14 things we learned: Week Four

A month into the 2026 NFL season and there are just a trio of teams who remain undefeated. We now have a great read on each team’s outlook for the remainder of the year, with many about to enter a make-or-break October.

Week 4 gave us plenty to make of it, and Preme Football have broken down the major storylines and talking points from each of the past weekend’s games into 14 simple paragraphs, so here are the main takeaways from the fourth week of the regular season.

1) There has never been a faker 4-0 team than Minnesota

Plenty of records and droughts will be broken this year, but surely none will have been longer-standing than the 92 years between teams sitting at 4-0 despite not finding the end zone in 2 of those games. The Vikings matched the Detroit Lions of 1934, who finished 10-3 and did not feature in the championship game, by needing just 5 field goals to overcome the lowly Miami Dolphins at home on Sunday. While there are certainly worse labels to receive as a team, and their defense deserves plenty of credit, the offense could be considered uninspiring at best, especially with Justin Jefferson ruled out last weekend. Their schedule only gets harder from here as well, starting this week as they head to New Orleans to take on the Saints. There’s certainly no harm in winning games unconvincingly, but all proper judgements on this team should be reserved until mid-November.

2) The NFC South has some of the most exciting offensive firepower league-wide

12 months ago, you’d have laughed at the mere thought of a statement like this. Bryce Young’s career was at a crossroads, Michael Penix Jr. had just torn his ACL, Spencer Rattler was starting in New Orleans, and despite the emergence of Emeka Egbuka, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked as they would limp to another division title. Fast forward and Tetairoa McMillan, having won the 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year (accompanied by Tyler Shough and Egbuka as finalists), just had a career-best outing, thanks to the career-best form from his quarterback, Young. With Penix Jr. returning to the Atlanta Falcons’ lineup over the last fortnight, their offense has scored a league-leading 80 points in those games, having looked as bad as anyone’s in the first 2 weeks of the season. Bijan Robinson remains the league’s best running back, while Drake London has been unlocked. For the Saints, despite being dismantled defensively on Monday night, Shough’s connection with Chris Olave, who is on track for a career-best season, continues to develop, and we haven’t even seen the debut of their 2026 first-round pick Jordyn Tyson yet. Finally Tampa Bay, who all of a sudden look a mile behind their divisional competitiors. Egbuka has stalled, mostly due to very inconsistent quarterback play, but remains a highly-valued long-term prospect. Let’s hope Jalon Daniels can give Buccaneers fans something to get excited about over the next couple of weeks.

3) The 49ers have separated themselves as the NFC’s team to beat

It’s impossible not to be in awe of this team’s consistency, even more so in recent years given the unfortunate injury tolls they have faced. They are getting production as good as ever out of George Kittle, who turns 33 this week, while Mike Evans, 33, and Deebo Samuel Sr., 30, are still major contributors offensively. And that’s only one side of the ball. They’ve conceded the 3rd fewest points in the NFL at just 16 per game, again in part due to the timeless production of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, who are showing no signs of slowing down. Brock Purdy’s season to date tops them all, however. He’s as hot as any quarterback right now, boasting an 11-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, as well as remarkably having not taken a sack through the team’s first 4 games. A mouth-watering contest awaits this week in Seattle.

4) A mini-rebuild might not be far away in Philadelphia

The Eagles have been a shoe-in for the playoff picture in each of the last 5 seasons and were favoured once again to win the NFC East this season, but despite an even record at 2-2, things haven’t gone to plan. On top of having blown a 10-point final quarter lead at home to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, injuries are beginning to mount. DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley both have hamstring issues, while defensive standout Zack Baun missed against LA with a concussion. This adds to a knee injury to Dallas Goedert that saw the team need to reunite with veteran tight end Zach Ertz. Oh, and Lane Johnson retired suddenly during the week. Nick Sirianni’s coaching has been in the firing line, mostly on the offensive side, as they continue to look clunky as they did in 2023, 2025, and even at the beginning of their Super Bowl-winning season in 2024. It’s hard to imagine a team led by the mentality of Jalen Hurts not in the championship window, and the division certainly remains up for grabs, but a rejuvenation of sorts might be needed sooner rather than later.

