Week 4 of the 2022/2023 National Football League (NFL) regular season was filled with so many headlines that it seems unfair to select only a few. However, time and space do not allow and, therefore, these are the (selected) stories coming out of last weekend.

The Philadelphia Eagles are the league’s only unbeaten team, the Las Vegas Raiders racked up their first win, quarterback (QB) Patrick Mahomes is officially the second coming of Houdini, and the Baltimore Ravens have apparently forgotten how to play football in the second half.

The Eagles went up against the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday and spotted their opponents 14 points in the first quarter. But in the heavy wind and rain of Philly, the running game came to life in the second, and the Eagles rushed for 210 total yards against a Jaguars run defence that allowed just 55 yards per game this season, with Miles Sanders contributing a career-high 132 to that total. Jacksonville’s QB Trevor Lawrence lost four fumbles to the Philadelphia defence, making him the first player since 1991 to lose four fumbles in a single game, and the Eagles had an unpretty 29-21 win to take them 4-0 for the season.

Russell Wilson versus the Raiders was the most comfortable and in control that he has looked as the QB of the Denver Broncos, but it was all for naught last weekend. Wilson completed 17-of-25 attempts for 237 yards and two scores (without an interception), but head coach Josh McDaniel was not going to be denied his first win as coach of the Raiders. Not only did he win, he did it against the team that once fired him – McDaniels was axed by the Broncos in December 2010 and he didn’t pick up another win as an NFL head coach until last Sunday’s 32-23 scoreline.

Entering Week 4, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defence led the NFL in points allowed (8.33), but on Sunday Night Football the guile and elusiveness of Mahomes spoiled that party. The Kansas City Chiefs’ shot caller was at his very best and the Kansas defence totally snuffed the Tampa Bay rushing attack. The Buccaneers only ran the ball six times (for three total yards), which is the second-fewest run plays ever in an NFL game. The only total lower came in November 2020 when these same Buccaneers ran the ball just five times (for eight total yards) in a game against the New Orleans Saints – Saints won 38-3.

Over the course of their franchise history, the Ravens are 101-5 in any game where they have led by at least 17 points – two of those five losses have come over the past three weeks. Similar to their escapades in Week 2 (against the Miami Dolphins), where the Ravens appeared to have a win wrapped up, they managed to again blow a significant first-half lead last Sunday and found a way to lose. In Week 2 they blew a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter to lose 38-42, and this time around they surrendered a 17-point lead in a unforgivable 20-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills (after leading 20-3).

Elsewhere in the league, the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks combined to pull off a never-before-seen NFL final score. Seattle’s 48-45 victory marks the only time that an NFL game has ended with that score. The NFL has now seen 1,073 different final scores in league history. And the closeness of the score underlines the parity that currently exists in the NFL – almost every game is unpredictable.

Of the 32 teams in the league, there are seven with a 3-1 record and 15 teams sitting on 2-2 at the end of Week 4. Of the 16 games played in Week 4, 14 of them were within one score in the fourth quarter, which is tied for the most in NFL history for one week. Additionally, there have been 23 games decided by three points or fewer this season, which is the most in NFL history through four weeks, almost every game is close, and any team can win.

Speaking of which, the competition heats up in Week 5 and there are always potential shifts in the distribution of power. Two of the games that will feature significantly are the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams (2-2) hosting the Dallas Cowboys (3-1) this Sunday afternoon and Super Bowl runner-up Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) visiting the Baltimore Ravens (2-2) later the same night.

The Cowboys opened the season with a disappointing 19-3 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and lost their starting QB Dak Prescott to a fractured thumb. But in Prescott’s absence, backup QB Cooper Rush has led the team on a remarkable 3-0 march, securing wins over the Bengals, New York Giants, and the Washington Commanders, respectively.

The formula for Dallas’s three-game success has been stifling defence and mistake-free offence, but they are about to face a Rams outfit focused on addressing an inconsistent start to their Super Bowl defence and eager to bounce back from a defeat to their rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, last Monday night. The defence of the Rams has completely shut down the running game against most of their opponents, which would force Rush to rely on the passing game. Rush is now 4-0 in his career for the Cowboys (the best start to a career by any QB in Cowboys’ history), but with defensive powerhouses on both teams, this may come down to the better offence. This is too close to call but not much scoring is expected.

Behind an overhauled offensive line protecting QB Joe Burrow and a defence forcing turnovers, the Bengals are looking more like the defending American Football Conference (AFC) champions. After losing their first two games, they have reeled off two wins in a span of five days, beating the New York Jets in Week 3, then turned around and took down the Miami Dolphins 27-15 last week Thursday in a game marred by the horrific sight of Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa down for more than seven minutes on the pitch before being stretchered off to a hospital, with reported head and neck injuries.

The Bengals swept this series last season under the guidance of Burrow, who shredded Baltimore’s defence, going for 416 passing yards in one game and 525 in the other. Through four weeks, the Ravens have yielded an average of 315.3 yards per game through the air, which is the most in the NFL as no other team is over 300 yards. The Ravens have a lot of questions to answer as they appear to be able to play football in the first half only. If they can fix this problem, expect edge-of-your-seat action come Sunday night. Are you ready for some football?

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Super Bowl LVII Champion

Team Odds

Buffalo Bills 4.90

Kansas City Chiefs 7.20

Philadelphia Eagles 8.40

Green Bay Packers 10.00

Tampa Bay Buccaneers11.00

San Francisco 49ers17.00

Baltimore Ravens17.00

Los Angeles Rams17.00

Los Angeles Chargers21.00

Minnesota Vikings22.00

*Only Top 10 odds shown (see website for full list)

Note: Odds are subject to change