A quarter of the way though the season, we can admit that we were wrong in a lot of different areas.
We were wrong to think that the Arizona Cardinals would be any good.
We were wrong to doubt Bill Belichick.
We were wrong to think the Panthers would be totally fine without Josh Norman.
We were wrong to have thought that Gary Kubiak doesn’t have some voodoo that he’s putting on his quarterbacks to make them just good enough to win games.
There’s been a lot of wrong that’s developed so far this NFL season, but that’s OK — if everything worked out as expected, we wouldn’t watch, would we?
That said, a semblance of consistency would be nice — and I’m not asking for the “Gus Bradley will be a terrible coach” kind of consistency.
Anyway, so far this season we’ve seen some contenders rise, some pretenders fall, and we still have no idea if the Baltimore Ravens are a good team. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was…
Here’s what we learned in Week 4:
Colts 27 at Jaguars 30 [In London]
This game was a tire fire, and anyone who woke up to watch it on the West Coast deserves scorn (East Coast people, I hope you were half-awake and making eggs or something).
I enjoyed the game for the comedic effect of two coaches working hard to one-up each other’s bad decisions. They couldn’t stop being terrible down the stretch.
At one point, the Colts, trailing and without a timeout, opted not to return a punt so they could block it, only to see the ball bounce around 50 yards away, eating up valuable seconds before being declared dead.
This game should decide which coach is the first fired in the NFL this season, but frankly, I hope both Gus Bradley and Chuck Pagano stay around all year because it makes me feel better about my ability to be employed.
Panthers 33 at Falcons 48
It takes a special kind of bad defense to have a defensive line like the Panthers have and linebacker deity Luke Kuechly and still have a bad defense.
It takes a special kind of bad defense to look markedly worse than the Atlanta Falcons’ defense.
It takes a special kind of bad defense to create a week-long narrative over if Matt Ryan, who is Joe Flacco without any success, is an elite quarterback in the NFL.
Ryan is good, but if Blaine Gabbert got to go against the NFC South six times a year, he’d look awesome too.
(Get in all that “elite” talk now, the Falcons play Denver in Colorado next week.)
The Panthers have major issues, and it's hard to see them being rectified anytime soon.
So long as the Falcons can score 50 points every game, they have a chance to win the NFC South (they might win by default at this point.)
Oh yeah, Julio Jones had 300 yards receiving because he’s a man amongst boys. That was pretty cool.
Titans 20 at Texans 27
Will Fuller is fast!
The Texans totally melted down offensively after the first quarter!
I’m trying to be positive about this game, because it devolved quickly and painfully Sunday.
Brock Osweiler responded to the “adversity” of criticism by having a Peak Osweiler game, where he comes out strong and then fades down the stretch.
Brock, you have one of the best receivers in the world — throw the ball to No. 10 a bit more, would ya? It’s good for your health.
The Texans’ defense is really good, but so is Marcus Mariota (save for the spurts of “Marcus, NOOO!” play.)
The Titans play the Dolphins next week, so if you don’t have anything planned, you need to find a bunch, baby shower, or arduous chore to do, stat.
Bills 16 at Patriots 0
The Patriots attempted only three passes in the first quarter — a pretty clear sign that they weren’t too interested in “going for it.”
The Bills moved to 2-2 on the season, but you have to wonder if this was a bigger play by Bill Belichick — the Bills and Patriots play Oct. 30. Perhaps Belichick wants Ryan to remain in charge in Buffalo so that he’ll have easy prep after a tough game at Pittsburgh on Oct. 23.
It’s just a theory, don’t @ me.
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