Who's up, who's down after Week 4 in the NFL

The Eagles are the last remaining unbeaten team, and no matter what their record is, the Dolphins have fallen from great heights.

October 4, 2022 at 5:00PM
Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick celebrates one of his two fumble recoveries in Sunday’s win over the Jaguars. Philadelphia forced five turnovers. (Rich Schultz, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

TOP TWO

1. Eagles (4-0). In a passing league, Philly ranks No. 1 in most passing yards per play (8.8) and fewest passing yards allowed per play (4.8).

2. Bills (3-1). They're converting a league-high 55.8% of their third downs and rank second in fewest points allowed (14.5).

BOTTOM TWO

31. Texans (0-3-1). The league's only winless team is giving up an average of 110.3 more yards per game than it's generating.

32. Mike McDaniel (B-O-O!). What happened to Tua Tagovailoa on Thursday night wasn't just bad "optics," as McDaniel, the Dolphins coach, called the sack that concussed his starting quarterback. It was the result of a horrendous decision by McDaniel and his medical staff to put Tagovailoa on the field four days after he was unable to stand on his own after a hit. It's difficult to imagine there being a worse coaching decision this season.

RANKING THE 3-1 VIKINGS

9 (Last week: 9). Sorry, fellas, but beating a depleted Saints team on a last-second double-doink missed field goal on a neutral field won't move the Vikings' needle in this ranking.

STATS OF THE WEEK

35.0: The Lions' league-best scoring average.

35.3: The Lions' league-worst opponents' scoring average.

76.6: Seattle quarterback Geno Smith's completion percentage, the highest by a quarterback with at least 125 attempts through four games in NFL history.

TAKEAWAY TIME IN PHILLY

The Jaguars were leading the league in turnover differential until they ran into Haason Reddick and an Eagles defense that forced the first five-turnover game from quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Reddick forced two of Lawrence's four fumbles – the most by a quarterback since at least 1991, according to the NFL — and recovered two of them. The Eagles are tied with Baltimore with a league-high 10 takeaways. Their plus-8 differential also ranks No. 1.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL

This is why your Survivor Pool is/was so difficult this season: A record 23 games have been decided by three points or fewer through four weeks. The league also has had 49 games within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter, another record through four games.

WEEK 5 SNEAK PEEK

Burrow vs. Baltimore. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is 2-1 against Baltimore and 1-1 against Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. As he was leading Cincinnati to the Super Bowl last season, Burrow went 2-0 while completing 71.4% of his passes for 941 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception against the bullies from Baltimore. In their last meeting, Burrow threw for 525 yards and four touchdowns.

about the writer

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).

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