October 03, 2023
Week 4 of the NFL season is in the books, and we have our second obituary of the season. That would be the impotent Carolina Panthers. Let's get right to it.
At the 2022 trade deadline, the Rams reportedly offered two first-round picks (in 2024 and 2025) to the Panthers for DE Brian Burns. It was an insane offer by the Rams and even more insane that the Panthers turned it down, seeing as they were nowhere remotely close to contending. Burns is now playing on his fifth-year option in 2023, and with the explosion of edge rusher money (Nick Bosa's $34 million/year deal, for example), Burns will be hitting the free agent market at a pretty good time. (The Panthers obviously have the franchise tag at their disposal as well.)
The Panthers could have had two first-round players on rookie contracts for the next half decade, and instead they chose to keep an albeit very good player, but one who is going to be extremely expensive who will have five years of NFL wear and tear on his body. That was a pretty big missed opportunity.
Fast forward to the leadup to the 2023 draft, when the Panthers made a major trade, acquiring the first overall pick from the Chicago Bears. Here was the cost:
| Panthers got: | Bears got |
| No. 1 overall pick, 2023 (QB Bryce Young) | No. 9 overall pick, 2023 |
| Second-round pick (61st overall), 2023 | |
| First-round pick, 2024 | |
| Second-round pick, 2025 | |
| WR D.J. Moore |
If the season ended today (it doesn't), that first-round pick in 2024 would be the No. 1 overall pick.
Bryce Young doesn't have a lot to work with. His offensive line sucks and he's throwing to a group of receivers headlined by 33-year-old Adam Thielen. As such, he is struggling to find his NFL sea legs through his first four games, averaging a paltry 4.9 yards per pass attempt. Still, two quarterbacks taken after Young — the Texans' C.J. Stroud and the Colts' Anthony Richardson — have shown more promise.
Young may eventually become a good NFL quarterback, but I would bet that the Panthers would take a mulligan on that trade — or select Stroud instead — if a magic genie gave them that opportunity.
There's a reason that NFL franchises tend to stay bad, and in the Panthers' case they have made two pretty big blunders in the last calendar year. Maybe they don't know what they're doing?
Anyway, at 0-4 and three-game deficit in the NFC South, the Panthers are done.
14) Cardinals (1-3): Remember when Jonathan Gannon defenses gave up over 80 percent passing to five quarterbacks during the 2021 season? Well, that tradition is alive and well in Arizona.
Here were the 49ers' drives on Sunday against the Cardinals:
So basically, the 49ers had six legit possessions, and they methodically drove the field for TDs on five of them. 30 first downs, 1 punt.
I know we make fun of 49ers fans for saying they would have beaten the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game if Brock Purdy hadn't gotten hurt, but mayyyyybe there's an alternate universe in which Kyle Shanahan didn't try to block Haason Reddick with a tight end and just let Gannon be Gannon.
Last week: 14
13) Giants (1-3): Last week in the Hierarchy we showed the Giants' atrocious tackling.
Took half the defense to tackle Deebo Samuel pic.twitter.com/uLFo8MJYbZ
— Alex Tran (@nineralex) September 22, 2023
According to the NFL's NextGen stats, "The 49ers gained 215 of their 310 passing yards after the catch (69.4%) in their 30-12 victory over the Giants."
Did their tackling improve in Week 5 against the Seahawks? It did not.
Drew Lock comes in and delivers on a 51-yard play to Noah Fant!
— NFL (@NFL) October 3, 2023
📺: #SEAvsNYG on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/3ctCY8GbRh pic.twitter.com/rXtxrLylmL
Offensively, they're even worse. The offensive line is awful, the receivers scare nobody, and their only real weapon (Saquon Barkley) can't stay on the field. It doesn't help that Daniel Jones isn't any good either.
Brian Daboll throws the tablet on the bench…
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 3, 2023
Man, this is getting bad. pic.twitter.com/8zLwIUEzqE
After the Giants' embarrassing Monday night loss to Seattle, ESPN showed a graphic that said that Jones is now 1-11 in primetime games. That record isn't surprising. What is surprising is that the Giants have played in that many primetime games when they've been a bottom five team during the Jones era.
Last week: 13
12) Vikings (1-3): On the Vikings' opening possession Kirk Cousins threw a 99-yard pick-six. Watch No. 29 below on the Panthers.
Sam Franklin from the one-yard line. 99-yard Pick-6 for Carolina!
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023
📺: #MINvsCAR on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/8FIfPD1zDh
That dude is a menace. He killed Cousins and then took out K.J. Osborn for no good reason. I love that guy. (His name is D'Shawn Jamison, for the record.)
Anyway, for a while there it looked like the Vikings were going to start off their season at 0-4, but they eventually regrouped and fended off the graveyard for another week.
Last week: 12
11) Commanders (2-2): The Commanders got waaaayyyy more than their share of breaks in their loss to the Eagles (as noted in our 10 awards post):
And their fans are complaining about this, lol:
The officials missed a clear false-start by the Left Guard on the 4th and 1 Tush Push.
