NFL Week 4 Preview
Broncos @ Jets
This was written before the Thursday Night Football Game
This game is going to be huge for the draft. This is the New York Jets' easiest game all year and their chance to get a win. They're going against Brett Rypien, the Boise State stud, who has never started an NFL game in their career. Adam Gase does not deserve a head coaching job and if he loses this game, both him and Gregg Williams should be fired. Even though he's been dropping passes, Jerry Jeudy has looked good. He's been gaining separation and has been open. The Jets defensive backs are a little suspicious, it's prime time television, and the Jets are going to stack the box. This may be Jerry Jeudy's breakout game. I have no clue what to expect out of Rypien, but I don't like betting on the Jets. This game is going to be sloppy and there will be a lot of turnovers. I'm throwing the Hail Mary on the Broncos because of how bad the Jets are.
Player of the Game: Jerry Jeudy WR Broncos
Final Score: Broncos 22 Jets 13
Saints @ Lions
This has to be a redemption game for Drew Brees. While the Lions are coming off of a big upset win over the Cardinals, Brees is playing with a chip on his shoulder. He hasn't been clicking the past two weeks and Alvin Kamara has been carrying him since Michael Thomas went down. Kamara has been the best running back in the NFL this year and I expect their offense to score in the high 20's or low 30's. Coming into this season, the one player I was really looking forward to watching in Detroit was Jeff Okudah. Okudah had his breakout game last week against Arizona and I want to see him build off of that momentum. The matchup I'm watching is Kamara against Jamie Collins. Collins is one of the best linebackers in all of football and I'm excited to see him and Kamara meet in open space. We know that Drew Brees has one of the biggest statistical drop offs in the NFL when it comes to home and away splits. That's because he's so used to playing in the Super Dome, but the Lions home stadium is a dome. I expect the Saints offense to go marching on in Detroit.
Player of the Game: Alvin Kamara RB Saints
Final Score: Saints 31 Lions 23
Chargers @ Buccaneers
We all know that Tom Brady is a Charger killer. One of my favorite clips on the internet is Joey Bosa mic'd up in the 2018-19 playoffs against the Patriots. Right now, the Chargers are one of the most interesting teams in the league. They are a Keenan Allen muffed lateral and an over time Patrick Mahomes away from being 3-0. Through three weeks, they have only been in close games and I expect this week to be another one score game. Herbert looks really solid and he's a fighter. We saw him play through injury against Carolina and he just looks like one tough mf'er. In Tampa, we see their offense beginning to mesh. Mike Evans had one of the strangest stat lines last week and he's going to have to step up with both Chris Godwin and Leonard Fournette out. Ronald Jones looks both stronger and faster this year and the Buccaneers' offense is heading in the right direction. Through three games, they've had a top three defense in the NFL. Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David, Devin White, and Antoine Winfield Jr. all look like stars. Winfield was my number one safety coming out of the draft and his success doesn't surprise me. I like the Buccaneers in a close game.
Player of the Game: Antoine Winfield Jr. FS Buccaneers
Final Score: Chargers 20 Buccaneers 26
Jaguars @ Bengals
It's really hard not to like both of these starting quarterbacks. Gardner Minshew is one of the funniest players in the entire league. He reminds me of a young Ryan Fitzpatrick. He struggled in week 3, but the Bengals defense will give him a chance for redemption. Both Joey Burrow and Minshew have amazing pocket mobility and I'm looking to see which defensive line gets the crucial late game sack. As good as Burrow's pocket mobility is, he has the worst offensive line in the entire NFL. Burrow is getting hit more than Jared Goff did in his rookie season and Cincinnati needs to find a way to protect him. CJ Henderson has been one of the best rookies so far and his play has been amazing through two weeks. Both of these teams will have top 10 picks in the draft this year so this game does have big draft implications. James Robinson was awesome last week and DJ Chark is coming back on Sunday. Burrow has covered the spread in every week of his young career, but based on how the Bengals defense has been playing I like Jacksonville.
Player of the Game: CJ Henderson Jr. CB Jaguars
Final Score: Jaguars 23 Bengals 20
Vikings @ Texans
This is a sneaky good game of two winless teams. The Vikings have looked terrible this year, but showed a lot of fight in the game vs Tennessee last week. My favorite player going into the 2020 NFL draft was Justin Jefferson and we saw why last week. The Titans actually have a good secondary so I expect to see Jefferson "get griddy" against a weak Texans secondary on Sunday. Dalvin Cook is still one of the best running backs in the NFL and Minnesota does have breakout potential. For Houston, I just hate their coaching staff. They desperately need a new start and Eric Bieniemy would literally turn Deshaun Watson into an MVP candidate. I still think they have a lack of fire power on offense and I'm just not buying into the Texans this year. This is a Gary Kubiak revenge game and I see him killing the Texans with a ton of play action and by getting the ball into Justin Jefferson's hands.
