JuicyTalk
Arizona Cardinals
Kyler Murray can be excellent when he wants to be.
If Kyler Murray started games with a fire under his ass, the Cardinals might be 4-0 right now. He has been at his worst during the first quarter of games this season. Despite averaging 222.5 total yards per game, he is being held to 32.3 total yards in the first quarter. Then, he turns it on in the second half, where his quarterback rating jumps from an 83.6 through the first two quarters to a 92.5. He needs to figure out how to come out of the gates with the pedal to the metal.
Atlanta Falcons
That’s what it looks like when the offense lives up to the hype.
Every recent first-round draft pick on the offensive side of the ball played a major role in their win this weekend. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had his best game of the season, throwing for 313 yards and two TDs on the way to a 126 quarterback rating. Wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts had season-highs in receiving yards while each catching a touchdown. And of course, running back Bijan Robinson had 181 scrimmage yards and a TD. This has the potential to be the best offensive team in the NFL.
Baltimore Ravens
This season might be a wash.
In their three losses, they are giving up 38.7 points per game while allowing 435 yards on average, which would easily be the worst mark in the NFL. They just lost their best defensive tackle for the season and are dealing with injuries to multiple key starters, including two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. The Ravens have a stretch of winnable games after the bye week, but they’re 1-3 right now and are so banged up that they might not even be in contention for a playoff spot by the time they get to Week Eight. There is a very real possibility that they are 1-6 coming off the bye, especially if Lamar Jackson has to miss time.
Buffalo Bills
This is the best team in the AFC, even if they haven’t played anybody good.
The teams they have gone up against are a combined 2-14 on the season, but they have still managed to look like the best squad in their conference. Josh Allen continues to play at an MVP level while the defense has managed to weather a slew of injuries and suspensions, allowing just 22.5 points per game without important players like Ed Oliver, Matt Milano, Maxwell Hairston, Larry Ogunjobi, and Michael Hoecht. Right now, they’re playing better than the Chargers, Steelers, Jaguars, and Colts. If they can beat the Chiefs in Week Nine, then they’ll be positioned to earn the number-one seed in the AFC.
Carolina Panthers
There’s no clear direction forward for this franchise.
There isn’t a quick fix for this team because they’re so bad in so many different areas. Bryce Young is a bust, and taking him with the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft set this organization back several years. You don’t know if Dave Canales is a good coach because he is working with a terrible roster. The team doesn’t take care of the football and is 26th in scoring, even after putting up 30 on the Falcons. It feels like the only way forward is to find another quarterback, but they have to hope that they lose enough games to secure a top draft pick. It would be foolish to continue to act like Bryce Young is the future of this team.
Chicago Bears
The winds of change are blowing in Chicago.
That was a good game for changing the culture of this franchise. Last year, the Bears would lose that game nine times out of ten. They couldn’t stop Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, Maxx Crosby looked dominant, and Caleb Williams had an interception and almost two lost fumbles. Despite all of these things working against them, the Bears still held on for a win over a team that they were clearly better than. That has not been a common occurrence in the Windy City. Maybe head coach Ben Johnson really is creating a winning atmosphere in Chicago.
Cincinnati Bengals
They need to find another quarterback to replace Jake Browning.
The Jake Browning experiment should come to an end after two disastrous offensive performances. He shouldn’t be blamed for all of the Bengals’ misfortunes, but since becoming the full-time starter in relief of an injured Joe Burrow, Cincy has been outscored 76-13. At the same time, he is only averaging 132.5 passing yards per game during that stretch, which would be the lowest mark in the league for a starting QB. After seeing the dissatisfaction on the faces of Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase last night, it’s evident that the Bengals need to make a move for a quarterback who can get those guys the football.
Cleveland Browns
They should not still be starting Joe Flacco.
He ranks 32nd out of 33 quarterbacks in QBR and 33rd in passer rating. The Browns have one win under their belt, but that had more to do with their defense and special teams than Joe Flacco, who had a season-low 142 yards in that game. They have two rookie quarterbacks sitting on the bench. They need to find out if either one of those guys is worth anything because Cleveland will once again have a high draft pick and will be able to take a quarterback this April if they’re so inclined. Before that, they must determine if Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders can be starters in this league.
Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott has been a top-five QB this season.
