Week 4 NFL Quick Hits

Detroit @ Dallas - I was stunned by this box score heading into halftime. I knew that Calvin Johnson had some sort of injury but it was later deemed not to be serious. Then the Lions came out and scored 31 points in the second half and won the game. This seems to be the Cowboys' schtick and after Tony Romo was the hero last week he has to be the goat this time. The good news is that he threw five touchdowns in the game, the bad news is that the Lions scored two of them off of pick sixes (including former Cowboy great Bobby Carpenter). Calvin Johnson has had two touchdowns in each game this year and with eight on the season we may start hearing whispers of him breaking Randy Moss' single season record of 23 in 2008. The scary part is that Detroit will only continue getting better with Nick Fairley's return coming sometime soon.

Pittsburgh @ Houston - There's panic in Pittsburgh. The once intimidating defense that completely shut down rushing games and forced teams to put the ball up is now in trouble. Arian Foster is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but he was inactive for two games this year and only had 33 yards on the ground coming into this matchup. He absolutely exploded against the Steelers to the tune of 155 yards. Matt Schaub looked lost after Andre Johnson was out of the game with a hamstring injury but the Texans didn't need him on this day. Ben Roethlisberger suffered a foot injury and may be out for next week's game. Mike Wallace had his first game of less than 100 yards on the season and the Texans held the Steelers to just 206 yards through the air. The biggest problem for Pittsburgh, though, is the lack of a running game. Rashard Mendenhall delivered another lackluster performance and even though he found pay dirt he has 173 yards on the entire year. That has to be fixed or else the Steelers are going to have a lot of trouble this year. [NOTE: James Harrison is out for "multiple weeks" after suffering a fracture to his right orbital socket. Mendenhall may miss this weekend's game against the Titans with a hamstring injury but Roethlisberger will play. They're still not as injured as the Rams somehow.]

Carolina @ Chicago - I don't know if there is a team that is more fun to watch than the Panthers right now. Cam Newton is a must-see every game and he didn't disappoint against the Bears. Newton scored twice on the ground and threw a touchdown pass to Greg Olsen (as well as D.J. Moore for the Bears). DeAngelo Williams finally had a decent game but was outproduced once again by Jonathan Stewart who also chipped in the passing game. The Bears really need to pay Matt Forte, because they needed every bit of his 205 yards rushing and four catches. Jay Cutler only completed nine of his 17 passes but the good news is that he was only sacked once.

Minnesota @ Kansas City - Kansas City won a game! Congratulations to Chief fans but that may come back to haunt you around next year's draft. Then again it was against the Vikings so it sort of shouldn't count. Donovan McNabb wasn't horrible this game but the defense couldn't keep the Chiefs out of the great Ryan Succop's range. Dwayne Bowe had a 52-yard catch that broke the Vikings' backs and Matt Cassel played like a guy who was fighting for his job, which he sort of is. The Chiefs desperately miss Jamaal Charles and the Thomas Jones/Dexter McCluster platoon just doesn't work. Not to knock on McNabb but the Vikes need to go ahead and start Christian Ponder soon just to see if they have anything in the guy. Like it or not, they're near the top of the list for Andrew Luck.

Buffalo @ Cincinatti - Andy flippin' Dalton, can you believe it? He only completed half of his passes and threw two interceptions but in the second half he threw for a touchdown and ran for another score. He once again hooked up with A.J. Green, this time for 118 yards and maybe there is reason for optimism in Cincy. Sure, they probably won't challenge for a playoff spot but rumors of their demise may have been greatly exaggerated (at least in games that Cedric Benson has over 100 yards). They did hold Buffalo to 20 points and shut down one of the league's top rushers in Fred Jackson. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for only 199 yards and this Buffalo team fell right into the trap game following an emotional win over New England.

Tennessee @ Cleveland - Week one in the post-Kenny Britt era for the Titans went swimmingly. Matt Hasselbeck didn't have the big yardage numbers but threw for three touchdowns. This Titans receiving corps of Nate Washington, Lavelle Hawkins, and Jared Cook at TE may be good enough to get the job done, especially if the Texans are without Andre Johnson for an extended period of time. Chris Johnson has 199 rushing yards on the year and 101 of those came against the Browns (Javon Ringer looked completely lost in his four carries). The Browns were forced out of their comfort zone and Colt McCoy attempted a whopping 61 passes (40 of which he completed to to 11 different receivers). Peyton Hillis was made into a non-factor by the Titans defense but the Browns did make the game interesting. We also had a Jake Locker sighting but who really cares?

Washington @ St. Louis - If the Rams were in trouble last week then they're in meltdown mode now. They can't even enjoy the benefits of the #1 pick though I guess they could trade it or just draft Matt Kalil. Sam Bradford can only do so much, though, and his receivers did him no favors with drops. Steven Jackson was shut down by the surprisingly stout Redskins rushing defense and I feel like going back in time and slapping myself for even considering the Rams as a playoff contender. It's not all their fault, I know, but this game felt more like 34-10 instead of 17-10. For the Skins we saw every shade of Rex Grossman. He made a great pass to Santana Moss for a touchdown, made some nice passes, and then threw two picks. Washington's defense may actually be the best in the NFC East with a health LaRon Landry lighting up receivers and Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo rushing the passer.

