The NFL Roundup Week 4 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Week 4 turned out to be quite the fascinating weekend for the NFL. Teams that seemed invulnerable found themselves suffering their first loss of the season, and others that were already being written off, suddenly found a surge, changing their fates and keeping their season alive. All of it made for fascinating football and fascinating stories, so without further ado here is what we learned from Week 4 in the NFL. 

The Miami Dolphins have quite the conundrum at Quarterback.
Let's get the hard truth out there right now, Ryan Tannehill is not a good quarterback, and it's killing the Miami Dolphins. I know that teams are supposed to be patient with young QB's and develop them along in this era where the pro game and the college game have such a disparity in how the position is played, but...it's been five years and Tannehill just isn't getting any better. He continues to struggle in reading defenses or finding open receivers and well, once again his poor skill set was exposed during Thursday Night Football. Sure he had that 75 yard bomb early on, but past that, he was completely ineffective. Which means that as the season rolls on and the Dolphins continue to lose, hard discussions will have to happen amongst the executive brass of the team...specifically, can they afford to part ways with #17, since they signed him to a whopping forty-four million dollar extension last year, meaning an outright release will result in some serious dead money on the salary cap. Either way, it's clear Miami needs to plan for the future at this position.

The Buffalo Bills are one strange football team. 
Truth be told. I just don't understand the Buffalo Bills in the slightest. One week, they look like a pop warner squad, unprepared and undisciplined, the next week they're football gods, able to bend opponents to their will and at this point, I haven't a clue if this team is good or bad. But...we can all agree on one thing, they're sure fun to watch. After all, they utterly dismantled the New England Patriots this weekend, shutting them out at home by neutralizing the Pats offense and it was quite the sight to see. This was Rex Ryan at his finest and it begs the question, why can't they do this every single week? Why this team has yet to find its identity no one can say, but after this incredible two week run from the Bills, they will certainly be a team to watch on Sunday, just to see which squad from this Jekyll and Hyde team decides to take the field.

The Denver Broncos got their first taste of the future on Sunday.
Paxton Lynch is a first round draft pick, whose presence on the Broncos roster was quickly forgotten thanks to the top notch play of Trevor Siemian over the first few weeks of the season. But that all changed Sunday when Siemian went out of the game with a shoulder injury, sending the rookie into service and he looked...goooooooood. His arm strength and poise were evident throughout the entire game and while he didn't have Carson Wentz style stats, he did everything right. Moved the ball down the field, helped the offense score points and didn't turn over the ball. Granted, I don't think this signals the beginning of a quarterback controversy, but Lynch is the future for the Denver Broncos and the future looks bright indeed.

The Minnesota Vikings are the team to beat in the NFC.
When you look at the talent the Vikings have on their roster, there's no logical way that they should be winning game after game in impressive fashion with their franchise QB out for the season with a horrible knee injury, and their star running back hurt as well...but here we are. Minnesota is 4-0 and showing no signs of slowing down, and well, at this point, it's clear that they are the best team in the NFC. They are lights out on offense, thanks to the resurgent play of replacement QB Sam Bradford and their defense is something to be feared as they continue to shut down one opposing offense after another. They're truly a force to be reckoned with and it should be interesting to see how far this talented squad is going to go this season.

The season just went from bad...to worse for the Carolina Panthers.
A year ago, the Panthers were the gem of the NFC, able to score at will and stop anything an opponent threw at them defensively. But then Super Bowl 50 happened and they have never been the same and the Super Bowl Hangover this team has been experiencing, is now about to cost them the season. They looked lost and confused against Atlanta this past weekend. The defense couldn't stop Julio Jones from carving up the secondary and Cam Newton was ineffective and pulled from the game to enter the league's concussion protocol (at last) before losing to the Falcons 45-32. Which means at this point, this 1-3 team full of divas needs to realize that this game is their wakeup call. They're not doing anything right fundamentally and they need to get back to basics if they expect to salvage their season. 

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