Another one bites the dust.
The Philadelphia Eagles fell to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, meaning that we have just two teams remaining in the NFL that have yet to lose this season.
And it’s only the fourth week of the season.
Next Sunday, the 3-0 Arizona Cardinals travel to Denver and the 3-0 Cincinnati Bengals head to Foxborough on Sunday night.
In case you’re wondering (and I have been asked), the last time we didn’t have a team get to at least 4-0 was way back…in 2010. That year, the Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers all opened 3-0 and all lost their fourth game. Still, all three wound up in the playoffs, the Bears reached the NFC title game and the Steelers made it to Super Bowl XLV.
As for this past week, we saw our usual share of interesting moments.
Hence, here are some thoughts and some numbers regarding Week 4 and entering Monday night’s game between the 2-1 New England Patriots and 1-2 Kansas City Chiefs.
–During the first three weeks of the season, there were just three teams that opted or were forced to make quarterback changes. On Sunday, four different clubs had new starters behind center. Rookie Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles—both who saw playing time in Week 3—opened against the Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers, respectively. Veteran Charlie Whitehurst started for Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker at Indianapolis while second-year pro Mike Glennon got the nod at Pittsburgh.
In 2013, just 15 teams started at least two quarterbacks and a year earlier, only a dozen teams made at least one starting quarterback change. It’s a number to keep an eye on…
–Talk about a tight family. We have seen plenty of the Manning brothers both on the field and in plenty of commercials. At least one of these quarterbacks has led his team to the Super Bowl in five of the past eight seasons.
This year, the siblings have something else in common and that’s their favorite touchdown targets. In four games this season, Eli has thrown nine touchdown passes—seven of those going to tight ends Larry Donnell (4) and Daniel Fells (3). Meanwhile, Peyton has thrown for eight scores in just three contests—seven of those via tight ends Julius Thomas (5) and Jacob Tamme (2). Talk about relativity?
–What on earth has happened to the Carolina Panthers? Granted, no team in the NFC South is above .500 and all are having their issues on defense. And while most figured Ron Rivera’s club might struggle on the offensive side of the ball, no one could have seen this club having the recent issues on defense that are occurring, with or without Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy.
During the team’s 2-0 start, Carolina allowed a total of 21 points and gave up a combined 587 points in wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions. But talk about the kind of consistency you don’t want to see? A week after allowing 37 points and 454 total yards in a Sunday night loss to Pittsburgh, the Panthers gave up 38 points and (you guessed it) 454 yards in a 28-point loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Last season, Rivera’s club allowed the second-fewest yards in the league and only the Seattle Seahawks gave up fewer points in 2013…
–It was seemingly business as usual for the Green Bay Packers as they enjoyed their usual “relaxing” outing at Soldier Field. Dating back to the team’s 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game, Mike McCarthy’s team has won five straight and six of their last seven games in the Windy City.
While Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a big day in Sunday’s 38-17 victory, the game was yet another reminder of how certain coaches have certain players’ numbers.
In 2009, quarterback Jay Cutler was traded from Denver to Chicago while Green Bay hired Dom Capers to be their defensive coordinator. The strong-armed signal-caller has faced Capers’ defense 10 times over that span and Cutler and the Bears are a mere 1-9. In those games, the nine-year pro has thrown a dozen touchdown passes compared to 20 interceptions. And in six of those contests, Cutler has been picked off at least twice, including Sunday’s loss to the Packers…
–Watt are we talking about? We are not yet into October but it’s pretty evident that Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is looking better than ever. The league, via the Associated Press, gives out a Most Valuable Player award, as well as Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year accolade. But could Watt push for MVP honors this season? In four games, he’s totaled 15 tackles, a pair of sacks, knocked down three passes, credited with 16 quarterback hits, recovered a fumble, returned an interception 80 yards for a score (in Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills) and has caught a one-yard touchdown pass. The last defensive player to be named league MVP was New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986…
–Back to the NFC South and this time, the New Orleans Saints. What on earth has gone wrong for a team that had shown dramatic improvement on the defensive side of the ball last season under coordinator Rob Ryan? The team has played three of its first four games on the road and is a disappointing 1-3 but the club that allowed the fourth-fewest yards in the league in 2013 has looked anything but one of the better defenses in the NFL.
During last season’s 4-0 start, Sean Payton’s squad allowed 306.0 total yards per contest, a total of 55 points and just four offensive touchdowns. One year later, Ryan’s unit giving up a whopping 90 more total yards per games, have surrendered exactly twice as many points (110) and surrendered 11 offensive touchdowns. In four games in 2014, Payton’s team has five sacks and just one takeaway.
Back in 2012, the Saints allowed the most total yards in a season in NFL history, hence the hiring of Ryan. It could get very interesting in the Big Easy if the New Orleans defense doesn’t awaken soon…
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