NFL scores and Week 4 results: Reaction and analysis (2024)

Week 4 of the NFL season is underway! Check in with The Athletic for all the latest news, game previews, injury updates and analysis from our team of experts and insiders.

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Give the Arizona Cardinals credit.

By the start of the second quarter, Sunday’s game had the distinct whiff of a blowout. Arizona was down 14-0, Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers were rolling and the Cardinals’ first two drives had resulted in punts.

At that point, however, they stopped their freefall by stringing together five drives of 10 plays or more. As a result, they ran more plays than the 49ers — 71 to 55 — and won the time-of-possession battle, albeit by only 46 seconds.

The 49ers rediscovered their early momentum in the fourth quarter and pulled away. Because of that, no starting defender was on the field at game’s end and no defender played more than 60 snaps, which is roughly an average game. Here’s how the individual snaps were divided.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has a right hip contusion, but is expected to participate in some capacity in practice this week and play in Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, coach Sean McVay said on Monday.

“We’ll be smart with him, but it should be good to go,” said McVay. “He’s a stud, and obviously we saw him gut through that yesterday. Definitely took a good shot there. But we feel like he should be good to go.”

McVay said Stafford underwent tests to determine the nature and severity of the injury.

“Everything kind of checked out, I mean he took a good shot to his hip,” he said. “Good deep bruise, some swelling and things like that, that kind of really happened immediately. He was able to push through and I think it was good to be able to get him treated. Tried to minimize that afterward. He’s nice and sore today but feel like he’ll continue to make progress throughout the week.”

McVay also reiterated that the Rams will open Cooper Kupp’s 21-day practice window off of injured reserve this week. Kupp will have that window to return to practice after being sidelined with a hamstring injury. If he is not activated to the 53-man roster by that time, he has to go on season-ending injured reserve.

Friday, McVay said he “100 percent” takes into consideration how Kupp himself feels/what he wants, when making a decision to return to the game field, not just the practice field.

Other Rams injuries: Left tackle Alaric Jackson (hamstring) had a pre-game workout on Sunday but McVay said the Rams erred on the side of caution in holding him out. Jackson’s workload could increase this week. Left tackle/right guard Joe Noteboom is dealing with a groin injury. Tight end Tyler Higbee has a thumb injury, and running back Kyren Williams also has a hip injury.

McVay added that the Rams will also start outside linebacker Ochaun Mathis’ 21-day window off of injured reserve this week.

With the Bengals’ offense sputtering once again on Sunday, this time in a 27-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the question of potential changes to free up one of the worst offensive starts in history came immediately.

With Joe Burrow’s calf injury still limiting his mobility and teams teeing off on him, should the Bengals shut down the franchise quarterback for a few weeks, go forward with backup Jake Browning and a full complement of the playbook?

According to head coach Zac Taylor, a move to Browning until Burrow heals more wasn’t a consideration.

When asked if Burrow would be the starter on Sunday in Arizona, he laughed at the concept.

“Yeah,” he said, pausing. “That’s a strange question.”

Burrow became the first player in NFL history to throw at least 150 passes in his team’s first four games and average fewer than five yards per attempt.

His limitations and those of the offense are obvious. He can’t work the pocket, flush out, scramble or generally do anything other than stand back and throw quick, short passes. He’s 2 of 22 throwing the ball more than 15 yards in the air this year.

Is it possible for Burrow, in his current state, to run an effective offense? Taylor believes the answer is yes.

Read more here.

Chris Jones and Tyreek Hill having a fun little back-and-forth about, who else, Taylor Swift.

Browns tight end David Njoku had his best game of the young season Sunday. Monday, Njoku’s head coach praised him for even playing.

Two days after Njoku suffered significant burns on his face and arms in a backyard accident, Nioku caught six passes for 46 yards in a 28-3 loss to the Ravens.

“With the result we had, it’s hard to feel good about anything,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “But the way David played was unbelievable to me considering what he went through.

“It was not just the pass game. He also was good in the run game. He was picking his teammates off the ground. He was a warrior. It was impressive to watch.”

Njoku wore a mask and protective sleeves on his arms. The team has declined to share details on Njoku’s accident or his treatment. He was added to the injury report as questionable but was adamant that he wanted to play — and the team cleared him once it was known that he could safely put his helmet on due to his facial burns.

