Pick Six: NFL Week 4 winners and losers, plus grades for every team and Falcons-Saints picks

Hello football friends, and welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

First, I'd like to apologize. The NFL had its first Cat Bowl on Sunday, and I didn't mention it a single time in either of last week's newsletters. The internet was basically invented for three things and one of them is talking about cats, so I fumbled the ball here. Anyway, Week 4 marked the first time in NFL history that the four cat teams faced off on the same day:

• The Panthers beat the Lions
• The Jaguars beat the Bengals

I'm now rooting for an all-cat Super Bowl, and if that happens, I promise I will give you all the cat information you can handle in the lead-up to the game. Unfortunately, we are NOT going to be talking anymore about cats in today's newsletter, but we do have a lot to cover, so let's get to the rundown. 

As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, just click here.  

1. NFL Week 4 grades: Patriots earn high mark for win at Highmark, Chiefs and Raiders get same grade

There were 16 games on the schedule in Week 4. I graded them all. I'm only pointing that out because this will be the last time for several weeks that we'll get a full 16-game slate. We're getting into "bye" season and that will be starting in Week 5 with the Chiefs and Panthers getting the week off. 

The Chiefs' final game before their bye was a wild one over the Raiders, and that's where we're going to start our grades today. 

Chiefs 30-27 over Raiders

• Chiefs takeaway: At the rate things are going, the offseason signing of Kenneth Walker might go down as one of the best free agency acquisitions in NFL history. In a game where Patrick Mahomes struggled with his accuracy, the Chiefs' offense was able to chug along thanks to Walker, who rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns. When you're outshining Mahomes, you're doing something right in Kansas City. Tyquan Thornton had a breakout game for the Chiefs, but he might not see the field again this year after suffering a gruesome injury.  Andy Reid probably won't be thrilled with the overall performance of his defense -- they had zero sacks for the third straight game and struggled to stop the Raiders' big tight ends -- but Xavier Nwankpa did save the day with a game-clinching interception. It's hard to complain about anything when you're undefeated and that's what the Chiefs are. Grade: B
• Raiders takeaway: It's been a long time since the Raiders have been in a game like this and that seemed to show in crunch. The Raiders made mistake after mistake in the fourth quarter, which overshadowed an otherwise impressive game. DarekeYoung had a back-breaking fumble on a kickoff return that allowed the Chiefs to take a two-score lead. The Raiders defense did a good job of holding the Chiefs' offense in check until the fourth quarter, when the wheels fell off the wagon. And let's not forget about Kirk Cousins, who threw for 365 yards: He's doing his best to make sure Fernando Mendoza never sees the field this year. The Raiders didn't get the result they wanted, but they certainly proved that they can play with anyone. It won't be surprising at all if this team is competing for a playoff spot come January. Grade: B

Patriots 29-26 over Bills

• Patriots takeaway: After struggling through the first three weeks, Drake Maye proved that he can still play at a high level. The Patriots QB needed a big game, and he got it: Not only did he throw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, but he also rushed for a team-high 54 yards. Maye also deserves a lot of credit for engineering a game-winning 73-yard TD drive that saw him complete four passes of at least 12 yards, including a 23-yard score on a WILD catch by Efton Chism that ended up providing the game-winning points. Maye wasn't perfect - there were still too many turnovers - but if he continues playing this well, the Patriots will be in the playoff conversation later in the season. Grade: A-
• Bills takeaway: It's hard for the Bills' offense to win when it's not on the field, and that was one of the problems for Buffalo in this game. The Bills had only four possessions lasting at least five plays, and on top of that, they couldn't get their run game going. The Bills entered this game with the third-best rushing offense in the NFL, and they faced a Patriots defense that has struggled to stop the run this year. Despite that, Joe Brady decided to run the ball just 12 times with James Cook. That was bad, but the defense was the bigger problem. The Bills suddenly don't look so invincible. Grade: B-

As for the other 26 grades that we handed out so far in Week 4, you can check those out by clicking here. 

2. NFL Week 4 winners and losers: Eagles third-down offense hits rock bottom 

You can't have a week of NFL action without having winners and losers, so we have some winners and losers. Carter Bahns came up with this week's list, and we're going to check out his losers below. At the top of our losers' list is an Eagles offense that looks like it's falling apart. 

