Winners and losers of NFL Week 4: Travis Kelce responds; Jets and Giants sadness

Week 4 proved to be another ugly week for New York football – even the Bills couldn’t salvage things for the Empire State – and the injury bug struck again across the NFL.

While there may still be two more games to go in Week 4 with a pair of “Monday Night Football’ games on the docket, here’s a look at some of the winners and losers after another weekend of football. 

Winners from Week 4

Travis Kelce 

The Chiefs star tight end has faced plenty of scrutiny over the first few weeks of the season and his offseason endeavors have led to talking heads debating whether they took his focus off of football.

He answered back with a big game on Sunday in a 17-10 win over the Chargers in which he had seven receptions for 89 yards and also recorded his 917th NFL reception as a member of the Chiefs, which put him past Tony Gonzalez’s previous tight end record of 916. 

While the game was certainly a positive after all of the talk about him, Kelce is still looking for his first touchdown of the season. (And Swifites are still waiting for another appearance at a game by Taylor Swift). 

Minnesota Vikings 

It’s hard to say many people would have pegged the Vikings as one of the two teams left after four weeks that would be undefeated, but here we are. Former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold has come in and led the Vikings offense valiantly – he did throw an interception – but finished the win over the Packers completing 20 of 28 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns. 

The Vikings bent but did not break and still found a way to pull out a 31-29 win after giving up an early 28-0 lead and needing a late field goal to seal the victory. 

Minny has toppled the 49ers, Texans, and Packers in the past three weeks which is an impressive feat for a team that went through a bit of change in the offseason. 

Caleb Williams

Bears fans are starting to see things come together from their rookie quarterback after a solid performance by Williams in Chicago’s 24-18 win over the Rams. 

Williams threw for a touchdown and completed 17 of 23 passes for 157 yards and the offense did not turn the ball over.

The first overall pick in the April draft had a passer rating of 106.6 this week and has seen it steadily improve over the past few weeks. 

Losers from Week 4

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars talked a big game going into this season with owner Shad Khan saying that “winning now is the expectation” and that “this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ever.”

The comments seem farfetched now after the Jags dropped another game and moved to 0-4 on the season. 

The Titans could join them in the 0-4 category if they fall to the Dolphins on Monday night, but the expectations were there for the Jaguars this season and now head coach Doug Pederson finds himself on the hot seat. 

Anyone hoping to see a touchdown at MetLife Stadium

Both the Jets and Giants played this week at home and yet neither fan base actually got to see a touchdown scored by the home team.

Both the Giants and Jets wound up losing, while relying solely on their kickers to provide the points. Both games ended up being close, but neither the Jets nor the Giants had been able to come up big when they needed. 

The Giants’ last-ditch drive against the Cowboys ended with Daniel Jones throwing a pick and Greg Zuerlein missed a 50-yard kick that would have won the game for the Jets over the Broncos. 

Falcons fans 

It should be noted this isn’t all Falcons fans, just the ones who decided to start brawling in the 300s section at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Ugly video emerged of a vicious incident where one fan was seen kicking and stomping on the head of another in a chaotic scene. One that is becoming all too frequent at NFL stadiums.