It’s already week four in the NFL. The best teams are rising to the top while others are having to re-adjust their strategy. Denver Broncos anyone? Here are the top games and moments to look out for in Week 4.
Can the Dolphins Keep it Up against the Bills?
Whether or not you think that the Miami Dolphins have the best offense in the NFL, they were certainly efficient and unforgiving against the Denver Broncos with their exceptional 70-20 win in week three. The question is, was that more a reflection of how good they are or how tragic the Denver Broncos are? The Dolphins did manage to get past the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Chargers, both of which were much tighter contests.
The Buffalo Bills at Bills Stadium will be a much sterner test for Mike McDaniel and his team led by Tua Tagovailoa – not to mention the infamous Dolphins-Bills rivalry. The Bills have been the better franchise, having made every postseason since 2019. The Dolphins’ only appearance in the same duration was last season when the Bills knocked them out in the Wild Card Round. For the Florida team, this game is all about upsetting the status quo and re-establishing themselves. The Bills will want to show it’s business as usual and hand their AFC East rivals their first L of the season.
An American Encounter as the Cowboys Host the Patriots
What happens when two overtly American football franchises collide? Typically exciting games! Given the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots are in different conferences, matchups are infrequent. Those who need a reminder need only find the footage from Week 6 in 2021, where the franchises pushed each other to overtime. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb combined for a sensational touchdown to win the game after the regulation period, to give the Cowboys their first win against the Patriots since 1996. No doubt Dallas fans will want to see the team do it in just four quarters this season.
Bill Belichick is determined to prove that he was the mastermind of the New England Patriots dynasty domination period and that he can do it without Tom Brady. The jury is still out on that, Bill. Three games in, being 1-2 isn’t a disaster when considering the performances of the team; there’s still a good squad in there somewhere. Mac Jones might not be the next Tom Brady, but nor was Cam Newton. It’s a re-adjustment period where the team has to play without the best QB in the league. If they can get past the Cowboys, that transition could start to take shape.
NFC South Hotseat Up for Grabs as Bucs Play Saints
The NFC South might be considered to be the weakest division in the entirety of the NFL. Regardless, somebody has got to represent the division in the postseason. Two teams that could take a real step toward doing so are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints as they play one another at Caesars Superdome on the weekend. With these NFC South rivals both entering week four off the back of losses, there’s extra incentive to win.
The New Orleans Saints have been one of the most exciting franchises in the prior three games. Each game has gone down to the wire with very narrow winning margins. They’re currently 2-1 for the campaign, even with Derek Carr being relatively inconsistent.
Will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffer the same kind of post-Brady hangover that the Patriots are enduring? Todd Bowles sincerely hopes not. Baker Mayfield was convinced to join the Bucs to be the starting QB for 2023, meaning he gets first-team football for the first time since leaving the Cleveland Browns in 2021. In three games for his new team, he’s proved to be resolute with early peaks and troughs, the games against the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles, respectively. However, this is the perfect game to show why he was the right man to follow the Brady show.
Someone has to Win in Basement Bash: Broncos @ Bears
The 2023 season hasn’t started well for either the Denver Broncos or the Chicago Bears. Both teams are 0-3 and have been on the end of some drubbings. Granted, the Broncos are incredibly sore after that 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins, but the Bears won’t be exactly celebrating that their losses have been lower margins. Of course, a stalemate game could play out here, but that won’t help either team reboot their season.
Is Justin Fields the totality of the problem at Soldier Field? It seems unfair to give him all the blame, but he’s not been good enough. His teammate DJ Moore was seen checking on him during the game just after Fields received a nasty knock to the head. Moore would be as well to check on him again as he errs closer to the bench. Tyson Bagent and Nathan Peterman might be unknown quantities, but they don’t have a better game to prove themselves in against a team arguably worse than them.
Broncos’ head coach, Sean Payton, would be well to disregard the 70-20 result and chalk it off as a freak occurrence. He will have seen plenty of them before in his coaching career, which dates back to 1988. The other two games were very tight matches against both the Washington Commanders and the Las Vegas Raiders, where they lost by two and one point, respectively. If he can shake the jitters out of the team, they can win in Chicago. Russell Wilson typically hit two touchdowns per game against the Bears during his time as a Seattle Seahawk. If he turns up, he can get even more against them here.