With the season at about the one-quarter pole, it is virtually over for the five 0-4 teams –Titans, Texans, Chargers, Bucs and Dolphins.
Only one team – the 1992 Chargers – has started out 0-4 and gone to the playoffs. With three teams at 4-0 – Chiefs, Vikings and 49ers – there are 26 teams at 3-1, 2-2 or 1-3.
With four of the five 0-4 teams in the AFC, there are just 12 teams fighting for seven playoff spots.
–The surprise team of the year is Cleveland, which was routed by Jacksonville in the opener but has won three straight games since then, including a 27-24 victory over the rival Steelers last week. The Browns are now one of seven 3-1 teams.
–Two other surprise teams are the Raiders and Giants. The Raiders won their first three before losing to the Chiefs, 27-24, and the Giants are also 3-1 with two consecutive wins with backup Jameis Winston at quarterback. But Winston could have lost both games if the opposing quarterbacks (Cam Ward of the Titans and Jacoby Brissett of the Cardinals) hadn’t thrown picks when they were in range for game-winning touchdowns. Deonte Banks intercepted the Brissett pass and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown last Sunday. Winston, meanwhile, threw for three touchdowns.
–The best bounce-back game was by the Patriots, whose season seemed to be falling apart when they were routed by the Jaguars last week. But even though Drake Maye had a pair of turnovers, he threw three touchdowns as the Patriots pulled off a 29-26 victory over the to even New England’s record at 2-2. Maye entered the game with one touchdown pass and six picks.
Efton Chism III made a one-handed, 23-yard touchdown catch with 1:50 left to provide the winning margin. The Bills were at their own 40 with less than 90 seconds left. There was plenty of time to get a game-winning touchdown or at least send the game into overtime, but Josh Allen threw a pick that sealed the loss. Rookie coach Joe Brady blamed himself for a bad play call, but Allen said he should have thrown the ball away when he was rushed instead of heaving it deep into double coverage, where it was picked off by safety Craig Woodson. It was a bad decision by a quarterback who is supposed to be one of the best if not the best in the league. It was the Bills’ first loss.
— Minnesota was the popular pick over the Dolphins in the elimination pools but barely escaped with a 15-10 victory as Will Reichard kicked five field goals. It was the second time this year the unbeaten Vikings have won without scoring an offensive touchdown.
–Officiating continues to be a problem for the league. Line judge Jeff Seeman was suspended for two games and referee Adrian Hill was suspended for one in two different games for what the league called unprofessional conduct toward the players.
Depending on the exact ESPN data count, there were 963 to 983 accepted penalties in the first four games, which is the highest total since 1978. Whether this means the players are committing too many penalties because they don’t play much in the preseason or the officials are making too many ticky-tack calls or making too many bad calls is open to debate. But the league admitted a bad call cost the Rams a victory over the Broncos in Week 3, when an interception was called pass interference. Now the question is whether the number of accepted penalties goes down the rest of the season.
