Derrick Henry monster game hands Bills 1st loss, rookie QB continues historic season: NFL Week 4 Sunday review
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Week 4 of the 2024 NFL season saw plenty of drama across its 13 games.
From outstanding individual outings to late heroics, fans were treated to action from start to finish.
Here are the main storylines from Sunday’s slate of games:
‘King Henry’ hands Bills first loss of the year
From the Baltimore Ravens’ first snap of the game against the Buffalo Bills, they led the clash of AFC titans – and it was all thanks to Derrick Henry.
Henry sprinted through the heart of Buffalo’s defense on Baltimore’s first offensive play of the game before galloping away 87 yards for a touchdown.
It was the longest touchdown run in Baltimore’s history but just the third-longest in the storied career of ‘King Henry.’ It was his seventh rushing touchdown of 70 or more yards – tied for the most in NFL history alongside Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson.
The monster rush set the tone for the game, with Henry finishing with 199 yards and two touchdowns on the ground off 24 carries as the Ravens emphatically beat the Bills 35-10.
Having joined Baltimore in the offseason from the Tennessee Titans and experiencing some slight growing pains in the first two weeks, it is Henry’s second 150-plus yard game in as many weeks as the Ravens have bounced back from an 0-2 start with two straight wins to get back on track.
The star RB was backed up by a solid performance from Ravens QB Lamar Jackson who accounted for three touchdowns – two passing and one with his legs – as Baltimore eased to an impressive victory.
Afterwards, Henry explained that, after taking some time to gel, the Ravens offense is beginning to build up a head of steam.
“We’ve got some momentum going. There’s still things that we can get better at that we’re going to focus on and get better at, but it’s a long season,” he told reporters.
“We got off to a great start last week, then didn’t finish the way we wanted to. Then this game tonight, we got the momentum going and we were able to finish the game. We’re still progressing, still working and still looking to get better.”
For the Bills, it was a disappointing outing after arguably being the hottest team in the league the first three weeks.
There were still glimpses of positivity for the Bills through quarterback Josh Allen’s play – including a 52-yard pass to Khalil Shakir in the second half – but Buffalo struggled on both sides of the ball against a rampant Baltimore team.
Such was the margin of victory, both Allen and Jackson were benched late in the game to avoid injuries.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott praised his opposition after the defeat.
“I’ll give credit where credit’s due. The Baltimore Ravens came out, and they beat us. They outplayed us. They outcoached us,” McDermott told reporters. “We’ve got to identify the problems and get them fixed. … We’ve got to make them quickly and move on from there.”
Jayden Daniels continues to shine
After a breakout performance last week, Jayden Daniels continued his remarkable rookie season with another outstanding showing on Sunday, this time in a comprehensive 42-14 victory against the Arizona Cardinals.
The No. 2 overall draft pick was incredibly accurate once again in Arizona, completing almost 87% of his passes, throwing for 233 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He also ran for 47 yards and a score.
This latest win means that Daniels has a completion percentage of 82.1 through four weeks of the season, the highest mark for any player through a four-week span since 1950. He broke Peyton Manning’s previous record set in 2008, a season in which the two-time Super Bowl champion won the MVP award.
The all-time rookie record for a season is 67.8% by Dak Prescott in 2016, while the all-time record in general was set by Drew Brees in 2018 with 74.4%.
The 23-year-old also became the first player in NFL history to complete at least 85% of his passes in consecutive games, per the NFL.
Daniels is a key reason why the Commanders are now 3-1 this season, with impressive back-to-back road victories the last two weeks. First, they went to Cincinnati and shocked the Bengals in Week 3 before traveling to Arizona this week and dropping 42 points on the Cardinals.
It was a revenge game for Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury who returned to Arizona for the first time since leaving as the Cardinals’ head coach in 2022; and the Commanders OC drew up a perfect gameplan, with a balance between running plays and asking Daniels to throw the ball.
Washington had 449 total offensive yards, with 233 coming through the air and 216 via the rushing attack, which produced four touchdowns on the day.
The defense also did its job against Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, coming up with four sacks and restricting his ability to run.
The Commanders now sit atop the NFC East with a 3-1 record and, with Daniels at the helm, things are looking rosy in the nation’s capital.
Late drama across the day
Through Sunday’s slate of action, there were plenty of games which came down to the final few moments; the early goings saw five games decided by four points or fewer.
Two of the most dramatic finishes came in Atlanta and New Jersey.
In Atlanta, a 58-yard Younghoe Koo field goal with just two seconds left gave the Falcons a thrilling 26-24 victory over their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints.
It wasn’t a classic, but Koo had four field goals – including the game winner – as the Falcons improved to 2-2.
“There’s a lot to fix,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said, via ESPN’s Marc Raimondi. “And so, you come away saying, ‘I’m so glad we won,’ but I’m going to be voice memoing on the way home to the coaches with some thoughts and how I’ve got to be better and how we’ve got to build on it.”
In East Rutherford, Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets succumbed to a disappointing 10-9 home loss to the Denver Broncos.
Playing in extremely rainy conditions, there wasn’t much offense on display from both sides. But the Broncos took a one-point lead midway through the fourth-quarter thanks to a 47-yard field goal from Wil Lutz.
Denver had a chance to extend its lead with 91 seconds remaining, but Lutz’ 50-yard field goal sailed left, opening the door for the Jets.
Rodgers was able to guide New York to Denver’s 32-yard line to set up Gang Green’s own 50-yard field goal with time running down, but Greg Zuerlein’s effort went right and the Broncos held on for the victory.
“I can’t say I had a spectacular game,” Rodgers told reporters after the loss. “I missed some throws. The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws. We had some chances, but way too many mental mistakes, too many poor throws, and then we just missed some easy stuff, some protection stuff that should’ve been easy, some route-adjustment stuff that should’ve been easy. Our focus wasn’t as sharp as it’s been in the first three weeks.”
Such was the way the game played out, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to average fewer than 2.5 yards per passing attempt in a game that his team won, per the NFL. Nix threw 25 times for 60 yards in the victory.
Elsewhere, CJ Stroud led a late fourth-quarter touchdown drive as the Houston Texans beat the winless Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 while a ferocious second-half comeback from the Steelers fell just short as the Indianapolis Colts were able to inflict a 27-24 defeat on Pittsburgh – its first loss of the season.
Full Week 4 Sunday scores
Away @ home (winners in bold)
New Orleans Saints 24-26 Atlanta Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals 34-24 Carolina Panthers
Los Angeles Rams 18-24 Chicago Bears
Minnesota Vikings 31-29 Green Bay Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars 20-24 Houston Texans
Pittsburgh Steelers 24-27 Indianapolis Colts
Denver Broncos 10-9 New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles 16-33 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Commanders 42-14 Arizona Cardinals
New England Patriots 13-30 San Francisco 49ers
Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 Los Angeles Chargers
Cleveland Browns 16-20 Las Vegas Raiders
Buffalo Bills 10-35 Baltimore Ravens
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