The first four weeks, or quarter, of the 2020 NFL season have now been completed. There are quite a number of teams that have sustained success, thus far. There are five undefeated teams remaining across the NFL, two clear-cut front-runners for league MVP, and a reigning Super Bowl MVP who looks unstoppable. The two MVP front-runners mentioned are Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers quarterbacks, Russell Wilson, and Aaron Rodgers, respectively. Both quarterbacks have gotten off to blazing starts and both teams are undefeated through four weeks. Week 4 was another week chock-full of upsets and close games that saw contenders starting to take shape while other teams continued to fail to find their footing. Without further ado, below are three NFL Week 4 takeaways.
NFL Week 4 Takeaways
Terrific Tom Goes For Five
For all the slack that Tom Brady has endured since he left the New England Patriots and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has now started to show it was the correct move. On Sunday, Brady threw five touchdowns against one of the better defenses in the Los Angeles Chargers and reminded the entire NFL that there’s plenty of strength left in his 43-year-old arm.
Tampa Bay was always going to supply Brady with an offense that was very capable of putting up points in bunches. But the spotlight was on Brady to figure out a new system under a new head coach and offensive coordinator. Now that the mesh between team and quarterback has finally solidified, could this be the year that the host city for the Super Bowl finally has its home team?
Cleveland Ran Wild in Dallas
Entering the 2020 season, it was expected that the Dallas Cowboys were going to embrace a new-look offense that was going to have defenses on its heels. Fast-forward four weeks and it’s been Dallas that’s been playing catchup in every game. Their latest folly? Letting the Cleveland Browns drop 49 points on them.
Cleveland entered this game with the number one rushing attack behind Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt,who combined to run for over 100+ yards and two touchdowns. Baker Mayfield got some mighty contributions from his two stud wideouts in Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. and Landry even tossed a touchdown pass to OBJ. OBJ isn’t a stranger to AT&T Stadium, and he put up another vintage performance and even added 73 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The offense got off to a 31-14 lead by halftime and never looked back. Cleveland’s offense has looked explosive at times, and on Sunday, Dallas and the world saw its full power.
Indianapolis Becoming a Defensive Juggernaut
When thinking of dominant defenses in recent memory, the 2019 San Francisco 49ers, 2013 Seahawks Legion of Boom or, even, the 2015 Denver Broncos come to mind. But in 2020? It just might be the Indianapolis Colts. Through four weeks, they’ve allowed teams to put point totals of 20 (Jacksonville Jaguars), 11 (Minnesota Vikings), seven (New York Jets), and 11 (Chicago Bears) for an average of 12 points per game.
There a lot of reasons Indianapolis’ defense is ranked near the top in total defense in the NFL, whether it’s them allowing 12 points per game, or that they have allowed the fewest total points (56) in a four-week span. They have also created game-altering turnovers (two pick-six’s against New York and an interception of Nick Foles last week) or getting to the quarterback with their 10 sacks, Indy’s defense has been a force to be reckoned with in 2020.
Dwayne Haskins Benched
It was reported this week that the Washington Football Team has elected to bench Dwayne Haskins in favor of Kyle Allen going into Week 5 and beyond. The hand that Haskins has been dealt is pretty rough.
Due to COVID-19, the NFL canceled the preseason and OTAs which already gave Haskins a limited opportunity to further learn the offense and ultimately, begin his prep to becoming a better overall quarterback. In addition, with the signing of Ron Rivera, Haskins has already played for three head coaches in his short NFL career.
The NFL can be a cruel, cruel sport but can be even more so to young players still looking to make a name for themselves. Washington isn’t going to stray away completely from Haskins assuming the 2021 season will return to a form of normalcy, but all Haskins can do now is be a supportive teammate and look for a second opportunity in the future.
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