5) No one causes divisional upsets like the Cleveland Browns

With the way they’re tracking, this result may not even be looked back on as an upset in a month’s time, but the Browns did it again on Thursday night. The Pittsburgh Steelers came into the Dawg Pound trying to finally conquer the demons that have plagued them for half a decade now, but were unable to do so yet again. Deshaun Watson continued his inspired return to the starting job by leading a third successive game-winning drive, while the young offensive talent of Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion, which Cleveland fans have been crying out for forever, continued to shine. Remarkably, despite only making the playoffs once in the timeframe, the Browns are 14-17 (11-5 at home) against AFC North competition since 2021, despite the Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals all being much more highly-regarded.

6) Despite a loss, Las Vegas’ stocks continue to rise

After an unlikely 3-0 opening to the Raiders’ season, many saw last weekend’s game as a likely humbling for Las Vegas, as the Kansas City Chiefs would look to stamp their authority over the AFC West and bring them back down to earth. While the Chiefs did get over the line narrowly, their opposition lost no admirers out of what may have even been their best performance of the young season. Brock Bowers has returned to remind everyone that at just 23 years old, he might be the league’s best tight end, while the veteran Kirk Cousins continues to get the very best out of limited options in the passing game, subsequently opening up room for Ashton Jeanty to operate. An extremely difficult month awaits this team, but there’s nothing to suggest they aren’t up for the challenge. When the time is right, Fernando Mendoza is going to walk into a system under Klint Kubiak that any young quarterback would relish.

7) The Jaguars can win against anyone, anywhere

Besides the aforementioned 49ers, no team in the league has a more complimentary offensive and defensive connection than Jacksonville at the moment. Trevor Lawrence and his weapons are brilliant at making the most of takeaways by turning them into touchdowns, while the defense itself has yet to concede more than 20 points to begin their campaign. While they were aided by an early concussion to Ja’Marr Chase in their win over the Cincinnati Bengals last weekend, they still held incredibly strong to concede just 17 points despite over 400 passing yards from Joe Burrow. Their run defense ranks atop the league’s best, conceding just 85 yards per game on the ground, and through the air they’ve recorded 6 interceptions, also tied for the league-lead. This team is built for the rigours of playoff football, and with a lack of competition in the AFC South, expect it to return to EverBank Stadium this season.

8) Tennessee have a star in Carnell Tate

Although it would be easy to talk about Sunday’s result in Baltimore being the Titans’ 24th loss in their last 27 games, they were actually quite gallant in defeat, led by their rookie receiver in just his fourth career game. Tate recorded 145 receiving yards on just 9 catches, sparking life into Tennessee’s offense that has needed some for years. It’s unrealistic to expect this production from 2026’s 4th overall pick every single week at the moment, especially given that defenses don’t have a whole lot to be frightened about when scouting his offensive teammates, but occassional performances like this throughout the year might be enough to convince Titans fans their rebuild is getting there. While it has been a slow burn, they should be taking inspiration currently from the rebuilds in Chicago, Carolina, Las Vegas, Cleveland, and even both teams in New York, who are now beginning to see the rewards of many losing seasons. The Titans are a couple of drafts away, but with a few more hits on top-end offensive talent, there’s no reason they can’t follow suit of the teams above.

9) The Giants’ exuberance is impossible to resist at the moment

It’s really no surprise that a team with Jameis Winston at quarterback is incredibly fun to watch right now, but this level of fun hasn’t been had by Giants fans in a long time. The sophomore duo of Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo is where the foundation of this team’s energy lies, but with Dart suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 2, there’s no one better to take the reigns and continue the momentum than Winston. And it hasn’t just been him, recent weeks have seen unlikely heroes step up, including on the defensive side of the ball, which has hardly been New York’s forte in years gone by. Deonte Banks went the length of the field for a game-sealing pick-six against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and there was a unique beauty about the team’s gritty win without scoring a touchdown the week prior against the Tennessee Titans, which Jevon Holland capped off with a game-winning interception himself. Now at 3-1 and in control of the NFC East, who knows just how far this wave of energy will take them in 2026?