You’re allowed to have your issues with Dak Prescott and call him a playoff choker, but he has been undeniably good through the first four games of the year. He’s third in completion percentage (72.9%), first in passing yards, and fourth in QBR. Plus, he’s doing this while his best wide receiver is dealing with an injury. Prescott has also helped Dallas lead the league in yards per game while ranking fifth in points. Some people are going to reject this idea, but Dak should be looked at as an MVP candidate. Joe Burrow can get that treatment in 2024, so why can’t Dak be viewed the same way in 2025?
Denver Broncos
This squad does not play down to its competition.
Since the start of last season, Denver is 10-0 against teams with losing records. Admittedly, they have issues beating the better teams in the league, but they’re not going to fumble away easy victories against the NFL’s bottom-feeders. Outside of the opening drive last night, where the Bengals scored a field goal, at no point did the game feel all that close. There were maybe some concerns after the Broncos punted on their opening drive, but then Denver scored four unanswered touchdowns on their way to demolishing Cincinnati. Now, they need to start putting together wins against the NFL’s good teams if they want to impress people.
Detroit Lions
They are the favorites to win the NFC North.
Remember when there were worries about the Lions regressing this year after their disappointing Week One performance against the Packers? That feels like a million years ago. Detroit currently leads the league in scoring while having the fourth-best turnover differential in the NFL. Plus, Aidan Hutchinson looks like the player he was before his devastating leg injury. The Packers, Vikings, and Bears all have major flaws, whether it be coaching, defense, quarterback play, or something else. That is not the case for the Lions, who currently stand alone in first place in the NFC North.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers lost that tie.
When fans of your divisional rivals are dunking on your team for tying, that’s not a good thing! Green Bay had every opportunity to win that game on Sunday, yet they somehow wound up with a tie. You get the ball to Dallas’ 25 with 1:15 left in the game and a timeout, yet you don’t find the end zone after scoring on your previous four consecutive drives? That is coaching malpractice and a waste of an excellent performance by quarterback Jordan Love. The special teams unit clearly didn’t learn anything from its Week Three failures after giving up a two-point defensive conversion on a blocked extra point that changed the game dramatically.
Houston Texans
That game was desperately needed.
Every game Houston has been in this season, leading up to Week Four, has been an absolute dogfight. So it was nice to see H-Town pull away in the fourth quarter and soundly beat the pitiful Tennessee Titans. C.J. Stroud had a great game, completing 78% of his passes for a season-high 223 yards and two touchdowns. The Texans also managed to get rookies Jayden Higgins and Woody Marks involved in the win, which was a welcome change. If they can beat a reeling Ravens team next week, they’ll be right back in the playoff hunt.
Indianapolis Colts
As disappointing as the loss was, nobody should be down on the Colts.
It didn’t feel like the Rams won that game, but rather, the Colts lost it. Adonai Mitchell had that all-time boneheaded fumble and then was called for holding on what would’ve been a go-ahead 53-yard touchdown run. Either way, the Indy showed out on the road against one of the best teams in football and is a lost fumble away from potentially being 4-0. The good news is that the Colts should be able to turn things around against the spiraling Raiders this weekend.
Jacksonville Jaguars
This team is a legitimate contender.
This defense is scary good and incredibly opportunistic, which would explain why they lead the league in takeaways with 13 (three more than the next closest team). They have a balanced offensive attack that ranks tenth in total yards per game. They also take care of the football as one of just seven teams without a lost fumble this season. Their biggest test comes this coming Monday against the Chiefs. Should they win that game, we might have to start mentioning them in Super Bowl discussions.
Kansas City Chiefs
The offense is only going to continue to get better from here.
Maybe the Chiefs’ dynasty wasn’t over? Maybe they just didn’t have their full set of offensive weapons? They might’ve been playing the down-and-out Ravens, but the team we saw on Sunday looked way better than the squad we saw in the first three weeks of the season. Xavier Worthy is a huge part of this offense, and he will have even more opportunities to make plays when fellow wide receiver Rashee Rice returns to the field in Week Seven. His presence will make the passing attack better, which will also make the running game better.
Las Vegas Raiders
Vegas needs to address the QB position in the off-season.
