D’Andre Swift ignites Bears offense; Doug Pederson’s last stand in Jacksonville?

Eric Williams

NFL Reporter

Derrick Henry and Jordan Mason led their teams to victories with 100-yard rushing performances over the weekend, as both the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers scratched back to the .500 mark at 2-2.

Week 4 also saw bounce-back performances by quarterbacks C.J. Stroud and Baker Mayfield, who both threw for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns in leading their teams to victory.

And only three teams remain in the ranks of the unbeaten, with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings moving to 4-0 and the Seattle Seahawks (3-0) facing the Detroit Lions on the road for Monday Night Football.

Let’s take a closer look at who’s smokin’ hot and who’s ice cold for Week 4:

WHO’S HOT

Nico Collins, WR, Texans

Collins finished with 12 receptions for 151 receiving yards and a score on 15 targets in Houston’s comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. He now leads the league with 489 receiving yards through four games, averaging 16.3 yards per catch.

Collins also joined elite company, recording his sixth straight game with at least 80 receiving yards and passing Hall of Famer Andre Johnson for the longest such streak in Texans history.

D’Andre Swift, RB, Bears

It took four weeks, but Chicago finally created some balance on offense, providing some help for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams by getting Swift going in the running game.

Swift had averaged just 1.8 yards per carry through the first three weeks of the season. In Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Rams, however, he was the leading rusher (93 rushing yards) and leading receiver (72 receiving yards) for Chicago. His 36-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter helped put the game away for the Bears.

Fred Warner, LB, 49ers

San Francisco’s defense has struggled to find its way through the first quarter of the regular season. But All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner helped to turn things around for the 49ers on Sunday, finishing with seven combined tackles, a pass breakup and a 45-yard pick-six in a win over the New England Patriots.

It was Warner’s 10th career interception, making him the only player since 2019 to record 10 picks, 10 forced fumbles and 10 sacks. Warner has four takeaways through four games.

On the downside, Warner had to leave the game at the end of the first half due to an ankle injury, which will be evaluated further this week.

Younghoe Koo, K, Falcons

Atlanta’s kicker drilled a 58-yard field goal for the game winner, the longest of his career and the longest in the history of Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the Falcons moved to 2-2. Koo finished 4-for-4 on field goals for the day and has not missed a kick this season.

Linebacker Troy Andersen also had a strong performance for Atlanta, finishing with a team-high 17 tackles and returning an interception 47 yards for a score.

Kliff Kingsbury, OC, Commanders

The former Cardinals head coach helped Washington get a win in Arizona. Now the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, Kingsbury has a lot to do with the sizzling start of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

The Commanders rolled to 449 yards of total offense and hung 42 points on the Cardinals. Kingsbury received a game ball from head coach Dan Quinn in the locker room afterward.

WHO’S COLD

Doug Pederson, HC, Jaguars

Jaguars owner Shad Khan expected his team to compete for a playoff spot this season, so with Jacksonville still winless, Pederson is firmly on the hot seat. The Jags have lost nine of their past 10 games dating back to last season. The only NFL team in the Super Bowl era to recover from an 0-4 start and make the postseason was the 1992 San Diego Chargers.

The crux of the issue for Pederson has been an inability to get consistent play out of former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence. And while the Clemson product played better in a 24-20 setback to Houston, he still recorded his 34th career loss. Lawrence is one loss shy of tying Jeff George and Jim Plunkett for the second-most in the Super Bowl era by a No. 1 overall pick in his first four seasons.

Josh Allen, QB, Bills

The MVP candidate had his worst performance of the season in Baltimore’s 35-10 rout of the Bills. Allen completed just 55% of his passes for 169 yards and Buffalo finished 2-of-11 on third down. He was sacked three times and also lost a fumble that Baltimore turned into points.

Allen and the Bills face former teammate Stefon Diggs and the Texans on the road in Houston next week.

Bo Nix, QB, Broncos

Yes, Denver and Nix deserve credit for showing resiliency in nudging past the New York Jets 10-9 in rainy conditions at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. But Nix continued his struggles on offense.

The Oregon product was 7 of 15 passing for minus-7 yards in the first half and finished the game with just 60 passing yards. Denver didn’t convert a third down until midway through the third quarter.

Nix did get his first touchdown pass of his NFL career, an 8-yard pass to Courtland Sutton.

Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, Patriots

Stevenson leads the Patriots with 267 rushing yards and two scores, but he also has four fumbles on the year, with two of those recovered by the defense. Against San Francisco on Sunday, Stevenson lost a fumble in the first quarter recovered by Maliek Collins that led to a field goal for the 49ers.

With New England struggling to move the ball through the air, Stevenson needs to be a more reliable option. That means taking care of the football as well as keeping the chains moving.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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