LOSERS 

• Eagles third-down offense. The Philadelphia Eagles made the wrong kind of franchise history in Week 4 with the worst third-down execution in their 94 years of existence. Never before had the offense gone 0-12 in third-down situations until Sunday's 24-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Making matters worse, the Eagles found it difficult to move the chains on fourth down, too, with just one conversion on four tries. Those three turnovers on downs were costly. First-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion was always going to be heavily scrutinized this season because of the high-pressure situation he walked into. Sunday's performance was no resounding endorsement of his scheme nor his play-calling abilities.
• Commanders QB situation. Fans in London did not have much reason to cheer for the Commanders in Sunday's international game. The Colts pulled away from them in a 30-13 rout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and did so comfortably as it was clear the Commanders would not be able to maintain pace once Marcus Mariota went down with a game-ending knee injury. Rookie Athan Kaliakmanis, out of Rutgers, stepped into action and completed just 15 of 33 passes with a touchdown and an interception in his professional regular-season debut. Moving forward, the Commanders will either have a backup quarterback on the field or a less-than-healthy Jayden Daniels. There is no telling how effective he will be when he comes back from his elbow injury, which will require offseason surgery and which forces him to play with a brace on his non-throwing arm. 
• Texans. Defense was supposed to be Houston's calling card this year. It certainly was not on Sunday when it surrendered three touchdowns to Javonte Williams in the second half alone and had no answers for CeeDee Lamb. Houston should finally grab its first win of the campaign next week when it meets the Tennessee Titans in a matchup of two winless AFC South teams. It might, however, already be too late to save a disastrous start to the year.

If you want to see Carter's list of winners (and a couple of other losers), be sure to click here. 

3. Overreactions from Week 4: Will the Cowboys take the NFC East?

Everyone on the internet loves to overreact to things, and that's especially true when we're talking about the NFL. Personally, I overreact to everything. With that in mind, Zach Pereles decided to take a look at several things that happened during Week 4 to decide if we're all overreacting.  

Statement: The Rams shouldn't be Super Bowl favorites.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. There are two ways to view the Rams' 24-20 win over the injury-ravaged Eagles: "Wow, that was super unimpressive" or "Wow, that was an impressive comeback." It can be both. Los Angeles struggling to beat a Philadelphia team without DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley, Quinyon Mitchell, Zack Baun, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson and others was a bad look ... for 52-plus minutes. The score will lie about who dominated this game. The Rams had 415 yards of offense and averaged 5.4 yards per play, compared to 172 yards and 3.0 yards per play for Philadelphia. The Rams committed some horrible turnovers and penalties, but on a play-by-play basis, they were far superior. This was a crucial, crucial win, and one that should only prove Los Angeles can win when so much goes wrong.

Statement: The Cowboys will win the NFC East.
Overreaction or reality: Reality. Speaking of important wins, the Cowboys just got their most important since the 2023 season: Dallas 34, Houston 30. This is a game the Cowboys needed to win, and they found a way to do so. Looking around the division, the Eagles' offense remains a mess, the Giants are 3-1 but not likely to threaten with Jameis Winston under center, and the Commanders are in a world of trouble. Simply put, Dallas, with a defense that should only improve and an offense that can go toe-to-toe with any, should win this division.

Statement: Ben Johnson will win Coach of the Year. 
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. Ben Johnson should be the frontrunner for Coach of the Year. He's now won games with Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum ... and it's only Week 4! According to CBS Sports research, only one other team has had three different quarterbacks throw for 200+ yards in a win through four weeks: the 1997 Jaguars. Unfortunately for Johnson's Coach of the Year candidacy, the award tends to go to a coach whose team way overachieves. Basically, the external preseason expectations were likely too high for Johnson and the Bears for him to win the award this year, even if you could argue he's been the best coach in the sport so far.

There are plenty more overreactions and you can check them out here.

4. Eleven crazy stats from Week 4: Vikings set football back 100 years

Every Sunday night, I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports, and every Sunday, that email always includes some crazy stats about the games that were just played. 