Player of the Game: Justin Jefferson WR Vikings
Final Score: Vikings 31 Texans 24
Seahawks @ Dolphins
Could the Seahawks get "Fitzpatrick'd"? Every year we see Ryan Fitzpatrick pull off some crazy upset early in the year. The Seahawks will be playing without Jamal Adams and if Russell Wilson comes back down to earth, the Dolphins have a chance. With all that being said, I still expect Seattle to dominate this game. Wilson is playing the best football in his career and has been "unliiiiiiimited" lately. The Dolphins played well on Thursday Night Football and had the mini-bye week, but that's not going to be enough to stop Russ from cooking. The matchup I will be watching is DK Metcalf against Xavien Howard. Both players are arguably top ten at their position and should be a good head to head matchup.
Player of the Game: Russell Wilson QB Seahawks
Final Score: Seahawks 34 Dolphins 20
Browns @ Cowboys
This game has two of the most hyped up teams from this offseason. The game will be on Fox and receive a lot of national attention. I'm looking forward to seeing if one of these teams put it all together. On paper, both teams are loaded. It will be fun to see CeeDee Lamb go up against his former quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Cowboys offensive line is super banged up and the Browns defensive line has been awesome the past two weeks. The head to head matchup I'm looking forward to is the Browns running backs vs the Cowboys linebackers. This game should be high scoring and Dak Prescott has been playing really well this season. I think the Cowboys offense will utilize a quick passing attack and allow their receivers to pick up yards after the catch. I like Dallas in this game in a high scoring affair. What sets the Cowboys over the top in this game is their quarterback. Prescott is a top ten quarterback in the NFL and will play like one against the Browns.
Player of the Game: CeeDee Lamb WR Cowboys
Final Score: Browns 27 Cowboys 33
Cardinals @ Panthers
The Panthers actually looked pretty good against the Chargers last week and Arizona struggled against the Lions. Carolina was able to rally without Christian McCaffrey and pickup the win at SoFi stadium. Kyler Murray looked flustered last week. He threw three interceptions and had two other dropped ones. I expect this week to be completely different. I still think Kyler Murray is an MVP candidate and will rebound against a really young Panthers team. I expect Deandre Hopkins to be active, but even if he's not the Cardinals have weapons that Murray can throw to. Andy Isabella looked good last week and they still have Larry Fitzgerald. For Carolina, Jeremy Chinn has looked awesome. Since they aren't a big market team, he hasn't been receiving any attention, but I'm really liking what I've seen out of Chinn. He should be the spy on Kyler Murray out of the backfield who has been dangerous all year. I still like Arizona in this game, but I'm excited to see the matchup of Murray vs Chinn.
Player of the Game: Kenyan Drake RB Cardinals
Final Score: Cardinals 27 Panthers 24
Colts @ Bears
One player that I'm really looking forward to watching week 4 is Nick Foles. He was able to pull off the fourth quarter comeback against the Falcons last week and it'll be fun to see him battle the best defense in the NFL through three weeks with the Colts. I love Foles, I actually read his book "Believe It". Do you know who wrote is memoir? Frank Reich. Other than Andy Reid, there is no coach that knows Nick Foles better than Reich. I'm curious to see how the Colts defense will attack Foles. If I had to guess, they will use a lot of cover three and try to shut down the deep ball. Another matchup I'm looking forward to watching is the Bears' secondary against Philip Rivers. I think they can bate him into a few interceptions and I expect Eddie Jackson to have a big game. This should be a fun game and I think the Colts pull off the upset. I'm going to give the game ball to Mo Alie-Cox.
Player of the Game: Mo Alie-Cox TE Colts
Final Score: Colts 27 Bears 26
Ravens @ WFT
This is my blow out of the week. The Washington Football Team looked good in week one, but with Chase Young and Matt Ioannidis out I don't think they're going to be able to stop Lamar Jackson. The Ravens are coming off of a big loss, but I think they recover in a big way. Dwayne Haskins doesn't look good at all and is actually putting the WFT in a spot to pick one of the top three quarterbacks in the draft. This run game should have a huge game and my bold prediction will be that the Ravens have three different 100 yard rushers. The Ravens are my lock of the week and I expect them to win BIG in week four.
