With games starting early Sunday morning in Dublin, and going late into the night in Dallas, you will be excused if you couldn’t catch every minute of action. But don’t worry. We have the TL;DR of NFL highlights with a recap of each game and a quick insight on each team to get you caught up on Sunday’s Week 4 action.
After all, Micah Parsons came back to Dallas as a member of the Green Bay Packers, and no one won?!?! The Kansas City Chiefs got their momentum back at the expense of the Baltimore Ravens. The New York Giants got a win, even though it might not feel like it. The Indianapolis Colts cost themselves a chance of staying undefeated.
And we know you don’t want to miss any of the NFL highlights from Week 4.
Packers-Cowboys ends in a tie … no really!
The highly anticipated return of Micah Parsons to Dallas ended in the most unlikely of scores — 40-40. That’s right, a tie. After Green Bay forced overtime with a 53-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter, the Packers and Cowboys each hit field goals in the extra period. While neither team comes away with a W, the game will go in the record books as the highest-scoring tie in NFL history.
In his first game against the team that traded him, Parsons was largely quiet. His box score read two assisted tackles and one solo tackle, three quarterback hits and one sack, as his former team did a great job of neutralizing him.
Packers in a line: The second half and overtime was the first time this year in which the Packers defense showed consistent leakage, especially when all it might’ve needed was to hold Dallas to a field goal in regulation to win the game. Perhaps most surprising was Green Bay’s inability to generate pressure against Dak Prescott and their sporadic tackling deficiencies. – Matt Schneidman
Cowboys in a line: It’s a broken record, but the Cowboys’ defense was again inexcusably bad. If it’s not allowing big plays to wide open receivers, it’s missing tackles and foolish penalties. The Dallas offense played too well, particularly Dak Prescott, to not come out of this game with a win. – Jon Machota
Giants win Dart’s start but lose Nabers
The Giants got their first win of the season against the previously unbeaten Chargers as rookie Jaxson Dart made his first start. But the 21-18 victory is severely dampened by the loss of star receiver Malik Nabers to what is believed to be a torn ACL.
Giants in a line: Now the question is who will step up in Nabers’ place for the remainder of the season? Look to Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton and even Dart’s go-to guy Cam Skattebo to pick up the slack. – Charlotte Carroll
Chargers in a line: In a textbook trap game, the Chargers fell into the trap, as they were called for 14 penalties, tied for their most in a game since 2000, according to TruMedia. – Daniel Popper
Colts’ blunder results in first loss
Matthew Stafford found Tutu Atwell wide open for an 88-yard go-ahead touchdown pass with less than two minutes remaining to send the Rams to a 27-20 victory over the Colts as Indianapolis lost its first game of the season.
Rams in a line: Stafford lamented some “physical” misses last week and it took some time this week before he got back to spamming targets to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, namely with Nacua often guarded by Colts cornerback Xavien Howard. – Nate Atkins
Colts in a line: On his should-have-been 76-yard go-ahead touchdown reception in the third quarter, Adonai Mitchell showboated before crossing the goal line and fumbled through the back of the end zone. That turnover marked the second time in the last two seasons that a Colts player inexplicably dropped the ball while celebrating before crossing the goal line for a touchdown. – James Boyd
Chiefs on the rise as Ravens look broken
Kansas City pushed back into the mix in the AFC West, dominating Baltimore 37-20 and sacking Lamar Jackson three times as the Ravens dropped to 1-3.
Chiefs in a line: With a statement win the Chiefs made up a lot of ground in the AFC West, improving to a 36 percent chance to win the division after entering the week with a 23 percent change in The Athletic’s NFL projections from Austin Mock. – Jesse Newell
Ravens in a line: Lamar Jackson suffered a hamstring injury, leaving the contest in the third quarter and watching the rest of the game from the sideline wearing a baseball cap. Sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said Jackson looked “extremely frustrated,” and coach John Harbaugh came over to check on him. – Jeff Zrebiec
Eagles clamp down late to top Bucs
In a battle between two undefeated NFC teams, the Buccaneers and Eagles played a tale of two halves that came down to the wire. After Philadelphia took a 24-6 lead into halftime, Tampa Bay mounted a comeback, but the Eagles’ defense came through late to win 31-25 in triple-digit temperatures.
Eagles in a line: Eagles rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell has earned defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s trust to handle the off-ball spot and also delivered two of the game’s deciding plays. – Brooks Kubena
Bucs in a line: Playing without Mike Evans, it took time for Baker Mayfield and the Bucs to find momentum. However, the big-play offense showed what’s possible when Mayfield buys time to connect with his talented skill players. – Zach Berman
Jaguars stop 49ers in heated battle
The 49ers never found sustained momentum as the Jaguars held them without a touchdown in the first half and running back Travis Etienne Jr. finished with 124 yards and a score on 19 rushes, as San Francisco suffered its first loss of the season. Jacksonville head coach Liam Coen appeared to have some choice words for 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh — who made comments about the Jaguars’ “really advanced signal-stealing type of system” earlier in the week — as the coaches walked off the field.
