The 4 biggest stories after 4 weeks of the NFL season
Sage Rosenfels is a former 12-year NFL quarterback who writes, does radio, and podcasts about the NFL and college football. Find him on Twitter @SageRosenfels18.
With most teams having played a quarter of their season, here are the major developments so far.
The Rams are McReal
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Coaching makes a bigger difference in football than in any other pro sport, and no team makes this more obvious than the Los Angeles Rams.
Sean McVay has immediately changed the football team he inherited from Jeff Fisher. During Fisher’s run as head coach of the Rams, the defense was the only feared aspect of the football team. They were generally in the top half of the league in defense, but their offense was usually near the bottom.
The ceiling collapsed on the Rams in 2016. The offense ranked dead last, and the defense could no longer keep the team in games. Fisher was fired and McVay, who helped turn fourth-round draft pick Kirk Cousins into Washington’s franchise player, was hired to cure the Rams' offensive woes.
McVay’s “quarterback-friendly” attack has paid immediate dividends. One of his greatest strengths as an offensive mind is understanding what players do well. Todd Gurley, who looked like a below-average back last season, has regained his reputation as one of the premier runners in the league. He isn’t just a runner, either - currently, Gurley leads the Rams in rushing, catches, and receiving yards.
On Sunday, Jared Goff found his running back on a well-designed seam route for a touchdown. This play showed me multiple things. Goff threw an accurate ball into a small window to a running back, which isn’t easy. Not just a typical tailback, Gurley ran a perfect route, caught the ball naturally like a receiver or tight end, and outran the defense to the end zone.
Lastly, it displayed McVay’s judgment and creativity on that side of the ball. It didn’t take him long to see Gurley's rare talent as an overall athlete, and then design concepts to use him out of the backfield.
The NFC West already looks like a two-team race. The Seahawks will be in the hunt in December as usual, but they'll be pushed to their limits by the L.A. Rams. This team has a stout defense, the league's most improved quarterback, a running back whose unique talent is finally being appreciated, and a 31-year-old head coach who is wise beyond his years.
The Bills are better than expected
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Of course the Bills are in first place in the AFC East. And sure, it’s only four games, but their fans have been starving for a football team to challenge the Patriots for nearly two decades.
Nearly every analyst, including myself, had Buffalo as the third-best team in this division behind the Dolphins and the defending Super Bowl champions - but it turns out the Dolphins can't score and the Patriots' defense is a mess. This leaves the door open for the Bills to enter the conversation as a legitimate contender for a division championship.
The Bills have a lot of the pieces necessary to get to the playoffs. Primarily, they're winning the turnover game - they're plus-6 in turnover differential, tied for second in the league. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor has been extremely efficient too. He'll never be a 5,000-yard passer, but he is fairly accurate, smart, a dual threat, and protects the football. Through four games, he has five touchdowns to only one interception, with a QB rating over 100.
Like the Rams, the Bills don’t have a premier wide receiver, and their offensive coordinator has also centered the offense on an explosive, multi-threat running back. Rick Dennison has found multiple ways to get tailback LeSean McCoy the ball. McCoy, like Gurley, leads his team in rushing and receptions.
The Bills also have a tight end who's still gliding under the radar of most NFL fans. Charles Clay is on pace to catch over 70 passes this year. At 255 pounds, he is more athletic and versatile than people realize. Clay beat Falcons safeties twice on big plays Sunday in man-to-man coverage.
Defensively, head coach Sean McDermott has quickly transformed this unit into the stingiest group in the league. The Bills are only giving up 13.5 points per game. Free-agent acquisition Micah Hyde has made an immediate impact and leads the Bills with three interceptions. The defense has six interceptions total, and has only given up one touchdown through the air.
It’s still early, but the Bills look like they could be formidable down the stretch. They have an elite tailback, a dangerous quarterback who protects the football, and a defense that gets turnovers and doesn’t give up many points. Through four games, McVay and McDermott - both rookie head coaches - are the leading candidates for Coach of the Year.
The Patriots look average
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
OK, the word “average” might be misleading - the Patriots' offense looks as good as ever, despite being without star wide receiver Julian Edelman. It's ranked near the top of the NFL in almost every category.
The Patriots' defense, on the other hand, has been shockingly bad. Under Bill Belichick, the Patriots have had some top-five defenses and some ranked in the middle of the pack, but they've never had a unit at or near the bottom of the league. That’s where they are right now, though: 31st in total defense.
It's even more surprising because New England led the NFL last year in the most important defensive category, points given up. Since Belichick’s teams are always well coached, we know this isn’t the issue. There is definite concern in Foxboro, however, and the Patriots only have themselves to blame.
Over the last year, the Patriots have changed key pieces of their front seven. They “lost” Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins, Rob Ninkovich, Chris Long, and Jabaal Sheard to trades, retirement, and free agency. Despite receiving several high draft picks in the Jones and Collins trades, the Patriots haven't replaced those key members. They've struggled to stop the run, and they miss Ninkovich’s tenacity as a pass-rusher.
On the back end, New England has one of the best secondaries in the NFL - at least, on paper. Stephon Gilmore looked like a perfect addition to a unit that already had veterans Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, and Malcolm Butler as starters.
Instead, these four may be the most underperforming unit in all of football. Teams have consistently confused them by motioning to three-man bunch sets, and the miscommunication has left offensive players wide-open for big plays. These mental miscues must be driving Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia crazy.
New England has multiple issues on defense: Talent along the front seven is down from past Belichick teams, and poor communication in the back end is making this group look incompetent. Despite all this, the Patriots will be in the mix as we enter January, but unless they can figure out a way to stop people, their run at a sixth title won’t last long.
That other L.A. team is in rough shape
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
When Pete Carroll restored the USC program's status as a national powerhouse during the first decade of this millennium, Los Angeles had all but forgotten about the NFL. The NFL had not forgotten about the country’s second-biggest media market.
After 21 years of politics, the Rams returned to Southern California. A year later, the San Diego Chargers, who had one of the more rundown stadiums in the league, moved north to La La Land as well.
The Rams, who already had a history in the city, struggled in their first season. They hadn’t made the playoffs since 2004, so it was easy to see why L.A. Coliseum wasn’t full on Sundays. If they continue to win under McVay, though, new Rams fans will slowly fill the empty seats. By the time the new stadium is completed in 2020, there's a good chance the Rams’ move to Los Angeles will already be deemed a success.
The Chargers, on the other hand, are in real trouble. They're playing at the StubHub Center, which has a capacity of 30,000, but the demand for tickets is so thin that 3,000 seats are covered with tarps. Against Philadelphia last weekend, Eagles fans turned StubHub Center into their home field.
Rarely can you say that an NFL stadium doesn’t have a bad seat in the house, but that's true of the Chargers’ temporary new home. In other NFL cities, fans pay outrageous prices for upper-deck seats where players look like ants on the field. The Chargers are getting under 20,000 Bolts fans in a stadium that allows viewers to be extremely close to the action.
The team isn’t exactly giving L.A. residents good reasons to show up. The Chargers are 0-4, and continue to lose close games. This is nothing new for Philip Rivers’ team. As the Chargers quarterback enters the final few years of his career, hope is hard to come by. At some point, with a lack of wins and public support, this team will be left behind.
The Chargers are adrift in a city that doesn’t want or need them. Los Angeles is huge, but it already has USC and UCLA drawing 75,000 and 67,000 fans, respectively, on Saturday. Professionally, the Rams own a decided advantage because of history, being the first to market, and a superior on-field product. The Chargers are playing in L.A., but they aren’t L.A.’s team, and this story won't go away.