NFL Week 4 takeaways: Does Rice injury derail Chiefs’ offense? Commanders best in the NFC East?

September 30

The Chiefs got another tight win but lost Rashee Rice, the NFC East-leading Commanders got their second road win in six days, and things are getting very interesting in the NFC South, as the Bucs bounced back in a big way against Philly and the Falcons stole a close one against New Orleans.

Can he kick it?

YES KOO CAN

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— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 29, 2024

Meanwhile, in Indianapolis it was just like the old days, with Joe Flacco going against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Athletic NFL writers Mike Jones, Ted Nguyen and Saad Yousuf share their thoughts on all of these storylines and more.

The Commanders just picked up road wins in Cincinnati and Arizona in a six-day span. Considering what’s going on with the rest of the division, should Washington fans be dreaming about an NFC East title?

Jones: The division is definitely wide open. We’re only a quarter of the way into the season, but if you’re the Commanders you have to feel good about the steady rise exhibited by Jayden Daniels (completing more than 80 percent of his passes with four rushing touchdowns and three passing touchdowns) and the explosiveness of the offense. The improvement that the defense displayed against Arizona is also reason for optimism. The Cowboys have yet to display the type of consistency that you would expect from a contender, and the Eagles have been a rollercoaster while dealing with injuries. The Giants are unreliable. The Commanders’ second half of the season will feature five divisional matchups in nine games, and that stretch could wind up telling the truth about this young team. But for now, the long-suffering fan base should enjoy the early signs of hope that their star quarterback and supporting cast are providing each week.

Nguyen: They are certainly ahead of schedule and Jayden Daniels is legitimately having one of the best rookie seasons we’ve seen from a QB so far, one year after C.J. Stroud did something similar. Still, there’s a lot of football left to be played and that Washington defense is still very bad. They gave up 181 yards on the ground to Arizona but didn’t allow the Cardinals to get in rhythm. Two things can be true: Daniels is amazing and this offense is very good, and they’ve played two of the worst defenses (Bengals and Cardinals) in the league. They’ll have to prove they can be productive against some of the better defenses in the league, but with how rapidly Daniels is improving, I wouldn’t doubt them. I just want to see it.

Yousuf: What Daniels has done these past two weeks, in particular, has been mesmerizing. He showed the poise of a veteran in the clutch in Cincinnati on Monday night and followed it by blowing the doors off of the Cardinals this week; the chemistry between him and Kliff Kingsbury has been impressive. Daniels’ play alone is enough to get Commanders fans excited, but the state of the rest of the division compounds that optimism. Dating back to last season, the Eagles look like an utter mess. The Cowboys have been blown out twice at home and are dealing with injuries to arguably their two best defensive players (Micah Parsons has a sprained ankle and DeMarcus Lawrence could be heading to injured reserve). Dallas also has a brutal seven-game stretch looming, including games against the Lions, 49ers and Texans, capped off by a trip up north to play the Commanders. The Giants continue to be a non-factor in the NFC East race.

Travis Kelce got going, but Rashee Rice had to be carted off with a knee injury in L.A. Is there enough offense for the Chiefs to pull away from opponents — or does that even matter?

Yousuf: It does matter, and the Chiefs should explore options to add some help at the skill positions. But they aren’t in a dire situation — at least not yet — despite how much they’ve lost at the wide receiver position. They still have the best quarterback in the game and an elite, offensive-minded head coach. Xavier Worthy has been solid but the Chiefs will need him to accelerate his development, and they probably can’t afford a lull from Kelce. But the Kansas City defense held reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to 20 points in the opener, and held Joe Burrow and the Bengals to 25 points in Week 2. The last two weeks, they have only given up 17 and 10 points, to the Falcons and Chargers, respectively. If the defense can hold it together, Patrick Mahomes can do enough to survive, especially in close games down the stretch, as he did on Sunday.

Jones: It definitely matters because Kansas City isn’t going to have the luxury of facing an injury-riddled, short-handed operation like the Chargers every week. The Chiefs managed to put the Chargers away despite scoring only 17 points, but going forward, they’ll need players to step up to compensate for the loss of Rice. Worthy appears capable of assuming a bigger role — we’ve seen the rookie wideout’s speed on display both as a route-runner and a ball carrier. And the production of Kelce becomes even more crucial now, as does support from the defense. I still think the Chiefs remain in the Super Bowl hunt. Andy Reid has such a creative football mind, and Mahomes is so gifted that together they’ll figure out how to keep this train chugging along.

Nguyen: When your wide receiver depth is as bad as the Chiefs’, it absolutely matters. They already lost Marquise Brown for the year and running back Isiah Pacheco will be out for the foreseeable future. Kelce has struggled with all the extra attention on him — someone else will have to step up. Kareem Hunt played well on Sunday for just recently being signed, but he can’t be a main piece for your offense. Rice looked like he was making major strides and they were trusting him to run routes and find space like Kelce usually does. Without him, Worthy will have to grow up quickly. Unfortunately, he won’t gain a lot of muscle this season so Reid will have to scheme up ways to get him free releases, and Worthy will have to do a lot of studying to gain Reid and Mahomes’ trust.

True or false: The Colts are more of a threat to win the AFC South this season with Joe Flacco than with Anthony Richardson.

