Sky Sports NFL's Cam Hogwood reflects on a dramatic Sunday as Stefon Diggs and the Buffalo Bills prove time moves quickly in the NFL, while Derrick Henry continues to stand the test of time; watch the Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants in MNF live on Sky Sports
Monday 2 October 2023 15:27, UK
This is a piece about time. Time in hand, time running out, time to heal, how times change, time to shine, time up. Time to talk about Week Four in the NFL.
Would Donna Kelce have enough time to fly from Jason Kelce's game in Philadelphia to Travis Kelce's game in New Jersey later that Sunday night? She sure would.
How many times would Khalil Mack sack Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell? Six - one shy of Derrick Thomas' single-game record of seven. How much time would it take Puka Nacua to reach 39 receptions and 501 receiving yards? An NFL record four games. How many times can the camera pan to Taylor Swift? Unlimited. And is it time to worry in Cincinnati? Getting there.
For the second week running, the Pittsburgh Steelers had time to kill as their team plane was delayed for over two hours leaving Houston following their 30-6 defeat to the Texans, having sat on a runaway for six hours the previous Monday when their flight out of Las Vegas was forced to make an emergency landing in Kansas City.
But this story of time begins at Orchard Park where, as Stefon Diggs crashed two beer cans together Stone Cold Steve Austin-style, the league shuddered at the reminder the Buffalo Bills are just fine. Better than fine.
Diggs saw the hoopla surrounding a frightening Miami Dolphins offense and raised it with a route-running touchdown treble-scoring clinic wrapped in epiphanic reminders that nothing is won in September, nor is nothing lost. The subtleties and disguise to his shift in direction coupled with a perfected understanding of his landmarks in tormenting a poor Kader Kohou, while Josh Allen slashed Vic Fangio's defense to the sight of 21 of 25 passing for 320 yards and four touchdowns alongside a rushing score in a 48-20 statement win.
Time moves quickly. There had been a time this past offseason when Diggs failed to report for mandatory training camp much to the 'concern' of Sean McDermott, fuelling murmurs of a fallout after the Bills receiver had been seen yelling at Allen on the sideline during their playoff loss to the Bengals. Was blossoming Buffalo Super Bowl contention about to implode? Did Allen's right-hand man want out? No and no.
There had been a time this offseason when the Bills were touted as the team to get left behind in an AFC East that was set to include Aaron Rodgers. And a time this season when that message was relayed in the wake of an upset defeat to a Zach Wilson-led New York Jets after Rodgers had gone down injured four plays into the game.
Miami marched into Buffalo riding the momentum of a 70-point, 726-yard performance against the Denver Broncos, in view of a win that would officially announce their Championship credentials. Allen, Diggs and the Bills blew them away.
Diggs was the once undersized 2015 fifth-round draft pick out of Maryland whose potential as a long-term No 1 disruptor on the outside had been downplayed by certain scouts and analysts. Sunday was a timely nod to what he has become as a defining pillar to the Bills' operation.
The thumbnail image to his dominant day would be Diggs swivelling to shake off two Dolphins defenders 'un-hand me!' style before turning a 14-yard pass into a 55-yard touchdown, at the top of which he had torched Kohou on a triple-move route.
Ed Oliver and Greg Rousseau stormed the Dolphins up front, Micah Hyde came away with a key interception, Allen mastered the art of control aggression that can occasionally teeter towards reckless and Diggs underlined why he is the second-most target receiver of the last three years. Injury to Tre'Davious White is a concern, but it is time to accept the Bills are back in the running. They were never really out of it.
Derrick Henry continues to stand the test of time. Both as an awe-inspiring viewing experience and a defiant force against running back perceptions. He remains THE Tennessee Titans offense.
It has taken him some time to grow into the season. It always has. He finally arrived on Sunday, beating up a bruised Bengals team with 22 carries for 122 yards and the prototypical Henry touchdown run during which he broke three tackles on his way to the end zone. He also threw a jump-pass touchdown out of a wildcat formation, to add to Cincinnati's woes in a 27-3 win for the Titans.
Henry is the seventh played in NFL history with 80 rushing touchdowns and 8,000 rushing yards in his career, while Sunday's performance marked his 35th game of 100-plus rushing yards.
Running backs, running back contracts, running back longevity, running back injuries have been hot on the agenda in recent months across the league. Modern trends have sought to shift from the traditional bell-cow, modern narratives dictate the Henrys of the world should be washed; rotational committee backfields, regular turnover vindicated by college football's depth of capable running back talent and a pass-driven league is the way forward, they say. Henry thinks not.
Offer him a crease and he remains the toughest back in the league to slow, let alone stop. Fail to find him a crease and he is still the hardest runner in the league to blunt. Times change in the NFL, where it is all about schematic chess by way of spread offense and Three-card monte with diverse personnel packages, funky tight end usage and pre-snap motion. But sometimes there is no greater sight than the strongest man on the field steamrolling defenders and ricocheting through tackles like the Juggernaut.