Geno Smith has been one of the most disappointing players in the NFL this season. In a game where he wasn’t sacked once, he only threw for 114 yards and turned the ball over three times. That is unacceptable from a veteran QB who has the fifth most passing yards in the NFL since the start of the 2023-24 season. The move to acquire Geno Smith was always going to be a short-term solution to Vegas’ quarterback issues. Now, though, with the way he’s playing, the Raiders will need to use a premium pick on a QB in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Los Angeles Chargers
The offensive line injuries are finally taking a toll on this team.
When Rashawn Slater went down in the training camp, it seriously hurt the Chargers’ offensive abilities, but they had enough time before the season started to reconfigure the O-line. Then Savion Washington and Mekhi Becton suffered injuries, which LA managed to work through. Now, they are dealing with an injury to Joe Alt, which clearly affected their ability to neutralize the Giants’ pass rush, leading to two sacks and two interceptions. If Joe Alt has to miss multiple games, the Chargers might end up falling out of first in the AFC West.
Los Angeles Rams
A response like that is why the Rams are a Super Bowl contender.
Last week, I dubbed Los Angeles’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles as the worst loss of the Sean McVay era. After giving away a game that they were supposed to win, the Rams had to turn around and host an undefeated Colts team. They responded with a massive come-from-behind win despite trailing in the fourth quarter. Following a fumble by running back Kyren Williams that allowed Indy to go ahead 20-13, the Rams answered with two touchdowns and an interception to secure the win. Moments like that define Super Bowl contenders, which is what the Rams are.
Miami Dolphins
That felt like a Jets loss and not a Dolphins win.
Miami won that game because the New York Jets basically handed them the victory. They lost three fumbles, which resulted in two touchdowns. Also, they were penalized 13 times for 101 yards and had a touchdown taken off the board because of an offensive pass interference penalty. The Dolphins were simply the less sh*tty team on Monday. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was decent, and running back De’Von Achane had a good game, but Miami was still pummeled for 197 rushing yards. If they were facing a competent team, the ‘Phins would likely be 0-4.
Minnesota Vikings
The way they handled the quarterback position in the off-season is hurting the team’s prospects this year.
Minnesota did everything it could to make quarterback J.J. McCarthy feel comfortable, to the point where they handicapped themselves if he didn’t work out, which is why the Vikes are 2-2 right now instead of 3-1. Minnesota knew that if it brought in a respectable backup QB, it would put additional unnecessary pressure on J.J. McCarthy. So instead of signing Marcus Mariota, Daniel Jones, Mac Jones, or Sam Darnold – who all have wins this season – they brought in Carson Wentz, who hadn’t won a game he started since January of 2024. If the Vikings had a good backup, they would be tied for first place in the NFC North. Instead, they decided to make J.J. McCarthy feel comfortable, and are now in third place in their division.
New England Patriots
Drake Maye is the real deal.
The Pats have some glaring issues, but second-year quarterback Drake Maye isn’t one of them. He has the highest completion percentage in the NFL and is ninth in passing yards per game, ahead of guys like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield, and Lamar Jackson. He also has the fifth-best quarterback rating in the league behind only Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, and Josh Allen. If the Patriots had a better offensive line, we might be talking about Drake Maye as an MVP candidate, considering he’s taken for the third-most sacks in the NFL this season.
New Orleans Saints
They are who we thought they were.
It was fun and cute when they were playing middle-of-the-road teams close the first two weeks of the season, but the Saints showed their true colors against two of the better teams in the league. Over the last two weeks, they have been outscored 75 to 32. They struggle with scoring on both sides of the ball (28th in scoring offense and 30th in scoring defense). In a best-case scenario, the Saints finish the season 5-12, and that’s only if they beat the worst teams in the league. In reality, though, they won’t win all of those games, so their record will be even worse than that.
New York Giants
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a damn win!
Did you know that the Giants have only four wins in their last 21 games? Clearly, victories have been hard to come by in the Big Apple, but this past weekend, the G-Men defeated one of the best teams in the NFL with a rookie quarterback at the helm. Even on a day when he took five sacks, Jaxson Dart didn’t turn the ball over and scored two touchdowns. That’s the kind of performance you want to see from a 22-year-old playing against a likely playoff team. That sets the tone for the rest of the year and actually creates a feeling of hope in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
New York Jets
Aaron Glenn hasn’t changed anything regarding the culture of this franchise.
