We have reached the point where some bold takes are no longer overreactions with the first quarter of the NFL season nearly complete.
It might be safe to say the Washington Commanders have finally found their franchise quarterback in rookie Jayden Daniels, who led his team to a dominant victory Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals to improve to 3–1 on the season. Perhaps Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury wasn’t the problem during his tenure as Arizona’s head coach.
By now, the football public should know the Minnesota Vikings are for real after they improved to 4–0 after defeating the Green Bay Packers in Jordan Love’s return from a sprained MCL.
It might be too soon to analyze whether the Denver Broncos will contend for a playoff spot, but they’re trending in the right direction after defeating the New York Jets for back-to-back road upsets.
Here’s what we learned during another eventful Sunday in the NFL.
Jayden Daniels’s red-hot offense lights up Arizona
The Commanders finally punted for the first time in their past three games, but they received a near-perfect performance from the offense during Kingsbury’s revenge game, as they cruised to a 42–14 victory over the Cardinals.
Daniels (26-of-30, 233 yards, one touchdown and one interception) nearly had another game with at least 20 completions and a completion percentage of 90%. The 2024 No. 2 pick completed a pass to nine players, with Terry McLaurin (seven catches, 52 yards, one touchdown) and Olamide Zaccheaus (six catches, 85 yards) as his leading receivers.
This Week 4 matchup was essentially over after Daniels found McLaurin for a 10-yard touchdown pass and a 21-point lead with 8:30 left in regulation. Daniels has completed 82.1% of his passes through four games, and has the Commanders at 3–1 thanks to three consecutive victories against the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals and Cardinals.
The Commanders recorded 449 total yards, including 216 rushing yards in a sweet victory for Kingsbury, who failed to get positive results out of Kyler Murray and the Cardinals’ offense during four seasons as the head coach. Many criticized Commanders coach Dan Quinn for giving Kingsbury another shot in the NFL. (The Las Vegas Raiders probably aren’t happy that Quinn got Kingsbury to withdraw as the leading candidate for their OC opening.)
It was fitting that Murray’s offense struggled during Kingsbury’s return to the desert. Arizona (1–3) failed to move the ball after an early touchdown connection between Murray and rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Quinn’s defense received strong contributions from veteran additions Bobby Wagner, Frankie Luvu and Dorance Armstrong. Plenty has gone right for the Commanders, but let’s not forget about the many quality signings first-year GM Adam Peters made in the offseason. It’s a new era in the nation’s capital.
Broncos’ defense shines in sloppy offensive game vs. Jets
Aaron Rodgers looked upward in frustration after New York Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein missed the potential game-winning field goal in the final seconds of Sunday’s 10–9 loss against the Denver Broncos. His facial expressions on the sideline summarized a mistake-filled offensive performance against a dominant Denver defense.
Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain II removed Rodgers’s top playmaker, Garrett Wilson (five catches, 41 yards), from the flow of the game, forcing the veteran quarterback to miss several throws to his other wide receivers. It also didn’t help that Denver’s run defense stopped New York’s running backs, handing Breece Hall (10 carries, four yards) one of his worst career performances. Rodgers went 24-of-42 for 225 yards, who averaged only 5.4 yards per attempt. The Jets’ offense didn’t find the end zone Sunday and finished with a season-low 248 total yards to drop to 2–2 on the season.
The Broncos’ offense had a worse day statistically than the Jets’ offense— recording only 186 total yards. But rookie Bo Nix (12-of-25, 60 yards, one touchdown) at least produced the one touchdown drive he needed when he connected with Courtland Sutton for an eight-yard touchdown pass and a 7–6 advantage with 3:08 left in the third quarter.
It’s time to give Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph plenty of credit for the defensive turnaround in Denver. The Broncos (2–2) have held opponents to under 14 points and 300 total yards in three consecutive games. They’re only allowing an average of 13.8 points and 256.5 yards per game this season.
Last year through four weeks, the Broncos allowed an average of 37.5 points and 461.5 yards per game. Those numbers include the infamous 70–20 loss against the Miami Dolphins. Many wanted coach Sean Payton to quickly fire Joseph for the poor start, but patience in Denver led to Joseph operating one of the best defenses in the league this season.
It wasn’t pretty Sunday, but Payton is starting to build a winning culture in Denver with back-to-back road upsets against the Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Undefeated Vikings hold on to spoil Love’s return
The Minnesota Vikings leaned on a comfortable early lead to hold off the Green Bay Packers, 31–29, and improved to 4–0 on the season.