Jones: Anthony Richardson is still developing. Yes, he has great physical gifts, but because he only played four games last year, he’s still very much a rookie. Flacco has seen and done it all, and he does bring a veteran presence and poise that can help a team win games. While Richarson, who leads the NFL with six interceptions, is the future, Flacco does give the Colts the best chance to win right now. But that doesn’t mean he should take over. We have to see what’s going on with Richardson’s health, and the Colts will have a difficult decision to make. The only way Richardson is going to grow is by playing and learning from mistakes. Do you want to hamper that development by benching him to go with Flacco when in reality, this team isn’t built to overtake any of the elite AFC teams?

Nguyen: For now, Flacco does give them an advantage. If Richardson is hurt and can’t run as much, it limits what the offense could do. Flacco is better than quite a few starters in the league right now. (He would be the best quarterback in Sunday’s Browns-Raiders game.) Still, if Richardson is healthy, there’s no question he should be the starter in my mind. He needs these repetitions with so little experience overall as a starter. Richardson made a couple of ridiculous throws in his short time in this game before he was hurt, giving you a glimpse of what he can become as a passer. A lot of his accuracy issues come down to his footwork, which he needs to work on in live action.

Yousuf: There are a few caveats to work through with this question. It is true that Joe Flacco gives the Colts a better chance at the AFC South crown than a limited Anthony Richardson. However, if Richardson is healthy, his unique physical abilities are a match for the cerebral edge Flacco possesses. With all of that being said, neither quarterback gives the Colts a significant enough edge to where they become favorites in the division, especially with the Texans sneaking out another win on Sunday and likely to keep improving as the season progresses. Above all, winning the division isn’t the end goal. If the Colts are going to make a run at being contenders in the AFC at some point, it will be due to Richardson developing, and that can only happen with game reps.

How do you size up the NFC South after four weeks — who’s the favorite?

Nguyen: The NFC South is so close. Each of the top three teams all do certain things at a high level but all have some concerning weaknesses. Each have above-average quarterback play but none has an elite one. Baker Mayfield is playing at the highest level but he’s still susceptible to holding onto the ball and the untimely creating a negative play — he has the second-highest sack rate in the league among quarterbacks with 100 attempts. Derek Carr started the season hot but we’re seeing some of the old bad habits starting to show up (example: throwing short of the sticks on money downs). Kirk Cousins has stretches of strong play but his inability to move is a hindrance. I’ll give Mayfield and the Buccaneers the edge because of their consistency. Tampa has an aggressive defense that is challenging for opposing quarterbacks to deal with and though the offense is streaky, they can score in bunches with their robust passing game.

Yousuf: On paper it’s a three-team race to the top, but I’m a little hesitant to put the Saints in that group alongside the Buccaneers and Falcons. New Orleans is 2-2 but one win was against the Carolina Panthers, who may be the worst team in the NFL, and the other was against the Dallas Cowboys, which was impressive (especially for the way they dominated that game), but the Cowboys look like a middling team themselves through four weeks. For the Saints to lose to the Eagles, who just got walloped by the Bucs and look lost since the second half of last season, doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. In actuality, it feels like a two-team race the Bucs and Falcons, with the Bucs getting the edge because they have the best quarterback play in the division.

Jones: It’s an intriguing division — well, for three of the teams, anyway. The Buccaneers are the best team of the bunch. Tampa boasts a well-rounded offense led by a very comfortable Baker Mayfield (347 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the win over Philadelphia), and a defense capable of making game-changing plays (two takeaways and six sacks against the Eagles). The Falcons and Saints have potential, but are still working out some kinks and have yet to fully achieve the level of consistency necessary to truly contend. But it’s going to be interesting to see how the season progresses for each of them. The Falcons, who bounced back from last week’s loss to Kansas City, are probably the division’s second-best team right now as their win over the Saints would suggest. But the margin is very narrow between these two.

Is there anything short of a coaching change that can get the Jaguars back on track after yet another loss?

Yousuf: Aside from their blowout loss to the Bills last Monday night, the Jaguars lost their other three games by three, five and four points, including a heartbreaking last-minute loss to the Texans on Sunday. When the issue is with the head coach, you typically start to see lopsided results and a lack of buy-in from the team. That isn’t the case with the Jaguars right now, so I don’t know how much moving on from Doug Pederson mid-season would help — not to mention there isn’t a great option to take over on the staff. The biggest question for the Jaguars is how they can get Trevor Lawrence on track to live up to his potential (and now, his contract). It’s troubling that working with Pederson hasn’t brought the best out of Lawrence.

Nguyen: I’m not sure if the Jaguars can get back on track. Maybe they can get a little boost with a new voice, but firing Pederson isn’t going to solve their inconsistent offense. Also, playing in a competitive game after a blowout against a contender shows the team hasn’t quit on Pederson. Is there anyone on staff you want to take over at this point? I’m also not sure who is calling plays for the Jaguars, but the last time that their offense looked good, Pederson was unquestionably the main play caller. Going back to that model might be the only way Pederson saves his job.

Jones: I’m not so sure that a coaching change would spark a turnaround for the Jaguars. The underachieving ways of this team and of quarterback Trevor Lawrence (18-for-33 for 169 yards, two touchdowns Sunday) certainly are perplexing. But I’m not convinced that Pederson is the problem. He’s a good coach, but there’s definitely a disconnect somewhere. I do wonder if Pederson needs to make a change at offensive coordinator, or at the very least take back play-calling duties from Press Taylor. But that will not fix a defense that ranks among the worst in the league. The Jaguars certainly should be better than 0-4. I just don’t think there’s a quick fix here.

(Top photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

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