Henry had played just over 50 per cent of snaps heading into Week Four. Worth considering lifting those numbers, you would feel.
As for the Bengals, time is of the essence. Panic time is almost here. Joe Burrow still doesn't look right, and hasn't looked right all season as he nurses the calf injury that hindered him across the summer. Burrow registered an EPA/play of -0.28 on Sunday as he finished 20 of 30 passing for just 165 yards, while the Bengals offense had an EPA/play of -0.19. They sit 1-3 having scored three touchdowns in 41 possessions across four games.
The Chicago Bears famously never fire a head coach during the middle of a season. There is a first for everything.
On Sunday, we learned there is always time for this Bears team to undo its good work as they blew a 21-point lead to lose to a Denver Broncos side that just shipped 70 against the Dolphins and looked there for the taking yet again. Justin Fields threw for 335 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in one of his most productive performances since entering the NFL, and the Bears still found a way to lose.
The clock is ticking on Matt Eberflus after a 0-4 start across which on-field mediocrity, to put it kindly, has been compounded with some thinly-veiled - and later retracted - question marks over coaching from Fields followed by some less thinly-veiled question marks from Chase Claypool, who was away from the team on Sunday seemingly by choice after suggesting he was being used incorrectly during the week.
It is a mess. The Bears currently occupy the No 1 and No 2 overall picks at the 2024 NFL Draft, where USC quarterback Caleb Williams looms as a mightily-difficult-to-ignore option, no matter how much faith they may have in Fields.
Come on down, Bobby Slowik! By now most will be familiar with the 2013 Washington coaching staff that boasted the likes of Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Sean McVay and Mike McDaniel. Well, also on that staff was now Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, only he was a defensive assistant at the time. Slowik would go on to team up with Shanahan and McDaniel in San Francisco, working his way up to offensive passing game coordinator last season before getting the job in Houston, where he is now overseeing the early success of rookie quarterback CJ Stroud.
Stroud threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns with an EPA/play of 0.37 in Sunday's 30-6 win over the Steelers as the Texans offense logged an 80 per cent success rate, with Dameon Pierce starring on the ground with 81 rushing yards and Nico Collins making seven catches for 168 yards and two scores. Slowik's scheme is giving Stroud the confidence to push the ball downfield with three-level route combinations and creative masks to sell the run. Much of the credit, too, falls on Stroud himself for the precision accuracy, the poise and efficiency on third downs and the ability to freeze defenders with his eyes to get receivers open.
What relevance does that have to time, I hear you ask. Having seen McDaniel's ascent to head coaching stardom, you have to wonder how long it will be before a team nabs the Shanahan-cultivated expertise of Slowik to ignite their offense?
Sticking in Houston, the timeframe on Matt Canada's job security with Pittsburgh remains a mystery. The Steelers offensive coordinator watched as his unit spluttered again on Sunday, putting up just six points and an EPA/play of just -0.25 to leave them ranked last in the NFL in that department this season - behind Wilson and the Jets. It is hard to remember a time Canada's role wasn't under scrutiny, such have been the consistent failings of the ugliest offense to watch in the league. It is devoid of any spark or cohesiveness, neglects fundamental spacing and lacks the creativity to throw any defense off the scent. To make matters worse, seemingly, Kenny Pickett picked up a knee injury during the loss to the Texans.
The London games are officially back in town, which means reasonably-timed football goodness, an early alarm for America's West Coast, skewed train timetables, airport rules on pre-midday beverages and roughly 14 straight hours of live NFL action to watch.
The Jacksonville Jaguars eased to a 23-7 victory over the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley Stadium in what marked their 10th London outing as they prepare to make history this month by becoming the first NFL team to play back-to-back regular season games overseas when they face the Buffalo Bills at Tottenham in Week Five.
For Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder, it might well be a race against time to prove himself as the long-term answer in Atlanta. He had back-to-back interceptions on the day, the first of which was returned by Darious Williams for a 61-yard pick-six before Andre Cisco threatened another only to fumble the ball shy of the end zone.
That guy, again. Christian McCaffrey made it 17 touchdowns in his last 13 games as he ran in three and hauled in a passing score while posting 177 yards from scrimmage in the San Francisco 49ers' 35-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The ultimate cheat code and the perfect companion to Brock Purdy, who diced his way to a 20 of 21 passing for 283 yards and a touchdown.
It was reported on Saturday evening that Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku had suffered burns to his face and arm during an accident at home.
A day later, he was arriving in fitting style ahead of Cleveland's 28-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman came to watch Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Jets?
Watch the Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants in Monday Night Football live on Sky Sports NFL in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