— Chad Ryan (@ChadwikoTWW) October 1, 2023
After McLaurin's catch ruled OOB, if the Eagles go on to win this game, remember this play. pic.twitter.com/CGVapuJVWk
G. T. F. O. H.
I mean, if we’re going to get technical here, Dickerson moving early should have resulted in a neutral zone infraction since several Commanders are offsides.
But beyond that, if you have a chance to go for two at the end of a game and beat a superior team on one play, you should do that. Don't go to overtime on the road against a better team with an elite kicker.
Last week: 11
10) Saints (2-2): Lol:
Derek Carr wasn't any better. 127 yards on 37 pass attempts (3.4 YPA).
Last week: 8
9) Falcons (2-2): Desmond Ridder threw a pick-six in London.
That's a Darious Williams PICK-6! @Jaguars#ATLvsJAX on ESPN+
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/iptA26RX1i
And on the first play of the next possession he threw another pick:
Back-to-back interceptions for the @Jaguars defense!#ATLvsJAX on ESPN+
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/4YlMMChvS1
Arthur Smith is already answering questions about whether or not Ridder will remain the starting quarterback. (He will.)
It's never a good thing when Taylor Heinicke pretty clearly gives a team a better chance of winning games. But Taylor Heinicke gives the Falcons a better chance of winning games.
Last week: 7
8) Packers (2-2): It's looking like David Bakhtiari's career might soon be over. He missed 16 games in 2021, six games in 2022, and three games so far in 2023. The team placed him on injured reserve last Thursday after he had a fourth surgery on his knee in the last three years.
Last week: 6
7) Rams (2-2): The Rams are sneaky dangerous. Matthew Stafford can still play a little bit, they're getting Cooper Kupp back soon, and Puka Nacua is more than just an oddball fun player who is having a good start to his career. He has staying power.
First one couldn’t have been sweeter🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/Gg8CeiaDZH
— Puka Nacua (@AsapPuka) October 1, 2023
Nacua has 39 catches for 501 yards already.
Last week: 10
6) Buccaneers (3-1): Baker Mayfield didn't look great against the Eagles Week 3, but I've otherwise been impressed by his toughness this season.
Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield got lit up on a late hit by the Saints defense.
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) October 1, 2023
Mayfield made a nice play, too. pic.twitter.com/b0oX7RK75m
| NFCS QBs | Comp-Att (Comp %) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT | Rating |
| Baker Mayfield, TB | 87-125 (69.6%) | 882 (7.1) | 7-2 | 101.5 |
| Derek Carr, NO | 80-124 (64.5%) | 763 (6.2) | 2-2 | 80.1 |
| Desmond Ridder, ATL | 74-119 (62.2%) | 744 (6.3) | 3-3 | 77.9 |
| Bryce Young, CAR | 67-103 (65.0%) | 503 (4.9) | 2-2 | 75.0 |
Last week: 9
5) Seahawks (3-1): In case you didn't see the Seahawks take the Giants to the woodshed on Monday night, you missed the Devon Witherspoon show.
#Seahawks' rookie Devon Witherspoon tonight, with more than a quarter still to play at NYG:
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) October 3, 2023
6 tackles
2 sacks
3 QB hits
2 tackles for losses
1 pass broken up
1 game-breaking, 97-yard interception return for a touchdown
1 wacky, Gumby dance in the end zone.
DEVON WITHERSPOON 97-YARD PICK-6!
— NFL (@NFL) October 3, 2023
📺: #SEAvsNYG on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/3ctCY8GbRh pic.twitter.com/UYoERSHHDq
We wondered recently how many teams in the top 10 of the 2023 draft would regret passing on Jalen Carter. The Seahawks can probably feel pretty good about Witherspoon, who went fifth overall.
Last week: 5
4) Lions (3-1): The Lions are taking over the NFC North. They swept the Packers and Bears a season ago, they won their most recent game against the Vikings in 2022, and they have an emphatic win this season over the Packers. It feels like they're just going to cruise to a division title.
Last week: 4
3) Cowboys (3-1): The Cowboys had a rough four day stretch when they lost star CB Trevon Diggs for the season to a torn ACL, followed by a loss to the dreadful Cardinals. But give them credit. They bounced back in a big way, demolishing the Patriots (it was the most lopsided loss of Bill Belichick's career), with Diggs' replacement, Daron Bland, making two INTs, including a pick-six.
DaRon Bland pick-six! 2nd defensive TD of the half for the @DallasCowboys 🤠
— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2023
📺: #NEvsDAL on FOX⁰📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Jq9JHUeqb6 pic.twitter.com/W6WY0IXjZJ
Last week: 3
2) Eagles (4-0): The Eagles' Week 4 win over the Commanders was their closest game so far this season, and yet it was probably the one in which the offense looked the most like the explosive 2022 version. Jalen Hurts made some bigtime throws in this game:
Last week: 2
1) 49ers (4-0): The 49ers have scored at least 30 points in every game so far, and have only really been challenged by one opponent this season.
Week 5 will be their first game against a good team (Dallas).
Last week: 1
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