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With the first weekend in October comes the fourth Sunday of the 2026 NFL season. And for some preseason contenders, the first month hasn’t played out as envisioned.
Instead of storming out of the gates with authoritative performances and laying the foundation for championship runs, the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys risk falling into 1-3 holes, which would threaten their division standing and playoff chances. According to NFL Research, of teams that have begun a season 1-3, only 14.9 percent have reached the postseason. These clubs badly need to rebound from Week 3 defeats.
Week 4 kicked off with the Cleveland Browns hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. Behind Deshaun Watson’s best game of the season, the Browns topped their division rivals on Andre Szmyt’s game-winning 56-yard field goal in the final seconds.
Browns win 4th straight TNF game over Steelers
Sunday’s slate begins with a London meeting between the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders at 9:30 a.m. ET. Another 12 games follow before the nightcap features the Panthers welcoming the Detroit Lions. On Monday night, the Atlanta Falcons take on the New Orleans Saints in the Big Easy.
Winless watch
Five teams are still searching for their first victories and desperately need to end their slides. The Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers already face bleak prospects of reaching the postseason after their slow starts.
Of the 171 teams in NFL history that opened the season with 0-3 records, only five have clawed their way back to secure postseason berths. And only one of the 109 teams in NFL history that lost their first four games of a season rebounded to reach the playoffs: the 1992 San Diego Chargers.
Does this beleaguered bunch feature such a rarity?
The Texans find themselves in familiar territory; just last season, they rallied from 0-3 to reach the playoffs. In 2023, they overcame a 0-2 start to reach the postseason. As coach DeMeco Ryans’ team prepares to host the Cowboys, the Texans hope to finally put together a complete performance after crippling themselves with defensive letdowns, turnovers and offensive line inconsistencies.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud has badly missed Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins, who will return to the field after a hamstring strain sidelined him the past two games. Collins could help restore explosiveness to an offense that has managed 18 points per game while converting just 36.4 percent of its third downs. The Texans will need such a boost to keep pace with a Dallas offense that ranks No. 2 in the league on third downs (57.1 percent) and tied for No. 7 in scoring (29.3 points per game).
The rebuilding Titans face a tall task against a Baltimore Ravens team that ranks among the AFC’s best and looks to continue building momentum after last week’s last-second win over the Cowboys in Brazil. The Dolphins’ prospects also appear bleak as they brace for the 3-0 Minnesota Vikings.
The Chargers, who travel to the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, have struggled in just about every phase of the game while acclimating to new offensive and defensive coordinators. They’ll also get a hungry Seahawks team coming off last week’s stunning loss to the Washington Commanders. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback Justin Herbert and company very well could be looking at 0-4.
Finally, the Buccaneers’ turnaround chances took a hit when quarterback Baker Mayfield dislocated the thumb on his throwing hand, which will likely cause him to miss three weeks. Coach Todd Bowles will turn to undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels as the Buccaneers prepare for Green Bay. The Packers have underachieved this season while struggling to establish a run game, protect leads and pressure quarterbacks. They’ll aim to use this trip to Tampa Bay as a get-right matchup.
Titans at Ravens, 1 p.m. ET, CBS; Cowboys at Texans, 1 p.m. ET, Fox; Packers at Buccaneers, 1 p.m. ET, Fox; Chargers at Seahawks, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS.
Mayeday, Mayeday!
The Patriots travel to upstate New York to take on the unbeaten Buffalo Bills on Sunday. New England continues to wait for Drake Maye to rediscover the effectiveness that helped lead them to the Super Bowl last season.
Plagued by inaccuracy and poor ball security, Maye completed just 56 percent of his passes with zero touchdowns and two interceptions in a 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. For the season, Maye has completed just 63.8 percent of his passes for 585 yards (195.0 per game), one touchdown and six interceptions. His 58.6 passer rating ranks No. 31 among 35 qualified quarterbacks.
The Patriots will need better poise and decision-making from Maye to keep up with Josh Allen and the Bills, who boast the NFL’s most prolific scoring offense (33.7 points per game), which is averaging 401.7 yards. Allen leads the league with 11 touchdowns through three games (six rushing, five passing), while running back James Cook’s 346 rushing yards rank No. 3 behind Kenneth Walker III and Bijan Robinson. New England will also need more from a defense that surrendered five touchdowns and allowed a 67 percent conversion rate on third downs against the Jaguars.
Although not ideal, the Patriots’ slow start isn’t foreign territory. It marks the second time in two seasons they’ve started 1-2 under coach Mike Vrabel. Last season, the Patriots won 13 of their final 14 regular-season games, with the loss coming against the Bills, 35-31, in Week 15.
Is this the week Maye gets his groove back, or will Buffalo prove too much to handle?
Patriots at Bills, 1 p.m. ET, CBS.
Contenders in crisis?