Gang Green brought in Aaron Glenn to be a no-nonsense coach who eliminates mistakes and mental errors. Well, guess what, the Jets still make a ton of mistakes and mental errors. Their 32 penalties are the tenth-most in the league this season. On top of that, they lead the NFL in lost fumbles, which speaks more to the carelessness of players as opposed to actual talent issues. Maybe there are too many players from the old regime for Aaron Glenn to make any effective changes to the Jets’ culture, but things do not look good in New York.
Philadelphia Eagles
They are the best team in the NFC.
This group just does so many things well. They’re seventh in scoring offense and only have one turnover on the year. They obviously have an elite offensive line, which is why they’re tied for second in rushing touchdowns this season. Not to mention, they’re tied for fifth in opponent passer rating allowed and only let opponents convert 37% of their third downs, which would be good for tenth in the league last season. They’re special teams unit has two touchdowns and has also made every field goal and extra point attempt they have tried. It doesn’t matter where they are or who they’re playing; the Eagles are the best team in the NFC.
Pittsburgh Steelers
If that’s how the defense looks, this group will make some noise in the postseason.
They’re second in the league in turnover differential because they can record takeaways while Aaron Rodgers manages to limit interceptions. They might be towards the bottom of the league in scoring defense currently, but they’ve held opponents to 17.5 points per game in their last two contests. More importantly, they’re tied for second in sacks, thanks in part to injuries along the Vikings’ offense line. They don’t have to register six sacks per game like they did against the Vikes, but generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks gives this team everything it needs to make a meaningful playoff run for the first time in years.
San Francisco 49ers
That was a huge wasted opportunity.
San Fran had a chance to go into Week Five undefeated with a small cushion for when they play the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football. Instead, there’s a chance they will fall to second place in the NFC West after they gave the ball away four times to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The worst part about the loss is that it came with Brock Purdy starting, so Niners fans can’t even use the excuse that they would’ve won if Mac Jones wasn’t playing. They need their wide receiving corps to get healthy; otherwise, this team will not come anywhere close to sniffing the Super Bowl.
Seattle Seahawks
Sam Darnold looks like the guy in the Pacific Northwest.
Sam Darnold is a top-ten passer, and he has the stats to back up that claim. He’s tenth in QBR (65.9) and sixth in passer rating (106.5). He has also displayed excellent pocket awareness, as proven by the fact that he has only taken six sacks this season. He did have that awkward fumble in his first game of the season, but since then, he has not cost his team any games with turnovers. Dating back to the start of last season, he is sixth in quarterback rating behind Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield, and Jalen Hurts. He has really come into his own over the last two years and given Seattle a quarterback that they can build around.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There are plenty of positives and negatives from this weekend.
That game was a real mixed bag of emotions for Buccaneers fans. They went down early, and the vibes plummeted when they were facing a 24-3 deficit in the second quarter. Then, things began to shift a little bit after they made a ridiculous 65-yard field goal. They didn’t show any quit in the face of adversity and even made it a one-score game at one point in the fourth quarter, which speaks to the resilience that they have shown all year long. Do they win that game if Mike Evans plays? We don’t know. But they will likely have to face the Eagles again at some point if they want to win a Super Bowl. Maybe next time, they won’t spot Philly a 21-point lead.
Tennessee Titans
This is the worst team in the NFL.
They have their franchise quarterback and an elite defensive lineman, but that doesn’t negate the fact that this group is “ass,” as Cam Ward put it. They rank in the bottom five in the following categories: yards per game (31st), passing (32nd), rushing (29th), points per game (32nd), rushing yards allowed (28th), points allowed (29th), sacks given up (31st), and passer rating (31st). There should be legitimate concerns that they will ruin Cam Ward before he even has a chance to prove he belongs in the league. Something needs to change in Tennessee ASAP.
Washington Commanders
There should be concerns about the defense.
They stink at forcing turnovers and have a really tough time stopping opponents from passing the ball. In fact, they’re 28th in passer rating allowed and somehow failed to record an interception against the Raiders’ Geno Smith, who is practically giving INTs away with a league-leading seven in just four games. They have ten sacks, but half of those came in just one game. Jayden Daniels was able to mask some of the team’s deficiencies last year, but this is not the type of performance that we have come to expect from a defensive-minded coach like Dan Quinn.
