NFL Week 4 Preview: 5 Things to Watch as Teams Look to Improve Their Offense

CNN
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What happened to offense in the NFL? On Sunday, the Saints led the Philadelphia Eagles 3-0 heading into the fourth quarter. The New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys all scored seven points or fewer in the first three quarters of their games.

It’s been a real struggle. Is it the lack of preseason? Or is it everyone’s new favorite complaint about defenses letting their safeties play deep all the time? Maybe teams will finally break out this week?

Here are five things you need to know before you start week 4.

Who had Sam Darnold leading the NFL in passing touchdowns through three weeks of the season? The veteran quarterback appears to have finally found a home in Minnesota.

Darnold struggled with the New York Jets after being drafted third overall in 2018, before spending brief stints in Carolina and San Francisco. But the 27-year-old now appears to be thriving in Minnesota and praised the people he surrounded himself with for helping him cope with the bad times.

“I think having a really good, close group of friends and family that I have at home helps keep me sober, if I’m successful,” Darnold told reporters on Wednesday.

“And when I have moments where things aren’t necessarily going my way, I can lean on them and know that they can help me build myself up. I think a lot of it has to do with the great friends that I have and the parents that just raised me the right way and pushed me in ways that only they could.”

The Vikings offense looks fantastic with Darnold and defensive coordinator Brian Flores making sure his team is flying all over the field.

The Vikings are now 3-0 for the first time since 2016 and have won back-to-back games over the 49ers and Texans, two teams many have seen deep into the playoffs.

If head coach Kevin O’Connell defeats the Green Bay Packers in a key divisional game on Sunday, the Vikings will cement their position as one of the best teams in the league.

And here’s a fun fact for you: Even though it feels like he’s been around forever, Darnold is younger than Joe Burrow.

Are Burrow and the Bengals done?

Speaking of Burrow, no team has ever started a season 0-3 and made it to the Super Bowl. Only six teams in NFL history have started 0-3 and even made the playoffs.

The last to do so was the 2018 Texans. So the odds are clearly stacked against Cincinnati and its franchise QB. The only silver lining for them right now is that their schedule isn’t too tough for the next month.

They play at Carolina on Sunday and this is a revenge game for Andy Dalton! Dalton played his first nine seasons with the Bengals and led them to the playoffs four times. He is 2-1 against his former team in his career.

Despite this game being in Charlotte, the Bengals are the favorites. If Cincinnati pulls out a win, the team’s next three games will be against the Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, and Browns. They’ll need to go 3-1 in the next four games to pull themselves out of the doldrums, but it’s doable.

Burrow stressed after the Bengals’ shocking home loss to the Commanders in Week 3 that his team is not out of the playoff race yet.

“It’s an exciting opportunity, like every season. There are some big games at the end that we have to commit to,” the 27-year-old told reporters. “We haven’t played any division opponents yet.

“The Steelers are 3-0, other teams are 1-2, we’re 0-3. We’re playing all six games coming up. We’re not out of the woods yet. Playoffs and winning the division are the last thing on my mind. We’ve got to get better this week.”

No team has looked better this season than the Buffalo Bills. The league-wide offensive woes haven’t been a problem for Josh Allen.

He’s got the Bills firing on all cylinders. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday, Allen and company scored a touchdown on every drive in the first half, and Buffalo now has the most points scored in the NFL so far this season with 112.

That kind of performance won’t be easy in Baltimore against a Ravens team still desperate to get the season back on track after a poor start.

Lamar Jackson’s team lit up the Cowboys early on Sunday — thanks in large part to a breakout performance from running back Derrick Henry — but then had to hold on for their first win of the season. Jackson is 2-2 all-time against Allen, but it was Allen who won the one playoff game between the two in 2021.

Before the two teams face off on Sunday, the Bills quarterback praised Jackson’s skills and how tough he will be to stop.

“I think he’s — first of all, he’s an inspiration to a lot of people in this country,” Allen told reporters. “The way he plays the game, the doubters that he had when he came out … and then for him to show the resilience and the work ethic and the attitude to go on and win two MVPs, guys all over the league, they see that.

“He’s really changed the way guys play the game, but make no mistake, he can really knock the ball out of his neck and (I) have a lot of respect for him, a lot of love for him.”

It will be fun to see them play against each other again on Sunday Night Football.

Washington fans can’t wait for Week 4 to begin as it looks like they finally have their franchise quarterback.

Jayden Daniels, the team’s second overall pick, had a great game in Monday’s win over the Bengals, throwing just two (!) incomplete passes in Cincinnati.

He looks cool, calm and collected when he drops back in. Excluding kneeling, the Commanders have scored on every drive over the last two games.

For reference, since 2000, there have only been 10 runs scored on each drive — that’s 12,990 games. Daniels has now done it twice in a row.

Commanders fans have had 10 starting quarterbacks over the past five years. Now they have a Heisman winner who looks like a rising star.

“I’m just a competitor. I want to compete at the highest level and it’s obviously a blessing to be able to go out there every Sunday and do things that a lot of people in the world don’t get to do,” Daniels said after the Week 3 win over Cincinnati.

“I am blessed to be part of one of the 32 teams that compete every Sunday, Monday or whenever we play.”

The Commanders travel to face the Cardinals on Sunday as Arizona looks to bounce back from last season’s home loss to the Detroit Lions.

For the second week in a row, we get a Monday night double header. There will be four Monday doubleheaders this season after Disney increased the number of games from 17 to 23 in its latest media rights deal.

This week, the Miami Dolphins host the Tennessee Titans and the Lions host the Seattle Seahawks. Lions-Seahawks is likely to be the game to watch once both games are over. Seattle is 3-0 under new head coach Mike Macdonald, but Detroit will surely be the toughest test yet.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins are without Tua Tagovailoa, who is on the injured list with a concussion, and now backup Skylar Thompson is questionable with a rib injury. We could see either Tim Boyle or Tyler Huntley at center for the Dolphins.

Miami, which had the league’s No. 1 offense last season, is the only team yet to hold a lead in regulation this season. Amazingly, they did win, kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired against the Jaguars in Week 1.

Away @ home

Thursday

Dallas Cowboys (1-2) @ New York Giants (1-2) – 8:15pm ET

Sunday

New Orleans Saints (2-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (1-2) – 1:00pm ET

Cincinnati Bengals (0-3) @ Carolina Panthers (1-2) – 1:00pm ET

Los Angeles Rams (1-2) @ Chicago Bears (1-2) – 1:00 PM ET

Minnesota Vikings (3-0) @ Green Bay Packers (2-1) – 1:00pm ET

Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3) @ Houston Texans (2-1) – 1:00pm ET

Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0) @ Indianapolis Colts (1-2) – 1:00pm ET

Denver Broncos (1-2) @ New York Jets (2-1) – 1:00pm ET

Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) – 1:00pm ET

Washington Commanders (2-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (1-2) – 4:05 PM ET

New England Patriots (1-2) @ San Francisco 49ers (1-2) – 4:05 PM ET

Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) @ Los Angeles Chargers (2-1) – 4:25pm ET

Cleveland Browns (1-2) @ Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) – 4:25pm ET

Buffalo Bills (3-0) @ Baltimore Ravens (1-2) – 8:20pm ET

Monday

Tennessee Titans (0-3) @ Miami Dolphins (1-2) – 7:30 PM ET

Seattle Seahawks (3-0) @ Detroit Lions (2-1) – 8:15 PM ET