10) If they weren’t already, the Texans and Chargers’ seasons are over

Already with their backs against the wall sitting at the near-impossible to overcome 0-3 record, Houston and Los Angeles dug their seasons’ holes a foot deeper over the weekend. Neither were disgraced in their defeats at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks, respectively, but they ultimately now face a task that 109 successive teams have failed to do since the Chargers became the first and only team to accomplish the feat in 1992 – make the playoffs after starting 0-4. 10 wins is likely the minimum required for a Wildcard spot in the AFC, leaving very minimal margin for error over their last 13 games. Houston’s losses have all come in different ways so far this season. CJ Stroud has looked really solid and is yet to throw an interception this season, but whenever the offense really clicks, as it did against Dallas and the Buffalo Bills, due to the availablity of Nico Collins, the defense does not. And vice versa. The Chargers have simply looked completely disjointed from the moment their year began. Justin Herbert is really struggling, and when the opportunity arose for him to be the hero in Seattle, it slipped away all too quickly once again. Some would say the Texans’ schedule leaves the door ever so slightly ajar for the most unlikely playoff berth, but that surely can’t be believed until its seen.

11) Drake Maye’s season finally began on Sunday

With his team’s season at somewhat of an early-season crossroads after an embarrassing defeat in Jacksonville, it was satisfying to see New England’s franchise quarterback recapture the form that saw him place second in 2025’s MVP voting. Very few gave the Patriots a chance entering a riled up Highmark Stadium against the red-hot Buffalo Bills, but similarly to his breakout game last season in Buffalo, Maye remained in control throughout and delivered in the biggest moments. The Patriots sit at 2-2, as they did last season, and have a much more favourable month ahead. With the return of AJ Brown potentially just a week away to give Maye back his primary target, Sunday’s performance might have just clicked the offense into gear as they enter the middle of the season, throughout which they did their best work last campaign.

12) Jonathan Taylor deserves to return to playoff football

The league’s most unheralded running back did it again in London on Sunday. Whilst technically a marquee game due to its international nature, the Indianapolis Colts’ matchup against the Washington Commanders did not garner significant attention, but it was Taylor who once again proved the point of difference in an otherwise dire contest. The Colts haven’t been a playoff team since his rookie season in 2020, and so there’s been countless times in recent years where their star running back has had to single-handedly drag his side over the line against weaker opposition, but he remains forgotten in discussions around the league’s best backs, due to the lack of opportunities he’s had to showcase his ability on primetime. His only career playoff appearance ended in defeat against the Buffalo Bills, but with Taylor and the Colts sitting at 2-2 with a favourable schedule on their side, a return to the postseason could be on the horizon in 2026, especially if they can find the form that led them to an 8-2 start in 2025 before Daniel Jones’ achilles injury.

13) Kyle Monangai is waiting to take over Chicago’s backfield

It’s worth beginning this by noting that Monangai’s backfield partner D’Andre Swift enjoyed a career-best 2025 season and has had a strong start to 2026, but there is no doubt that Ben Johnson and the Bears’ front office have had their eye on Monangai as their long-term answer at running back since early in his rookie year. Now a sophomore, he broke through for a career-best outing of 150 scrimmage yards and 2 touchdowns, including a whopping 30 carries against the New York Jets, assuming the responsibilities of a workhorse despite Swift, who did have 16 carries of his own, playing as well. With Swift under contract through the 2028 season and Johnson liking the look of a split backfield, not dissimilar to what he worked with between Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery in Detroit, Monangai is going to have to be patient to truly ascend into the position of an out-and-out RB1, but there’s no doubt he’ll be ready whenever he gets the nod to do so.

14) The Packers are going no where fast this season

There’s no one better at turning what should be an easy victory into a game that goes down to the wire than Green Bay. Jalon Daniels’ first start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers loomed as a potential get-right game after a shocking start to the season, and although they did win the game, they could not have done so any less convincingly. Despite a 2-2 record, the stat that can’t be looked past is their whopping -32 point differential, one of the lowest in history for a team with an even record through 4 games. Josh Jacobs’ placement on the comissioner’s exempt list continues to leave them bereft of a competent run game, while Micah Parsons’ return from injury has been pushed back until at least November. Perhaps this week’s rivalry matchup against the Chicago Bears in front of a raucous Lambeau Field is what they need to bring their best.

What was your biggest takeaway from the fourth week of regular season play?