We are nearly 17% through the NFL regular season. Yikes. I feel like the Bills/Rams game was just yesterday. Anyways, I wanted to roll out a weekly Watchability Index to help you decide what games to watch and what games to pass on each weekend.
The Watchability Index is completely subjective and is based solely on the madness that is my brain. I will rate each game on a scale of 1 – 10 and include a few sentences on why I ranked the game the way I did. A 10 rating means that aside from a life-threatening illness or injury, there should be no situation where you are not watching that game. A 1 rating means it’s Panthers/Jets with a forecast of heavy rain.
Since it is my Watchability Index, whatever I write below will be correct because it is my opinion. If you don’t agree with my rankings, tough. Go make your own list. Without further ado, the Week 4 Watchability Index:
1. Jaguars at Eagles (-6.5) – 1 PM EST - (8.2 on the Index)
I know what you’re thinking. Eagles/Jaguars over Bills/Ravens? He is either high or just incredibly stupid. Well, I can assure you, I am not high.
This game fascinates me. The Jaguars responded to a Week 1 choke job against the Commanders with back-to-back drubbings of the Colts and Chargers. Two teams that many thought would be serious contenders in the AFC coming into this season. So, are the Jaguars for real?
The answer will come Sunday when the Jaguars head to Philadelphia to take on the 3-0 Eagles and MVP candidate Jalen Hurts. Will the Eagles’ defensive line be able to get to Trevor Lawrence, who has been sacked just twice this season? Will the Jaguars’ defense be able to stifle a second high powered offense or will Hurts mobility give them issues? Can the Jaguars get into a shootout with the Eagles and survive or will they need to slow this game down to have a chance?
The line is currently Eagles -6.5, but despite that large number I expect the game to be competitive and is definitely the one I am most looking forward to come Sunday.
2. Bills (-3) at Ravens – 1 PM EST - (8.1)
This game just misses out on the top spot in this weeks’ Watchability Index for two main reasons. First, I know what I am getting with both teams whereas the unknown of the Jaguars and Eagles interests me more here in Week 4. Secondly, there is an 80% chance of rain Sunday in Baltimore which could hinder the expected offensive fireworks.
How will the Bills respond after being so sloppy offensively last week in Miami? Will anyone aside from Mark Andrews emerge to help Lamar Jackson? Which quarterback emerges as the MVP frontrunner after this game? Those are the three questions I am looking to have answered and if you have the luxury of having two televisions, I’d recommend having this game on one of them on Sunday.
3. Chiefs at Buccaneers (PK) – 8:20 PM EST – (7.2)
Brady. Mahomes. Sunday Night Football. How is this not the top game to watch this weekend?
Well for one, the Buccaneers offense has been terrible, and Tom Brady looks like a man who no longer wants to be playing on Sundays. I mean, the Bears have scored more points than the Bucs this season. The Bears! Brady will benefit from the return of Mike Evans, possibly Chris Godwin too, but until Tampa Bay can demonstrate they have a functional offense for a full game they will never land at the top of my weekly index.
I believe the Chiefs performance last week was an outlier and not a cause for concern, but they do have to contend with a stout Bucs defense that has limited opponents to 9 PPG. Whenever the best to ever do it is squaring off against the current best to do it you have to tune in but based on what we have seen so far this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if this game fell short of expectations.
4. Browns (-1) at Falcons – 1 PM EST – (7.0)
If this game ended up being the most entertaining game of the weekend I wouldn’t be surprised. Nick Chubb might run for 200 yards. Drake London and Kyle Pitts should have a field day against a terrible Browns secondary. Both franchises have a history of blowing games in spectacular fashion. Hilarity is almost guaranteed to ensue in Atlanta.
This game has the third highest total of the weekend at 47.5 and I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if it blows past that number. I am not sure who will win or by how much, but I am sure that the entertainment level will be high. This is a game worth tuning in for.
5. Seahawks at Lions (-4) – 1 PM EST – (6.5) & Broncos at Raiders (-2.5) – 4:25 PM EST
I am going to cheat and put these two games together. All four teams are similar in that you can almost guarantee that each will do at least one thing during a game that makes you literally sit up and gasp in disbelief. And not in a good way. If every week someone could somehow come up with a formula to find the play that gets made fun of the most on Twitter, there is an 85% chance that play would involve one of these teams.
The games will be interesting. They might not be pretty, but you will be entertained.
6. Rams at 49ers (-1.5) – 8:15 PM EST Monday – (6.2)
NorCal versus SoCal caps off Week 4. Going into this season, I would have easily thought this would be a top ranked game this week, but both offenses have stumbled out of the gate to start the year.
While Stafford hasn’t gone full Matt Ryan and fallen off a cliff just yet, the signs of that coming soon are beginning to appear. Garoppolo has looked even worse since taking over for the injured Trey Lance, which is why I have this game ranked where I do.
It’s still Monday Night Football, so it’s not like we have better options elsewhere. And watching Cooper Kupp run routes is a true pleasure. But I think everyone expected this game to be a shootout and instead we are staring at a total of 42.5. If this game was during the 1PM slate on Sunday, I don’t think I’d pay it much attention.
7. Patriots at Packers – 4:25 PM EST – (6.0)
While I am sure the Rodgers versus Belichick potential last matchup will be talked about ad nauseum on the pregame shows, this game lost a lot of its luster with Mac Jones going down to injury. Even if he was to play, the Patriots offense hasn’t shown much life through three games, and it is looking very likely that they miss the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Romeo Doubs took a big step last week to becoming WR1 for Rodgers, so I am interested to see how he follows up that performance this week and if he will become Rodgers new go-to guy. This game projects to be low scoring (total is 40.5), but with only three afternoon games, it’s worth checking in on from time to time.
Honorable Mention: Jets at Steelers (-3.5) – 1 PM EST – (5.7)
Zach Wilson returns for the Jets. If Mitch Trubisky starts slow will it finally be Kenny Pickett time for Pittsburgh?