At the quarter pole, four teams – two in each conference – are leading the pack at 4-0. They are the Chiefs and Bills in AFC and Packers and Seahawks in the NFC.
The Chiefs and Bills play next Thursday night but the Packers and Seahawks don’t play in the regular season.
Remains to be seen if all four wind up in AFC and NFC title games. This year, though, only one team in each conference gets a bye.
–To steal a line from an iconic book, the NFL season is on the brink. The virus outbreak in Tennessee showed that the NFL can’t always contain the virus. The NFL has no idea where this is heading and what it means to the rest of the Titans season and the rest of the NFL season.
–The New England Patriots are finding out life without Tom Brady can be a challenge. They went 2-1 with Cam Newton but when he was sidelined with a positive test, they were left with Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham. Neither was effective as they handed the game to the Chiefs. If Newton doesn’t stay healthy, they aren’t a playoff team.
–An 0-4 start got Bill O’Brien fired as the Texans coach. But it wasn’t just the losing. He had worn out his welcome with his prickly personality and his shaky moves as a GM. At least they have a potential franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson, but O’Brien traded away one of the league’s best receivers (DeAndre Hopkins) and their first two draft picks next year. J.J. Watt noted they have to build around Watson, but it is going to take time to repair the damage O’Brien did to the franchise.
–Two teams, the Jets and Redskins, changed quarterbacks. The Jets benched Sam Darnold for Joe Flacco and the Redskins benched Dwayne Haskins for Kyle Allen. Neither team is going anywhere anyway and now teams have big questions at quarterback.
–As the Lions fell to 1-3, coach Matt Patricia said when he took over the franchise than they had a lot of work to do when he arrived and they’re doing it. He overlooked the fact he took over a 9-7 team and it has gotten worse on his watch. He is not likely to be back next year.