gen Stats. (Last week against the Cleveland Browns, Fields' IAY was just 5.6, the fourth-lowest in the league.) Head coach Matt Nagy also confirmed after the game that he'd given the play-calling wheel to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, which probably helped.

It was the kind of performance Fields needed, too. The Bears face the Las Vegas Raiders, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and San Francisco 49ers in the weeks ahead.

Browns' defense keeps dominating

The Cleveland Browns allowed 33 points in their Week 1 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. They've allowed 34 points total in their last three games, the latest a 14-7 win at the Minnesota Vikings.

After giving up a touchdown on the Vikings' first possession, the Browns tossed a shutout and never allowed another red-zone opportunity. Cleveland hit Kirk Cousins 10 times, with Myles Garrett accounting for half a sack, two tackles for a loss, and four quarterback hits.

If there's a concern for the Browns, it's that Baker Mayfield (minus-0.14 EPA/dropback) continues to struggle. But this is shaping up to be a championship-caliber defense.

Bills, Chiefs appear to be just fine Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Was it really still this season that the Buffalo Bills lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home? All the Bills have done since is outscore three opponents 118-21. Two of those wins have been shutouts, including Sunday's whitewash of the listless Houston Texans. It's helped that Buffalo's last three opponents are a combined 3-8, but the Bills are doing what a Super Bowl contender should do against inferior competition.

True story: The Chiefs will still be in last place by the end of Week 4, even if the Los Angeles Chargers lose to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. (Not that anyone should be concerned about the standings this early in the season.) But Patrick Mahomes' five-touchdown performance against the Philadelphia Eagles, which included nine conversions on 10 third downs, ought to calm any doubters out there, assuming there were any. With a defense like Kansas City's, the Chiefs will frequently need to score at a video-game pace. That still doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

Oh, by the way: The Bills play at the Chiefs next Sunday night.

Your 'Ben Roethlisberger is washed' stat of the day

Presented without comment ...

Ben Roethlisberger is now the only QB in the last 20 seasons to lose yardage on multiple 4th-down completions in the same season, per ESPN Stats and Info.

- Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) October 3, 2021

Dom Cosentino is a senior features writer at theScore.

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