Player of the Game: Mark Ingram II RB Ravens
Final Score: Ravens 37 WFT 16
Giants @ Rams
I expect this game to be another blow out. The Rams are healthy and are very similar to the 49ers. The 49ers were able to use pre-snap motion to throw off MLB Blake Martinez. Even though Martinez gets a lot of tackles, he gets carried away with his eyes a lot. Sean McVay loves to use pre-snap motion and will be able to scheme Tyler Higbee open. The Giants offensive line won't be able to handle Aaron Donald and I expect AD to get to the quarterback all day. The G-Men have to come all the way across the country to play against the Rams. I just don't see the Giants even making this game competitive. I'm picking the Rams to win big.
Player of the Game: Tyler Higbee TE Rams
Final Score: Giants 13 Rams 34
Bills @ Raiders
Josh Allen has been playing at an MVP level all season and now that he's playing in a dome, he's going to be that much better. Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll looks like a future head coach and has figured out where Josh Allen can thrive. Stefon Diggs has looked like a top 5 receiver in the NFL through three weeks and there isn't a single DB on the Raiders who will be able to stick him. For Vegas, they are going to have to control the clock. They need the ball in their hands and will need to run the ball down the Bills' throats. If the Raiders want to win this game, their defense needs to capitalize on Josh Allen's mistakes. Even though he's been playing like an MVP this year, he still makes reckless decisions. The Raiders will need to force turnovers and control the clock in order to win in Week 4. The matchup I'm most excited to watch is Josh Allen running the ball with Johnathan Abram going to make the tackle. Abram is like a missile, he runs down hill and enforces pain. Allen doesn't slide very often so I'm excited to see who wins that matchup. I don't think the Raiders defensive backs will be able to stop Stefon Diggs and he's going to be the impact player in this game.
Player of the Game: Stefon Diggs WR Bills
Final Score: Bills 31 Raiders 26
Eagles @ 49ers
The past two weeks, the Rams dominated the Eagles and the Bengals went toe-to-toe with Philly. Those two offenses come from the same branch of coaching. The Shanahan branch. The Eagles will play the extreme of this offense that's focused around movement and pre-snap motion. In order to beat this offense, you need discipline linebackers. The Eagles have very "iffy" linebackers and Shanahan should have his way. George Kittle is going to get the ball and Shanahan will be able to use Jim Schwartz's defense against him. While Philadelphia will be sending wild blitzes, Shanahan is going to take advantage of this. I'm curious to see how the Eagles will use Darius Slay. I could see them putting Slay on Kittle and making the 49ers receivers win this game. The Eagles are going to try and establish the run with Miles Sanders, but 49ers LB Fred Warner is built to stop Sanders. I think we see a Shanahan explosion. The 49ers are going to completely out-scheme the Eagles and win this game handedly.
Player of the Game: George Kittle TE 49ers
Final Score: Eagles 16 49ers 34
Patriots @ Chiefs
There are some questions if this game will even take place, but from what I am hearing it will be a Monday night game. Without Cam Newton, I can't see the Patriots upsetting the defending super bowl champs. The Chiefs are the best team in the NFL and I would bet on Patrick Mahomes every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I have no clue what to expect out of Brian Hoyer, but I expect the Chiefs to bring pressure. Tyrann Mathieu is going to be playing behind the line of scrimmage and will fluster Hoyer. This would be a different conversation if Cam Newton was playing, but I expect KC to win this game handedly.
Player of the Game: Tyrann Mathieu S Chiefs
Final Score: Patriots 17 Chiefs 33
Falcons @ Packers
The Packers have been one of the best teams in the NFL and have hit the over in every single game. On the other hand, the Falcons are completely broken. I don't need to explain what has happened with Atlanta, but it's safe to say that the Dan Quinn era is over. I'm expecting Aaron Rodgers to have a big day especially with Davante Adams coming back. These are two of the worst defenses in the NFL and I see both Adams and Calvin Ridley having monster days. I'm still not buying into the Packers. Their defense isn't good and they will get exposed in the playoffs. I expect Rodgers to have 5+ touchdowns and dominate this week. The Falcons are one of the worst teams in the NFL and I expect the Packers to run up the score.
Player of the Game: Aaron Rodgers QB Packers
Final Score: Falcons 27 Packers 41
