Reports last week that several players and staff members tied to the Tennessee Titans threatened to upend the NFL’s Week 4 schedule. When it was later reported that New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton and New Orleans Saints running back Michael Burton had also tested positive, things went from bad to worse. Fortunately for the Saints and Burton, the test was a false-positive, but not so for Newton. The result was an altered playbook for Week 4 that forces two games, not just one, to be played today. For the rest of the Sunday schedule, things moved forward as expected, but not necessarily as planned.
The San Francisco 49ers were the clear favorite heading into their game against the Philadelphia Eagles, despite having much of the first-string line banged up. They were getting -334 before the game, but the Eagles decided to give their fans a huge win and upset the odds. QB Carson Wentz was held to just 193 yards; however, he still managed to pick up two touchdowns on the way to a 25-20 win. The Eagles are now in first place in the NFC East after yesterday’s upset.
The Denver Broncos brought in an up-and-coming QB to start the game against the New York Jets and Denver hopes he improves as the season progresses. Brett Rypien threw three interceptions in the game, but the Broncos still managed to take the win, 37-28. The Jets were sloppy, but so were the Broncos. It turned into a game of who could be more undisciplined, and the Jets won in that category. They racked up 11 penalties, of which six were personal fouls.
Joe Burrow may have finally found his rhythm. Coming into the NFL as the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, he headed to the Cincinnati Bengals and was expected to shine. Things got off to a sluggish start, but he turned it all around yesterday in a key game. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Burrow logged over 300 yards, making three in a row the times he has now pulled that off. He’s the first rookie QB to do so, and he and running back Joe Mixon hooked up several times to pull off the 33-25 win. Mixon ended the day with an impressive 151 yards on the ground, 30 in the air and three touchdowns.