NFL Week 4: Patriots Right The Ship, Falcons Escape Seahawks’ Grasp And More

It’s pretty amazing how quickly things can change.

The Cowboys blew a 24-point lead against the Lions and and the Romo questioning has continued in Big D. In the .GIF below, Romo is seen brushing off team owner Jerry Jones as the Lions finish up their incredible comeback.

Here are the story lines coming out of Week 4 and 10 things to remember from Sunday:

Super Bowl hangover in Pittsburgh? Is that what the problem is there? They’re 2-2 which, for most teams, isn’t a bad start to the season. But this is Pittsburgh, one of the best teams in the NFL (or so we thought). They move to 2-2 on the season after going down 17-10 against Houston. It’s a bad start but things can always get worse as we await the news on Ben Roethlisberger’s MRI.

Mayo has been one of the top Patriots’ defenders since he joined entered the league in 2008. He recorded 114 tackles in a 2010 Pro Bowl campaign. However, this season not even Mayo has been able to do anything about the porous pass defense of the Patriots. The team is among the worst in the league.

Without Mayo, the Patriots will need to be even more creative on how to deal with an uncharacteristic struggling defense this season. But this is Bill Belichick we are dealing with, so there’s something he’s thinking about that we aren’t.

Johnson came through when it counted the most, catching two touchdown passes during the team’s fourth quarter comeback for the 34-30 win. Both times Johnson made leaping grabs. Be sure to check them out here and here. The latter one gave the Lions their first and only lead, as well as the only one that mattered: the final score.

For more reactions from the Cowboys, be sure to check out Blogging the Boys. For more on the Lions, check out Pride of Detroit.

The injury to his non-throwing shoulder forced Henne to miss the rest of the game, though he did stay in pads on the sidelines. Matt Moore relieved him and finished the game with 17 completions on 26 attempts and 167 yards.

For more on the Dolphins, head over to The Phinsider.

The Chargers moved to 3-1 with the win, and left Miami 0-4 with the loss.

For more on the Dolphins, head over to The Phinsider; for more on the Chargers, check out Bolts From the Blue. For the latest updates on Week 4 NFL action, be sure to follow this StoryStream.

Watch the video after the jump and judge for yourself. Was this a fumble and did the refs blow the call?

Notice how he was never touched until the ball comes out. The question, however, is whether Cruz gave himself up, much like a quarterback would when sliding. He appeared to stumble and go down, which would mean he was never down by contact. And if that were the case, the Cardinals should’ve been awarded the ball, and Manning’s touchdown pass to Nicks should have never happened.

Manning threw only those two touchdowns in the game.

Brady wasn’t fantastic — he completed a paltry 16 of 30 throws for just 226 yards, far off his typical numbers — but he found Welker time and again to decimate the Oakland defense. Welker hauled in nine catches for 158 yards and a touchdown, his third game of more than 150 receiving yards in the 2011 NFL season.

The Patriots are 3-1 after the victory, while the Raiders fall to 2-2 with the loss.

Green Bay moves to 4-0 with the victory, and Denver falls to 1-3 with the loss.

For more on the Packers, head over to ACME Packing Company; for more on the Vols, check out Mile High Report. For the latest updates on Week 4 NFL action, be sure to follow this StoryStream.

He has 26 carries for 130 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Can he help the Cardinals come back once again?

For more on the Cardinals, check out Revenge of the Birds. For more on the Giants head over to Big Blue View. Follow the rest of Week 4 of the regular season at SB Nation NFL.

It wasn’t just that Miami lost him, though. Jackson had enough time to fall down, get back up, then watch as a Miami player slipped off him as he walked into the end zone.

A for effort, though, Miami!

For more on the Packers head over to Acme Packing Company. For more on the Broncos, check out Mile High Report. Follow all of the NFL Week 4 action over at SB Nation NFL.

It does not look good for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Following his team’s 10-17 loss to the Houston Texans in the matinee games today, Roethlisberger received an x-ray on his foot. He was later seen leaving the game on crutches and wearing a walking boot.

There are already questions about his availability for next week’s game when the Steelers host the surging Tennessee Titans.

On balance, being a Packers fan seems like a pretty cool existence, doesn’t it?

For the latest updates from Week 4 of the NFL, be sure to follow this StoryStream. For stats of the game, check out SB Nation’s stats page. For reactions from the Eagles’ perspective, be sure to visit Bleeding Green Nation. For a 49ers’ perspective, check out Niners Nation.

Forte carried the ball 25 times for a total of 205 rushing yards and a touchdown. He racked up more than 50 yards on the Bears’ first drive of the game, a drive in which they did not pass the ball once. Cutler finished the day with just 17 pass attempts, completing nine of those for 102 yards and an interception. Even more of a relief for the Bears, Cutler was sacked just once.

As for the game, the Texans could have lost it easily. Wide receiver Andre Johnson went down in the first half with a hamstring injury, taking out their primary offensive weapon. And at other times, it seemed they wanted to lose. Houston wiped out two return touchdowns with penalties.

But Foster did enough to get them a win. Forty-two of his yards came when he cut and broke loose for a long touchdown score that proved to be the difference in the game. This was the type of performance expected from last season’s breakout fantasy football stud. Foster came out of nowhere in 2010 to lead the NFL in rushing (and vault in the hearts and minds of fantasy football owners everywhere).

Pittsburgh Steelers running back left his team’s game against the Houston Texans after scoring a third quarter touchdown. According to reports he has a hamstring injury and his return to the game is questionable.

The Steelers have turned to backup running backs Isaac Redman, who has done most of the work since Mendenhall left, and Mewelde Moore.

via cjzero.com

That was Hester’s first return touchdown of the season. Last year, he had three scores on punt returns. This was just Hester’s fourth punt return of the season.

A three-time Pro Bowler, Hester had a big kick return today against the Panthers, taking the ball 73-yards to set up a quick Matt Forte touchdown in the second quarter.

Tim Tebow will play quarterback for the Denver Broncos against the Green Bay Packers today — sort of. According to FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer, the Broncos’ back-up-slash-lightning rod is expected to take snaps at quarterback in some packages within the Broncos’ offense today.

Also reported that plan today is to get Tebow into game at QB in certain packagesOne possible interpretation of that: the Broncos are looking to solve their serious red zone woes with the deployment of Tebow as a potent run-pass option near the goal line. Tebow’s got a few red zone touchdowns in his NFL career, and has also been a strong runner in short yardage situations dating back to his days as a college great at Florida.

ESPN’s John Clayton reported the news via Twitter:

The Andre Johnson injury occurred in the first half when he collapsed without any contact from a Steelers defender. If the injury is in fact to the hamstring, that’s great news for Johnson, who has had knee trouble in his career. Here’s video of the injury:

This is a subtle derp, but a derp nonetheless.

Via AlfieBCC