Several teams fought out their hearts in Week 4. In the end, though, they came up short. On the other hand, a few teams did just enough to get the W.
Kansas City v. Detroit: Who could’ve predicted that Patrick Mahomes & Co. would be shut down by the Lions’ defense? Who would have thought that Matthew Stafford and his boys would put up such a fight? Stafford threw three touchdowns, and it could’ve been four (but, alas, he fumbled in the red zone).
In a weird series of events, the Chiefs recovered that fumble, then turned the ball right back to the Lions via their fumble. Then the Lions fumbled again! What makes that last Lions’ fumble unique is that the whistle never blew the play dead. An extremely intelligent Chiefs’ player picked it up and returned it for six.
The Chiefs came back to win the game, and they’re still undefeated. But that doesn’t negate the fact that the Lions played one heck-of-a-game. It was almost the upset of the season thus far.
Chicago v. Minnesota: Chicago may have a new sheriff in town. Mitch Trubisky was knocked out of the game early, and back-up Chase Daniels handled things quite well. As always, the Bears’ defense had a lot to do with the win.
Denver v. Jacksonville: Another great and close game (decided by just two points) was Jaguars v. Broncos. In the beginning, it certainly didn’t look like Jacksonville had enough to win this game, but somehow the team found its rhythm and got the ‘W.’ Perhaps it was those intense stares from Jalen Ramsey that lit their fire. Living in Jacksonville. I’m (of course) ecstatic that the Jags won. But you can’t help but feel for Joe Flacco and his Broncos. They played a great game, but–just as I said last week–there’s just something missing in Denver. In this game, Denver left way too much time on the clock for Minchew.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk2WLbHN_gs
New Orleans v. Dallas: Sunday Night’s game between the Saints and the Cowboys was another two-point contest. The Saints had backup QB Teddy Bridgewater in for Drew Brees, and even though Bridgewater didn’t through for a TD, he did a great job getting the team in position to score. It’s rare to find a game with so many penalties that’s also an exciting game to watch. For Dallas, Cowboy dreams (of an undefeated season) are over.
Pittsburgh v. Cincinnati: Last but not least, there was Monday Night Football–with my Steelers against the team from Ohio that can’t win a game. I’m so thrilled for the Steelers even though they beat the mediocre (at best) and winless Bengals. As they say in sports, a win is a win. I hope it’s the beginning of more wins. We’ll find out Sunday when Lamar Jackson and his Ravens come to town.
