NFL Week 4 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Week 4 in the NFL ended up playing out like a fine soap opera. There was joy, there were tears, some compelling drama and in between all of it, some football as well. I was amazed at some of the thrilling games that unfolded on my television screen and I was equally amazed at all the incredible stories that came out of each and every one of them and with that in mind here are the top stories from the field from Week 4 in the NFL.

1. Joe Philbin gets the unfortunate honor of being the first head coach fired this year and the second in NFL history to be fired shortly after returning from the International Series Game in London. Obviously a change was coming. There was talk that the defensive players had had enough with the defensive coordinator's game plan and well...the team looked uninspired on the field and that always falls on the head coach. It's hard to say exactly what went wrong for Philbin in Miami but this is a franchise in dire need of direction and you always wonder when a coach goes this early if it was his fault...or the fault of the franchise as a whole. Time will tell.

2. Speaking of coaching changes...how long before the Eagles deal with Chip Kelly? They made a horrible decision in giving him absolute control over the roster and the results are now being seen. This was a year ago, a team loaded to the gills with talent on every side of the ball. Then Chip had his way and molded the roster in the image of his system, dumping every player he could and well...this is why they are 1-3. This is an awful, awful football team and the only man to blame is the architect of a stalled offense and a porous defense. I agree with Philly fans...fire Chip Kelly.

3. Dan Quinn turned out to be the right guy for the job in Atlanta and in pure crazy fashion, he turned this team around not by shoring up the defense...but by turning loose the run game. Yes, a genius defensive mind decided it was high time to retool the offense instead and the Falcons are a terror on the ground. I mean come on, they scored three touchdowns on the ground Sunday. THREE. They are running over everyone at will and it's simply amazing and as of right now they are an absolute terror in the NFC. 

4. More and more, it's looking like Tampa Bay made a terrible mistake in picking Jameis Winston in the draft. I'm not saying he's a bust yet...he's just not ready to handle a pro level offense. Sure we can go into the whole "well he is a rookie and needs time" debate but that doesn't fly in this particular situation. When you're the number one overall pick...you're supposed to be pro ready and you start from day one. Other QB's in his situation showed flashes of brilliance after making their mistakes, but I'm not seeing that from Winston. He threw four picks on Sunday, one of them a pick six and he looked confused all day long. It was an ugly day for Tampa Bay and its fans and I fear the rest of the season and potentially the next couple of years may be just as ugly.

5. As awesome as it is that Carolina is 4-0...one has to wonder if they have achieved such an awesome feat through sheer talent...or their relatively soft schedule. Yes, a win is a win but seriously, look at that schedule. Week 1, Jacksonville. Week 2, Houston. Week 3, New Orleans sans Drew Brees and Tampa Bay in Week 4 and each of those teams boasts a record of 1-3 as of today. Not to mention, Cam Newton only completed 50% of his passes on Sunday and that's why I question this success. This is a team that has had to battle to be mediocre and their franchise quarterback has yet to become the star they expect him to be. Sadly the only answer to this question will come with time, for as the schedule toughens up we will truly see what Carolina is made of. 

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