Jaguars in a line: Etienne showed off the wheels on a 48-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and did enough on the day to keep the 49ers on their heels as the Jaguars improved to 3-1. – Vic Tafur
49ers in a line: Without Nick Bosa, the 49ers mustered very little pass rush — Trevor Lawrence wasn’t sacked at all and had plenty of time to throw — and they allowed Etienne 77 rushing yards in the first half alone. – Matt Barrows
Blocked field goal seals win for Chicago
It wasn’t pretty, but the Bears escaped with a 25-24 win over the Raiders, spoiling a breakout day for rookie running back Ashton Jeanty.
Bears in a line: It’s amazing the Bears found a way because for much of the afternoon, the offense was totally discombobulated, but Caleb Williams showed the ability to take game-on-the-line pressure and turn it into magic. – Dan Wiederer
Raiders in a line: The Raiders got a full glimpse of the game-changing running back Jeanty can be, as he had a 64-yard touchdown and finished with 139 rushing yards to go along with two receiving scores. – Kevin Fishbain
Pittsburgh holds off Minnesota in Ireland
It may have been a neutral-site contest, but the first NFL game in Ireland felt like a Steelers home game as the Vikings were greeted by an overwhelming of boos as they were introduced. The Steelers were firing on all cylinders early but needed their defense to stave off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Vikings to hang on for a 24-21 win in Dublin.
Steelers in a line: For a hyped, full-of-talent defense, this was a significant step in the right direction as they intercepted Carson Wentz twice and sacked him six times, dialed up blitzes to speed up the veteran backup and took advantage of a beat-up Vikings’ offensive line that lost its starting right tackle and center. – Mike DeFabo
Vikings in a line: The Vikings’ offensive malfunction was the result of a tattered offensive line for most of the game, and Wentz looked like he was dropping back to pass against a menacing tidal wave for most of the second half. – Alec Lewis
Lions’ win isn’t pretty, but it is dominant
Kalif Raymond returned a punt 65 yards for a score, Amon-Ra St. Brown had two touchdown catches and the Lions scored 20 straight points in the first half on the way to easily defeating the Browns 34-10.
Lions in a line: While the Lions will take the win, it’s unclear what to make of their cornerback room right now, as D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold both left the game with injuries and did not return, and the Jared Goff-Jameson Williams connection was off, with some miscommunication and drops. – Colton Pouncy
Browns in a line: Different game, pretty much the same story: Cleveland’s offense stinks, and that shows up in multiple ways; and the defense wasn’t as dominant as it was for stretches in previous games. – Zac Jackson
Bills remain undefeated
Josh Allen ensured momentum stayed with Buffalo as the Bills improved to 4-0 with a 31-19 win over the Saints.
Bills in a line: The Bills let the Saints hang around for a lot longer than expected, and there’s no telling how the game would have ended had it not been for running back James Cook. – Joe Buscaglia
Saints in a line: Even though the Saints’ upset bid ultimately fell short, they had to come away impressed with how their offensive line came together in its first game with their intended five starting offensive linemen. – Buscaglia
Patriots create a highlight reel
The Patriots improved to 2-2 with a dominant, 42-13 victory that made the Panthers look thoroughly overmatched, as Marcus Jones returned an 87-yard punt for a touchdown and then he broke free again for a 61-yard return.
Patriots in a line: This season, coach Mike Vrabel placed an added emphasis on Jones as a punt returner, encouraging him to spend additional practice time there and limiting his reps so he’d be well-rested for the role. On Sunday, it paid off. – Chad Graff
Panthers in a line: Panthers coach Dave Canales said after Sunday’s loss that Bryce Young will remain the starting quarterback. He also said there would be no changes to the coaching staff “right now.” – Joseph Person
Titans’ Cam Ward sounds off after loss to Texans
Behind a breakout performance by Woody Marks, the Texans rolled past the Titans 26-0 to earn their first win of the season, sparking an animated response from Tennessee QB Cam Ward after the game as he demanded more from his teammates and himself.
Texans in a line: It’s the first shutout for the Texans since 2010, and their third ever, according to Stathead.
Titans in a line: “If we keep it a buck right now, we a–. We’re 0-4, at this point we got nothing to lose. We’ve dropped a quarter of our f—ing games. We have yet to do anything. So we have to lock in, especially myself.” – Ward to reporters after the game
Michael Penix Jr. sparkles against Commanders
It was a serious bounce-back game as Michael Penix Jr. threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns and Bijan Robinson rushed 14 yards for another score as the Falcons beat the visiting Commanders 34-27.
Falcons in a line: Atlanta shook up its offensive coaching staff — firing receivers coach Ike Hilliard and moving offensive coordinator Zac Robinson down to the sideline to call plays — it looked like exactly what Penix needed. – Josh Kendall
Commanders in a line: The Falcons picked apart Washington’s D, finding holes in coverage and capitalizing on mismatches to collect chunk play after chunk play, totaling nine explosives. – Nicki Jhabvala
(Photo of Micah Parsons: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)