Week 4 Picks and Preview
Carolina VS Arizona
The Panthers are coming off their first win of the season, beating the LA Chargers 21-16. Teddy got back on track and the pass rush finally came alive with 2 sacks and 8 QB hits. That last bit is important, because coming to town in week 4 are the Arizona Cardinals led by dynamic QB Kyler Murray. Murray has been struggling to protect the ball this season with 4 TD to 5 INT(3 coming in their upset loss to the Lions in week 3) but has been getting it down with his legs, totaling 187 yards and 4td on the season. The Cardinals have one of the worst offensive lines in the league, the Panthers are getting healthy on the defensive line and Brian Burns is beginning to shine. The defense must contain Murray, keeping him in the pocket and forcing him to make good decisions and good throws to beat the secondary. If the front allows him to break contain, it could be a very long day for the Panthers defense.
Offensively, as always, we’ll be looking for improvement from the Panthers offensive line. They need to keep Teddy clean and give him time to find their playmakers on the outside. Davis and Bonnafon did their best filling in for CMC but the production from this group of pass catchers has to ramp up. The reality is Carolina needs to fix their redzone woes (they’re 30th in the league in redzone TD percentage) but unfortunately the Cardinals are one of the best redzone defenses so far this season (allowing TDs on 30.77% of redzone attempts). Without Christian McCaffrey, it falls on Bridgewater to be more aggressive and give his receivers chances to make plays in the endzone. Keeping Kyler Murray corralled and finishing drives with TDs instead of FGs will be the deciding factors this week.
What to Watch:
Bridgewater has been fine through 3 weeks. He bounced back after a very tough outing in week 2 and played well enough to help Carolina secure their first win against the Chargers. The problem is you can’t count on forcing 4 turnovers every week (and even with that they should have lost on the last second lateral), Teddy needs to push the ball down the field more often and he needs to be aggressive in looking for TD opportunities rather than settling for FGs.
Baltimore AT Washington
Monday night didn’t go very well for the Ravens. They were out coached and outplayed on national television and now have to spend the rest of the season answering questions about whether or not they can win when it matters most. The Chiefs are the best team in the league and they’re a bad matchup for the Ravens, so Baltimore lost. It’s one game and fans of other teams should not get overly excited thinking the Ravens have been exposed or now you have the formula for beating them. Your team doesn’t have Pat Mahomes, your team doesn’t have Andy Reid, your team is going to lose to the Ravens. Which brings us to the Washington Football Team. I don’t want to spend too much time analyzing this game, Baltimore is better at literally every position, they’re angry and they’re going to take it out on a young rebuilding team. This game is likely to get ugly and with the trash people have been talking about Baltimore and Lamar, I’m here for every second of it.
What to Watch:
Baltimore’s defense got embarrassed on Monday night but they’re still one of if not the best in the league. They’re going to completely shut down Washington, they’ll likely force multiple turnovers and they’ll be going for a shutout to remind the rest of the league and themselves just how good they are.
Week 4 Picks:
Brodny (31-16-1)- Broncos Bears Bengals Cowboys Saints Seahawks Chargers Ravens Cardinals Texans Rams Chiefs Bills 49ers Packers
Jose (30-17-1)- Broncos Saints Bucs Bengals Texans Seahawks Cowboys Cards Ravens Rams Raiders Colts Eagles Packers Chiefs
Eric (30-17-1)- Broncos
Jansen (37-10-1)- Jets Bears Bengals Cowboys Saints Seahawks Bucs Ravens Cardinals Texans Rams Chiefs Bills 49ers Packers
Brandi (21-10-1)- Broncos Bengals Cowboys Saints Seahawks Bucs Ravens Cardinals Texans Rams Bears Raiders 49ers Packers Chiefs