It was a Sunday of records and highlights-reel performances in week four as Patrick Mahomes celebrated his 100th regular season start with a win, while Jayden Daniels announced himself as a new star of the league.
The Kansas City Chiefs keep finding ways to win as the Jacksonville Jaguars find new ways to lose, while the Washington Commanders continue to surprise with record-setting rookie Daniels pulling the strings.
The Minnesota Vikings warmed up for their trip to London with a win, but Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets head to the UK with a bitter defeat to swallow.
Mahomes celebrated his 100th regular season start with a record 78th victory – two more than Tom Brady and Roger Staubach’s previous best – while he also holds the records for the most completed passes, touchdowns and passing yards in the first 100 games of a career.
Mahomes has now won all 12 career games when the Chiefs have trailed by exactly 10 points with Sunday’s 17-10 victory at the Los Angeles Chargers – their 10th in a row.
The three-time Super Bowl champion had gone 30 games with a 50-yard TD pass before hitting speedster Xavier Worthy with a 54-yarder during the comeback, which again was built on the back of the team’s solid defence.
Injury problems are mounting though as Mahomes himself impaired his own top receiver Rashee Rice when trying to make a tackle, which just added to what in many statistical categories has been his worst four-game start to a season.
The only stat that really counts though is that the Chiefs are 4-0.
Washington’s rookie quarterback phenomenon Daniels led the Commanders to a 42-14 victory at the Arizona Cardinals, showing more of his incredible poise and precision for someone at the start of his NFL career.
Daniels scored his fourth rushing TD of the season but it is his passing accuracy that is raising eyebrows, as his remarkable 82.1% pass completion rate is the best in any four-game span in the Super Bowl era.
Only Brady and Peyton Manning have produced something similar and both came during one of their MVP seasons. So now is the time to start taking Daniels and the Commanders very seriously.
Brock Purdy is another QB setting records; after helping the San Francisco 49ers beat the New England Patriots he tops the all-time quarterback rating metric after 25 starts.
The Minnesota Vikings head to London next Sunday still unbeaten after surviving a wild comeback to beat the Green Bay Packers in a game littered with both brilliance and turnover mistakes.
The Vikings stormed into a 28-0 lead with Green Bay missing two field goals and Jordan Love throwing two interceptions, but once he settled the Packers came roaring back thanks to Love’s four TD passes.
Minnesota managed to cling on for a 31-29 victory with the Sam Darnold renaissance being one of the biggest surprises of this NFL season.
Rodgers was hit 13 times and failed to generate a touchdown as the New York Jets suffered an ugly 10-9 loss at home to the Denver Broncos in some unpleasant weather conditions in the Big Apple.
Rodgers admitted he was “banged up” and had problems with both legs, but insisted we would be OK to face the Vikings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, as he offered an honest assessment of the game.
“The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws.”
Lamar Jackson had three total TDs and Derrick Henry ran for 199 yards as the Baltimore Ravens dominated the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills 35-10.
Baltimore’s defence bottled up Josh Allen and Henry recorded the longest TD run in Ravens history – a blistering 87-yard effort from his very first carry of the game to set the tone for a one-sided victory.
Baker Mayfield threw for 347 yards and had three total TDs as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roasted the Philadelphia Eagles – with his most uncomfortable moments coming when trying to explain his comments that had seemingly angered Brady.
While covering the game on TV, Brady was asked about Mayfield’s comments on the team being “pretty stressed out” while he was there leading them to Super Bowl success.
“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,” Brady said on the Fox coverage. “So, there was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t day care. If I was going to have fun, I’d go to Disneyland with my kids.”
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said it was “kind of a weird question” when asked about his future after a sickening late defeat at the Houston Texans.
Pederson is undoubtedly in the hot seat though after a ninth defeat in 10 games and a 0-4 start to the season with just 60 points scored. Only one team has made the play-offs when starting 0-4 and the Jags do not look like a side primed for a remarkable turnaround.
Veteran QB Joe Flacco gave the quote of the day after he came off the bench to throw two TDs and help the Indianapolis Colts inflict a first defeat of the season on the Pittsburgh Steelers – a display injured starter Anthony Richardson labelled “cool” .
“He [Richardson] told me his mom is eight days older than I am,” the 39-year-old Flacco told CBS. “So there’s no chance in the world he thinks I’m cool.”
Matthew Stafford said it was “humbling” to pass Eli Manning in 10th on the all-time passing yards standings, but it was no consolation after his Los Angeles Rams lost at the Chicago Bears.
Younghoe Koo booted a 58-yard field goal with just two seconds left on the clock to give the Atlanta Falcons a 26-24 win at the New Orleans Saints.
Joe Burrow finally got a first win of the season as the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Carolina Panthers and the Las Vegas Raiders edged out the Cleveland Browns
Minnesota Vikings 31-29 Green Bay Packers
Philadelphia Eagles 16-33 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars 20-24 Houston Texans
New Orleans Saints 24-26 Atlanta Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals 34-24 Carolina Panthers
Denver Broncos 10-9 New York Jets
Los Angeles Rams 18-24 Chicago Bears
Pittsburgh Steelers 24-27 Indianapolis Colts
Dallas Cowboys 20-15 New York Giants
New England Patriots 13-30 San Francisco 49ers
Washington Commanders 42-14 Arizona Cardinals
Cleveland Browns 16-20 Las Vegas Raiders
Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 Los Angeles Chargers
Buffalo Bills 10-35 Baltimore Ravens