Justin Herbert has a fractured finger on his left hand, Chargers confirm.

The team says Herbert would have played this week if the Chargers had a game. They are, of course, on their bye and next play on Oct. 16 on Monday Night Football against the Cowboys.

Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White is out for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles, coach Sean McDermott announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know:

• White was carted off after going down on the field with an apparent noncontact injury in the third quarter of Sunday’s win against Miami.
• The two-time Pro Bowler was aiming for a full season after a knee injury in 2021 limited him to just six games in 2022.
• In his four games prior to the injury, White recorded 12 tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit and an end zone interception in the Week 3 victory over the Commanders.

Read more here.

The bass was still thumping in the visiting locker room at Soldier Field on Sunday when Sean Payton walked to the podium to talk about his first victory as the head coach of the Broncos.

The 59-year-old has always turned up the music after wins, insisting his players enjoy victories to the fullest extent whenever they come. The demands of the job are too great not to appreciate the payoff in the moment. Questions about the game ahead typically can wait.

But Payton himself flipped the page Sunday after the Broncos’ 31-28 victory over the Bears and previewed what was coming next, if only for a moment.

“These guys can enjoy it,” Payton said. “Then, we get ready to go next week and we can dive into the whole Jets fiasco stuff.”

The fiasco to which Payton referred, grin on his face as he delivered the line, is a mess of his own making, one he admittedly “stepped in” back in late July.

Read more here.

Buffalo Bills CB Tre’Davious White is out for the season after tearing his Achilles against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

It’s another major injury for Buffalo’s star cornerback, who tore his ACL after appearing in 11 games in 2021.

The conversation was brief. There wasn’t a lot that needed to be said. Amid the worst loss of his career in Dallas on Sunday, Bill Belichick told Mac Jones that the quarterback was done for the day. The New England Patriots were turning to Bailey Zappe.

Jones sat on the bench without his helmet. He stared aimlessly toward the field, the look of a shell-shocked quarterback who’d just thrown two terrible interceptions, who’d fumbled on a play that led to a Dallas Cowboys touchdown, who suddenly was being shelved. Here he was, the first-round pick brought to New England to continue a standard of success started by Tom Brady, and stuck now in this surreal scene.

This wasn’t how the season was supposed to go — or at least how the Patriots envisioned it would go.

Read more here.

Some notable Colts injury updates:

Starting cornerback Dallis Flowers tore his Achilles during Sunday's OT loss to the Rams and is out for the year. Second-year tight end Jelani Woods will remain on IR with a hamstring injury. And pass rusher Kwity Paye is in concussion protocol after developing symptoms following the game.

Flowers has started all four games for the Colts, who were already pretty thin in the secondary. The 26-year-old had allowed 60% of passes thrown his way to be completed with a 101.0 passer rating against, according to Pro Football Reference.

If Paye isn't available against the Titans next week, it will also be a big loss for the Colts. The 2021 first-round pick has looked good in his third season, tallying three sacks in four games while also recording 12 tackles, four tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries.

After he was a healthy scratch in Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears receiver Chase Claypool won’t be with the team this week as it prepares for its “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Washington Commanders, coach Matt Eberflus said Monday. Here’s what you need to know:

• Eberflus told Claypool not to come to the facility this week. “We thought it was best for the team,” he said.
• The team told Claypool not to attend Sunday’s game, which Chicago lost 31-28.
• Claypool, who Chicago acquired for a second-round pick at last season’s trade deadline, has 18 receptions in 10 games with the Bears.

Read more here.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Monday that left guard Teven Jenkins has been designated to return from injured reserve.

The Bears placed Jenkins on IR with a leg injury on Aug. 30. With Jenkins out, the Bears moved center Cody Whitehair to left guard while veteran Lucas Patrick took over at center.

The Falcons are sticking with starting quarterback Desmond Ridder … for now at least.

“We’re talking about eight starts. He’s 4-4,” coach Arthur Smith said Monday, referencing Ridder’s record as a starter one day after the Falcons fell 23-7 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. “The biggest obstacle we have is starting fast. We know we have to be better early on offense. There’s a lot that goes into it.”

Ridder threw the second and third interceptions of his career in the first half Sunday against the Jaguars and then lost a fumble late in the game. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 191 yards (3.9 air yards per attempt) for the game.

