NFL Week 4 Recap: We Have to Talk About Tua

The NFL's proverbial elephant in the room? It had been there for decades, but it was ignored in the name of the shield and in the name of the sport. What transpired in the Miami Dolphins' Week 3 matchup with the Buffalo Bills would have been ignored if they had taken the right steps to protect the health and well being of their quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa. Tua was lit up during the game, he had clear concussion problems, yet he was sent out there within an instant to finish the game. Even so, the right route in the few days leading to the Thursday night game that kicked off Week 4? Sit Tua. That's all they had to do.

And yet, they did the complete opposite.

The Dolphins claimed that Tua had a back issue and started him against the Cincinnati Bengals, and it was clear that he was still out of it. Then the worst case scenario happened: a sack sent Tua landing on his head, and we would see his fingers lock up as he was clearly in intense malaise, and he ended up stretchered out. Tua should not have been out there. Period. The Dolphins, who went on to lose to Cincy, completely mishandled everything regarding Tua's health and safety, and let's face facts, a blunder like this is the last thing they needed. They already got backlash for how they fired Brian Flores, then the team's owner is under investigation, and now this. What a train wreck.

The first of the season's international games took place in London, with the Minnesota Vikings facing off against the New Orleans Saints. It's always interesting when the Saints and Vikings get together, whether it's the regular season or playoffs, or in this case, whether it's on American or British soil. For East Coast fans, the game started at 9:30AM, but for West Coast fans like myself, we had to wake up extra early for this one, but it was worth it. This was a crazy and back and forth game that saw the Saints playing from behind for the most part. It came down to kicking, and we would see Wil Lutz tie the game with a 60-yard FG, only for Greg Joseph to make one of his own to give Minnesota the lead. New Orleans made it back to field goal range, with Lutz going for a 61-yarder. Unfortunately, while the kick had the range, it went off the upright and the crossbar and out. Vikings won, 28-25, and improved to 3-1 on the season.

So the Mitch Trubisky experiment came to an end after three and a half games. After struggling in the Pittsburgh Steelers' outing against the New York Jets (who had Zach Wilson back at QB), Trubisky was benched in favor of their first round draft pick, Kenny Pickett, who went to the University of Pittsburgh. Pickett wasted no time making an effort, leading a huge Steelers comeback that actually saw them ahead late, but a late Jets touchdown squashed things for the home team. The Jets won, 24-21, and handed the Steelers their third straight loss, but Pickett's effort was definitely enough, as he is now the main starting QB from this point forward.

This was definitely the right move, as many Steelers fans had been clamoring for Pickett to be their team's QB1 to start the season. Even so, I do feel for Trubisky; being an NFC North guy, I do vividly remember seeing Trubisky with the Chicago Bears, and mainly joining in with other Packers fans in laughing at the Bears. We all know the joke and the story: the Bears passed on DeShaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes to draft Trubisky, and that turned the franchise into a huge punchline. Here's the thing, though. While Trubisky did suck with the Bears, a lot of that wasn't his fault; their system is just putrid. Look at how Justin Fields is suffering.

Speaking of suffering quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens blew another double digit lead, this time to the Buffalo Bills. Baltimore led 20-3, but the scoring stopped, as the Bills scored 20 unanswered to win it 23-20. Seriously, Lamar deserves better than this. I've said that Lamar represents 95% of the Ravens' offense, but at the start, I was joking. It may be a fact. Speaking of offense, there was a lot of it in Detroit, as the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks decided to give their defenses a bye and just throw the ball for the entire game. The result was 93 total points scored; the Lions had 45, but the Seahawks had 48. Seriously, the Lions are the best 1-3 team I've ever seen, and honestly, it's about time Jared Goff got the respect he deserves.

The Las Vegas Raiders got off the schnide in Week 4, doing so by defeating the Denver Broncos, 32-23, in an AFC West clash. The Raiders entered the week as one of two winless teams remaining, but they were the only futile team left. With back-to-back division games coming up, it looked like they could be staring at an 0-5 start, but the Raiders struck often and fast against the Broncos. The centerpiece of Las Vegas' first win of 2022 was Josh Jacobs, who pleased his fantasy owners (myself included) with a very stellar performance. How stellar was it? Let's look at the numbers.

Scoring for running backs is simple: one point per every 10 rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns are six points each. PPR (points per reception) does apply to RBs as well, as they do catch short passes, and they can either be a half point in some leagues, or a full point in others, while the WR scoring rules apply. Jacobs rushed for 144 yards (14.4 points) and two touchdowns (12 points), and also caught five passes (2.5 or 5 points) for 31 yards (3.1 points). In half point PPR leagues, Josh Jacobs racked up 32 points, but in full point PPR leagues, he had 34.5 points. Jacobs was one of the highest scoring running backs in fantasy during Week 4, along with Austin Ekeler (LAC) and Miles Sanders (PHI).

Aaron Rodgers reached another milestone in the Green Bay Packers meeting with the New England Patriots, as the two touchdown passes he threw resulted in Rodgers reaching 500 career TD passes--the first Packers QB to reach that number. However, that road was not easy for Rodgers. He had a very off-key first half (in fantasy, he had less than one point), but he would make up for it with an amazing second half, and when the game went to overtime, Rodgers led a game-winning drive that ended with Mason Crosby's chip shot field goal to give the Packers a 27-24 win. While Rodgers has his critics (and nearly all of them have been immensely unfair to him), his harshest critic has always been himself. Rodgers said that he did not play very well and he needs to improve, which doesn't surprise me; he's never one to make excuses for himself, and he never throws people under the bus. The Packers are 3-1, but it's a very ugly 3-1. Even so, this Packers fan will take it and run with it.

Sunday Night Football saw a Super Bowl LV rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the very stadium that the game took place. This was the first meeting since the evening of February 7, 2021, and it didn't disappoint, as the Chiefs got things started less than a minute into the game and didn't look back. The Chiefs dominated the Bucs, who only made it closer due to KC putting the foot of the gas a bit, but KC still won 31-21. For the Chiefs, they regained first place in the AFC West, while the Bucs have lost back-to-back games, and now find themselves in a first place tie with the Atlanta Falcons, who won over the Cleveland Browns.

The NFC West clash between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers took center stage on Monday Night Football, and it definitely delivered. This was their first meeting since the NFC Championship, but while the Rams won that affair, they were underwhelming in this go around in Santa Clara. This was a game that saw Deebo Samuel flat out dominate, and despite good numbers from Cooper Kupp and Tyler Higbee, no touchdowns were scored. Matthew Stafford had another disappointing outing, throwing a Pick Six and committing a fumble that would seal it for the Niners, who went on to win, 24-9.

As a result of the Niners, Seahawks, and Cardinals' wins, everyone in the NFC West is 2-2, with the Niners being the first place team due to both of their wins being divisional. In fact, 15 of the NFL's 32 teams are 2-2 after four games, but none of them are in the NFC East. Speaking of that division, what a turnaround! The NFC East went from the worst division in football to the best in only two years. Of the eight teams with a winning record, three of them are in the NFC East, including the undefeated Eagles. In 2020, a 10-loss team nearly won the division. In 2022, we could see a 10-win NFC East team miss the playoffs. Also, the Houston Texans are the league's only winless team, but as a result of the Raiders' win, every team has a win percentage, as the Texans are actually 0-3-1.

Week 5 kicks off with the Denver Broncos hosting the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football. We will also get another London game, this time featuring the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers. Sunday Night Football will be an AFC North battle between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens, and the AFC West will take center stage on Monday Night Football, as the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Las Vegas Raiders.

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