2024 NFL Week 4: The best of Sunday’s games and the standout storylines
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Week 4 is the final slate of games for months with all 32 teams in action, as starting next week, four teams will have a bye.
With injuries mounting up, it will be a relief to teams that the players placed on injured reserve ahead of the season will be available to return in Week 5.
Week 4 began on Thursday with the Dallas Cowboys’ narrow 20-15 victory over the New York Giants, but most of the action will take place on the weekend.
Here are the three marquee matchups in Week 4’s Sunday games:
Minnesota Vikings (3-0) @ Green Bay Packers (2-1) – 1 p.m. ET
This NFC North rivalry has a little extra spice in 2024.
The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers are two of the intriguing teams in the league and Sunday’s clash is must-watch TV.
The Vikings are riding high through some inspired quarterback play from Sam Darnold and a swarming defense; Brian Flores’ crew has allowed the third-fewest rushing yards and come up with the second-most interceptions and most sacks through three weeks.
There’s added motivation for Minnesota’s new starting running back Aaron Jones who joined in the offseason after leaving Green Bay at the end of the last campaign.
Jones scored 63 touchdowns in his seven seasons with the Packers, and on his first return to Lambeau Field since swapping green for purple, he says he is “definitely” doing the famous “Lambeau Leap” if he scores on Sunday. The “Lambeau Leap” sees players who score touchdowns at the home of the Packers jump into the stands and celebrate with fans.
“Of course. If you’re not thinking about the end zone, you’re thinking about the wrong thing,” Jones told reporters on Wednesday.
The Packers are also riding high after two impressive wins, made all the more positive by the fact they came without starting signal-caller Jordan Love in the line-up.
Love has missed the last two games after suffering a knee injury in the final seconds of Green Bay’s Week 1 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil.
In Love’s absence, Malik Willis has stepped up dutifully. Paired with a creative offensive scheme under head coach Matt LaFleur, the Packers lead the league in rushing attempts and yards on the ground.
It is uncertain whether Love will return to face the Vikings on Sunday, but even if he doesn’t, Willis and the rest of Green Bay’s offensive talent could provide a fascinating match-up against Flores’ defense.
“They give you a lot of different looks, and much like we talk about the illusion of complexity where we like to give looks that are difficult on the defense, but simple for us, I feel like that’s what they do,” Packers head coach LaFleur said on Wednesday. “They have a system in place that makes it easy for their players, or easier for their players to go out there and execute. But it makes it extremely difficult on the offenses they are going against.”
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0) @ Indianapolis Colts (1-2) – 1 p.m. ET
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the surprise packages of the NFL season so far, having won all three of their games despite the offense not flowing fully yet.
The group – led by Justin Fields at quarterback, who was only thrust into the starting role after an injury to offseason acquisition Russell Wilson – has scored three offensive touchdowns through three weeks, the joint-fewest in the NFL.
However, in the form of its defense and special teams, Pittsburgh has been able to grind out victories. Kicker Chris Boswell has 10 field goals through three weeks – including six in Week 1 as he scored all 18 of the Steelers’ points in an 18-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
And the Steelers defense has come up big too, allowing the second-fewest rushing yards as well as conceding zero rushing touchdowns.
Pittsburgh will come up against an Indianapolis Colts team on a journey to find its identity after three up-and-down performances so far.
The Colts are coming off their first win of the season last time out, but it wasn’t pretty from quarterback Anthony Richardson. The second-year signal-caller will produce some exquisite throws and then some head-scratching interceptions which put his team on the back foot.
A positive for Indianapolis out of Week 3 is the breakout performance from running back Jonathan Taylor who finished with 23 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Heading into Sunday, Taylor spoke about how the Colts are beginning to find their way with the young core of players they have.
“I feel like we’ve definitely been able to get on a roll. Finally got one under our belt, but it’s a week-to-week league,” he told reporters on Thursday. “We’re going to have to definitely earn it again this week. (Steelers head coach) Mike Tomlin, he always has his guys ready to play – tough team.
“But it’s another great opportunity at home. We’re going to feed off this energy at Lucas Oil (Stadium), and we’ve just got to fight, claw and scratch for another win.”
Buffalo Bills (3-0) @ Baltimore Ravens (1-2) – 8:20 p.m. ET
Sunday Night Football will see two of the AFC’s presumed superpowers do battle, with one flying high and the other scrambling to save its season.
The Buffalo Bills have arguably been the hottest team in the NFL so far this season, producing a stellar 14-point comeback to beat the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 before blowing out the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bills QB Josh Allen has been the best passer in the league through Week 3, despite losing two of his top targets – Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis – in the offseason. He has thrown seven touchdowns and no interceptions so far, with the combination of Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, Keon Coleman and James Cook turned into stars with Allen at the helm.
Buffalo’s explosive start to the season has them among the early favorites to challenge for the Super Bowl. And normally one might expect the Baltimore Ravens to be among those contenders, but it’s been a struggle to begin the 2024 season for the Maryland-based team.
They were an Isaiah Likely toe away from sending the season-opener against the Chiefs to overtime and then were stunned at home by the Las Vegas Raiders before finally getting their first victory of the season – just – by running all over the Dallas Cowboys.
Baltimore’s defense underwent significant upheaval during the offseason – coordinator Mike Macdonald was appointed head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and both defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver were given coordinator roles in Tennessee and Miami, respectively.
As such, the group is still very much in its infancy but showing some promise, boasting the best run defense in the league but also the worst pass defense. And they will have their work cut out against the Bills and Allen who has the second-highest pass completion percentage (75%) of all 32 starting quarterbacks.
Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy was effusive in his praise for Allen when asked what makes him such a dangerous opponent.
“I mean, we could be here all day talking about it,” Van Noy told reporters with a smile. “(Allen is) just an incredible player (who’s) playing at such an extremely high level. I think (he) and (Bills offensive coordinator Joe) Brady, calling the plays, they’re in sync right now, and they have a great pulse of their offense, with their identity, and they’re doing an extremely good job of just getting everybody involved.”
In response, Allen spoke nothing but good things about Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
“I think he’s an inspiration to a lot of people in this country,” Allen told reporters. “The way that he plays the game, the doubters that he had coming out … and then for him to show the resiliency and the work ethic and the attitude to go forward and win two MVPs, guys around the league, they see that.
“He’s really changed the way that I think guys play the game, but make no mistake about it, he can throw the snot out of the football and (I) got a lot of respect for him, a lot of love for him.”
Full Sunday schedule
Away @ home
New Orleans Saints (2-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Bengals (0-3) @ Carolina Panthers (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Rams (1-2) @ Chicago Bears (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Minnesota Vikings (3-0) @ Green Bay Packers (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3) @ Houston Texans (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0) @ Indianapolis Colts (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Denver Broncos (1-2) @ New York Jets (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET
Washington Commanders (2-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (1-2) – 4:05 p.m. ET
New England Patriots (1-2) @ San Francisco 49ers (1-2) – 4:05 p.m. ET
Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) @ Los Angeles Chargers (2-1) – 4:25 p.m. ET
Cleveland Browns (1-2) @ Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) – 4:25 p.m. ET
Buffalo Bills (3-0) @ Baltimore Ravens (1-2) – 8:20 p.m. ET
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