The Los Angeles Rams entered the season as consensus Super Bowl favorites, and the Philadelphia Eagles weren’t too far behind as formidable NFC challengers. Three weeks into the season, neither has looked like a powerhouse.
The Rams sport a 1-2 record after a pair of embarrassing performances (losing to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1 and collapsing against the Denver Broncos in Week 3). Philadelphia owns a 2-1 record but needed late-game heroics to beat both Washington and Tennessee and then got blown out by the Case Keenum-led Chicago Bears.
Injuries to stars Myles Garrett and Puca Nakua have hampered the Rams, but those are not the only reasons they have squandered leads and faltered in the red zone. The Eagles have also been disappointing offensively. Struggling to find its footing under new coordinator Sean Mannion, Philadelphia has experienced inconsistencies in the run game and averaged just 18.3 points per game (25nd in the NFL). A talent-rich defense, meanwhile, has struggled to pressure quarterbacks and has yet to record a takeaway.
These teams have strong familiarity despite hailing from different divisions. This will mark the fifth time they have met in the last four seasons — with the Eagles winning all four games. In the 2024 divisional playoffs, Philadelphia stopped Los Angeles on fourth down inside the Eagles’ 25-yard line in the final seconds to secure a 28-22 win. And in Week 3 of last season, Eagles defensive lineman Jordan Davis blocked a potential game-winning field goal and returned it for a touchdown to slam the door on a 33-26 win.
Sean McVay is 1-6 against the Eagles, including the playoffs. He’ll look to buck that trend Sunday and reestablish his team as a Super Bowl favorite.
Rams at Eagles, 1 p.m. ET, Fox
Raiders’ measuring stick
The 3-0 Las Vegas Raiders rank among the early surprises of the season. With 38-year-old Kirk Cousins leading the way, rookie head coach Klint Kubiak directs an offense that ranks tied for No. 7 in the league, averaging 29.3 points per game after the Raiders owned the worst scoring offense in the league (14.2 points per game) under Pete Carroll. The Raiders’ defense has held foes to 18.0 points per game (eighth fewest) while leading the NFL with nine takeaways — four coming on the final four possessions of last week’s win over the Saints.
Kubiak, whose Raiders have already matched last season’s win total, joins Andy Reid (2013 Kansas City Chiefs), Sean Payton (2006 Saints), John Fox (2002 Panthers) and Vince Lombardi (1959 Packers) as the only coaches in league history to start 3-0 after taking over a team that won three or fewer games the previous season.
The Raiders, whose wins have come against the Dolphins, Chargers and Saints, face their toughest test yet as they welcome a resurgent Chiefs team. This matchup of two of the five remaining undefeated teams marks the first time the Raiders and Chiefs have faced each other while both boasted 3-0 records. This is also the first time Patrick Mahomes has faced a team with a perfect record after three weeks. He previously defeated the 2-0 Ravens in 2019, the 2-0-1 Lions in Week 4 of that same season and the 2-0 Ravens in 2020.
Mahomes owns a 13-2 record against the Raiders and a 37-8 record against AFC West rivals. He and the Kansas City offense are tied with the Raiders and Cowboys for No. 7 with an average of 29.3 points per game, and the Chiefs’ defense is tied for third stingiest, holding opponents to 16.7 points per game. Can the Raiders keep the magic going, or will the perennial AFC West power bring them back down to earth?
Chiefs at Raiders, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS
AFC playoff preview?
Two of the better teams in the AFC — the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars — square off in Cincinnati. It’s a battle of 2-1 teams led by former No. 1 draft picks at quarterbacks, talented offensive supporting casts and difference-making defenses.
Joe Burrow (the first selection of the 2020 NFL Draft) and Trevor Lawrence (first in 2021) have history that predates their NFL careers. Burrow’s LSU Tigers defeated Lawrence’s Clemson Tigers, 42-25, in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. In the NFL, Burrow has won both meetings against Lawrence.
Sunday’s clash could turn into a shootout between offenses that rank among the league’s top half in most major statistical categories, but don’t discount either defense. Jacksonville has allowed the fewest points (12.0) in the league entering Week 4, ranks No. 2 in the red zone (allowing a touchdown 20.0 percent of the time) and is tied for No. 3 on third down (29.0 opponent conversion percentage).
Cincinnati’s defense has made significant strides after an offseason devoted to upgrades. What was a putrid unit in 2025 is now tied for No. 12 in the league in scoring defense (21.0 points per game), No. 9 in rushing defense (95.7 yards per game), tied for No. 5 in sacks (10) and third in the red zone (allowing a touchdown 27.3 percent of the time).
Both teams have excelled at capitalizing on big defensive plays, as the Jaguars and Bengals are tied for first in the league with 31 points scored off takeaways.
Could this game serve as a preview for a high-stakes showdown this winter?
Jaguars at Bengals, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
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