Sometimes, the only thing that’s certain in the NFL is uncertainty. That has definitely proven to be true after the first four weeks of action. Teams that looked as though they would be juggernauts to begin the season have faded towards the middle of the pack, and vice versa.
Those facts leave many questions to ponder over before next week’s slate of games. Here are four of those burning questions now that Week Four is in the books.
This past Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs were similar to the squad that the NFL has grown accustomed to seeing over the past handful of years. They dominated the Baltimore Ravens 37-20, and Patrick Mahomes looked to be in MVP form in the process. He passed for 270 yards and four touchdowns, and each TD went to a different receiver. The returning Xavier Worthy also made a tremendous impact in his first game since the season opener, with 121 total yards from scrimmage.
There were still questions after this contest. As it is reasonable to wonder if the result was more about the Chiefs being that good offensively now or the Ravens being that bad defensively. The Ravens were already without a Pro-Bowl player in Nnamdi Madubuike entering the contest. Then they lost two NFL All-Pros in Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey in the first half of action.
The Chiefs may need a couple more games like this to really show that they are once again among the NFL’s elite teams. The upcoming two opportunities will be against a pair of 3-1 teams in the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Detroit Lions.
There’s a chance that Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow could be back from his turf-toe injury in mid-late December. Now at 2-2, the Bengals could explore acquiring another QB if they do not feel that Jake Browning can hold down the fort for the time being. With the current state of the AFC North, there is no clear-cut favorite, so Cincinnati may still have something to play for going forward.
Veteran QBs like Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins would probably be more viable options than what the Bengals have in Browning. At the very least, they could steady the ship and potentially give Burrow a chance during the last three games of the NFL season to make a playoff push.
After the first two weeks of NFL action, the Green Bay Packers looked like Super Bowl contenders. Two weeks later, following a loss to the 1-3 Cleveland Browns and a 40-40 tie against the Dallas Cowboys, numerous concerns have developed. There have been inconsistencies on both sides of the ball, including clock management issues, which have led to their recent downfall. These results were also against teams that the Packers were clearly better than on paper.
Green Bay has another slate of favorable matchups coming up, including games against the aforementioned struggling Bengals and the 1-3 Panthers. Those will hopefully be “get right” games for the Packers faithful before the Monday night showdown against the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. After that stretch, there should be a better idea regarding whether the Packers are still a legitimate championship contender, or rather a wildcard team that may win a playoff game.
After three straight weeks of dominance, the Detroit Lions may now be the best team in the NFC. Any lingering concerns from that Week One loss to Green Bay seem behind Detroit now after a 34-10 blowout victory versus the same Browns who defeated the Packers one week earlier. The Lions were not only dominant on both sides of the ball but also on special teams, as Kalif Raymond added a 65-yard punt return TD to the mix.
The obvious case against Detroit’s claim as the best in the conference is the undefeated Eagles, who currently sit at 4-0. Simply looking at the record, however, does not tell the entire story. The Lions have the best point differential in the NFL at plus 49, which is 29 more than the Eagles.
Philadelphia also had to overcome a 26-7 deficit to emerge victorious over the Los Angeles Rams in Week Three. They continued to look out of sync offensively the following week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A.J. Brown, who has only one game with more than 30 receiving yards this year, may have expressed those difficulties with a cryptic message on social media.
The Lions will have the chance to settle everything on the field, with games against the Eagles, Rams, Packers, and Buccaneers, all remaining on the schedule. That will give Detroit a direct chance to prove that they are the best in the conference, and maybe the entire NFL.
Most questions, if not all of them, should be answered sooner rather than later. Both the Chiefs and the Lions have more than formidable opponents coming up, including a game against each other in two weeks on Sunday night. The Packers have a bye this week, which should allow them to clean up some mistakes before hosting the Bengals.
With that Cincinnati squad, everything ultimately depends on Burrow’s health, of course. They do, however, have between now and the NFL trade deadline (November fourth) to decide if they are comfortable with Browning for the time being. Based on that game against the Denver Broncos, he does not seem to be the short-term answer, so I expect a move to happen in the coming weeks.
The next few weeks of NFL action are shaping up to be very exciting. It will be interesting to see who emerges as the cream of the crop and who perhaps falls back towards the middle of the pack.
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