Through four weeks, the NFL has hardly reached a point of clarity with regards to a pecking order. But the league is starting to stratify itself in some respects.
Week 4 had a distinct theme of narrow victories, with 11 games decided by no more than eight points. Yet all five of the league's winless teams were dealt another loss, while three undefeated squads are still standing. And with injuries piling up, the international slate rolling and byes about to start next week, many teams are starting to see the rhythm or the regular season take shape – for better or worse.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from Sunday's Week 4 action in the NFL:
NFL Week 4 winners
CeeDee Lamb
A 17-catch, 189-yard output might typically be the product of a rout or stat-padding. The Dallas Cowboys
receiver's day couldn't be qualified as either one. Lamb's contributions were essential right down to his final reception, a scoring grab that put his team over the top in a 34-30 win over the Houston Texans. Though George Pickens helped tilt things in his fellow receiver's favor by drawing some more difficult coverage looks, Lamb repeatedly capitalized with an effort that was just one catch shy of Jason Witten's single-game franchise record. He stepped up in Dallas' moment of need, too, helping his team reel off 28 second-half points by notching 140 of his receiving yards after halftime. His presence was nothing short of vital to Dak Prescott, who was largely unsettled under pressure with three sacks and just 14 yards on nine attempts when under duress, according to Next Gen Stats. With 496 receiving yards for 2026, he's now off to the best four-game start of any player in Cowboys franchise history.
Chicago Bears' support system
Six days after third-stringer Case Keenum seized the spotlight in a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, backup Tyson Bagent didn't need to step into a starring role in his start against the New York Jets. Ben Johnson let his league-leading ground game carry the day with 232 yards, as Kyle Monangai (30 rushing attempts, 146 yards, two touchdowns) took over as the focal point after D'Andre Swift's fumble. Meanwhile, Dennis Allen's defense continues to come on strong, limiting Gang Green to just 157 total yards. Though efficient, Bagent wasn't flawless, as an interception thrown behind tight end Colston Loveland reinforced. But wide receiver Rome Odunze, who had a game-high 94 yards on six catches, helped ensure that the aerial attack wouldn't have to recede into itself. Bagent clearly engenders a good deal of trust as a stopgap solution as Caleb Williams remains out, but even more impressive is Chicago's overall setup to overcome any setbacks behind center.
The Jameis Winston experience
Whenever Winston takes the controller, it can feel as though he's mashing every button at once. In Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals, the volatile New York Giants quarterback had a vintage performance. Three touchdowns? Sure. Two interceptions? Sounds right. Four sacks taken? OK. All in all, Winston still did far more for Big Blue than he did in his first two appearances for this time, which led some to believe that the team's commitment to the veteran in the wake of last week's J.J. McCarthy trade might be mere lip service. Winston's hold on the top spot might not be secure for the long term, but he propelled the offense on a day when the rushing attack provided very little.
Brian Flores
Beating down on a Miami Dolphins team stuck in the beginning stages of a reset might not yield much joy for some NFL coordinators. Here's guessing Flores was able to relish the Minnesota Vikings bottling up the team he once led. In a 15-10 victory, the Vikings weren't fully dominant on defense, allowing running back Ollie Gordon II to get loose for 100 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. But Miami generated just eight first downs and 198 yards on the afternoon and had no answer for breakout edge rusher Dallas Turner, who logged two sacks. With Kyler Murray and the Vikings offense faltering, Flores has equipped his team with an essential advantage amid a 4-0 start.
Las Vegas Raiders' legitimacy
Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs' Andy Reid is now the winningest coach in Allegiant Stadium's short history, with his seven victories eclipsing former Raiders coaches Josh McDaniels and Antonio Pierce's six. Still, even though Las Vegas suffered its first setback of the season in the 30-27 defeat, Sunday's back-and-forth affair provided a good deal of evidence that the Silver and Black's early success wasn't merely a mirage. The Raiders largely kept Patrick Mahomes from finding that comfort zone that he seemed to settle into so easily the previous two weeks, hitting him eight times – five courtesy of Maxx Crosby – and pressuring him on 39.4% of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats. Save for his game-sealing interception, Kirk Cousins was composed and precise in picking apart Kansas City's defense and its abundant zone looks. There's plenty left for Las Vegas to improve upon, from stopping others' ground games and starting its own to better executing in crunch time. But this showing suggested that it's not totally outlandish to believe there might actually be something at stake for the Raiders – beyond a top-five draft pick – when these two teams meet again in Week 18.