San Francisco @ Philadelphia - Who saw this coming? The 49ers are now 3-1 and running away with the NFC West "crown." Alex Smith looked like a NFL quarterback and Frank Gore ran all over the Philly defense. I was completely wrong about the Niners and I can admit they're a legitimate team. Many kudos to Jim Harbaugh, who many thought would just tank for his former superstar quarterback. The Eagles are currently a tire fire. They'll get it right eventually but they can't afford to keep dropping games against lesser opponents. Sure, their turnover ratio is at -6 but the thing that lost the game this week was the Niners run defense. LeSean McCoy was held to only 18 yards and the Eagles simply cannot win a game where he has 52 total yards. DeSean Jackson exploded for 171 yards but didn't get into the end zone while Jeremy Maclin had a costly fumble. Things won't get easier now that Trent Cole is on the shelf for the Eagles. The win had to feel great for David Akers, though, the longtime Eagles kicker was probably sick of hearing how great his former team was.

New Orleans @ Jacksonville - Jimmy Graham is a beast. He scorched the Jacksonville defense with 10 catches, 132 yards, and a touchdown. It was Drew Brees' only touchdown pass and he also threw two interceptions in a matchup that was primed for him to explode. Darren Sproles was great once again and may prove to be the best signing of the offseason. Yeah, I said it, even more than Nnamdi, because Sproles is such a great fit for New Orleans and that offense. Blaine Gabbert played a decent game and Maurice Jones-Drew had an alright effort but everyone knows that the Jags aren't going anywhere. At least they were competitive, which is more than I even expected in this matchup.

Atlanta @ Seattle - The Seahawks only lost by two points. I don't know whether this should be a positive thing for Seattle or a negative for Atlanta. There probably wasn't an uglier win all weekend. Michael Turner had two touchdowns but the star of the game was Julio Jones, who is taking full advantage of teams having to stay honest and use their best corners on Roddy White. The Falcons are explosive and can win any given week but they are going to have trouble scoring 30+ points against the top defenses in the NFC. Seattle, on the other hand, looked good enough that I won't even bother cracking jokes at their expense. Their running game is atrocious and they have to ask Tarvaris Jackson to win games. As long as he can make completions to Sidney Rice, Doug Baldwin, and Mike Williams they can pass as a NFL team.

NY Giants @ Arizona - Don't look now but the Giants are at the top of the NFC East at the beginning of the year and primed for a run to the playo -- sorry, couldn't finish that one with a straight face. In all seriousness the Giants looked great in this game though there is a controversy brewing at the wide receiver position. Victor Cruz saw the majority of the snaps over Mario Manningham and some of that may come from Manningham's concussion. Keep an eye on it, though, because it could become a story if Manningham is supplanted (even if it doesn't matter much, the #2 WR just gets Hakeem Nicks' scraps). Arizona was almost bailed out in this game by Beanie Wells' explosion (138 yards, three touchdowns) but the Cards fell just short. It didn't help that Osi Umenyiora was hanging off of Kevin Kolb almost all game.

New England @ Oakland - It's bad that this is probably the Patriots' best defensive effort. It helps that they put Oakland in a hole and made them go away from Darren McFadden but Jason Campbell still threw for 344 yards. Stevan Ridley had a late touchdown and may have surpassed Danny Woodhead as the team's second RB (and could poach some of LawFirm's carries, too). Darris Heyward-Bey had the second 100-yard game of his career and I don't know if I can really explain how. For New England it was all Wes Welker, who already has 616 yards and 40 receptions. It will be interesting to see if the Jets put Darrelle Revis on him this weekend, because that has been a matchup that Rex Ryan has avoided in the past.

Denver @ Green Bay - We were promised to see some Tim Tebow this weekend but all we got was a rush for a loss of a yard. Aaron Rodgers continued to be the best player in the NFL and at this point I've run out of things to say about the guy. The Packers are the most complete team in the NFL and this game could have been much worse than the final score indicates. The Broncos are a mess right now. Willis McGahee was brought in to compliment Knowshon Moreno and now he's their starter because Moreno runs backwards half the time. Kyle Orton is their starting QB but is met with Tim Tebow supporters everywhere he goes. Von Miller looks great, though, so at least there's that Denver fans.

Miami @ San Diego - Chad Henne was knocked out of this game and the Fins failed in their bids for Jake Delhomme and David Garrard. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that they're in a lot of trouble. Matt Moore isn't going to do much besides carry them to a record that puts the team somewhere in the Andrew Luck lottery. Daniel Thomas was out for Miami and Reggie Bush gave them...well a typical Reggie Bush performance. This is a game that the Chargers needed to win and though it was never really in doubt I have to wonder what's up with Philip Rivers this year. He's not delivering the level of performance we have come to expect. It doesn't really matter much, though, because Ryan Mathews is living up to the expectations the team had when they drafted him.

NY Jets @ Baltimore - Now there is talk in and around New York about Mark Sanchez's future. Sanchez lost three fumbles and threw an interception that was promptly returned for a touchdown by Lardarius Webb. These are the types of a games that young quarterbacks have but I don't know if a third year guy should be struggling quite this badly. It doesn't help that Shonn Greene has about 3 YPC and Nick Mangold is still out. You just have to wonder how the Jets will rebound. Joe Flacco struggled on the other side as well, throwing an interception and losing a fumble himself. Both defenses played well but the difference was that the Ravens have Ray Rice.

Indianapolis @ Tampa Bay - Curtis Painter is a better quarterback than 500-year-old Kerry Collins, who knew? Painter hit Pierre Garcon for two touchdowns (which happened to be his only catches) and had the Colts on the verge of an upset. However, as it has been typical of these Bucs, they had some late game heroics to steal away another victory. Josh Freeman was great once again and LeGarrette Blount found the end zone in the fourth quarter to put this game away. The Colts are obviously going all in for Andrew Luck but they may steal a game or two with Painter, which is kind of jarring for me to even type. Meanwhile the Bucs continue to make me feel uneasy about believing in them before the beginning of the year but as long as they keep winning I'll look like a genius.