“I thought he came back (in the second half) and, it wasn’t what you wanted results-wise, but he gave us a chance,” Smith said. “The biggest thing we have to do is we have to get jump-started earlier.”

Ridder is 28th in the league in passer rating (77.9) and 32nd in offensive pass EPA per dropback (minus-.24), according to TruMedia. He hasn’t completed more than 62 percent of his passes in a game since Week 1. His efforts haven’t been helped by the pass blocking. Ridder has been sacked 16 times, the third most in the league.

The Falcons gave quarterback Taylor Heinicke a two-year, $14 million contract in the offseason with the understanding that he would back up Ridder, who was selected in the third round in 2022. Heinicke is in his sixth NFL season. He started 24 games for Washington in the last two seasons.

Falcons fans shouldn’t expect to see Heinicke on Sunday when Atlanta hosts the Houston Texans, but Smith didn’t shut the door on a change in the future.

“When you’re not winning, everything is on the table,” he said. “That’s your job, to make decisions. The ultimate goal is to win.”

Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell was noncommittal Monday about whether wide receiver Jameson Williams would play Sunday against the Carolina Panthers at Ford Field. Williams had his six-game suspension for violating the NFL's gambling policy reduced to four games on Friday, and he became eligible to resume all team activities today. The wide receiver also, however, suffered a hamstring injury in mid-August during training camp and has lacked on-field reps since then.

Campbell told reporters Monday the Lions are taking things day-by-by with Williams: "We're just gonna see where he's at with football."

He also said his goal for Williams was for him to "just be a reliable receiver. To me, that's a good year."

Williams, the No. 12 draft pick in 2022, missed 11 games his rookie season while recovering from a torn ACL suffered playing for Alabama in the College Football Playoff national championship.

Dig in the hat and pick out a superlative for Caleb Williams. They’ve all been used, and they all undersell the show he puts on when he heats up.

In Saturday’s 48-41 win at Colorado, Williams tied his career high with six touchdown passes and threw for a season-best 403 yards. It was the first game he’d had in front of a large TV audience this year — USC’s first four games had been tucked into late-night and/or Pac-12 Network windows. So, if you’d only checked stat lines, it’d have been easy to assume the Williams of today is just like the Heisman-winning Williams of 2022. But his game is evolving in a way that makes him significantly more dangerous in the pocket.

Read more here.

For 20 minutes after the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Justin Fields sat in his full uniform. He stared straight ahead or looked down at the floor. He did his postgame radio interview. He shook hands with teammates. He accepted a hug from tight end Cole Kmet.

But mostly, he sat there. He looked as stunned as anyone would be. For three and a half quarters, he had put together the game of his life.

The Bears were going to end their losing streak. He was going to quiet the doubters, for a few days, at least.

Then it all crumbled in a way that happens to bad teams, to teams on losing streaks that span nearly a year. And Fields had a hand in it with his own mistakes. The Bears blew a 21-point lead and lost to the previously winless Broncos 31-28.

Fields could barely describe what he was thinking in those moments, but by struggling to do so, he said everything. He was at a loss.

Read more here.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Bill Belichick wandered around midfield after Sunday’s game in search of a few hugs and hellos from former colleagues and players while the massive video screen in this spaceship of a stadium revealed the reality of the New England Patriots’ situation, the one that contributed to Belichick’s shell-shocked look.

He walked under a scoreboard that beamed the final tally from the worst loss in the Patriots’ 24-year Belichick era — Cowboys 38, Patriots 3 — but didn’t look up to read it.

Never before had the Patriots lost by more than 31 points with Belichick on the sideline. Never before had they trailed by 25 points at halftime, as they did on this day. But during this season that was supposed to get Belichick closer to the all-time record for coaching wins, the Patriots are instead setting new marks of futility.

Belichick teamed up with Tom Brady for a historic run that brought New England a level of success that has been unmatched in this league. That’s why owner Robert Kraft was so confident Belichick could rebuild this franchise, even after the departure of the greatest player of all time.

He knew it would take time. You don’t lose a player of Brady’s stature and expect an instant turnaround.

But three-plus years later, Belichick has built a team that looks so different from the ones that were the class of the NFL. These Patriots make inexplicable mistakes, like Mac Jones’ two horrific interceptions Sunday. They have no depth at vital positions like wide receiver and cornerback. They’re a team devoid of electric playmakers, one that needs everything to go right in every phase to find success.

Read more here.