With that in mind, here are 11 crazy stats from Week 4: 

1. Vikings are doing the impossible. The Vikings didn't score a touchdown in their 15-10 win over the Dolphins, which means they've now won two games this season without scoring a touchdown. That makes Minnesota the first team in more than 100 years to start 4-0 by winning two or more games without a TD. The only other two teams to pull that off were the 1922 and 1923 Chicago Cardinals. 
2. High drama over the past two weeks. There have been 23 games decided by one score over the past two weeks, which is tied for the most in any two-week span in NFL history (Weeks 1-2, 2013). If we get a one-score game tonight between the Saints and Falcons, then the NFL will set a record for the number of one-score games over a two-week span. The 
3. Jets finally get an interception. Last year, the Jets became the first team in NFL history to go an entire season without recording an interception. Well, that drought is finally over. Minkah Fitzpatrick picked off Bears' QB Tyson Bagent on Sunday to give the Jets their first interception in 637 days. 
4. Brock Purdy is unsackable. The 49ers QB still hasn't taken a sack through four games, marking just the third time in NFL history that the QB of a 4-0 team made it through the first four weeks without being sacked. Purdy joins Dan Marino from the 1984 Dolphins and Peyton Manning from the 2005 Colts. Both of those teams finished 14-2, which would seem to be a good sign for San Francisco.   
5. Texans just made history, but not in a good way. The Texans just became the first team in NFL history to hit 0-4 without throwing an interception during the first four weeks. The Texans are also the first team since the 2012 Saints to fall to 0-4 just one season after winning at least 12 games.    
6. Rams pull off the impossible. In Jalen Hurts' career, he had never lost a game (41-0) when leading by 10 points or more in the final five minutes, but that streak is now over. Against the Rams, the Eagles were up 20-10 with four minutes left before blowing the lead in a 24-20 loss. This win marked the first time in Matthew Stafford's Rams' career that he overcame a double-digit deficit in the final five minutes. He's now 1-18 in that situation following the win.  
7. Jets looked like an expansion team. During Chicago's 23-12 win over the Jets, the Bears had more first downs (34) than the Jets had total plays (32). This marked the first time this century that we've seen this happen. The last time this situation came up was when the expansion Browns came back to the NFL in 1999. In their Week 1 opener, the Steelers put up 33 first downs compared to just 27 plays for the Browns. That's the only other time this has happened in the Super Bowl era. 
8. Chicks dig the long ball. With one game left to be played, there have been 16 field goals of at least 50 years in Week 4, which is the fourth-highest number for any week in NFL history. If the Falcons and Saints combine for four kicks of 50 yards or more tonight, that would move Week 4 to the second-highest total all time (the record is 21, set in Week 1 of the 2024 season). 
9. Kenneth Walker is running over everyone. The Chiefs running back had 177 rushing yards against the Raiders and he now has at least 175 yards scrimmage yards in four games with the Chiefs. That makes him just the second player in NFL history to top 175 yards from scrimmage in three of his first four games with a new team, joining Billy Sims, who did it with the Lions in 1980. 
10. Golden Lamb. In the Cowboys' win over the Texans, CeeDee Lamb had 17 catches for 189 yards and a TD. His total gave him the most receptions in NFL history by a player who also caught a game-winning TD in the final two minutes. He also became the fourth player in NFL history with at least 17 receptions, 185 receiving yards and a touchdown reception in a single game, joining Rams WR Tom Fears (1950), 49ers WR Terrell Owens (2000) and Broncos WR Brandon Marshall (2009). 
11. Refs get flag happy.  There were a total of 11 teams called for at least 10 penalties and the ugliest game for the was Chargers-Seahawks. The two teams got flagged a combined total of 30 times for 280 yards. The 30 penalties were the most in an NFL game since 2003. 

If you see any other fun facts, feel free to tweet them at me. 

5. Monday night preview: Picks and best bets for Falcons at Saints

Twenty years ago, the SuperDome reopened after Hurricane Katrina with a Monday night game between the Falcons and Saints. The NFL is celebrating the anniversary by having the two teams go at it again tonight. 

This game will come with some high stakes because the winner will move into a first-place tie with the Panthers in the NFC South. 

