What’s Hot and What’s Knott in Football – Week 4 

By Rhys Knott

Losing unbeaten records became hot in Week 4; only the Eagles and Bills maintained their flawless start to the season. The Eagles did so by not completing a single pass in the second half in Tampa Bay (they might have had sunstroke in fairness). 

The Bills looked bored by a Saints team who are about two years away from competing. But winning is winning, getting it down is more important than making it look pretty. 

Almost a quarter of he way through the season, the injury bug is really starting to bite. The Giants suffered one of the worst this week, the Ravens finished a game in Kansas City with seven of the defensive starters injured (!!), and the Cardinals suffered without James Conner.

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On the subject of Arizona, words cannot accurately describe how repulsive Thursday Night Football was. The Cardinals will have to rename themselves the Arizona boo birds after they and the Seahawks conspired to murder fun in the desert. 

Both Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. spent the first three quarters of the game trapped in the prison that is Drew Petzing’s offense. Petzing arrived in Arizona after working with Alex Van Pelt in Cleveland in 2022. 

38-year-old Petzing coached the Browns quarterbacks to a 7-10 season, during which Jacoby Brissett went 4-7, throwing 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. How that qualifies someone to become an offensive coordinator is anybody’s guess. Talk about falling upward. 

Petzing can’t take all the blame, though; no team in the league has less physicality than the Cardinals. James Conner is a destructive runner when he’s healthy, but you can see why he’s always injured; that Cardinals offensive line couldn’t block a sink. 

Then there was Chad Ryland’s mistake from the kickoff (you already know that’s Knott). Not to mention Jonathan Gannon, who provides the same levels of motivation and inspiration a tin of white emulsion brings to a locker room.  

The only brief enjoyment came when Kirk Herbstreit tried to persuade the audience that the Cardinals were on the verge of a season-defining win despite the fact they hadn’t led since the 12th minute! 

What’s Hot in Football – Week 4

Derrick Henry had more carries than any other back in 2022 (it’s nice to know some things never change), racking up 349 rushing attempts, almost 22 per game! Henry also caught a career high 33 passes in 2022. However, the 2023 outlook seems uncertain in Tennessee. There was some chatter that they tried to trade both Henry and Ryan Tannehill during the offseason. So, it’s difficult to know if either of them will still be in Tennessee beyond the trade deadline. But if last year’s leading rusher feels comfortable catching passes, he’ll be valuable wherever he’s playing.

Josh Jacobs was second in rushing attempts to Henry; he also caught a whopping 53 passes in 2022! Jacobs carried for 1,653 yards last season and led the league with 2,053 yards from scrimmage. There’s obviously a new quarterback in Vegas, but Darren Waller and Mack Hollins leaving in free agency seems to strengthen Jacobs’ importance as an offensive weapon alongside Davante Adams.

Nick Chubb was the only other back in the league over 300 attempts in 2022. His 302 attempts saw him ranked third overall. Not much has happened on the offensive side of the ball in Cleveland. While they have signed Marquise Goodwin and drafted Cedric Tillman it seems unlikely they will change to a more pass heavy offence. Chubb did score 32% of their touchdowns last season after all.

Scoring a hat-trick is about as hot as it gets. Romeo Doubs did just that for the Packers in Dallas. 

Ashton Jeanty did the same thing in Vegas, but neither of them could drag their side to victory. Jeanty’s breakout game against the Bears saw the rookie superstar end the game against Chicago with 155 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. He even had time to fumble the ball. Nobody has given the ball away more than the Raiders, eight giveaways in four weeks! TB12 can’t like that. 

He will like Maxx Crosby, though. One of the most exceptional people in the NFL deserves better. Sort it out, Raiders. 

Not to be outdone in the “he’s too big to be doing that” stakes, we have Peyton Wilson. Stop that, young man!

D.K. Metcalf is definitely too big to do this! 

And Dexter Lawrence might be nicknamed “Sexy Dexy”, but this is more hot than it is sexy!

The Eagles’ special teams play is still hot. Who needs to complete a pass in the second half when your return team can do this? 

Isaiah Rodgers is doing his best to make the Vikings good this season. Godspeed, big guy! 

Not to be outdone, Dallas’ special teams unit did this, because blocking field goals and punts is old hat. 

Also in Dallas, overtime is hot. Two games at Jerryworld, two OT’s, now that’s what you call value for money. Elsewhere, interceptions are hot with 15 quarterbacks combining for 23 total picks! 

Donovan Ezeiraku looked hotter than the sun in Dallas, and while others will rave about George Pickens, the rookie defensive end, along with Brandon Aubrey’s 20-yard touchbacks, were the keys to a tie with the Packers that all but ends the Cowboys’ 2025 chances. 

Ezeiruaka only played 48% of the Cowboys’ snaps, but only three of his teammates made more tackles.   

While we’re in the NFC East, Jaxson Dart is hot. Or at least his legs are, 13/20 for 11 yards isn’t scaring anyone in the division. But Brian Daboll working with a young, run-first QB with plenty of room for improvement, sound familiar? 

On the topic of quarterbacks who didn’t do much with their arm, here’s the regular Justin Herbert running like Brandon Jacobs clip.

Jalen Redmond is hot too, not bad for a guy who played in the UFL last year! 

Losing by less than one score is also common in Week 4, as eight teams did that. And sacking the quarterback, that made a big comeback, signal callers hit the deck 70 times in Week 4! Tuli Tuipulotu grabbed four sacks for himself; he’s now joint fifth in the sack race. 

On the West Coast, Puka Nacua is so hot he would be Malik of the Week if his name were Malik. 13 receptions for 170 yards is a good month for some receivers, the 24-year-old squeezed that into a single game against the Colts! 

Doing the Cam Newton Superman celly after scoring a rushing touchdown against the Panthers? Yeah, that’s pretty hot, and it actually makes the Patriots at the Bills Sunday Night Football game interesting.  

An 88-yard punt return is even hotter, though. Marcus Jones’s football career had been overshadowed by his single “Make it Right” reaching the top 10 in the UK until Mike Vrabel arrived in Foxboro. 

The longest rushing touchdown of the season? That’s definitely hot, doing when you’re 37-13 behind in Kansas City, not so much.

Aaron Rodgers’ involvement in the Steelers’ tush push is so bad it’s actually hot.

On the other hand, the fake tush push is so hot.

Honourable mentions for Kam Curl, Devin Lloyd and Kevin Byard, who all hauled in two interceptions in Week 4. Maybe don’t throw at the guy who has already picked you off once, though, eh, guys?

What's Knott in football - Week 4

Malik Nabers’ ACL leads the Knott in Week 4. It’s a second brutal injury, after his concussion problems last year, for the most exciting player in the NFL. The only positive is that he’s only 22 years old; hopefully, he can make an expeditious recovery. 

Clock management at the end of games was atrocious in Week 4, but so many quarterbacks and coaches were involved that it’ll have to wait. 

Conversely, faking a hamstring injury when you think you’ve scored a fumble return, only to actually pull your hamstring later in the game? That’s very Knott. 

Fumbling when you should be scoring a touchdown instead is undescribably awful, but when your team loses the game by seven points, it’s even more Knott! 

Getting sacked on the first snap of the game? What could be more Knott?

Playing 70 minutes of football only to end in a tie? That is absolutely Knott!

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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