NFL Week 4 losers
Houston Texans
The misalignment between the Texans' bevy of talent and an 0-4 record might have some envisioning another outlier turnaround after last season's second-half surge. Yet there's only been one team – the 1992 San Diego Chargers – to make the postseason field after sinking to such a sluggish start through four weeks. And right about now is when the bottom line – and not the team's capabilities – is what Houston has to answer for. What had been the league's most overpowering defense now appears to be a shell of itself, having now given up more points (109) than any other team in the AFC. Pro Bowl cornerback Kamari Lassiter has popped up as a particular problem for the rest of the unit, earning three costly penalties on Sunday in addition to allowing eight receptions for 136 yards on 11 targets. The outcome was particularly deflating given superlative performances by C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins, who combined to carry an offense that continued to get no support from a run game and had no business being engaged in a shootout. The upcoming schedule is forgiving enough that returning to .500 slightly after midseason is hardly out of question. But in a division that Jacksonville looks poised to run away with, an error-prone Texans team could be irrelevant in short order if it can't clean up its act.
Cincinnati Bengals' offense
Since Cincinnati's Super Bowl trip in 2021, the only overwhelming source of uncertainty had been Joe Burrow's availability. But even with the star passer healthy and all the requisite pieces in place, the Bengals still aren't fully clicking. The quarterback's two interceptions weighed heavily in a 22-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, with the first leading to a Jaguars touchdown just before halftime and the second cutting short a fourth-quarter red-zone trip. Those might not be cause for alarm on their own, especially with Ja'Marr Chase having been lost to a second-quarter concussion. But Cincinnati only got 17 yards on 12 carries from running backs Chase Brown and Samaje Perine. Some semblance of balance will be required for this group to find its footing down the stretch, with the 34.5% pressure rate Burrow was subjected to showing what's in store if a functional rushing attack doesn't materialize. With a road trip against the hapless Dolphins the only thing standing between Cincinnati and a Week 6 bye, there's at least time to set things straight - and get both Chase and Tee Higgins, who left late with an adductor injury, healthy again.
Buffalo Bills' defense
First-year coordinator Jim Leonhard's floundering group got a reprieve last week when it squared off against Justin Herbert, who squandered the five takeaways the Los Angeles Chargers' defense handed him. The Bills couldn't keep things together against another embattled star signal-caller in Drake Maye. The New England Patriots quarterback largely shook off the troubles that had dogged him, throwing for three touchdowns to power a 29-26 road win. Leonhard conceded after two weeks that his unit was too reliant on big plays, and his unit's leaky tendencies continued Sunday. With cornerback Christian Benford inactive, a secondary that had barely kept it together in previous weeks came undone, with Maxwell Hairston and nickel fill-in Damar Hamlin no match for New England's receivers. Some growing pains were to be expected for a group going through a fairly extensive scheme switch, but a trade might be necessary for Buffalo to transform its defensive outlook in any significant way for the stretch run.
Injured Philadelphia Eagles
With Saquon Barkley's first-quarter exit putting nearly half of the Week 1 starting offense out of commission, it was understandable that the Eagles might look like a shell of themselves. Indeed, the personnel constraints were readily evident, with the Los Angeles Rams able to bring incessant heat on Jalen Hurts and not worry about having to pay for their aggression with any big plays from a significantly shorthanded receiving corps. But on a day when the Rams looked ready to hand over yet another win with their rampant mistakes, Philadelphia couldn't conjure even the slightest ability to sustain itself in one of the franchise's most languid offensive outings of the last quarter-century. Hurts repeatedly bemoaned "poor execution" as the throughline for the unit's woes, but head coach Nick Sirianni spread the blame throughout the team – including coaches – for a second straight week. Maybe an uptick is reasonable once linchpins such as Barkley, wide receiver DeVonta Smith, and offensive linemen Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson are back in the fold. But after an 0-for-12 showing on third down that underscored the absence of any offensive identity or creativity, it's hardly a given that this team can tread water until that point.
Denver Broncos' offense
It'd be easy to lay the rampant problems of this unit at the feet of first-time play-caller Davis Webb. But everything going wrong for Denver is interlinked. Start with a rushing attack that continues to put the offense in a substantial hole on early downs, as it did repeatedly in a 24-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The deleterious toll of that shortcoming was evident on the rest of an attack that has very nearly resigned itself to operating almost exclusively underneath, with Bo Nix completing just two of 10 attempts that traveled 10 or more yards downfield and none further than 20 yards deep, per Next Gen Stats. That might be palatable when the Broncos have a lead on their opponent or are at least level, but Sean Payton and Co. can't expect to recreate last season's late magic with the limitations inherent to this formula. With Denver having bet big on running back as its in-house solutions, it's not clear where the organization goes from here to find a boost.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL Week 4 winners and losers has Texans looking down for the count