Here's one reason why each team should be feeling confident going into the game: 

• Why the Falcons can win: Through the first three weeks of the season, the Saints have given up the sixth-most rushing yards in the NFL this year. The good news for the Falcons is that they have the perfect guy to take advantage of that: Bijan Robinson. If Robinson gets going, that will set up the Falcons offense for success. That will take a lot of pressure off of Michael Penix, which means a solid game by Robinson could also open up the passing game, which is exactly what happened during Atlanta's 35-14 win over the Packers' in Week 3. 
• Why the Saints can win: The Falcons haven't been able to stop the pass, which should make this game interesting. Through the first three weeks of the season, the Falcons have surrendered the fourth-most passing yards in the NFL and the Saints just happen to have the perfect guy to take advantage of that: Tyler Shough. The second-year QB is averaging 305.7 passing yards per game, which ranks third in the NFL. Even if Shough has a big game, there is one thing he needs to avoid and that's turning the ball over. In his two-year career, the Saints are 1-7 when Shough throws at least one interception, but 4-1 when he doesn't. 

You can get a full preview of the game from Jared Dubin by clicking here.

If you're thinking about betting on the game, here are a couple of props. 

• ONE RUSHING PROP I LIKE: Drake London OVER 75.5 receiving yards (-115 at BetMGM): The Falcons receiver has gone over 100 YARDS in six of the past seven games that he's played with Michael Penix at QB. And that includes the Falcons' Week 3 win that saw London go off for 194 yards. The Saints defense will likely be focused on slowing down Bijan Robinson, so that could set up London to have a big day. 
• ONE KICKING PROP I LIKE: Nick Folk OVER 1.5 field goals (-135 at FanDuel: The Falcons kicker has made at least two field goals in two of his first three games and that would be three of three if he didn't miss a field goal in Week 2. Also, Kevin Stefanski isn't shy about taking the points, so that should certainly help Folk hit the over here .  

If you're wondering how my props are doing this year, I'm 5-9 (2-5 on kicker props and 3-4 on all other props). After starting off 5-3, I'm not 0-6 on my last six props. This is clearly a sign that you should do the opposite of whatever I predict. 

And now, it's time for some picks. 

PICKS FOR 'MNF'

Jared Dubin's pick: Saints 28-20 over Falcons
Jordan Dajani's pick: Saints 23-20 over Falcons
John Breech's pick: Falcons 26-23 over Saints
Tyler Sullivan's pick: Falcons 26-24 over Saints
Prisco's pick: Falcons 33-30 over Saints

Over on our CBSSports.com picks page, our seven experts are split with four taking the Falcons to win and three taking the Saints. 

6. Extra points: Lamar Jackson headlines ugly Sunday for injuries

It's been a busy few days around the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything, I put together a quick roundup for you.

• Lamar Jackson dealing with ankle injury. The Ravens QB didn't play during the second half of Baltimore's 24-18 win over the Titans after injuring his ankle. After the game, Jackson left the stadium wearing a protective boot. Jackson will be undergoing an MRI today to determine the severity of the injury. If he has to miss any time, then Tyler Huntley will be the starter in Baltimore. 
• Bengals receiving stars both dealing with injuries. Ja'Marr Chase (concussion) and Tee Higgins (adductor) both left the game on Sunday due to their injury. If those guys can't go in Week 5, that means the Bengals will be extremely short-handed for their game against the Dolphins. It's hard to see Chase missing more than one game, if he misses any at all, but if Higgins' injury is serious, he could miss several weeks. 
• Chiefs eyeing possible reunion with Tyreek Hill. With injuries piling up at receiver, it appears that the Chiefs are going to look into a possible reunion with Hill.  During the Chiefs' win over the Raiders on Sunday, Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton both left the game with an injury (Thornton suffered a gruesome leg injury). Hill spent six seasons with the Chiefs, but got traded to Miami after the 2021 season. You can read more about the possible reunion here. 
• Injury round-up. There were so many injuries in Week 4 that we actually compiled an injury roundup. If you check out our story here, you'll see the latest on the guys listed above, along with several other players, like 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain and Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. 
• Two officiating controversies. The officials weren't just throwing flags on Sunday, they were also yelling at several players. The NFL is reviewing an incident where an official appeared to yell a vulgarity at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (Full details and video here). The NFL is also looking into a situation where an official yelled at Eric Wilson after the Vikings linebacker accidentally bumped into him on a play (We've got the details on that right here).