The first month of the 2026-2027 NFL season has ended, and Week 4 delivered plenty of thrills and excitement. From a Panthers offense that looked unstoppable under the Sunday Night Football lights to an embarrassing late-game collapse by the Eagles against the Rams, there was no shortage of storylines. This week, Carolina’s offensive explosion and Philadelphia’s disappointing finish stood out as two of the league’s biggest stories.
“The Panthers offense is looking scary, ” said Michael Wash, a junior.
The Panthers offense picked apart a struggling Detroit defense in all four quarters of SNF. Bryce Young has finally proved everyone wrong to begin his fourth season in the league. Young threw for a whopping 329 passing yards and two passing touchdowns in the win. In Young’s first three years in the league, he was uncomfortable,not in a steady system,and was called a bust by many people because he was the first overall pick out of the University of Alabama in the 2023 NFL draft.
“Bryce Young has been playing really well. It shows why he was a Heisman winner at Alabama,” said Jack Richer, a junior.
One factor that has developed Young’s game is the change in offensive playcalling. The current playcaller, Brad Idzik, is allowing Bryce Young to play to his strengths: play-action passes and then the accurate deep ball down the field. Bryce was able to find Tetairoa McMillan all night long, who posted a stat line of fourteen receptions for 192 yards and two touchdown receptions, with the catches and yards being career highs and the touchdowns tying his career high.
“Tet McMillan has many big games ahead of him,” said Sam Giampe, a junior
While one Alabama quarterback, Bryce Young, has continued to progress, the same can not be said for a different Alabama quarterback, Jalen Hurts.
“Jalen Hurts has been really bad, and it shows in this Eagles offense,” said Michael Leventakos, a junior.
Hurts did not have his way against the Rams on Sunday afternoon, posting a tough-to-look-at stat line. Hurts only completed 12 out of 27 passes and took four sacks. Hurts has struggled to begin this season with a 59.6 % completion percentage and only 178.3 yards per game.
“Jalen Hurts is average at best,” said Trent Dellacato, a junior.
It did not help the Eagles offense as their starting running back, Saquon Barkley,tweaked his hamstring and had to check out for the rest of the game. The Eagles were also missing their best wide receiver, DeVonta Smith, but that is not an excuse for blowing this game as badly as they ended up doing. Philadelphia was inside the Rams’ five-yard line with a 20-10 lead and only around seven minutes remaining in the entire game. Los Angeles then had a methodical, nine-play drive to go all the way down the field, helped out by penalties by the Eagles, and capped it off with a goal-line touchdown by running back Kyren Williams. The Eagles, still leading by three with around four minutes left, put up an inefficient drive leading to a punt and another rushing touchdown from Kyren Williams. The Eagles had a desperation chance but could not make anything out of it, and the Rams pulled off a ridiculous comeback to improve to 2-2 on the season.
Overall, Week 4 showed just how quickly things can shift in the NFL. Bryce Young and the Panthers are gaining some serious momentum going into their bye week, while we might have to have some uncomfortable conversations about this Eagles offense.
Leave a Reply