Once again, the Vikings played complementary football to build a 28–0 advantage in the first half. Sam Darnold (20-of-28, 275 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, one fumble) quickly found a rhythm with the return of wide receiver Jordan Addison (three catches, 72 yards, one touchdown), who missed two games due to injury. Justin Jefferson contributed six catches for 85 yards and one touchdown. The Minnesota defense also did its part during the strong start, forcing a rusty Jordan Love into two interceptions in the first half.
But Love, who played for the first time since sustaining a knee injury in Week 1, orchestrated a furious rally at Lambeau Field, leading his team to three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Vikings scored only three points in the second half, but that was the difference in this NFC North clash.
Eventually, Darnold will play a game with his team trailing on the scoreboard, but those waiting for his downfall might be waiting a long time. There’s now enough of a sample size to know Darnold is the real deal for the Vikings. He’s up to 11 total passing touchdowns with only three interceptions this season. The doubters need to stop saying Darnold is benefiting only from a strong defense, because both units contributed to the impressive wins against the Houston Texans, the San Francisco 49ers and now the Packers for a perfect September.
As for Green Bay (2–2), Love (32-of-54, 389 yards, four touchdowns, three interceptions) might have shaken off the rust with the late comeback attempt. He again displayed a strong connection with wide receiver Jayden Reed, who recorded seven catches for 139 yards and one touchdown. The Vikings are undefeated, but they will have plenty of competition in the NFC North. The Chicago Bears improved to 2–2 after defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 24–18, and the Detroit Lions (2-1) will host the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.
Falcons kicker makes Saints pay for poor clock management
The season of clutch kickers continued after the Atlanta Falcons’ Younghoe Koo drilled a career-long 58-yard field goal to give his team a come-from-behind 26–24 victory against the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints might have kicked themselves for scoring too soon on their go-ahead touchdown drive late in the game. New Orleans had a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 1:48 left in regulation and the Falcons had no timeouts. Not long after, Alvin Kamara scored on a one-yard rushing touchdown to give the Saints a 24–23 advantage with one minute left on the clock.
New Orleans (2–2) could have had a better approach on its last possession, but coach Dennis Allen likely wasn’t expecting a costly defensive pass interference from cornerback Paulson Adebo that gave Atlanta 30 yards and put Koo in his field-goal range.
Derek Carr & Co. now have back-to-back rocky performances in losses to the Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles, slowing a hot start to the season. Perhaps the biggest difference between the first two weeks and the losing skid is the lack of a downfield passing attack. The Falcons’ defense didn’t allow wide receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed to break free most of the game. Carr finished 28-of-36 for 239 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
The Falcons (2–2) are still searching for an offensive identity, but they’re at least keeping pace in the NFC South thanks to two gritty comeback victories, including the Week 3 win against the Eagles on Monday Night Football. Atlanta’s big three of Bijan Robinson (seven carries, 28 yards), Drake London (six catches, 64 yards) and Kyle Pitts (three targets, no catches) didn’t do much against New Orleans. The Buccaneers (3–1) have a one-game lead in the division after defeating the Eagles, 33–16, on Sunday.
Travis Kelce steps up to help Chiefs defeat Chargers
Travis Kelce, in his 12th NFL season, once again proved he’s able to step up when the Kansas City Chiefs need him most.
With a short-handed offense, Kelce was Patrick Mahomes’s leading receiver, as the Chiefs put aside a mostly sluggish outing to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers on the road, 17–10, and improve to 4–0 on the season. Kelce contributed a team-high seven catches for 89 yards, and Mahomes went 19-of-29 for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Ideally, the Chiefs would love to save Kelce’s best performances until the playoffs roll around, but the back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions needed his services after Rashee Rice exited early with a knee injury. The standout second-year receiver collided with Mahomes before being carted off the field. Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the CBS TV broadcast that Rice’s injury “is not good.” The Chiefs are going to need more from rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy if Rice is sidelined for the foreseeable future. Worthy’s 54-yard touchdown put Kansas City on the scoreboard to trim the Chargers’ lead to 10–7 in the second quarter.
Kansas City was also without running back Isiah Pacheco, who’s on injured reserve. Kareem Hunt, who recently returned to Kansas City, recorded a team-high 69 rushing yards.
The Chargers (2–2) couldn’t take advantage of the early double-digit lead partly because of the injuries to tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. Star defensive tackle Chris Jones recorded two sacks and hit Justin Herbert three times. The often-composed Herbert expressed his frustrations on the sideline. He’s been dealing with an ankle injury the past two games.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as What We Learned in NFL Week 4: Commanders Stay Hot, Vikings Play Spoiler.
