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Younghoe Koo
In a golden season for kickers, one shoe rules them all. The power boot welded to Younghoe Koo’s instep produces an all-timer for the Falcons. After four games, Koo is perfect, hitting all nine field goal attempts and all six extra points. What about Washington’s Austin Siebert? A pretender. As perfect as the kicker may be, he has played one fewer game and has yet to make a field goal from 50 or higher, while Koo has scored three, including the walk-off strike from 58 yards that knocked down the Saints on Sunday. That this ascension has come after he was booted out of the NFL following his struggles with the Chargers makes it all the sweeter. Long live the King.
Washington commanders
After watching their team suffer a hard-fought but tough loss to the Buccaneers in the season opener, Washington fans may have felt like this year would go the same way as many who had come before. What a difference three weeks, three wins and three more excellent games make from rookie quarterback/Cheshire cat Jayden Daniels. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is building a devastating offense around his rookie’s running talent, something that slowly opens up the passing game. After too many seasons in the wilderness, the Commanders are emerging as the dominant force in the NFC East.
Credit must be given to Kingsbury’s approach to running the ball. He’s ditched a bell cow and split the load among four impressive rushers, giving him the league’s highest scoring unit with 10 touchdowns. It says a lot about the talent of Daniels and Brian Robinson Jr. when your third-string rusher, Austin Ekeler, was the league’s touchdown leader just two seasons ago. It says even more about the quality of the coaching and blocking when his replacement, Jeremy McNichols, comes on against the Cardinals and steals the show with two scores and a brutal average of 8.5 yards per carry from just eight attempts. Sharing the heavy burden feels like real progress for a team that crippled their postseason in 2012 by forcing their quarterback, Robert Griffin III, to play through significant injuries.
And conveniently, barring injuries, Daniels will follow in Griffin’s footsteps as offensive rookie of the year. The Commanders’ schedule also looks good, with only a road game at Baltimore in Week 6, cementing a five-game series with the Browns, Panthers, Bears and Giants. If that stretch turns out favorably, they should have a chance at a first playoff win since the 2005 season.
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San Francisco 49ers
Fred Warner was on a mission on Sunday. The linebacker led a fiery pregame rally, urging his 49ers teammates to reset with a victory over the pompous New England Patriots. But talk is cheap, while 45-yard pick-sixes are a little more valuable. Warner’s gravity-breaking grab for a spacewalk and score was an important reminder that the 49ers are still a dominant force.
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That is until Warner suffered an ankle injury and failed to return to the game for the second half. The injury bug has taken hold again in the Bay Area, although thankfully Warner should be back this week. The frontrunner for defensive player of the year wasn’t the only pillar to fall, however, as defensive tackle Jordan Elliott left the team with a knee injury.
But what’s most problematic is that the Niners’ offense continues to be hampered by the extended absence of Christian McCaffrey, and Brandon Aiyuk is apparently determined to create tension. San Francisco handed the receiver a $120 million deal, but he continues to grumble. In the last version of that, he feuded with Kyle Shanahan back then he was wearing the wrong shorts to Friday’s training. Unlike Warner, the receiver followed his tirade with little impact: He had just two catches in the win over New England. This team is in ‘win now’ mode, with Brock Purdy likely getting a huge new contract, so they need stars like Aiyuk to play a pivotal role. Warner should dominate the Arizona Cardinals offense this Sunday, but he will need his counterparts to match his production. The linebacker won’t be able to do it alone: the 49ers have a tough schedule starting in Week 6, with Seattle, Kansas City, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Green Bay and Buffalo.
Vic Fangio
The veteran defensive coordinator has had plenty of success throughout his career. This pedigree is the likely reason Philadelphia brought him in to replace Matt Patricia, who was partially responsible for the Eagles’ late collapse last season. But the Eagles are still toothless on defense with Fangio. They missed more than a dozen tackles in Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay, as Baker Mayfield torched their soft coverage with 347 yards and two touchdowns.
In the past, Fangio has relied on showing identical shell coverage while switching to zone coverage to confuse opposing quarterbacks. But this predictable playcalling allowed Mayfield to slice and dice Philadelphia in familiar swashbuckling style. Fangio has a tough job reviving the failed Eagles.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence has lost nine starts in a row and his nightmare shows no sign of ending. The former No. 1 overall pick is struggling mightily as he continues to miss easy throws. If he fails to hit a crucial touchdown at the one-yard line in the Jags’ loss to the Texans on Sunday, it will be a bitter disappointment for a QB in a deep rut. But the play calling was also sloppy. There needs to be a major shakeup in Jacksonville to avoid having the worst record in the NFL this season. London fans will be happy to have to endure this garbage when the team makes their journey across the Atlantic later this month.