NFL Week 4 Guide: Top QB Duels, Predictions — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- The Week 4 slate features marquee QB duels including Joe Burrow vs Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars at Bengals, 1 PM ET on CBS), Drake Maye vs Josh Allen (Patriots at Bills), and Matthew Stafford vs Jalen Hurts (Rams at Eagles).
- The Colts-Commanders game opens the week at 9:30 AM ET in London with Indianapolis favored by 3.5, while the Colts' defense is giving up a league-worst 417.3 total yards per game.
- The Cowboys face a 10-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro after a loss to Baltimore, then play the Texans (1 PM ET, Fox); their last four 1-2 starts since 2000 have all ended without a winning record.
- Bengals QB Joe Burrow enters with 28 games of three-plus passing TDs since 2021, the most in the NFL, after his three-TD performance against Pittsburgh in Week 3.
- Texans WR Nico Collins is expected to return from a two-week hamstring absence, potentially boosting an offense that has averaged just 11.5 points per game without him.
- ESPN's preview includes analyst score predictions from Pamela Maldonado, Eric Moody, and Seth Walder, Football Power Index (FPI) win probabilities, and all odds listed via DraftKings.
- The schedule's bookends are Thursday's Steelers-Browns matchup and Monday Night Football's Falcons-Saints clash on ESPN, with the Chiefs-Raiders intra-division AFC West showdown among Sunday's key games.
Why it matters: Week 4 puts several contending and desperate teams in early crosshairs—the Cowboys' 1-2 start is historically ominous (since 2000, four such seasons have produced zero winning records), and their opponent, the 0-3 Texans, faces long odds as only 14.3% of 1-3 teams since 1990 have reached the playoffs. The Colts-Commanders London game continues the NFL's global push while spotlighting a Colts defense surrendering the most yards in football.
Ask SkimNews
