NFL Week 4 overreactions: Jaxson Dart better than Cameron Ward? Saquon Barkley experiencing down year?

This week’s NFL slate was backloaded with critical matchups in the 4 p.m. ET time slot, yet there was plenty of entertainment in the early afternoon batch of games. Who had the New York Giants beating the Los Angeles Chargers or the Atlanta Falcons defeating the Washington Commanders?

The Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers played in a 12-round slugfest, with the Eagles coming out of September unbeaten. The Pittsburgh Steelers also played a thriller in Dublin, a game that had many shaking their heads. 

There are bigger games this afternoon, but the early Sunday games had plenty of overreactions worth discussing. Which ones are actually overreactions and which are reality? 

Brian Callahan won’t be the Titans‘ coach by November 

Overreaction or reality: Reality

The Titans were not expected to be a good football team, but Tennessee has simply been uncompetitive through the first four games this year. Tennessee is 0-4 to start the season and has lost 10 straight games, the longest losing streak by the franchise since moving to Tennessee.

The offense is uninspiring, not ideal for having a rookie quarterback in Cam Ward. While Ward is doing what he can with what little he has to work with, the Titans are last in the NFL in offensive points per game (12.8). They have 20 points or less in each of their four games, while Ward has completed 53.2% of his passes with just two touchdown passes and a 63.9 passer rating. 

Callahan is 3-18 in his first 21 games as a head coach, an uninspiring .143 win percentage. Losing poorly isn’t helping him, especially against divisional foes (the AFC South isn’t great). He’s certainly on the hot seat. 

Saquon Barkley will not rush for 1,000 yards this season

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

The Eagles have a problem on offense when it comes to running the football, which was evident when Barkley failed to get 50-plus rushing yards again. Barkley had just 19 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown in the win, averaging just 2.3 yards per carry. His longest run was 10 yards as the Eagles have had trouble finding ways to create lanes for him.

Through four games, Barkley has 77 carries for 237 yards and 3.1 yards per carry. The Eagles are 4-0 in spite of Barkley’s struggles, but this is part of the reason why the offense has spurts like they do in the second half (26 plays for 14 yards prior to final drive).

The roots of the Eagles’ problems on offense are the struggles in the run game. They’ll have to turn it around at some point, even with Barkley on pace to rush for just 1,007 yards this season. This offense is too good for Barkley to barely get 1,000 yards. 

Jaxson Dart is better than Cameron Ward

Overreaction or reality: Reality

There isn’t much of a sample size here with this year’s first-round quarterbacks, but Dart has impressed enough in his first start to stake this claim as the best. First, Dart did get a win in his debut — against the undefeated Chargers no less. Dart is the first quarterback to win his first career start against a 3-0 or better team since 2002, bringing life into a Giants team that looked dormant after the first three games.

Dart went just 13 of 20 for 111 yards, but threw for a touchdown and ran for one (96.0 rating). He also didn’t have Malik Nabers for a majority of the game, as Nabers left with a significant knee injury. The Giants were still able to score touchdowns.

What Dart is doing in his one start is better than anything Ward has shown, outside of an impressive across-the-field touchdown pass. This isn’t Ward’s fault, as he’s part of an unimaginative offense. Giants head coach Daboll is on the same hot seat as Brian Callahan too, and he’s gotten the most out of his rookie quarterback so far.

Lions are the Eagles’ biggest threat in the NFC

Overreaction or reality: Reality

This topic of discussion will likely flip-flop all season, but it’s clear the Lions are back on track as a Super Bowl contender. Detroit took care of Cleveland easily on Sunday, getting two touchdowns from Amon-Ra St. Brown and forcing two interceptions from Joe Flacco (the Browns‘ offense struggled mightily). 

The Lions have the look of a complete team — one that can beat the Eagles at home if they face Philadelphia there. The Week 1 loss to Green Bay feels like an eternity ago, as Detroit has averaged 38 points per game since. The Eagles are very good and know how to win games, but the Lions may be the more complete team right now.

These two teams meet in November, which may be for the No. 1 seed. 

Steelers‘ win was in spite of Mike Tomlin

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Let’s start with the obvious. What Tomlin did on fourth-and-1 with 1:08 left in a 24-21 game is indefensible, taking a delay of game penalty to punt instead of running a play on the Vikings‘ 40-yard line — a play in which a first down would have won the game. The conservative decision did work, but these are the decisions Tomlin makes that are head-scratching. 

Earlier in the Steelers’ win over the Vikings, Tomlin had Pittsburgh go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line with 4:14 left in a  24-14 game, but the play call was a run to Kenneth Gainwell (reminder Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback). The Steelers didn’t get it, allowing the Vikings to be in a game that should have been a blowout. 

Despite Tomlin’s flaws, the Steelers play hard for Tomlin, and their game preparation appears to still be among the best in the NFL. Pittsburgh was ready to play in Ireland in spite of not playing many international games, and Rodgers has been pretty efficient. 

Perhaps this blows up in Tomlin’s face, but it’s hard to argue with non-losing seasons. There are still some good things regarding Tomlin, but his game management is questionable. 

Vikings’ offensive line is why they won’t make the playoffs

Overreaction or reality: Reality

The Vikings quarterback play can be criticized religiously, and there’s plenty to write about Carson Wentz‘s performance on Sunday. The offensive line does Wentz little favors, nor have they been healthy enough to help him out anyway. 

With Brian O’Neill leaving Sunday’s loss with a knee injury, that leaves Will Fries as the only starting lineman not to be injured this season. Christian Darrisaw missed the first two weeks and Donovan Jackson is out due to wrist surgery. Center Ryan Kelly has also missed time due to a concussion. There just isn’t any continuity among this group through four weeks, as they had zero snaps played together this season. 

Wentz had his issues facing pressure (5 of 10 passing for 60 yards), but it’s hard to sustain offensive continuity when the offensive linemen are injured every week. This will be the Vikings downfall.